Philip Pullman Announces Epic Finale to Lyra's Story in Vol. Three of THE BOOK OF DUST
Philip Pullman (Photo Credit: Sam Allard)
On Tuesday, April 29, Philip Pullman announced the long-awaited and highly anticipated conclusion to his bestselling The Book of Dust series (La Belle Sauvage, The Secret Commonwealth). The final volume, titled THE ROSE FIELD, will be published on October 23, 2025, in the U.S. by the Alfred A. Knopf imprint of Random House Children’s Books and in the UK by David Fickling Books in association with Penguin Random House UK. Chris Wormell will create the jacket and chapter opening illustrations and Michael Sheen will return to narrate the audiobook, which will release simultaneously.
THE ROSE FIELD is the culmination of the international cultural phenomenon that is Pullman’s His Dark Materials and Book of Dust series. Its publication also marks the 30th anniversary of NORTHERN LIGHTS, published in the U.S. as THE GOLDEN COMPASS, in which Pullman first introduced readers to the remarkable heroine Lyra and her daemon Pantalaimon. The global impact of Pullman’s legacy as a storyteller cannot be overstated: His Dark Materials and the first two volumes of The Book of Dust have sold more than 49 million copies in over 35 territories. Lyra frequently tops polls as an all-time favorite character, and the books in the series are widely acknowledged to be among the best of all time, including being named an All-Time Greatest Novel by Entertainment Weekly and a Top 100 Book of All Time by Newsweek, which also said, “Pullman is quite possibly a genius.” Pullman’s books have inspired multiple adaptations across stage and screen, including a television series from HBO and BBC.
The audio editions have similarly captured hearts, minds, and multiple awards. To mark the 30th anniversary, new audio editions of His Dark Materials have been released, narrated by Ruth Wilson, who starred as Mrs. Coulter in the BBC adaptation. Michael Sheen narrated the first two volumes of The Book of Dust, with La Belle Sauvage winning Audiobook of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2018. There are also full-cast recordings of His Dark Materials narrated by Philip Pullman himself.
Picking up right where THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH left off, THE ROSE FIELD finds Lyra alone in a city haunted by daemons, searching for her beloved Pantalaimon and the imagination he fears she has lost. Malcolm Polstead isn’t far behind, searching for Lyra. And they are both racing along the ancient Silk Roads toward the desert of Karamakan, following the trail of roses said to hold the secret of Dust. Their allies and enemies are converging on the mysterious red building at the heart of the desert: Marcel Delamare and the military might of the Magisterium; the radical Men from the Mountains; rogue scientists, scholars, and spies; troops of witches and other people of the air. And awaiting them all is a previously unseen and chilling new threat that will change everything. The intertwining odysseys of Malcolm and Lyra, their journeys both internal and external, will test their limits and challenge even their most dearly held beliefs.
Says Sir Philip Pullman: “I think of THE ROSE FIELD as partly a thriller and partly a bildungsroman: a story of psychological, moral, and emotional growth. But it’s also a vision. Lyra’s world is changing, just as ours is. The power over people’s lives once held by old institutions and governments is seeping away and reappearing in another form: that of money, capital, development, commerce, exchange.
“Over a long and dangerous journey searching for her daemon Pan and with him her lost imagination, Lyra comes to discover a new understanding of the world: that this change affects everything, from the way roads are built to the relationship people have with their deepest selves.
“It may be other things too, but I hope that fundamentally and permanently THE ROSE FIELD will be read as a story. I think of myself a storyteller rather than a novelist or a writer of literary fiction, belonging among the tellers of folk tales, fairy tales, ballads, and myths.”
Says Nancy Siscoe, Knopf’s Senior Executive Editor and Pullman’s US editor: “As only he can, Philip Pullman is using the language of fantasy to explore the deepest questions of what it means to be alive and awake to both the splendors and horrors around us. The story he’s telling is both timeless and stunningly prescient about our present moment.
“In the most remarkable way, Philip’s characters have taken up residence in my life, walking beside me and showing me the world anew. The ideas and thoughts and questions he poses have become touchstones that I return to again and again. These are books to spend a lifetime with—to savor and love and ponder and never plumb the depths of. It is a tremendous gift to have THE ROSE FIELD—and The Book of Dust—now complete, and a tremendous honor to be a part of sharing Pullman’s grand achievement with the world.”