The Rose Field by Philip Pullman nail-biting conclusion to the Northern Lights series

"An unseen force is destroying the air and the seasons; at the same time, money's going bad, and no one knows why. Power is flowing away from governments, and pooling in the offices of theocrats, the coffers of conglomerates, the hands of mobs. Something is at work, very quietly, very subtly, says merchant Mustafa Bey, keeping a watchful eye on the Silk Roads from his seat in an Aleppo cafe."

"Things we thought were firm and solid are weakening and giving way. Just what that something might be, and how to counteract it, is the question that animates The Rose Field, which picks up where The Secret Commonwealth left off. This is, by all accounts, Pullman's concluding foray into the intricately constructed, infinitely beguiling realm he first unveiled 30 years ago, with the publication of Northern Lights."

"It's a realm whose geography maps on to that of this world, but whose history tacks and jibes with ours; where the humans look and think and act like us, but are accompanied by daemons, souls in animal form; where the skies are filled with witches and gryphons, but beneath those skies, buses are caught and tea is drunk, and middle-aged academics carry Harrods shopping bags."

A parallel world experiences institutional collapse, environmental disruption, and failing currency. An unseen force degrades air and seasons while money decays and confounds people. Government authority erodes as power concentrates in theocrats' offices, corporate coffers, and mob rule. Merchant Mustafa Bey watches the Silk Roads from an Aleppo café, sensing subtle forces at work. Lyra appears as a young woman, separated from her daemon Pantalaimon and marked by loss, caution, and uncertainty. Familiar fantastical elements—daemons, witches, gryphons—intersect with everyday life, foregrounding themes of decay, shifting power, and moral ambiguity.

Read at www.theguardian.com