Tings are collapsing in the final volume of The Dust Trilogy, the second of the author's grand trilogies set in a universe that manifests, now more than ever, as a charged and skewed version of our own. Institutions are weakening, or reassembling themselves along unfamiliar and disturbing lines. An invisible force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Power is draining from authorities, and accumulating in the chambers of religious leaders, the coffers of conglomerates, the control of rioters. "Something is at work, stealthily, imperceptibly", says merchant a merchant figure, keeping a observant eye on the ancient paths from his place in an city cafe. "Things we thought were secure and durable are weakening and giving way."
Key Puzzle and Lyra's Journey
Precisely what that element might be, and how to counteract it, is the inquiry that drives this final volume, which picks up where its predecessor concluded. This is, reportedly, Pullman's final excursion into the intricately constructed, deeply captivating universe he first revealed 30 years ago, with the publication of His Dark Materials. It's a realm whose terrain corresponds to that of our world, but whose history diverges and shifts with ours; where the individuals look and think and act like us, but are accompanied by external spirits, essences in animal form; where the heavens are filled with sorceresses and mythical beasts, but underneath, transports are caught and beverages is consumed, and mature academics carry Harrods shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first encountered as a child in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then revisited as a toddler in the prequel, the introductory book with which Pullman began the series, is now a mature individual: still clearly the prickly and persistent protagonist of the earlier books, but aged, sadder, more cautious, more doubtful. This limitation is intensified by her division from her animal guide, Pantalaimon – but it was also, ironically, the trigger which led him to leave her in the first place.
Interwoven Plots
The daemon's resolve to go off in quest of that innocent part of the heroine which she may have forgotten (an aspect which he epitomises as her "imagination"), and her quest to reunite with him, were the incitements of its predecessor, which saw the protagonist undertake a picaresque voyage across Europe and into the mountain region, meeting with amazement and peril on the way. But from the outset, underlying forces were in action, and malevolent elements at work. The religious council – the church's governing authority, and the author's deliciously chilling representation of strict, procedural evil – is under new leadership, and flexing its muscles. Lyra's uncle – our protagonist's uncle, who blames her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the role of leader of the church's governing body, and is intent on using his newfound authority to broaden the church's rule. Another protagonist, who carried baby the heroine to refuge along a swollen Thames as an young boy in the prequel, is now an university scholar with a additional duty in intelligence work: he is assigned to the city to find out more about the antagonist's intentions. And behind all of this is the puzzle surrounding the uncommon and valuable botanical extract which manifests somehow to be the cause of a societal and economic crisis spreading out from the region. The substance is regarded by various factions as a tradeable commodity, by alternate groups as a empirical or mystical miracle, and by others still – the fanatical "highland figures" – as a origin of evil; an affront that must be eradicated. The issue of where it comes from, its significance, and if it should be eliminated or safeguarded is coming rapidly to the fore.
As in His Dark Materials, our protagonist's deeds, and her future, are revealed to be inseparably entwined with the fate of the universe
In the previous volume, these narratives ran broadly in parallel. In this final book, they come together. Similar to the original series, Lyra's movements and her fate are unveiled to be deeply entwined with the destiny of the universe. Her personal quest to reconnect with her daemon and recover her imagination becomes the central conflict in a larger war with an oppressive government which, as such authorities typically do, is attempting to suppress freedom of thought, creativity and art: all the personal, defiant ways in which people can be independent.
Dimensional Rifts and Philosophical Struggles
The story starts with the unveiling of a set of unusual openings in the structure of the planet's sky: windows that look to lead to different dimensions. One such opening manifests to be the point of the highly contested mystical extract. The Magisterium, with Delamare at its leadership, designates these portals as a challenge to the church's beliefs and sets out to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to move from strict rationalism and revert to intuition, nevertheless, her certainty that these places must be preserved – that what they stand for and what they offer is mysteriously essential – increases. "Dust, or the substance, or the imagination, or the field of roses, or no matter what we name it," she says, "we need it." The setting for a philosophical struggle between purity and knowledge is set.
Story Tempo and Personal Evolution
At over six hundred pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
