Tings are unraveling in the last installment of The Book of Dust, the second of Philip Pullman's grand trilogies set in a world that appears, in this volume especially, as a energized and tilted version of our own. Organizations are crumbling, or reorganizing themselves along novel and disturbing lines. An hidden force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Authority is draining from governments, and pooling in the offices of theocrats, the coffers of business empires, the grasp of rioters. "Something is at work, silently, imperceptibly", says merchant a trader character, keeping a vigilant eye on the trade routes from his place in an Aleppo cafe. "Elements we thought were firm and durable are deteriorating and collapsing."
Key Puzzle and Her Quest
Exactly what that something might be, and ways to oppose it, is the mystery that drives the concluding book, which continues where The Secret Commonwealth concluded. This is, reportedly, Pullman's concluding excursion into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting universe he first introduced three decades past, with the publication of His Dark Materials. It's a realm whose geography corresponds to that of this world, but whose history diverges and shifts with ours; where the humans appear and reason and act like us, but are joined by external spirits, essences in creature form; where the air are populated with sorceresses and gryphons, but underneath, vehicles are caught and beverages is drunk, and mature academics carry fancy shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first introduced to as a child in the original trilogy, and then met once more as a toddler in La Belle Sauvage, the origin story with which Pullman began this trilogy, is now a adult: still recognisably the sharp and determined heroine of the prior volumes, but more mature, more sorrowful, more cautious, less sure. This limitation is heightened by her split from her animal guide, Pantalaimon – but it was also, ironically, the cause which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
Pan's decision to depart in pursuit of that youthful part of her which she seems to have lost (an quality which he symbolizes as her "vision"), and her quest to rejoin with him, were the incitements of The Secret Commonwealth, which saw the protagonist undertake a picaresque trek across the continent and into the mountain region, encountering with marvel and peril on the way. But from the beginning, underlying forces were in action, and darker forces at work. The church authority – the religious controlling power, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister incarnation of rigid, bureaucratic malice – is under new leadership, and showing its strength. Lyra's uncle – Lyra's uncle, who holds responsible her for his sibling's death – has positioned himself into the role of president of the authority's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his recently acquired power to broaden the institution's dominium. Another protagonist, who rescued baby the heroine to refuge along a overflowing Thames as an 11-year-old in La Belle Sauvage, is now an university scholar with a additional duty in espionage: he is dispatched to a key location to discover more about his plans. And beneath all of this is the enigma surrounding the rare and costly rose oil which seems mysteriously to be the cause of a social and financial crisis rippling out from that area. The substance is seen by various factions as a marketable commodity, by others as a empirical or esoteric wonder, and by others still – the zealous "men from the mountains" – as a origin of darkness; an affront that must be destroyed. The issue of its source, its meaning, and whether it should be eliminated or protected is becoming urgent.
As in His Dark Materials, the heroine's deeds, and her destiny, are demonstrated to be inextricably connected with the fate of the universe
In its predecessor, these storylines ran mostly in parallel. In the conclusion, they merge. Like the first trilogy, her choices and her fate are shown to be deeply linked with the destiny of the realm. Her personal mission to reconnect with her soul and recover her creativity becomes the primary battleground in a larger conflict with an oppressive government which, as such regimes always have, is striving to quell autonomy of thinking, innovation and culture: all the inner, rebellious ways in which individuals can be independent.
Cosmic Openings and Philosophical Struggles
The book opens with the finding of a collection of unusual fissures in the makeup of the planet's sky: portals that look to lead to other worlds. An example of a opening appears to be the origin of the highly contested botanical substance. The authority, with the antagonist at its helm, labels these openings as a challenge to the religion's doctrine and sets out to destroy them. As Lyra begins to shift from strict logic and return to feeling, nevertheless, her belief that these locations must be preserved – that their significance and what they offer is somehow crucial – strengthens. "Cosmic particles, or rose oil, or the imagination, or the Rose Field, or no matter what we label it," she says, "we need it." The scene for a philosophical struggle between innocence and knowledge is set.
Story Tempo and Personal Evolution
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
