The Rose Field: Pullman's Gripping Conclusion to the His Dark Materials Saga

Tings are unraveling in the last installment of Pullman's latest trilogy, the next of the author's grand trilogies set in a realm that manifests, now more than ever, as a intense and tilted version of our own. Organizations are weakening, or restructuring themselves along novel and disquieting lines. An invisible force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Authority is flowing away from authorities, and gathering in the halls of religious leaders, the vaults of conglomerates, the control of rioters. "Something is at work, very quietly, gradually", says businessman Mustafa Bey, keeping a watchful eye on the ancient paths from his place in an city cafe. "Elements we thought were secure and strong are deteriorating and collapsing."

Key Puzzle and Her Quest

Exactly what that element might be, and ways to oppose it, is the inquiry that drives this final volume, which continues where the previous book left off. This is, reportedly, Pullman's final excursion into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting universe he first unveiled 30 years ago, with the publication of the first trilogy. It's a world whose terrain aligns with that of this world, but whose past tacks and jibes with ours; where the people appear and think and behave like us, but are joined by daemons, souls in animal form; where the heavens are filled with sorceresses and mythical beasts, but underneath, transports are caught and drinks is sipped, and older academics carry Harrods shopping bags. Lyra, whom we first encountered as a 12-year-old in the original trilogy, and then saw again as a baby in La Belle Sauvage, the introductory book with which the author began the series, is now a adult: still recognisably the prickly and determined heroine of the prior volumes, but more mature, more sorrowful, more cautious, less certain. This limitation is amplified by her division from her animal guide, her daemon – but it was also, paradoxically, the trigger which caused him to abandon her in the first place.

Merging Narratives

His choice to depart in search of that childlike part of the heroine which she may have forgotten (an aspect which he epitomises as her "imagination"), and her journey to rejoin with him, were the catalysts of The Secret Commonwealth, which followed the protagonist undertake a adventurous journey across Europe and into the Caucasus, facing with wonder and risk on the way. But from the beginning, profound shifts were in play, and darker forces at work. The Magisterium – the religious governing authority, and the author's masterfully eerie representation of strict, procedural malice – is under fresh command, and showing its strength. Marcel Delamare – our protagonist's relative, who holds responsible her for his family member's death – has manoeuvred himself into the role of leader of the church's ruling assembly, and is set on using his recently acquired authority to extend the religion's rule. Another protagonist, who carried infant the heroine to security along a swollen river as an child in the first book, is now an academic with a secondary role in espionage: he is dispatched to a key location to learn more about Delamare's plans. And beneath all of this is the enigma surrounding the scarce and precious rose oil which manifests in some way to be the cause of a societal and economic crisis rippling out from the region. The substance is regarded by certain groups as a tradeable commodity, by alternate groups as a research-based or spiritual phenomenon, and by yet others – the zealous "highland figures" – as a wellspring of malevolence; an affront that must be eradicated. The dilemma of its source, what it stands for, and whether it should be eliminated or protected is becoming urgent.

Like His Dark Materials, the heroine's actions, and her fate, are revealed to be inseparably entwined with the destiny of the universe

In The Secret Commonwealth, these plots ran mostly in parallel. In this final book, they merge. Similar to the first trilogy, her actions and her path are unveiled to be deeply linked with the destiny of the universe. Her personal quest to reconnect with her soul and recover her creativity becomes the primary struggle in a wider battle with an oppressive regime which, as these systems typically do, is attempting to quell autonomy of thinking, creativity and culture: all the internal, rebellious ways in which humans can be liberated.

Dimensional Rifts and Moral Battles

The novel opens with the discovery of a collection of unusual openings in the makeup of the Earth's air: windows that look to lead to alternate realities. A particular window seems to be the point of the fiercely disputed rose oil. The Magisterium, with Delamare at its helm, labels these windows as a threat to the religion's beliefs and endeavors to eradicate them. As Lyra begins to shift from strict rationalism and return to feeling, nevertheless, her belief that these sites must be protected – that their significance and what they offer is mysteriously essential – increases. "The substance, or rose oil, or the creativity, or the Rose Field, or no matter what we call it," she says, "it is necessary." The setting for a Blakean conflict between naivety and knowledge is prepared.

Story Tempo and Protagonist Growth

At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the