Things are collapsing in the final volume of Pullman's latest trilogy, the next of Philip Pullman's magisterial trilogies set in a universe that appears, here more than ever, as a energized and skewed version of our own. Establishments are crumbling, or reorganizing themselves along novel and troubling lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Authority is flowing away from authorities, and pooling in the offices of theocrats, the coffers of corporations, the control of mobs. "Some force is at work, very quietly, very subtly", says trader a merchant figure, keeping a vigilant eye on the trade routes from his post in an Aleppo cafe. "Aspects we thought were secure and strong are deteriorating and collapsing."
The Central Mystery and Her Quest
Exactly what that element might be, and ways to oppose it, is the question that drives this final volume, which picks up where The Secret Commonwealth left off. This is, according to many, Pullman's concluding foray into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting world he first introduced 30 years ago, with the publication of the first trilogy. It's a realm whose landscape aligns with that of this world, but whose chronicles diverges and shifts with ours; where the people appear and think and behave like us, but are accompanied by animal souls, essences in beast form; where the skies are teeming with enchantresses and mythical beasts, but below, vehicles are caught and tea is drunk, and older scholars carry Harrods shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first introduced to as a child in the original trilogy, and then saw again as a baby in La Belle Sauvage, the introductory book with which the author began the series, is now a mature individual: still distinctly the sharp and determined main character of the prior volumes, but aged, melancholic, warier, less sure. This restraint is heightened by her split from her soul companion, Pan – but it was also, unexpectedly, the trigger which led him to leave her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
Pan's decision to leave in pursuit of that innocent part of her which she may have forgotten (an quality which he represents as her "imagination"), and her quest to reconnect with him, were the catalysts of its predecessor, which followed the protagonist undertake a picaresque trek across the continent and into the mountain region, facing with wonder and risk on the way. But from the outset, profound shifts were in action, and malevolent elements at work. The church authority – the faith's controlling power, and Pullman's deliciously chilling incarnation of strict, bureaucratic malice – is under fresh command, and asserting its power. Marcel Delamare – Lyra's relative, who blames her for his sibling's death – has worked himself into the role of president of the Magisterium's High Council, and is intent on using his fresh influence to extend the church's dominium. Another protagonist, who carried young Lyra to refuge along a overflowing river as an child in La Belle Sauvage, is now an academic with a additional duty in intelligence work: he is sent to Geneva to learn more about Delamare's intentions. And beneath all of this is the mystery surrounding the scarce and precious essential oil which manifests in some way to be the cause of a social and economic upheaval rippling out from the region. The oil is viewed by various factions as a marketable product, by others as a scientific or mystical wonder, and by yet others – the extremist "mountain dwellers" – as a wellspring of evil; an insult that must be eradicated. The question of where it comes from, its meaning, and whether it should be destroyed or safeguarded is becoming urgent.
As in His Dark Materials, Lyra's actions, and her destiny, are demonstrated to be inextricably linked with the destiny of the realm
In the previous volume, these storylines ran largely in side by side. In this final book, they converge. Similar to the original series, Lyra's actions and her fate are unveiled to be inseparably woven with the destiny of the world. Her individual mission to reconnect with her companion and rediscover her imagination becomes the key struggle in a larger battle with an controlling regime which, as such authorities often attempt, is seeking to stifle freedom of thought, originality and culture: all the personal, defiant ways in which people can be independent.
Dimensional Rifts and Philosophical Struggles
The story begins with the finding of a set of curious cracks in the structure of the world's sky: gateways that appear to open into different dimensions. A particular portal seems to be the point of the fiercely disputed mystical extract. The church, with the antagonist at its helm, classifies these openings as a threat to the church's orthodoxy and endeavors to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to shift from rigid rationalism and revert to intuition, however, her certainty that these places must be preserved – that their significance and what they offer is somehow crucial – strengthens. "Cosmic particles, or rose oil, or the creativity, or the field of roses, or no matter what we name it," she says, "we require it." The setting for a Blakean struggle between innocence and experience is established.
Plot Rhythm and Personal Evolution
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
