Tings are collapsing in the last installment of Pullman's latest trilogy, the next of the author's magisterial trilogies set in a realm that manifests, in this volume especially, as a intense and slanted version of our own. Organizations are failing, or restructuring themselves along novel and disturbing lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Power is shifting from governments, and pooling in the halls of religious leaders, the treasuries of business empires, the hands of rioters. "Some force is at work, very quietly, very subtly", says businessman a trader character, keeping a vigilant eye on the trade routes from his post in an city cafe. "Elements we thought were secure and strong are weakening and failing."
The Central Mystery and Her Quest
Precisely what that something might be, and methods to fight it, is the question that animates The Rose Field, which resumes where its predecessor concluded. This is, reportedly, the author's concluding foray into the intricately constructed, deeply captivating world he first unveiled in the distant past, with the publication of Northern Lights. It's a domain whose landscape corresponds to that of this world, but whose chronicles tacks and jibes with ours; where the humans appear and think and behave like us, but are joined by external spirits, souls in animal form; where the skies are teeming with enchantresses and mythical beasts, but below, vehicles are caught and beverages is consumed, and older scholars carry Harrods shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first met as a child in the original trilogy, and then met once more as a toddler in the first volume, the prequel with which the author began the series, is now a mature individual: still clearly the prickly and determined main character of the prior volumes, but older, sadder, more careful, less sure. This restraint is amplified by her division from her daemon, Pantalaimon – but it was also, ironically, the cause which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
The daemon's resolve to depart in quest of that youthful part of her which she appears to have shed (an aspect which he symbolizes as her "creativity"), and her journey to reconnect with him, were the catalysts of The Secret Commonwealth, which chronicled the protagonist undertake a adventurous journey across the continent and into the Caucasus, encountering with marvel and peril on the way. But from the beginning, underlying forces were in action, and malevolent elements at work. The Magisterium – the church's governing authority, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister representation of austere, bureaucratic malice – is under fresh command, and flexing its muscles. The antagonist – the heroine's family member, who holds responsible her for his sibling's death – has worked himself into the position of leader of the authority's High Council, and is set on using his recently acquired influence to broaden the church's dominium. Another protagonist, who rescued young Lyra to security along a overflowing river as an 11-year-old in La Belle Sauvage, is now an academic with a additional duty in spycraft: he is dispatched to a key location to discover more about Delamare's intentions. And behind all of this is the mystery surrounding the scarce and costly essential oil which appears somehow to be the cause of a social and financial disturbance spreading out from Central Asia. The extract is seen by some as a commercial good, by others as a scientific or spiritual miracle, and by others still – the extremist "highland figures" – as a source of malevolence; an challenge that must be destroyed. The dilemma of its source, what it stands for, and if it should be destroyed or protected is escalating in importance.
Like the original trilogy, the heroine's decisions, and her future, are shown to be inextricably connected with the destiny of the universe
In its predecessor, these plots ran mostly in parallel. In the conclusion, they merge. As in the first trilogy, her choices and her path are shown to be inextricably entwined with the destiny of the realm. Her personal journey to reunite with her companion and rediscover her vision becomes the key battleground in a broader battle with an oppressive government which, as such authorities typically do, is striving to quell freedom of reason, creativity and art: all the personal, rebellious ways in which humans can be free.
Atmospheric Fissures and Philosophical Struggles
The novel opens with the discovery of a series of curious openings in the makeup of the world's air: windows that appear to lead to other worlds. One such opening manifests to be the origin of the highly contested rose oil. The church, with Delamare at its head, designates these windows as a threat to the institution's orthodoxy and endeavors to eradicate them. As Lyra begins to turn away from strict reason and return to instinct, however, her conviction that these places must be protected – that their significance and what they offer is in some way essential – increases. "The substance, or rose oil, or the creativity, or the botanical realm, or no matter what we name it," she says, "we require it." The setting for a poetic tussle between purity and maturity is set.
Narrative Pacing and Character Development
At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
