The Bone Season

By Samantha Shannon

 

“Nothing’s worse than a story without an end.”

 

On Goodreads the description of The Bone Season is:

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.

 

The Bone Season is a gripping debut novel from Samantha Shannon. The pages really do turn themselves, you get swept up on page one and aren’t released until you’re finished, where you’re left reeling and eager for the next ride.

 

Samantha has been named the next JK Rowling by some critics, which is enough for anyone to be encouraged to pick up this book. The subject of the book is very different to that of Harry Potter, but Samantha’s talent for writing at such a young age in her first book really does shine and promise of amazing things to come. She has a beautiful style that is a joy to read. It feels great knowing that a young British woman has written this, not much older than me, she’s really leading young women into writing. The book has a very British feel to it which I love.

 

The world of The Bone Season is so vivid and feels real. You feel as though the world could really be like this in 50 years as she blends modern things with new future ideas. Samantha has clearly thought a great deal about the world of The Bone Season including all the many different orders of Clairvoyance, which are shown at the beginning of the book, and what I like is that the detail is there for fans to enjoy and yet isn’t totally essential for the book, you don’t have to try to learn all the names and what they mean to read the book, you can enjoy it without them. It really helps to have that part of the book separate from the story as many readers don’t like to have information dumped on them heavily at intervals during the book. The very start does info-dump as it lays down the foundations but the odd thing you may not understand isn’t crucial to the storyline.

Any questions at the content of the story can be referenced at the Glossary in the back of the book which helps with the world building especially.

 

The storyline really sticks in your head due to its difference from any other. It doesn’t feel like another overdone storyline but rather something fresh and brand new.

 

The main character Paige, is very likeable and relatable, you really get behind her the whole way hope for her happiness. As the story evolves, you see more and more of her and the layer are peeled back and past is dug up which makes you really admire her for enduring and staying so strong.

 

The growing love story between Warden and Paige is extremely enjoyable, it is subtle and doesn’t totally overshadow the actual storyline, and well paced. You never think it unbelievable or too rushed, but just enjoy the ride. It isn’t a big romantic story, which it may grow to be, but the very start of what could develop into an epic love.

 

The book series is supposed to have around seven books, at the minute I don’t know how the story will last that long, but hopefully that promises an expanding storyline that we will encounter in the second book.

 

I hope the second novel will bring alive the more secondary characters in the story as they’re more there to develop the story and act as expendables who help develop Paige and Warden’s characters at the minute. I’m fairly certain this will happen with characters like Jaxon and Nick on the scene who have GREAT potential to become favourite characters. The spark is there.

 

The end of the book leaves you with questions and an eagerness to find out what could possibly now.

I would highly recommend The Bone Season to anyone. It is a fantastic story with a promising future, the rights to a film of it have been picked up by Andy Serkis’s company Imaginarium.

 

4.5 out of 5 stars!

 

Can’t wait for the second book The Mime Order to be released!