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Things are falling apart in the concluding book of The Book of Dust, the second of the author's masterful trilogies set in a world that appears, here more than ever, as a charged and skewed version of our own. Organizations are failing, or restructuring themselves along novel and disquieting lines. An invisible force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "money's going bad, and no one knows why". Authority is shifting from authorities, and accumulating in the offices of theocrats, the treasuries of business empires, the grasp of rioters. "Some force is at work, very quietly, very subtly", says businessman Mustafa Bey, keeping a observant eye on the trade routes from his post in an city cafe. "Aspects we thought were stable and durable are faltering and collapsing."

Key Puzzle and Lyra's Journey

Exactly what that something might be, and methods to fight it, is the mystery that propels The Rose Field, which picks up where the previous book left off. This is, reportedly, the author's last foray into the carefully crafted, deeply captivating realm he first introduced three decades past, with the publication of the first trilogy. It's a realm whose terrain aligns with that of the real world, but whose past tacks and jibes with ours; where the individuals look and reason and act like us, but are paired by external spirits, essences in animal form; where the air are filled with sorceresses and legendary creatures, but below, transports are ridden and beverages is drunk, and mature scholars carry fancy shopping bags. Lyra, whom we first introduced to as a child in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then revisited as a toddler in La Belle Sauvage, the origin story with which Pullman began this trilogy, is now a adult: still distinctly the spiky and persistent protagonist of the earlier books, but more mature, sadder, more cautious, less sure. This limitation is intensified by her division from her daemon, Pantalaimon – but it was also, unexpectedly, the catalyst which made him desert her in the first place.

Merging Narratives

Pan's decision to depart in pursuit of that innocent part of her which she may have forgotten (an trait which he epitomises as her "creativity"), and her quest to reconnect with him, were the driving forces of The Secret Commonwealth, which followed the protagonist undertake a wandering trek across the continent and into the Caucasus, encountering with amazement and risk on the way. But from the beginning, deeper currents were in play, and darker forces at work. The church authority – the faith's controlling power, and Pullman's masterfully eerie embodiment of austere, administrative malice – is under new leadership, and showing its strength. Marcel Delamare – Lyra's uncle, who holds responsible her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the office of head of the Magisterium's ruling assembly, and is set on using his recently acquired authority to expand the institution's dominium. Malcolm Polstead, who rescued baby Lyra to safety along a flooded river as an 11-year-old in the first book, is now an university scholar with a sideline in espionage: he is dispatched to a key location to discover more about Delamare's plans. And behind all of this is the mystery surrounding the rare and precious rose oil which manifests somehow to be the cause of a social and economic disturbance spreading out from that area. The extract is viewed by various factions as a tradeable commodity, by alternate groups as a empirical or mystical phenomenon, and by others still – the fanatical "highland figures" – as a source of malevolence; an challenge that must be destroyed. The dilemma of its origins, what it stands for, and whether it should be removed or preserved is escalating in importance.

Similar to His Dark Materials, Lyra's actions, and her destiny, are demonstrated to be deeply linked with the destiny of the universe

In the previous volume, these plots ran largely in side by side. In The Rose Field, they merge. As in the original series, Lyra's movements and her destiny are revealed to be inseparably entwined with the destiny of the world. Her private journey to reunite with her companion and rediscover her vision becomes the primary conflict in a larger battle with an controlling regime which, as these systems often attempt, is attempting to stifle independence of reason, innovation and culture: all the inner, resistant ways in which people can be liberated.

Cosmic Openings and Philosophical Struggles

The story starts with the unveiling of a set of curious fissures in the fabric of the planet's air: portals that appear to give on to alternate realities. A particular window manifests to be the source of the much debated rose oil. The Magisterium, with Delamare at its head, designates these windows as a challenge to the church's beliefs and aims to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to move from strict logic and return to instinct, however, her conviction that these places must be protected – that their significance and what they provide is in some way essential – strengthens. "The substance, or the substance, or the vision, or the field of roses, or whatever we call it," she says, "we need it." The stage for a philosophical tussle between naivety and maturity is set.

Story Tempo and Protagonist Growth

At 640 pages, The Rose Field|this volume|the