Things are falling apart in the concluding book of The Dust Trilogy, the next of Philip Pullman's grand trilogies set in a universe that manifests, now more than ever, as a intense and slanted version of our own. Organizations are failing, or restructuring themselves along novel and disturbing lines. An unseen force "is destroying the air and the seasons"; concurrently, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Power is draining from states, and accumulating in the offices of theocrats, the treasuries of business empires, the control of rioters. "Something is at work, stealthily, very subtly", says trader a merchant figure, keeping a watchful eye on the ancient paths from his post in an city cafe. "Elements we thought were secure and strong are deteriorating and giving way."
Key Puzzle and The Protagonist's Path
Exactly what that something might be, and methods to fight it, is the question that animates this final volume, which picks up where the previous book left off. This is, reportedly, Pullman's concluding excursion into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting world he first introduced in the distant past, with the publication of the first trilogy. It's a realm whose terrain aligns with that of the real world, but whose past diverges and shifts with ours; where the people look and think and act like us, but are joined by external spirits, beings in animal form; where the heavens are filled with enchantresses and legendary creatures, but underneath, vehicles are taken and drinks is consumed, and older scholars carry fancy shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first introduced to as a 12-year-old in the original trilogy, and then revisited as a baby in La Belle Sauvage, the introductory book with which the author began this trilogy, is now a mature individual: still clearly the prickly and determined protagonist of the previous installments, but aged, more sorrowful, more careful, less certain. This limitation is intensified by her separation from her soul companion, Pantalaimon – but it was also, paradoxically, the catalyst which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
His choice to go off in pursuit of that childlike part of the heroine which she appears to have shed (an trait which he symbolizes as her "vision"), and her mission to reunite with him, were the catalysts of the prior book, which saw Lyra undertake a adventurous voyage across the continent and into the Caucasus, meeting with wonder and peril on the way. But from the start, underlying forces were in play, and darker forces at work. The church authority – the religious governing authority, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister representation of rigid, administrative malice – is under recent guidance, and flexing its muscles. The antagonist – Lyra's family member, who holds responsible her for his sister's death – has worked himself into the role of head of the church's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his recently acquired power to extend the church's rule. Another protagonist, who saved baby the heroine to safety along a flooded Thames as an young boy in the first book, is now an university scholar with a additional duty in espionage: he is sent to the city to learn more about Delamare's aims. And underlying all of this is the enigma surrounding the rare and valuable rose oil which manifests somehow to be the source of a social and financial upheaval emanating out from the region. The oil is regarded by certain groups as a tradeable commodity, by alternate groups as a research-based or esoteric wonder, and by further factions – the zealous "men from the mountains" – as a source of evil; an challenge that must be obliterated. The issue of its origins, what it stands for, and if it should be destroyed or safeguarded is becoming urgent.
Like His Dark Materials, our protagonist's decisions, and her destiny, are revealed to be inextricably connected with the fate of the world
In its predecessor, these narratives ran broadly in parallel. In this final book, they merge. As in the original series, the protagonist's choices and her destiny are unveiled to be inextricably woven with the fate of the universe. Her personal mission to rejoin with her soul and recover her imagination becomes the primary struggle in a larger war with an authoritarian government which, as these systems often attempt, is seeking to stifle autonomy of reason, innovation and art: all the personal, resistant ways in which individuals can be independent.
Cosmic Openings and Moral Battles
The story starts with the finding of a collection of unusual openings in the fabric of the planet's atmosphere: gateways that seem to open into other worlds. An example of a portal manifests to be the source of the much debated rose oil. The Magisterium, with the antagonist at its helm, classifies these portals as a problem to the religion's doctrine and sets out to eliminate them. As Lyra begins to turn away from strict rationalism and back to instinct, nevertheless, her certainty that these locations must be preserved – that what they stand for and what they offer is in some way vital – grows. "Cosmic particles, or the extract, or the imagination, or the field of roses, or whatever we name it," she says, "we need it." The setting for a Blakean tussle between naivety and knowledge is prepared.
Story Tempo and Personal Evolution
At over six hundred pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
