Tings are unraveling in the concluding book of The Dust Trilogy, the second of the author's masterful trilogies set in a world that appears, now more than ever, as a energized and slanted version of our own. Establishments are failing, or reorganizing themselves along unfamiliar and disturbing lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Control is flowing away from states, and pooling in the halls of theocrats, the coffers of conglomerates, the hands of mobs. "Something is at work, very quietly, gradually", says businessman a merchant figure, keeping a vigilant eye on the Silk Roads from his post in an Aleppo cafe. "Aspects we thought were firm and strong are weakening and collapsing."
Key Puzzle and The Protagonist's Path
Exactly what that element might be, and how to counteract it, is the mystery that animates the concluding book, which continues where its predecessor left off. This is, according to many, Pullman's last excursion into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting realm he first unveiled 30 years ago, with the publication of Northern Lights. It's a world whose geography corresponds to that of our world, but whose history tacks and jibes with ours; where the people look and think and act like us, but are paired by external spirits, essences in creature form; where the air are filled with enchantresses and gryphons, but beneath those skies, transports are ridden and drinks is consumed, and older professors carry Harrods shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first met as a young girl in the original trilogy, and then saw again as a infant in the first volume, the introductory book with which the author began the series, is now a mature individual: still recognisably the sharp and persistent main character of the earlier books, but aged, more sorrowful, more careful, less sure. This circumscription is heightened by her separation from her daemon, her daemon – but it was also, unexpectedly, the catalyst which led him to leave her in the first place.
Interwoven Plots
The daemon's resolve to depart in search of that youthful part of her which she appears to have shed (an aspect which he symbolizes as her "imagination"), and her journey to rejoin with him, were the driving forces of its predecessor, which saw the protagonist undertake a wandering voyage across the continent and into the mountain region, encountering with marvel and risk on the way. But from the start, profound shifts were in action, and darker forces at work. The Magisterium – the religious ruling body, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister incarnation of austere, procedural evil – is under new leadership, and showing its strength. Lyra's uncle – our protagonist's uncle, who faults her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the position of leader of the church's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his recently acquired authority to broaden the church's control. Another protagonist, who saved young the heroine to refuge along a overflowing river as an 11-year-old in the prequel, is now an Oxford don with a secondary role in espionage: he is dispatched to a key location to find out more about the antagonist's plans. And beneath all of this is the enigma surrounding the uncommon and precious essential oil which seems somehow to be the source of a social and economic crisis spreading out from the region. The oil is regarded by various factions as a commercial good, by different parties as a scientific or esoteric miracle, and by yet others – the fanatical "men from the mountains" – as a source of evil; an affront that must be destroyed. The issue of where it comes from, its meaning, and if it should be eliminated or safeguarded is coming rapidly to the fore.
Similar to the first series, the heroine's deeds, and her fate, are demonstrated to be inextricably linked with the fate of the universe
In the previous volume, these plots ran mostly in parallel. In this final book, they converge. Similar to the original series, her choices and her destiny are unveiled to be deeply entwined with the destiny of the realm. Her personal journey to rejoin with her daemon and recover her vision becomes the key struggle in a broader war with an controlling government which, as such authorities typically do, is attempting to suppress freedom of thinking, innovation and art: all the internal, rebellious ways in which individuals can be liberated.
Cosmic Openings and Ideological Conflicts
The book opens with the discovery of a set of curious cracks in the structure of the world's sky: portals that appear to give on to alternate realities. An example of a portal seems to be the origin of the much debated botanical substance. The Magisterium, with the antagonist at its helm, labels these windows as a problem to the institution's doctrine and aims to eliminate them. As the heroine begins to turn away from inflexible reason and revert to feeling, however, her certainty that these places must be protected – that their significance and their value is mysteriously vital – strengthens. "Dust, or the substance, or the imagination, or the field of roses, or no matter what we label it," she says, "we need it." The setting for a Blakean tussle between innocence and maturity is prepared.
Plot Rhythm and Protagonist Growth
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
