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Things are collapsing in the final volume of Pullman's latest trilogy, the next of the author's grand trilogies set in a universe that seems, in this volume especially, as a intense and slanted version of our own. Establishments are crumbling, or restructuring themselves along new and troubling lines. An invisible force "is wrecking the air and the seasons"; concurrently, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Control is draining from governments, and pooling in the chambers of religious leaders, the vaults of conglomerates, the grasp of mobs. "Something is at work, very quietly, gradually", says merchant a merchant figure, keeping a vigilant eye on the trade routes from his seat in an Aleppo cafe. "Elements we thought were firm and durable are deteriorating and failing."

Core Enigma and Lyra's Journey

Precisely what that element might be, and ways to oppose it, is the mystery that animates The Rose Field, which continues where its predecessor ended. This is, by all accounts, the author's final venture into the intricately constructed, infinitely beguiling realm he first introduced 30 years ago, with the release of Northern Lights. It's a world whose geography aligns with that of this world, but whose history tacks and jibes with ours; where the people appear and reason and behave like us, but are accompanied by daemons, essences in creature form; where the skies are filled with witches and mythical beasts, but below, vehicles are caught and drinks is consumed, and older academics carry fancy shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first encountered as a child in the original trilogy, and then revisited as a infant in the first volume, the introductory book with which Pullman began the series, is now a mature individual: still distinctly the prickly and persistent main character of the earlier books, but aged, more sorrowful, more cautious, less sure. This limitation is amplified by her division from her daemon, Pantalaimon – but it was also, unexpectedly, the catalyst which caused him to abandon her in the first place.

Converging Storylines

Pan's decision to go off in search of that childlike part of her which she appears to have shed (an trait which he represents as her "vision"), and her mission to reconnect with him, were the driving forces of its predecessor, which chronicled the protagonist undertake a picaresque trek across Europe and into the Caucasus, meeting with marvel and peril on the way. But from the outset, underlying forces were in play, and darker forces at work. The church authority – the faith's ruling body, and the author's brilliantly sinister representation of austere, procedural evil – is under new leadership, and flexing its muscles. The antagonist – Lyra's family member, who faults her for his sister's death – has manoeuvred himself into the role of president of the church's governing body, and is intent on using his newfound power to extend the church's rule. Malcolm Polstead, who rescued infant the heroine to security along a overflowing river as an child in the first book, is now an Oxford don with a sideline in intelligence work: he is sent to the city to learn more about the antagonist's aims. And behind all of this is the enigma surrounding the uncommon and costly rose oil which manifests somehow to be the cause of a social and financial crisis emanating out from that area. The extract is regarded by various factions as a tradeable commodity, by different parties as a research-based or esoteric miracle, and by further factions – the zealous "mountain dwellers" – as a origin of evil; an challenge that must be destroyed. The issue of its source, its meaning, and whether it should be removed or safeguarded is becoming urgent.

Like His Dark Materials, the heroine's actions, and her fate, are shown to be inextricably connected with the future of the universe

In the previous volume, these storylines ran largely in tandem. In The Rose Field, they converge. Similar to the original series, Lyra's actions and her fate are revealed to be inextricably woven with the destiny of the world. Her individual journey to rejoin with her soul and rediscover her vision becomes the central struggle in a larger battle with an authoritarian system which, as such regimes always have, is striving to suppress independence of thought, originality and expression: all the internal, rebellious ways in which individuals can be independent.

Atmospheric Fissures and Moral Battles

The book begins with the unveiling of a series of unusual openings in the makeup of the planet's atmosphere: windows that appear to open into other worlds. A particular portal appears to be the source of the much debated botanical substance. The Magisterium, with Delamare at its leadership, classifies these windows as a problem to the institution's beliefs and aims to eradicate them. As Lyra begins to turn away from rigid logic and revert to instinct, yet, her conviction that these sites must be preserved – that their significance and what they offer is in some way vital – strengthens. "Cosmic particles, or the substance, or the imagination, or the field of roses, or no matter what we name it," she says, "it is necessary." The scene for a philosophical tussle between naivety and experience is prepared.

Plot Rhythm and Protagonist Growth

At a substantial length, The Rose Field|this volume|the