Published: August 20, 2013
Pages: 480
Source: For Review from Bloomsbury/NetGalley
Rating: 3.5 Stars
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.
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.
In short: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon has a highly ambitious and imaginative concept, but the execution of the world building was not up to par.
And the result was that I was both impressed and disappointed by The Bone Season. The highly ambitious and complex world building in The Bone Season was somehow both its strength and its weakness. Samantha Shannon - at the tender age of nineteen, still a student at Oxford, when she wrote this book - has crafted one of the most original and visionary fantasy worlds I have ever come across. It was so unlike anything I have read that it was hard at first to even wrap my head around the concept. But it's hard not to appreciate such breadth and richness of imagination.
It was the execution of the creation of such a unique world that I found issue. Notice how I have not even attempted a brief summary of the world in The Bone Season. There is just SO MUCH there and it's all very complicated, and I couldn't possibly adequately explain even the basis of it. The world building was not nearly as clear as I would have liked. It felt like a chore at times, keeping track of all the lingo and rules. There is a glossary in the back, which might have been helpful, except I wasn't aware of its existence until the end and it would have been a pain to flip to in ebook format anyway.
Perhaps I would have liked The Bone Season better if I had more patience. As it was, I didn't feel like trying to take in massive loads of complicated information and making sense out of this highly complex world. I actually really like complicated concepts and world building, but only if they seem effortless; this seemed laboured. If I were the type to DNF books, I probably would've ditched this one early on when the info dumps were numerous and the many details convoluted. But as it is, I am utterly unable to ditch books part way through, so I stuck it out. Thankfully, the story did get a bit easier to follow in time, and therefore way more enjoyable.
Don't get me wrong, The Bone Season was a good book that I liked and admired for its ambition and imagination. It is also a very fast-paced and exciting book once you get past the initial intro to the world. Characters were another highlight here; many were complex and enigmatic. There is the beginnings of a romance here and I have a feeling it's one that a lot of people will really love for its tension and intensity. So there was a lot of good in The Bone Season. I'm just not completely positive I am ready to commit to a seven-book series when I am still a bit fuzzy on the details of the world.
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The Page Turner
Realm of Fiction
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