Tings are collapsing in the final volume of The Dust Trilogy, the second of Philip Pullman's magisterial trilogies set in a universe that appears, here more than ever, as a charged and tilted version of our own. Establishments are crumbling, or reorganizing themselves along unfamiliar and disquieting lines. An unseen force "is destroying the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Control is shifting from states, and accumulating in the chambers of theocrats, the coffers of conglomerates, the hands of rioters. "Something is at work, stealthily, gradually", says trader Mustafa Bey, keeping a vigilant eye on the ancient paths from his post in an city cafe. "Elements we thought were firm and strong are weakening and giving way."
Key Puzzle and Lyra's Journey
Just what that something might be, and how to counteract it, is the mystery that animates this final volume, which resumes where its predecessor concluded. This is, reportedly, Pullman's final foray into the intricately constructed, endlessly enchanting realm he first unveiled 30 years ago, with the launch of the first trilogy. It's a realm whose terrain aligns with that of our world, but whose past diverges and shifts with ours; where the individuals appear and reason and behave like us, but are accompanied by animal souls, souls in beast form; where the heavens are filled with witches and gryphons, but beneath those skies, transports are ridden and drinks is consumed, and middle-aged professors carry fancy shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first encountered as a child in the first trilogy, and then revisited as a infant in the first volume, the origin story with which the author began this trilogy, is now a young woman: still recognisably the prickly and persistent main character of the prior volumes, but aged, sadder, more careful, less sure. This limitation is amplified by her separation from her animal guide, Pan – but it was also, unexpectedly, the trigger which made him desert her in the first place.
Converging Storylines
Pan's decision to leave in quest of that childlike part of Lyra which she may have forgotten (an aspect which he represents as her "vision"), and her quest to rejoin with him, were the driving forces of its predecessor, which saw the protagonist undertake a picaresque voyage across Europe and into the mountain region, encountering with marvel and danger on the way. But from the start, profound shifts were in play, and darker forces at work. The religious council – the faith's controlling power, and the author's deliciously chilling embodiment of austere, administrative evil – is under fresh command, and flexing its muscles. Lyra's uncle – the heroine's family member, who holds responsible her for his sibling's death – has worked himself into the position of leader of the Magisterium's governing body, and is set on using his newfound power to expand the institution's control. A key character, who saved baby the heroine to refuge along a overflowing river as an 11-year-old in La Belle Sauvage, is now an university scholar with a additional duty in spycraft: he is assigned to a key location to learn more about his aims. And underlying all of this is the enigma surrounding the rare and valuable essential oil which appears somehow to be the origin of a social and financial crisis emanating out from Central Asia. The substance is seen by some as a marketable good, by others as a research-based or mystical miracle, and by yet others – the zealous "men from the mountains" – as a origin of malevolence; an affront that must be obliterated. The issue of its origins, what it stands for, and if it should be eliminated or protected is coming rapidly to the fore.
Similar to the original trilogy, our protagonist's deeds, and her future, are demonstrated to be deeply linked with the future of the world
In the previous volume, these narratives ran largely in side by side. In the conclusion, they converge. As in the original series, her choices and her destiny are revealed to be inextricably woven with the destiny of the universe. Her individual quest to rejoin with her soul and recover her imagination becomes the key struggle in a wider war with an controlling system which, as such authorities often attempt, is striving to quell freedom of thinking, creativity and expression: all the inner, rebellious ways in which humans can be free.
Atmospheric Fissures and Ideological Conflicts
The story begins with the unveiling of a series of curious cracks in the makeup of the Earth's atmosphere: gateways that appear to open into alternate realities. One such opening manifests to be the source of the much debated botanical substance. The authority, with the antagonist at its helm, labels these windows as a threat to the church's doctrine and endeavors to eradicate them. As the heroine begins to move from strict logic and revert to instinct, nevertheless, her belief that these sites must be protected – that their meaning and what they provide is mysteriously crucial – strengthens. "Cosmic particles, or rose oil, or the vision, or the Rose Field, or no matter what we name it," she says, "it is necessary." The setting for a philosophical tussle between innocence and experience is prepared.
Narrative Pacing and Character Development
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
