Things are falling apart in the last installment of The Dust Trilogy, the next of the author's masterful trilogies set in a universe that seems, here more than ever, as a charged and slanted version of our own. Establishments are failing, or reassembling themselves along novel and troubling lines. An invisible force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Control is draining from authorities, and pooling in the chambers of theocrats, the coffers of corporations, the grasp of crowds. "Something is at work, silently, imperceptibly", says businessman Mustafa Bey, keeping a watchful eye on the ancient paths from his seat in an city cafe. "Things we thought were secure and solid are deteriorating and collapsing."
Core Enigma and Her Quest
Precisely what that something might be, and how to counteract it, is the inquiry that drives the concluding book, which resumes where its predecessor concluded. This is, reportedly, the author's final foray into the intricately constructed, infinitely beguiling universe he first unveiled 30 years ago, with the release of His Dark Materials. It's a domain whose geography maps on to that of our world, but whose chronicles tacks and jibes with ours; where the humans appear and reason and behave like us, but are accompanied by daemons, beings in creature form; where the skies are populated with enchantresses and gryphons, but underneath, buses are ridden and drinks is sipped, and middle-aged scholars carry fancy shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first introduced to as a child in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then revisited as a toddler in the prequel, the origin story with which the author began The Book of Dust, is now a mature individual: still clearly the prickly and determined main character of the prior volumes, but aged, melancholic, more cautious, less certain. This circumscription is amplified by her split from her daemon, Pan – but it was also, unexpectedly, the cause which caused him to abandon her in the first place.
Interwoven Plots
Pan's decision to depart in search of that youthful part of the heroine which she may have forgotten (an trait which he represents as her "creativity"), and her mission to reconnect with him, were the incitements of The Secret Commonwealth, which chronicled the protagonist undertake a adventurous trek across the continent and into the Caucasus, meeting with marvel and peril on the way. But from the beginning, underlying forces were in action, and malevolent elements at work. The Magisterium – the religious controlling power, and the author's brilliantly sinister representation of strict, bureaucratic wickedness – is under fresh command, and showing its strength. The antagonist – Lyra's family member, who faults her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the office of leader of the church's governing body, and is intent on using his fresh influence to broaden the church's rule. A key character, who carried baby Lyra to security along a overflowing river as an young boy in the first book, is now an academic with a additional duty in espionage: he is dispatched to Geneva to find out more about the antagonist's aims. And beneath all of this is the mystery surrounding the uncommon and precious botanical extract which appears mysteriously to be the cause of a social and economic upheaval emanating out from Central Asia. The oil is regarded by various factions as a marketable commodity, by different parties as a scientific or mystical phenomenon, and by further factions – the zealous "highland figures" – as a wellspring of evil; an insult that must be obliterated. The dilemma of its origins, its significance, and whether it should be destroyed or preserved is becoming urgent.
Like the original trilogy, Lyra's decisions, and her future, are revealed to be deeply entwined with the future of the universe
In The Secret Commonwealth, these narratives ran broadly in tandem. In this final book, they merge. Like the first trilogy, Lyra's movements and her path are unveiled to be inextricably entwined with the destiny of the universe. Her private journey to reunite with her daemon and recover her vision becomes the central struggle in a larger war with an authoritarian government which, as such authorities often attempt, is seeking to quell autonomy of thinking, creativity and art: all the inner, defiant ways in which people can be free.
Atmospheric Fissures and Moral Battles
The story starts with the discovery of a collection of unusual openings in the structure of the Earth's air: portals that seem to give on to other worlds. One such opening seems to be the source of the fiercely disputed mystical extract. The church, with its leader at its head, designates these windows as a problem to the religion's beliefs and sets out to eradicate them. As our protagonist begins to shift from strict rationalism and back to intuition, yet, her belief that these locations must be defended – that what they stand for and what they offer is somehow vital – increases. "Dust, or the substance, or the vision, or the field of roses, or whatever we name it," she says, "we require it." The scene for a poetic conflict between naivety and experience is established.
Story Tempo and Personal Evolution
At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the
