The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume Three cover art

The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume Three

The long-awaited and highly anticipated conclusion in the bestselling series

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The Rose Field: The Book of Dust Volume Three

By: Philip Pullman, Christopher Wormell
Narrated by: Michael Sheen
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Brought to you by Penguin.

The long-awaited and highly anticipated conclusion to Philip Pullman’s bestselling The Book of Dust sequence . . .

This audiobook includes an exclusive hour-long bonus conversation between Philip Pullman and narrator Michael Sheen, discussing themes of the novel, the legacy of the series, and the importance of storytelling in all its forms.

‘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 Malcolm, 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.

Marking thirty years since the world was first introduced to Pullman’s remarkable heroine Lyra Belacqua in Northern Lights, The Rose Field is the culmination of the cultural phenomenon of The Book of Dust and His Dark Materials.

'Ablaze with light and life . . . To read Pullman is to experience the world refreshed, aglow, in technicolour' - The Independent

‘A masterpiece for all eternity… Powerful, profound and utterly unforgettable: a stunning trilogy conclusion.’ - The Telegraph

‘Pullman’s uncanny ability to conjure place is once again in full evidence . . . And when we reach it, the novel’s final showdown is a fantastically nail-biting ride.’ - The Guardian

© Philip Pullman 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Action & Adventure Epic Fantasy Genre Fiction Magical Realism Metaphysical & Visionary Mind-bending War Witchcraft
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Critic reviews

‘A masterpiece for all eternity… Powerful, profound and utterly unforgettable: a stunning trilogy conclusion’
‘Pullman’s uncanny ability to conjure place is once again in full evidence . . . And when we reach it, the novel’s final showdown is a fantastically nail-biting ride.’ (The Guardian)
‘But for all its intricate interweavings of alchemy and folk tales, ballads and poetry, the book has the pacing of a thriller.’
All stars
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I’ve loved the rest of the books in this series, although they have become increasingly rambling and a bit self indulgent. This was a disappointing conclusion, or lack thereof. It started off well but failed to climax and then just sort of petered out. I did suspect that Pullman might have been struggling to finish off this work, given the length of time it took to write this last novel and sadly this is far from his best work. He seems to have run out of steam early with this one unfortunately. Excellent performance by Sheen again though.

A disappointing ending to the series..

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Disappointing is the first word that comes to mind. It seemed to take forever to get to the Red House, and then the end was so rushed, and no closure about lots of questions. All the optimism of the first books were completely gone and, it just seemed that everyone had just given up and made the best of awful situations. What about Alice, Malcolm, Malcolm’s parents?
What lives could they all salvage?
Not to mention Lyra herself?
Michael Sheen as narrator was brilliant, 11 out of 10 for that.

Umm…….

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I am so sad to say this, because HDM are by far my favourite books of all time, and the first two of this new trilogy had a lot of the same magic and satisfying connections and moments of realisation. However I do feel that this one loses its way, and the ending feels a bit like “and it was all a dream”. There was too much vague philosophy, plenty of plot holes if you know the other books well, and more unresolved loose ends than I can count. Some elements were great, and I was still gripped throughout. But not the satisfying ending I’ve come to expect from PP.
Martin Sheen was fabulous though!

An unsatisfying end to my most favourite series

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As I reached the climax of Lyra's journey I couldn't help feel that most of the surrounding story arcs had been left incomplete.The Author claims that this is very much "the end" but I was left largely unfulfilled and pretty disappointed by an cinclusion which seemed to have been created to suit the publishers desire to meet a deadline rather than by the author's desire to round everything off in the correct manner.

Not really complete!

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I enjoyed the journey with these characters but too many threads that really did not come together in the end. the book just kind of stopped after a massive buildup.

a long journey to nowhere

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