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Tings are falling apart in the final volume of Pullman's latest trilogy, the next of Philip Pullman's masterful trilogies set in a universe that appears, now more than ever, as a intense and tilted version of our own. Establishments are weakening, or reorganizing themselves along unfamiliar and troubling lines. An unseen force "is destroying the air and the seasons"; concurrently, "wealth is decaying, and no one knows why". Authority is draining from authorities, and gathering in the chambers of religious leaders, the treasuries of corporations, the hands of rioters. "An element is at work, silently, very subtly", says merchant a trader character, keeping a vigilant eye on the Silk Roads from his place in an city cafe. "Things we thought were secure and durable are weakening and failing."

The Central Mystery and Lyra's Journey

Precisely what that force might be, and ways to oppose it, is the mystery that animates The Rose Field, which resumes where the previous book left off. This is, according to many, Pullman's final foray into the elaborately built, endlessly enchanting realm he first introduced 30 years ago, with the launch of the first trilogy. It's a domain whose terrain corresponds to that of the real world, but whose chronicles tacks and jibes with ours; where the people look and think and act like us, but are paired by daemons, essences in creature form; where the heavens are populated with witches and mythical beasts, but beneath those skies, transports are taken and drinks is drunk, and older scholars carry luxury shopping bags. Our heroine, whom we first encountered as a child in the first trilogy, and then saw again as a infant in the prequel, the prequel with which the author began this trilogy, is now a mature individual: still clearly the prickly and determined protagonist of the earlier books, but older, sadder, warier, more doubtful. This restraint is amplified by her separation from her daemon, Pan – but it was also, ironically, the catalyst which led him to leave her in the first place.

Converging Storylines

His choice to go off in search of that innocent part of Lyra which she seems to have lost (an quality which he represents as her "imagination"), and her quest to rejoin with him, were the driving forces of The Secret Commonwealth, which chronicled the protagonist undertake a wandering journey across Europe and into the Caucasus, meeting with marvel and danger on the way. But from the start, underlying forces were in motion, and darker forces at work. The Magisterium – the faith's ruling body, and Pullman's brilliantly sinister incarnation of strict, procedural evil – is under recent guidance, and flexing its muscles. The antagonist – Lyra's family member, who faults her for his sister's death – has worked himself into the position of head of the Magisterium's governing body, and is determined on using his recently acquired power to extend the religion's dominium. A key character, who carried baby Lyra to security along a overflowing river as an young boy in the prequel, is now an academic with a sideline in espionage: he is sent to the city to learn more about Delamare's plans. And beneath all of this is the enigma surrounding the scarce and precious essential oil which appears somehow to be the cause of a societal and financial disturbance spreading out from that area. The extract is seen by certain groups as a commercial product, by different parties as a research-based or spiritual wonder, and by yet others – the zealous "highland figures" – as a origin of darkness; an insult that must be eradicated. The issue of its origins, what it stands for, and whether it should be removed or safeguarded is coming rapidly to the fore.

As in the first series, the heroine's actions, and her future, are demonstrated to be inseparably entwined with the future of the realm

In the previous volume, these storylines ran broadly in side by side. In this final book, they converge. As in the original series, the protagonist's choices and her destiny are revealed to be inseparably entwined with the destiny of the realm. Her individual quest to reunite with her companion and rediscover her vision becomes the primary struggle in a larger conflict with an oppressive system which, as such authorities often attempt, is striving to quell autonomy of thought, innovation and art: all the inner, defiant ways in which people can be independent.

Atmospheric Fissures and Moral Battles

The novel begins with the discovery of a set of unusual fissures in the fabric of the planet's atmosphere: gateways that seem to give on to different dimensions. One such portal appears to be the origin of the much debated mystical extract. The authority, with Delamare at its head, designates these openings as a threat to the religion's doctrine and sets out to eradicate them. As our protagonist begins to shift from strict reason and return to instinct, yet, her conviction that these sites must be protected – that their meaning and their value is mysteriously essential – strengthens. "The substance, or the extract, or the vision, or the Rose Field, or no matter what we name it," she says, "we need it." The stage for a Blakean tussle between innocence and maturity is prepared.

Plot Rhythm and Character Development

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