Things are unraveling in the final volume of The Dust Trilogy, the second of Philip Pullman's masterful trilogies set in a universe that manifests, here more than ever, as a intense and tilted version of our own. Organizations are failing, or reorganizing themselves along novel and disquieting lines. An unseen force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Power is shifting from authorities, and accumulating in the chambers of theocrats, the coffers of corporations, the grasp of rioters. "Something is at work, very quietly, gradually", says merchant a trader character, keeping a observant eye on the Silk Roads from his post in an city cafe. "Elements we thought were secure and durable are deteriorating and failing."
Key Puzzle and The Protagonist's Path
Precisely what that force might be, and methods to fight it, is the question that animates the concluding book, which resumes where The Secret Commonwealth left off. This is, reportedly, Pullman's last excursion into the intricately constructed, infinitely beguiling universe he first revealed in the distant past, with the release of the first trilogy. It's a domain whose geography maps on to that of our world, but whose chronicles tacks and jibes with ours; where the people look and reason and act like us, but are paired by daemons, souls in animal form; where the skies are filled with sorceresses and mythical beasts, but below, buses are ridden and drinks is consumed, and mature professors carry luxury shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first met as a young girl in the first trilogy, and then met once more as a toddler in the prequel, the origin story with which Pullman began the series, is now a mature individual: still clearly the prickly and persistent heroine of the previous installments, but more mature, more sorrowful, more cautious, more doubtful. This restraint is amplified by her separation from her soul companion, Pan – but it was also, unexpectedly, the catalyst which led him to leave her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
Pan's decision to leave in quest of that innocent part of her which she seems to have lost (an aspect which he represents as her "vision"), and her quest to reunite with him, were the driving forces of The Secret Commonwealth, which followed the protagonist undertake a adventurous voyage across the continent and into the Caucasus, meeting with marvel and danger on the way. But from the beginning, profound shifts were in play, and sinister powers at work. The church authority – the faith's governing authority, and Pullman's deliciously chilling embodiment of rigid, procedural wickedness – is under new leadership, and flexing its muscles. Lyra's uncle – our protagonist's relative, who holds responsible her for his sibling's death – has positioned himself into the office of president of the Magisterium's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his fresh authority to expand the religion's control. Another protagonist, who saved young the heroine to safety along a overflowing Thames as an 11-year-old in La Belle Sauvage, is now an university scholar with a sideline in intelligence work: he is dispatched to Geneva to discover more about his plans. And beneath all of this is the puzzle surrounding the scarce and costly essential oil which appears somehow to be the source of a societal and economic crisis emanating out from the region. The oil is regarded by certain groups as a tradeable product, by others as a scientific or spiritual phenomenon, and by yet others – the zealous "mountain dwellers" – as a wellspring of darkness; an challenge that must be obliterated. The question of where it comes from, its significance, and if it should be removed or protected is escalating in importance.
Similar to the first series, our protagonist's decisions, and her fate, are demonstrated to be inextricably entwined with the future of the realm
In the previous volume, these storylines ran broadly in parallel. In the conclusion, they merge. Similar to the original series, her movements and her destiny are shown to be deeply woven with the future of the realm. Her individual mission to rejoin with her soul and recover her vision becomes the key battleground in a broader conflict with an oppressive government which, as such authorities often attempt, is attempting to quell autonomy of reason, originality and culture: all the personal, rebellious ways in which humans can be free.
Atmospheric Fissures and Ideological Conflicts
The book begins with the finding of a set of unusual cracks in the structure of the Earth's atmosphere: portals that seem to give on to different dimensions. A particular window appears to be the source of the fiercely disputed rose oil. The Magisterium, with the antagonist at its head, labels these openings as a threat to the institution's orthodoxy and sets out to eradicate them. As the heroine begins to turn away from rigid reason and return to feeling, yet, her conviction that these sites must be preserved – that what they stand for and their value is somehow essential – strengthens. "The substance, or rose oil, or the creativity, or the Rose Field, or whatever we label it," she says, "we need it." The setting for a philosophical tussle between purity and knowledge is prepared.
Narrative Pacing and Personal Evolution
At over six hundred pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the
