Tings are falling apart in the last installment of The Book of Dust, the second of the author's grand trilogies set in a universe that appears, now more than ever, as a charged and skewed version of our own. Institutions are crumbling, or reorganizing themselves along novel and disquieting lines. An hidden force "is destroying the air and the seasons"; concurrently, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Control is shifting from authorities, and accumulating in the halls of religious leaders, the vaults of corporations, the hands of crowds. "An element is at work, very quietly, gradually", says trader a trader character, keeping a observant eye on the ancient paths from his place in an city cafe. "Aspects we thought were firm and durable are deteriorating and failing."
Key Puzzle and The Protagonist's Path
Precisely what that element might be, and methods to fight it, is the question that animates the concluding book, which resumes where its predecessor left off. This is, reportedly, the author's last excursion into the intricately constructed, deeply captivating realm he first introduced 30 years ago, with the publication of the first trilogy. It's a domain whose landscape aligns with that of the real world, but whose history diverges and shifts with ours; where the people look and think and act like us, but are paired by daemons, souls in beast form; where the air are filled with enchantresses and legendary creatures, but underneath, transports are ridden and tea is sipped, and middle-aged scholars carry fancy shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first introduced to as a child in the original trilogy, and then revisited as a toddler in the first volume, the prequel with which the author began the series, is now a adult: still distinctly the sharp and determined protagonist of the earlier books, but aged, melancholic, warier, more doubtful. This restraint is heightened by her separation from her animal guide, Pantalaimon – but it was also, ironically, the catalyst which made him desert her in the first place.
Interwoven Plots
Pan's decision to depart in quest of that youthful part of her which she seems to have lost (an aspect which he represents as her "creativity"), and her quest to rejoin with him, were the catalysts of its predecessor, which followed the protagonist undertake a wandering voyage across the continent and into the Caucasus, encountering with amazement and peril on the way. But from the outset, deeper currents were in play, and malevolent elements at work. The church authority – the religious ruling body, and Pullman's masterfully eerie embodiment of strict, bureaucratic malice – is under new leadership, and flexing its muscles. Lyra's uncle – our protagonist's uncle, who holds responsible her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the office of leader of the Magisterium's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his fresh power to extend the church's rule. A key character, who rescued young the heroine to refuge along a swollen Thames as an 11-year-old in the first book, is now an Oxford don with a additional duty in spycraft: he is sent to Geneva to find out more about the antagonist's intentions. And behind all of this is the puzzle surrounding the rare and valuable essential oil which appears mysteriously to be the cause of a social and economic disturbance spreading out from that area. The substance is regarded by various factions as a marketable commodity, by others as a empirical or spiritual miracle, and by others still – the fanatical "highland figures" – as a origin of evil; an challenge that must be eradicated. The question of its source, its significance, and whether it should be eliminated or preserved is coming rapidly to the fore.
Similar to His Dark Materials, the heroine's deeds, and her fate, are revealed to be inextricably linked with the fate of the realm
In the previous volume, these narratives ran mostly in tandem. In the conclusion, they converge. Like the original series, her movements and her path are revealed to be deeply entwined with the future of the realm. Her private journey to rejoin with her companion and rediscover her vision becomes the key conflict in a larger battle with an oppressive government which, as such authorities often attempt, is seeking to suppress freedom of thought, creativity and art: all the inner, rebellious ways in which humans can be liberated.
Dimensional Rifts and Moral Battles
The story starts with the finding of a collection of curious fissures in the fabric of the world's atmosphere: windows that appear to open into different dimensions. A particular portal manifests to be the origin of the much debated botanical substance. The Magisterium, with Delamare at its leadership, classifies these openings as a problem to the church's orthodoxy and sets out to eliminate them. As the heroine begins to shift from strict reason and return to instinct, yet, her conviction that these sites must be preserved – that their meaning and what they offer is mysteriously crucial – strengthens. "Dust, or rose oil, or the vision, or the botanical realm, or whatever we name it," she says, "we require it." The scene for a philosophical conflict between naivety and knowledge is prepared.
Plot Rhythm and Protagonist Growth
At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the