Review: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

GoodReads Summary: It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

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Expected publication date: 20/08/13

The Bone Season is a highly original and engaging read.  

The Bone Season has been classed as an ‘Adult’ book by the publisher, but it definitely has crossover appeal. It features characters that are 18+, touches on adult themes, and contains curse words (not much.) As someone who is over the age of 18 I would love to see more books like this, as it offers the best of both worlds – not YA, but not quite adult either. When I first heard the term 'New Adult' this is what I thought it would be. I was hoping that it would cover a wide range of genres, not just contemporary as it does now.

There have been articles floating around the internet saying that Shannon is the next J.K. Rowling, and this of course is a lot of pressure to put on an author. To me, The Bone Season is stylistically very different to Harry Potter. I think that it's best to go into it without the comparison in mind, because in my opinion it’s amazing in its own right. The only similarity I found between the two is the book deal: 7 fantasy books to be published by Bloomsbury.

Before I start gushing about what I loved about The Bone Season, I must admit that I had some issues with the opening of the book. There is quite a bit of info-dumping, so many new terms were thrown in without explanation that at times it felt a bit awkward. However, once my initial confusion had somewhat lessened I could not put the book down. In all honestly the info-dumping didn't take away from my reading experience, I was still able to enjoy and appreciate the world Shannon had created, because info-dumping aside the world building was very thorough.

The amount of imagination and detail that has gone into the world building is stunning. This is a book that I think will require patience from the reader, because it takes a while to grasp some of the ideas, and just when you think you've grasped them something new is thrown in. However, when everything does eventually fall into place the complexity of it all will just blow you away.

The story is set in London, 2059. In this world there are two types of people: Clairvoyants and Amaurotics. Clairvoyants have been out-casted by society. They are treated like criminals, and this ironically enough has forced them to join the criminal underworld of Scion London. Paige Mahoney is a part of a syndicate known as the Seven Seals. She works for Jaxon Hall, a notorious mime-lord who uses her to scout for information by breaking into others’ minds. Being an unusual type of voyant, a dreamwalker, means that she commits treason just by breathing. So far, though, she has stayed hidden under the radar. That is until one fatal day she is forced to use her abilities to get out of a life threatening situation and is discovered by the Scion. Chased down and thrown into Sheol 1, a prison of sorts run by a race known as the Rephaim, Paige is determined to escape.

Paige was a likable protagonist, strong and intelligent she adapted quickly to new situations. Warden was an equally intriguing character; it was interesting getting to know him as the story progressed. I didn't know if there was going to be a romance, and was surprised towards the end when the inkling of one began to form. Shannon does a brilliant job of straying away from the usual clichés as the relationship between Warden and Paige is one that develops at a slow and natural pace. There was a build up of trust, respect, and friendship before the romance and I appreciated that. Another thing that the author excels at is creating tension, the chemistry, although subtle, had me glued to my Kindle.

The Bone Season is the kind of book that will stay with you long after you've finished reading it. Quite simply it is a riveting story, with complex characters and a richly crafted world. 

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