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Tings are unraveling in the final volume of The Dust Trilogy, the next of Philip Pullman's grand trilogies set in a world that seems, in this volume especially, as a energized and tilted version of our own. Establishments are weakening, or reassembling themselves along unfamiliar and troubling lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "wealth is decaying, and no one knows why". Control is draining from states, and gathering in the offices of theocrats, the treasuries of corporations, the grasp of crowds. "Some force is at work, stealthily, imperceptibly", says trader a trader character, keeping a observant eye on the Silk Roads from his seat in an city cafe. "Aspects we thought were firm and durable are faltering and failing."

Key Puzzle and Her Quest

Exactly what that element might be, and how to counteract it, is the mystery that drives The Rose Field, which resumes where its predecessor left off. This is, reportedly, Pullman's last foray into the elaborately built, infinitely beguiling world he first revealed 30 years ago, with the launch of Northern Lights. It's a world whose terrain corresponds to that of this world, but whose past diverges and shifts with ours; where the individuals look and think and behave like us, but are joined by external spirits, essences in creature form; where the skies are filled with witches and mythical beasts, but underneath, vehicles are ridden and beverages is drunk, and older scholars carry Harrods shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first introduced to as a young girl in the original trilogy, and then met once more as a baby in the first volume, the origin story with which the author began this trilogy, is now a adult: still recognisably the sharp and persistent heroine of the prior volumes, but more mature, melancholic, more careful, more doubtful. This limitation is amplified by her division from her soul companion, Pantalaimon – but it was also, unexpectedly, the catalyst which caused him to abandon her in the first place.

Converging Storylines

Pan's decision to go off in quest of that innocent part of Lyra which she seems to have lost (an trait which he symbolizes as her "creativity"), and her mission to reconnect with him, were the incitements of the prior book, which saw the protagonist undertake a picaresque trek across Europe and into the mountain region, encountering with wonder and risk on the way. But from the outset, underlying forces were in play, and malevolent elements at work. The Magisterium – the church's controlling power, and the author's brilliantly sinister embodiment of strict, procedural wickedness – is under new leadership, and showing its strength. The antagonist – the heroine's relative, who holds responsible her for his sister's death – has worked himself into the role of leader of the Magisterium's governing body, and is determined on using his newfound authority to broaden the institution's dominium. Another protagonist, who carried infant the heroine to refuge along a flooded river as an child in the first book, is now an university scholar with a secondary role in spycraft: he is assigned to a key location to learn more about his aims. And underlying all of this is the enigma surrounding the rare and costly essential oil which appears in some way to be the cause of a social and financial upheaval emanating out from Central Asia. The extract is regarded by various factions as a commercial good, by others as a scientific or spiritual wonder, and by yet others – the extremist "highland figures" – as a source of darkness; an insult that must be destroyed. The question of its source, what it stands for, and whether it should be removed or preserved is escalating in importance.

Like His Dark Materials, our protagonist's deeds, and her future, are shown to be deeply entwined with the destiny of the universe

In The Secret Commonwealth, these storylines ran largely in parallel. In the conclusion, they merge. As in His Dark Materials, her actions and her fate are unveiled to be deeply linked with the fate of the universe. Her individual quest to reconnect with her companion and recover her imagination becomes the central battleground in a wider conflict with an oppressive government which, as such regimes always have, is attempting to suppress independence of thought, innovation and culture: all the inner, rebellious ways in which individuals can be independent.

Atmospheric Fissures and Moral Battles

The book begins with the unveiling of a set of unusual cracks in the structure of the planet's air: windows that appear to lead to alternate realities. One such opening seems to be the origin of the fiercely disputed rose oil. The authority, with its leader at its helm, designates these openings as a threat to the religion's orthodoxy and aims to eradicate them. As our protagonist begins to turn away from strict rationalism and return to intuition, yet, her belief that these sites must be protected – that their meaning and what they provide is mysteriously essential – increases. "Cosmic particles, or rose oil, or the creativity, or the botanical realm, or no matter what we call it," she says, "it is necessary." The stage for a Blakean conflict between naivety and experience is set.

Plot Rhythm and Character Development

At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the