| “ |
‘Lyra: what will you do when you find this place in the desert, the opening to the world of the roses?’ ‘Defend it,’ Lyra said. ‘Die defending it.’ When readers left Lyra in The Secret Commonwealth she was alone, in the ruins of a deserted city. Pantalaimon had run from her – part of himself – in search of her imagination, which he believed she had lost. Lyra travelled across the world from her Oxford home in search of her dæmon. And Malcom, loyal Malcolm, too journeyed far from home, towards the Silk Roads in search of Lyra . . . In The Rose Field, their quests converge in the most dangerous, breathtaking and world-changing ways. They must take help from spies and thieves, gryphons and witches, old friends and new, learning all the while the depth and surprising truths of the alethiometer. All around them, the world is aflame – made terrifying by fear, power and greed. As they move East, towards the red building that will reunite them and give them answers – on Dust, on the special roses, on imagination – so too does the Magisterium, at war against all that Lyra holds dear. |
” |
—Synopsis
The Rose Field is the third and final book in The Book of Dust trilogy.
At the time of the release of The Secret Commonwealth, the title of the third book was unknown, but Sir Philip Pullman had revealed it would have something to do with roses - possibly with the name being The Garden of Roses or Roses from the South.[1]
The book will continue on from The Secret Commonwealth, taking place after the events of The Amber Spyglass.[2] In a conversation with Michael Rosen, Philip Pullman released an exclusive excerpt of The Book of Dust Volume Three which shows Lyra and Nur Huda travelling in Al-Khan al-Azraq, having left their dæmons.[3]
In July 2022, Pullman stated that he had written 235 pages of The Rose Field.[4] As of August 2022, Pullman was yet to finish writing the book, stating that he was "working at it day and night"[5], "as steadily as [his] health, [his] age and the story itself will allow".[6] He stated that it was likely to be finished around September 2023.[7] However, in mid-2023 he said it was likely to come out in 2024.[8]
In November 2023, the Associated Press reported that Pullman had written 500 of the 540 pages of Volume Three.[9]
In August 2024, Pullman stated that the book was finished, but it still needed to go through the editing process.[10]
At the end of January 2025, Pullman confirmed on Twitter that the book was finished and that he "very much hope[d] that it'll be published this year"[11]
On April 29 2025, the book's title The Rose Field was announced on Pullman's Instagram channel and the publication date was set for October 23 2025.[12]
References[]
| Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials | |
|---|---|
| Main Trilogy | Northern Lights • The Subtle Knife • The Amber Spyglass |
| The Book of Dust | La Belle Sauvage • The Secret Commonwealth • The Rose Field |
| Companion Books | Lyra's Oxford • Once Upon a Time in the North • Serpentine • The Collectors • The Imagination Chamber • Green Book |