Things are collapsing in the concluding book of Pullman's latest trilogy, the second of Philip Pullman's grand trilogies set in a world that appears, now more than ever, as a charged and tilted version of our own. Organizations are weakening, or reorganizing themselves along novel and disquieting lines. An unseen force "is destroying the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Power is shifting from states, and accumulating in the chambers of religious leaders, the vaults of business empires, the control of crowds. "Some force is at work, very quietly, imperceptibly", says businessman a merchant figure, keeping a watchful eye on the ancient paths from his place in an city cafe. "Things we thought were secure and strong are weakening and failing."
The Central Mystery and The Protagonist's Path
Precisely what that force might be, and methods to fight it, is the question that propels The Rose Field, which picks up where its predecessor left off. This is, by all accounts, the author's last venture into the elaborately built, endlessly enchanting universe he first revealed 30 years ago, with the release of Northern Lights. It's a domain whose landscape corresponds to that of our world, but whose chronicles veers and changes with ours; where the individuals look and think and act like us, but are joined by external spirits, essences in beast form; where the skies are populated with witches and mythical beasts, but below, buses are ridden and beverages is sipped, and older professors carry luxury shopping bags. Lyra, whom we first introduced to as a child in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then met once more as a baby in the first volume, the prequel with which Pullman began the series, is now a adult: still recognisably the sharp and tenacious main character of the prior volumes, but more mature, more sorrowful, warier, more doubtful. This restraint is intensified by her separation from her soul companion, Pantalaimon – but it was also, unexpectedly, the cause which made him desert her in the first place.
Interwoven Plots
His choice to depart in quest of that innocent part of the heroine which she appears to have shed (an quality which he epitomises as her "creativity"), and her mission to reconnect with him, were the driving forces of The Secret Commonwealth, which chronicled the protagonist undertake a adventurous trek across the continent and into the mountain region, encountering with marvel and danger on the way. But from the start, deeper currents were in motion, and darker forces at work. The religious council – the religious ruling body, and the author's masterfully eerie incarnation of austere, administrative wickedness – is under fresh command, and flexing its muscles. Marcel Delamare – our protagonist's uncle, who blames her for his family member's death – has positioned himself into the role of president of the church's governing body, and is intent on using his recently acquired influence to extend the church's rule. Malcolm Polstead, who rescued baby the heroine to refuge along a swollen Thames as an young boy in La Belle Sauvage, is now an university scholar with a additional duty in intelligence work: he is dispatched to a key location to find out more about Delamare's intentions. And behind all of this is the mystery surrounding the rare and precious rose oil which appears mysteriously to be the cause of a societal and financial upheaval rippling out from that area. The substance is regarded by certain groups as a marketable product, by alternate groups as a scientific or mystical miracle, and by further factions – the zealous "highland figures" – as a origin of malevolence; an affront that must be destroyed. The question of its source, its significance, and whether it should be destroyed or preserved is becoming urgent.
Similar to the original trilogy, the heroine's actions, and her future, are demonstrated to be inextricably entwined with the future of the universe
In its predecessor, these storylines ran mostly in parallel. In The Rose Field, they converge. Similar to the original series, the protagonist's actions and her path are unveiled to be deeply woven with the destiny of the universe. Her private quest to reunite with her daemon and recover her vision becomes the primary battleground in a broader battle with an authoritarian government which, as such regimes always have, is striving to quell freedom of thought, creativity and expression: all the inner, rebellious ways in which individuals can be liberated.
Atmospheric Fissures and Philosophical Struggles
The story opens with the discovery of a set of curious cracks in the fabric of the planet's air: gateways that seem to give on to other worlds. One such opening appears to be the point of the much debated mystical extract. The authority, with its leader at its head, labels these openings as a challenge to the church's doctrine and sets out to eliminate them. As the heroine begins to turn away from rigid reason and back to instinct, however, her belief that these places must be defended – that their meaning and what they provide is mysteriously vital – grows. "Cosmic particles, or rose oil, or the vision, or the botanical realm, or no matter what we call it," she says, "we need it." The scene for a philosophical struggle between innocence and knowledge is established.
Plot Rhythm and Character Development
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
