Editorial Content for The Bone Season
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
My reading has been focused on fantasy the last few months. I tend to waver back and forth between fantasy and historical fiction, so it’s not unusual for me to go overboard on one or the other at any given time. I’ve been fortunate to discover several new authors this year thanks to this reading fixation, and I’m happy to add Samantha Shannon to my list. THE BONE SEASON is a new urban fantasy series, and I’m now patiently waiting for the next book.
Paige Mahoney is a 19-year-old criminal, but not the typical criminal you might think of --- she’s part of an underground syndicate of clairvoyants that trades in information. In 2059, in Scion London, clairvoyance is a crime, and those who exhibit these special skills either become part of the crime-ridden underworld or are locked up for what is deemed the good of society. Essentially, under the thinly veiled guise of protecting others, Paige breaks into people’s minds to mine information for her underworld boss, Jaxon Hall. When she’s captured by a group called the Rephaim, she realizes that the dangerous world in which she lives and willingly participates is nothing compared to living in Oxford.
"As a fantasy enthusiast, I think the world-building is spot on. Overlaying London with a gritty urban fantasy landscape makes for a great setting."
Oxford, which supposedly disappeared over 200 years ago and was wiped off all maps as if it never existed, is now the home and operating ground of the Rephaim, an invasive alien species that feeds on the clairvoyant skills of humans. Paige is now the captive of Warden, a high-ranking Rephaim in Oxford, and is to be trained to use her clairvoyant skills to protect the Rephaim from another alien race that is intent on attack. Paige has a very valuable, and somewhat mythical, clairvoyant skill --- she’s what is referred to as a dreamwalker --- and another high-ranking Rephaim wants Paige’s skill for her own.
Knowing that she needs to trust Warden, but unable to allow herself this necessary feeling, she ends up in trouble and in need of help from the one person she wants to hate more than anyone in the world.
I’ve seen THE BONE SEASON compared to The Hunger Games, and I too can see the likeness. There isn’t much similarity in terms of the plot, but the government-heavy, post-apocalyptic, dystopian setting does bring to mind Panem traits, with an English twist, of course. Scion London is a sad, dark place full of sinister people, but the underworld is fascinating. It’s an interesting combination of aliens, clairvoyants, and a world living in terror but a world not all that different that you can’t relate as a reader. As a fantasy enthusiast, I think the world-building is spot on. Overlaying London with a gritty urban fantasy landscape makes for a great setting. Shannon takes age-old talents, tosses palm readers with aliens, and pours out a whole new world.
I picked up THE BONE SEASON on vacation and couldn’t put it down until I finished. Shannon is a first-time author, a 21-year-old college graduate, in fact, and the novel feels complete, until you get to the ending and find out it’s the first of a planned seven-book series. Don’t let that worry you because you’re going to want more of Paige Mahoney, Jaxon Hall and Warden once the last page is turned. Aliens and clairvoyants in a battle to the bitter end? Yes, bring it on! Needless to say, I’m in for the seven-book duration.
Teaser
In 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, 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 than even Scion.
Promo
In 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, 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 than even Scion.
About the Book
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 introduces a compelling heroine --- a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.
