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Things are falling apart in the concluding book of Pullman's latest trilogy, the next of the author's masterful trilogies set in a realm that appears, here more than ever, as a intense and tilted version of our own. Institutions are weakening, or reassembling themselves along new and disquieting lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Power is shifting from authorities, and pooling in the halls of religious leaders, the coffers of conglomerates, the hands of crowds. "Some force is at work, stealthily, very subtly", says trader a merchant figure, keeping a vigilant eye on the trade routes from his place in an city cafe. "Things we thought were secure and durable are deteriorating and collapsing."

Key Puzzle and The Protagonist's Path

Precisely what that force might be, and methods to fight it, is the mystery that animates this final volume, which picks up where The Secret Commonwealth ended. This is, by all accounts, the author's last excursion into the intricately constructed, infinitely beguiling world he first unveiled in the distant past, with the release of the first trilogy. It's a domain whose landscape maps on to that of the real world, but whose past diverges and shifts with ours; where the humans look and reason and behave like us, but are accompanied by animal souls, souls in animal form; where the skies are populated with enchantresses and legendary creatures, but below, buses are caught and tea is drunk, and middle-aged scholars carry luxury shopping bags. The protagonist, whom we first encountered as a young girl in the His Dark Materials trilogy, and then saw again as a toddler in the first volume, the introductory book with which Pullman began The Book of Dust, is now a adult: still distinctly the sharp and tenacious protagonist of the prior volumes, but aged, sadder, more careful, more doubtful. This circumscription is intensified by her split from her animal guide, Pan – but it was also, ironically, the catalyst which caused him to abandon her in the first place.

Interwoven Plots

His choice to leave in pursuit of that innocent part of the heroine which she may have forgotten (an quality which he epitomises as her "creativity"), and her mission to reunite with him, were the incitements of its predecessor, which saw the protagonist undertake a picaresque voyage across Europe and into the mountain region, facing with amazement and danger on the way. But from the outset, deeper currents were in motion, and darker forces at work. The religious council – the religious governing authority, and Pullman's deliciously chilling embodiment of austere, administrative wickedness – is under fresh command, and asserting its power. The antagonist – our protagonist's relative, who blames her for his sibling's death – has manoeuvred himself into the role of president of the Magisterium's High Council, and is determined on using his recently acquired power to extend the religion's rule. Another protagonist, who carried baby the heroine to security along a overflowing river as an child in La Belle Sauvage, is now an Oxford don with a sideline in espionage: he is sent to the city to find out more about the antagonist's aims. And behind all of this is the enigma surrounding the uncommon and costly botanical extract which manifests in some way to be the origin of a societal and financial crisis emanating out from the region. The extract is viewed by some as a tradeable product, by others as a scientific or esoteric phenomenon, and by yet others – the zealous "men from the mountains" – as a wellspring of darkness; an challenge that must be obliterated. The dilemma of its origins, its meaning, and if it should be removed or safeguarded is escalating in importance.

Like the original trilogy, Lyra's actions, and her destiny, are demonstrated to be inseparably entwined with the fate of the universe

In The Secret Commonwealth, these narratives ran mostly in tandem. In The Rose Field, they converge. Similar to the original series, the protagonist's actions and her path are revealed to be inseparably entwined with the fate of the world. Her personal journey to rejoin with her companion and regain her creativity becomes the primary battleground in a broader battle with an authoritarian government which, as such authorities always have, is seeking to stifle independence of thought, originality and culture: all the personal, defiant ways in which humans can be liberated.

Cosmic Openings and Philosophical Struggles

The novel begins with the discovery of a collection of unusual fissures in the structure of the world's air: portals that appear to give on to different dimensions. One such opening manifests to be the origin of the fiercely disputed rose oil. The Magisterium, with the antagonist at its helm, designates these windows as a problem to the institution's doctrine and endeavors to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to move from rigid logic and revert to intuition, nevertheless, her belief that these sites must be protected – that their significance and what they offer is somehow essential – grows. "Cosmic particles, or the extract, or the vision, or the field of roses, or no matter what we name it," she says, "it is necessary." The scene for a Blakean struggle between purity and knowledge is prepared.

Plot Rhythm and Character Development

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