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Things are falling apart in the last installment of Pullman's latest trilogy, the second of the author's grand trilogies set in a universe that manifests, now more than ever, as a intense and tilted version of our own. Organizations are crumbling, or reorganizing themselves along unfamiliar and disquieting lines. An hidden force "is ruining the air and the seasons"; simultaneously, "currency is failing, and no one knows why". Authority is flowing away from authorities, and pooling in the offices of theocrats, the coffers of corporations, the control of mobs. "An element is at work, silently, very subtly", says trader a trader character, keeping a observant eye on the Silk Roads from his seat in an Aleppo cafe. "Elements we thought were secure and durable are deteriorating and giving way."

Key Puzzle and Her Quest

Precisely what that something might be, and how to counteract it, is the question that propels The Rose Field, which resumes where The Secret Commonwealth concluded. This is, reportedly, Pullman's concluding venture into the elaborately built, deeply captivating world he first unveiled three decades past, with the launch of Northern Lights. It's a realm whose geography aligns with that of our world, but whose history veers and changes with ours; where the people look and reason and act like us, but are paired by daemons, beings in animal form; where the heavens are populated with enchantresses and legendary creatures, but beneath those skies, transports are ridden and drinks is sipped, and mature scholars carry Harrods shopping bags. Lyra, whom we first introduced to as a 12-year-old in the first trilogy, and then revisited as a infant in the first volume, the prequel with which Pullman began The Book of Dust, is now a young woman: still recognisably the prickly and persistent main character of the previous installments, but more mature, sadder, more cautious, less sure. This restraint is heightened by her division from her animal guide, Pan – but it was also, ironically, the cause which led him to leave her in the first place.

Interwoven Plots

His choice to leave in quest of that youthful part of the heroine which she appears to have shed (an aspect which he symbolizes as her "imagination"), and her quest to reconnect with him, were the incitements of The Secret Commonwealth, which saw Lyra undertake a wandering trek across Europe and into the Caucasus, meeting with marvel and danger on the way. But from the outset, profound shifts were in play, and sinister powers at work. The religious council – the faith's governing authority, and the author's deliciously chilling incarnation of strict, procedural wickedness – is under recent guidance, and showing its strength. Lyra's uncle – our protagonist's relative, who blames her for his sibling's death – has manoeuvred himself into the office of president of the church's ruling assembly, and is determined on using his recently acquired power to broaden the church's rule. Malcolm Polstead, who rescued baby Lyra to safety along a flooded Thames as an 11-year-old in the first book, is now an academic with a additional duty 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 uncommon and valuable essential oil which manifests in some way to be the cause of a societal and financial disturbance rippling out from that area. The substance is seen by some as a marketable commodity, by alternate groups as a research-based or spiritual phenomenon, and by others still – the zealous "highland figures" – as a wellspring of evil; an insult that must be eradicated. The dilemma of where it comes from, what it stands for, and if it should be eliminated or safeguarded is coming rapidly to the fore.

Like the original trilogy, the heroine's actions, and her fate, are revealed to be deeply connected with the future of the realm

In its predecessor, these plots ran largely in tandem. In this final book, they come together. As in the original series, the protagonist's movements and her fate are revealed to be inextricably entwined with the destiny of the universe. Her personal quest to rejoin with her soul and rediscover her imagination becomes the primary conflict in a larger battle with an authoritarian regime which, as these systems often attempt, is attempting to stifle freedom of thought, innovation and expression: all the inner, defiant ways in which individuals can be free.

Atmospheric Fissures and Ideological Conflicts

The book opens with the discovery of a collection of strange cracks in the structure of the Earth's atmosphere: portals that appear to lead to different dimensions. One such opening manifests to be the source of the fiercely disputed botanical substance. The church, with its leader at its head, labels these openings as a threat to the church's beliefs and endeavors to destroy them. As our protagonist begins to turn away from rigid rationalism and back to intuition, yet, her belief that these locations must be defended – that their meaning and what they offer is mysteriously crucial – grows. "Cosmic particles, or the substance, or the vision, or the Rose Field, or whatever we label it," she says, "we need it." The setting for a poetic tussle between innocence and knowledge is established.

Narrative Pacing and Protagonist Growth

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