Monday 7 October 2013

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon


Paige is a clairvoyant, with the ability to leave her body and break into the minds of others.  This skill makes her hunted by Scion, who rule a dystopian version of London in 2059.  Clairvoyance is seen as unnatural and is punishable by death, forcing Paige and others like her to hide their abilities or join the mob-ruled criminal underworld.  Paige is working for underground leader Jaxon Hall when she is captured and detained.  She is sure she will be punished by the Scion authorities, but instead she is transferred to Oxford, a city that has been kept secret for over two hundred years.   There she learns that Scion has kept it's own secrets from it's citizens and that a whole other race exists.  Kept in the control of Warden, Paige yearns to escape but the only person who can help her may be the person who is imprisoning her in the first place.

The Bone Season certainly has had a lot of hype surrounding it.  Shannon has famously signed a seven book deal with Bloomsbury and this title has been everywhere, with the inevitable comparisons to J.K. Rowling.  I was keen to try it for myself and see if it lived up to expectations.

One thing that certainly impressed me was the world building.  Reading The Bone Season is an immersive experience, as Shannon throws you straight in there with the characters, leaving you to work out how the society works for yourself.   This is how I like my fantasy/sci-fi and I was impressed at the amount of detail and thought that had gone into the set up of Scion London and Oxford, as well as the creation of an entirely new race/type of creature, the Rephaim.   The world hung together well and it's clear that the author knows it inside out.  For example, there are over fifty different types of clairvoyant listed in beginning of the book.

Although Paige was an interesting main character, The Bone Season is all about the plot.  It's an action packed novel and one that will have you turning the pages quickly.  This is the kind of book I would happily have stayed up all night to read, as it's utterly engrossing.  I was pleased that the romance in the novel was of the slow-burning kind and it never overwhelmed the main plots at all.  As Shannon allowed the romance to develop slowly, it felt plausible for Paige's character.

On the whole, reading The Bone Season was certainly a lot of fun and I'm glad I picked it up.  I simply rushed through it but having finished it, I've realised that it hasn't had much of an impact on me.  The ideas are clever and the story well written, but it's not a book I will remember or want to reread.  For this reason, it's not going to be a favourite.

Source: From the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
First Published: 2013
Score: 3.5 out of 5

Read Alongside:
Poison Study by Maria Snyder - This story is also about a young woman who is kept prisoner, but who eventually forms an unlikely alliance with her captor.  The fantasy elements in this novel centre around magic rather than clairvoyance.

21 comments:

  1. I was so thrown off by being tossed into the world that I put this one down after about 30 pages. I just was not expecting that much world building from page 1 and, having been apprehensive to begin with, wasn't ready to commit. I'm hearing mixed things, but it seemed like it wasn't going to be the series for me. I'll stick to Harry :)

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    1. It does need sticking with initially, so it's probably good you put it down if you were apprehensive before starting. Nothing beats Harry :)

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  2. I have this one waiting to be read. I'm kind of afraid to start it though because it's received a lot of hype. I'll get around to it eventually, but I'm glad to read your review because it will help keep my expectations in check.

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    1. I think it's been over-hyped, although it is still a good book.

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  3. This looks like a daunting read and though there's a lot to be said for a well-imagined world, I just don't think I'm ready for a fantasy read right now.

    Lovely review!

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    1. You will definitely need to be in a fantasy mood to enjoy this one.

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  4. I have seen this around a lot, but for some reason I am very apprehensive picking up fantasy targeted to maybe a bit younger readers...

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    1. To be fair, it read like an adult fantasy rather than a YA, it didn't have that cliched YA feel.

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  5. I also thought the worldbuilding was done well and the idea was quite original. I had a bit of a problem with the amount of violence, a bit too much for my liking. All in all a book I enjoyed, but I agree, for me it is also not a favorite.

    Kind regards,

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    1. I didn't mind the violence too much, although there was a fair amount of it. It's a shame it isn't going to be a favourite for either of us.

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  6. Hmmm I'm glad it sounds as if you enjoyed it overall! I have the same reaction to some books though - enjoyable, but not impressionable. I have this one on the waitlist at the library, so I'll get to it eventually.

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    1. The library is a good choice for this one, although I hope it makes more of an impression on you than it did on me.

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  7. Sometimes it's nice to read those books that you enjoy but don't spend too much time thinking about afterwards. It means you can jump right into your next read!

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    1. That's a good point, Steinbeck is benefiting from being my next book!

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  8. The Bone Season left me feeling rather empty as well - not much to hold on to. I read it super fast and then forgot it just as quickly.

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    1. That's exactly it - I couldn't put it down while reading but it's not made much of an impact.

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  9. It took a few chapters to really get into it (and to familiarize myself with the massive world + terminology!), but once I did I loved it.

    I'm a little worried about how it'll play out over six more books though.

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    1. Six books does seem like a lot of books, doesn't it? Hopefully Shannon has a good plan...

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  10. Someone was just telling me about this book and they had a similar reaction: that it was a book they tore through but in the end not something that stuck with them. Still entertaining.

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  11. I just picked this up at the bookstore (total impulse buy, but only because everyone's talking about it) so I was curious to hear your thoughts. Reading your review I could just sense there was going to be a lackluster bottom line. This sounds like an escapist read, which we all need once in awhile but it's a shame it doesn't hold up enough for the entire series to appeal.

    I'm so jealous you're reading East of Eden. I've had it on my shelf and been wanting to read it forever but I have so many review copies to get through! Sometimes I miss being a "free" reader.

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  12. So I've been avoiding this one, thinking it was more urban fantasy. I'm pretty sure it's not something I would enjoy, but who knows, maybe some day I'll give it a go.

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