The Bone Season

Pros: intricate world-building, strong female protagonist, glossary of terms

Cons: lots of characters to remember (no character list)

Paige Mahoney is a dreamwalker, able to send her spirit into the aether. She works for the criminal underworld of Scion London because clairvoyant powers like hers are illegal. Unnatural. A series of unfortunate events leaves her hunted by the Night Vigilance Division, voyants who work for the state against their own kind. But it's a different group that finds her. Instead of being executed or brought to the tower, she's drugged and woken up in a different city. She finds herself a prisoner of a race of beings called Rephaite. Beings who helped bring Scion to power. Beings who are now her masters.

The world building in this novel is incredible. Shannon has created 1) an alternate history from 1859, when clairvoyance became widespread, 2) a kind of caste system for clairvoyants, including numerous ways to access the aether, 3) a complex crime syndicate based in London, 4) a dystopian government that's extending its powers, 5) the Rephaite and Emim, and 6) the penal city of Sheol I.

While there are a few info dump style scenes, they're quick and intigrated into the story. And you really need them. So much is going on that the faster you're grounded in the background of each section, the more interesting the story is. The information is explained in different ways, the branches of clairvoyance are delivered via an infographic at the start of the novel, there's an orientation meeting for Shoel I, and Paige learns more about the city from other inmates. I really appreciated that Paige's flashbacks not only allowed you to learn more about her character but were used as a point of intrigue later on in the narrative.

Paige is a flawed but still kick-ass protagonist. She makes mistakes in the book and pays for them, but comes back fighting. Her progression through the book feels realistic. She's trying not to give in to hopelessness like so many others around her, while at the same time understanding that she has something to return to should she escape, unlike many of the others.

The Rephaite are fantastic bad guys. The more Paige learns about them, the more evil they become. And yet, she's drawn to her keeper, who isn't quite like the others. Their relationship is complicated and rather fun to read.

One of the few complaints I had about the novel was the large number of characters. There are Paige's syndicate members (by name and codename), people in government, people from history, numerous Rephaite, and the people in Shoel I, who you have to remember by both name and number. The numbers could confuse you too, as Paige was sometimes her full number, XX-59-40, sometimes XX-40 and sometimes just 40. A list of characters, with their numbers/aliases, would have been a helpful addition alongside the included glossary of terms (which I had to refer to several times towards the end of the book).

Another complaint was that amaranth became too powerful towards the end of the novel, which reduced tension in some otherwise tense scenes.

This is the first of a planned 7 book series. Given everything introduced in this book, I can't wait to see what the author does next. There's so much left unexplored, especially with regards to the Rephaite. And while this book is definitely open ended, there is a sense of completion to this volume, which I appreciated.

This book took me a long time to get through, but it was well worth it. The world Samantha Shannon has created is so unique and well-thought out. I really enjoyed learning all about the different clairvoyants and how the Rephaim fit in with it all.

The beginning of this book is quite the information dump with new terminology and a lot of background on the Scion and London. But once Paige is settled in at Sheol I, the plot thickens as she learns more about Warden and the Bone Seasons and what it means to be clairvoyant.

I think this book did a good job setting up the series and the fight against the Rephaim and Scion. I cannot wait to read the Mime Order and learn more about this world.

I really enjoyed the progression of Paige and Warden's relationship throughout the book. Samantha Shannon did an incredible job of detailing their lives in Sheol I.

I have to admit, it did take me a little while to get into this world and how it was set throughout the book. I really enjoyed The Bone Season though and after about 200 pages in, I was hooked.

The Bone Season is about a clairvoyant dreamwalker named Paige. She is from Ireland but is now currently working for a man that uses her dreamwalking ability for what he wants. This helps Paige get some money and also makes he feel like she is not alone. The world that Paige lives in is an alternate reality of the world today. Being a clairvoyant is a sin. She is not supposed to show who she is. In the late 1850s, there has been an issue with the people of Britain and it ends up becoming what is now called “The Bone Season”. Every year they get new “unnatural” people to become clairvoyant slaves of the somewhat higher class beings. This is a type of prison for them. Paige ends up being caught as an unnatural as she is going home to visit her father. She is sent for the next bone season and ends up being picked up by the Warden to become his new slave.

I really enjoyed Paige's character. She was quite fierce and had a lot of backbone. She wasn't the strongest female lead I have read that would have someone in this type of situation, but I really liked how she stood up for herself. She was not submissive at all. It was nice to see how she thought about everything that was happening and how she wanted to fight it. It shows great leadership for her to want to help everyone that is there. The world that Paige is apart of as a dreamwalker is very interesting to read about. I knew as our main character, she was going to be special. Learning about her past and how she discoverd how she was made me like her even more.

I had a feeling when we met Paige's capture that he was going to be different that all the others. He gave her a bit of freedom in the beginning and he said he would help her train to be her best. I liked the Warden in the beginning but liked him even more in the end. I couldn't really picture what he looked like though. Throughout the entire book, it felt like a beauty and the best relationship. That is just a personal thought though. I really enjoyed his character and how different he was from the other owners. Near the end, I really started to enjoy reading about him. Paige and his connection was a good thing to add right at the end.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book. The second one just came out and now it is time to read it after that cliffhanger. I hope to see more of Paige and the Warden in the second book. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes a type of fantasy meets dystopian meets magic type of world.