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Tings are collapsing in the concluding book of The Book of Dust, the second of Philip Pullman's masterful trilogies set in a universe that appears, here more than ever, as a energized and skewed version of our own. Institutions are weakening, or reassembling themselves along new and troubling lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; at the same time, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Control is flowing away from states, and accumulating in the halls of religious leaders, the vaults of conglomerates, the control of mobs. "Some force is at work, stealthily, very subtly", says trader Mustafa Bey, keeping a vigilant eye on the trade routes from his post in an Aleppo cafe. "Things we thought were firm and solid are weakening and giving way."

The Central Mystery and Lyra's Journey

Precisely what that force might be, and methods to fight it, is the inquiry that propels The Rose Field, which continues where the previous book ended. This is, according to many, Pullman's concluding excursion into the carefully crafted, deeply captivating universe he first introduced in the distant past, with the release of the first trilogy. It's a world whose terrain maps on to that of this world, but whose past veers and changes with ours; where the people look and reason and behave like us, but are accompanied by external spirits, essences in creature form; where the heavens are filled with sorceresses and gryphons, but underneath, vehicles are ridden and beverages is sipped, and older scholars carry Harrods shopping bags. Lyra, whom we first introduced to as a child in the original trilogy, and then met once more as a toddler in the first volume, the origin story with which Pullman began the series, is now a young woman: still recognisably the prickly and determined protagonist of the earlier books, but aged, more sorrowful, warier, less sure. This circumscription is heightened by her split from her daemon, Pan – but it was also, unexpectedly, the trigger which caused him to abandon her in the first place.

Interwoven Plots

Pan's decision to go off in search of that childlike part of her which she appears to have shed (an trait which he epitomises as her "vision"), and her journey to reconnect with him, were the incitements of The Secret Commonwealth, which saw the protagonist undertake a wandering journey across the continent and into the mountain region, encountering with marvel and danger on the way. But from the outset, underlying forces were in play, and malevolent elements at work. The Magisterium – the faith's governing authority, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister representation of austere, administrative malice – is under fresh command, and asserting its power. Marcel Delamare – Lyra's relative, who faults her for his family member's death – has positioned himself into the position of president of the Magisterium's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his fresh power to extend the institution's control. A key character, who saved infant Lyra to safety along a overflowing Thames as an child in the prequel, is now an university scholar with a sideline in intelligence work: he is assigned to Geneva to discover more about Delamare's plans. And underlying all of this is the enigma surrounding the uncommon and precious rose oil which appears somehow to be the origin of a social and financial upheaval rippling out from Central Asia. The substance is regarded by some as a commercial good, by alternate groups as a research-based or esoteric wonder, and by others still – the fanatical "men from the mountains" – as a wellspring of malevolence; an challenge that must be destroyed. The question of where it comes from, its meaning, and if it should be destroyed or protected is coming rapidly to the fore.

As in the first series, the heroine's deeds, and her fate, are shown to be inextricably connected with the fate of the world

In The Secret Commonwealth, these narratives ran mostly in tandem. In The Rose Field, they merge. As in the first trilogy, her choices and her destiny are revealed to be deeply linked with the destiny of the realm. Her individual quest to reunite with her companion and recover her imagination becomes the key battleground in a larger war with an authoritarian system which, as these systems always have, is striving to suppress autonomy of reason, creativity and culture: all the inner, rebellious ways in which people can be liberated.

Dimensional Rifts and Philosophical Struggles

The book opens with the finding of a collection of unusual openings in the fabric of the Earth's atmosphere: portals that appear to give on to alternate realities. An example of a portal manifests to be the origin of the highly contested rose oil. The church, with the antagonist at its leadership, classifies these windows as a problem to the religion's doctrine and sets out to eliminate them. As the heroine begins to move from inflexible rationalism and revert to instinct, nevertheless, her belief that these sites must be defended – that what they stand for and what they provide is in some way crucial – grows. "Cosmic particles, or the extract, or the creativity, 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 maturity is established.

Plot Rhythm and Personal Evolution

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