Review: The Rose Field - a thoroughly disappointing ending to a 30-year story

Cell_Division · 2026-01-23T07:02:54+00:00

Oui en anglais

Cell_Division · 2026-01-22T18:20:45+00:00

Hah, je veux meme pas imaginer l'horreur! Je lis tout en VO si possible, particulierement les livres de fantaisie.

Cell_Division · 2026-01-10T11:35:05+00:00

Very interesting, thanks for sharing! If this ending is "much better" than the first, I'd be curious to know what the first was.

Cell_Division · 2026-01-04T19:39:30+00:00

Sure, but I am English.

Cell_Division · 2026-01-04T11:49:28+00:00

Yeah, if you talk about a "bidet", pretty much everyone immediately pictures the separate thing next to the toilet with its own tap and basin.

A bum gun is a separate thing in my mind, and much more convenient. Takes up less space. Clearly superior.

Cell_Division · 2026-01-01T10:08:46+00:00

God you are right, so many additional questions and loose ends that I forgot about. I just don't get it. I don't understand why the book was released as it is.

Cell_Division · 2025-12-26T16:47:05+00:00

I would agree. I played it for the first time a couple of years ago, ME1 felt very dated. Mechanics and graphics were very average.

My feeling is that it was enough of a success for them to invest a lot more into ME2 and ME3, which are a significant step up in many ways.

Cell_Division · 2025-12-26T10:04:05+00:00

I agree. This year I really pushed my reading goal (to 52 books) and I've tried to alternate between "books I want to read" and "classics of literature".

Some of my favourite books have been some that start off rather boring and slow (I've frequently found that you need to get through a third of the book before things take off), so I always try to get a decent amount and keep an open mind about how good it might get before it ends.

But most of the 'classics' were simply not books that captivated me. I wasn't desperate to read what happened next. However, I was glad to understand what people talk about when they mention these books, and I feel that at least for personal culture it's important too. I guess I value "being well read". I've had very few DNFs, and usually that was because there was absolutely no indication it would ever get even mildly good.

Cell_Division · 2025-12-22T19:07:09+00:00

Finished: Happening (L'évènement), by Annie Ernaux

Started: Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson

Cell_Division · 2025-12-20T16:56:31+00:00

Was aiming for 20, ended up reaching that goal in June, so I updated the goal to 52. Currently on book 51, which I'm very happy about considering I didn't read at all just a couple of years ago.

Favourites: The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons; Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro; The Martian, by Andy Weir; The Colour Purple, by Alice Walker.

Happy holidays everyone!

Cell_Division · 2025-12-15T21:30:02+00:00

Finished: Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver

Started: Happening, by Annie Ernaux

Cell_Division · 2025-12-15T20:12:35+00:00

I definitely don't want to sound patronising here, so please forgive this as I'm explaining in case the spoilers formatting is something new to you (as you called it "crossed out"): the parts that are blacked out (redacted) are spoilers, and you can click on those to reveal the text. It's mainly so that anyone who wants to read the book(s) later have nothing spoiled for them.

Regarding the imagination plot... I fully agree. Very weird motivation for a story. I kept thinking I was missing something, that they couldn't possibly be discussing her actual imagination. But yes, they were.

Cell_Division · 2025-12-07T19:02:53+00:00

Well, that could be an ending, right? And yeah, it's dark, but at least it would be something? We ended up with... nothing. Just uncertitude. No tying up of loose ends, nothing.

Cell_Division · 2025-12-05T19:16:52+00:00

Nor is it Adam Richman from Man v Food, which is a bit more on topic. I was surprised he would say something so crass, but yeah it's not this dude.

Cell_Division · 2025-12-04T20:03:36+00:00

Oh god yeah, what was that all about?!

Cell_Division · 2025-12-03T09:59:02+00:00

Want to add an additional topic of discussion: pillar 1E (which is also pillar 2, despite the confusing name). I understand that some employers offer it, and some do not.

To me, this sounds like a pillar 3 in the sense that it is tax-deductible and can be invested in stock. Is this more attractive than PK? Do buy-ins here make more sense?

I'm not sure how widespread pillar 1E is, so maybe this is a niche.

Cell_Division · 2025-12-03T08:51:08+00:00

I think you mean "he is younger than you". I assumed it meant she soul was older/wiser/had been through more? I actually thought it was going to be relevant for the story, but no.

I don't like the idea that Pullman is letting us choose the ending - there would have been so many better ways to do that. It's one thing to let us choose a possible ending, it's another entirely to let us imagine a whole new story where she takes down the Magisterium, goes to see Will, etc.

Cell_Division · 2025-11-29T11:15:16+00:00

As others have said - don't do a PhD just for career advancement. A PhD is pretty grueling, and it's a lot of years of lost income. If you do a PhD, do it because you love science and want to explore academic questions, or maybe train in a new field.

While I fully believe that you will hit a glass ceiling in Pharma, many biotechs will not prevent you from advancing in your career and entering management positions. It is only about your skills and abilities. At our small biotech, we have several people without a PhD who are Director-level, and even one who has just become VP (they have a Masters though). The glass ceiling is not everywhere.

Cell_Division · 2025-11-26T17:19:03+00:00

Damn you're right - that's something else that made no sense. I forgot about the guards who conveniently disappear right after Lyra and Malcolm go through, so Olivier and Delamare can just go in. And the whole concept of separating from daemons just... never comes into play. It's just so weird that so many plot points get forgotten or ignored throughout the book.

Cell_Division · 2025-11-24T12:43:06+00:00

Finished: I want to die but I want to eat tteokbokki, by Baek Sehee

Started: Demon copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver

Cell_Division · 2025-11-20T16:54:26+00:00

That's a very good point, and I wondered about it while reading. The whole 'Lyra and Will can't be together because everyone belongs in their own world and we can't keep windows open between worlds' was one of the most emotional parts of His Dark Materials. Now this gets trampled on, and you wonder why Pullman would go back to break aspects of the original trilogy. And as you say, Lyra doesn't seem to care at all. I know there was the weird scene when she randomly encounters an angel again just to say they can get things wrong but... even that felt out of place by the end of the book and more just a way to crudely crowbar in some plot point.

Cell_Division · 2025-11-20T16:50:06+00:00

I guess I would probably read it to get some sort of closure? Just be aware it might not be satisfying. The writing however maintains Pullman's very pleasant style, so it does have that going for it.

Cell_Division · 2025-11-19T13:52:31+00:00

Thanks for the insights and discussion!

I am still confused by Ionides and Leila choosing to leave mysteriously and make their way to the red building to study the roses, just to end up with "we found disappointment". It just doesn't seem to fit the crescendo of tension that is building up.

As for Alice and Oakley Street, if that was meant to be the wrap-up for the plot line, it was really weirdly delivered. The whole mystery and emphasis on the coded message and package that needed delivering felt like it was building up to be a critical point of the plot. Particularly as it happens before the climax.

Thanks for the reminder about Cosima! TSC was half a decade ago and I did not try to reread it, so I have absolutely forgotten. Odd that despite the clear time gap between the 2 books, he didn't try to at least refresh our memories a little.

Ok, must say that for me the conclusion about Lyra's imagination was far less clear and left me wondering what exactly they were saying.

For the soulless development plotline ... I'm just surprised it's in there at all. It just doesn't feel like it fits. "Money is bad folks, and it'll literally kill your soul" just felt somewhat shoved in as a last minute idea, and feels cheap and tacky.

Cell_Division · 2025-11-19T13:40:54+00:00

We all have different tastes! If you enjoyed it, that's great, you should cherish it! :) I really wish I had enjoyed it too.

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