The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Aug. 28th, 2013 11:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.
It is raining the day her life changes forever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious movies. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.
It’s the year 2059 in Scion London where clairvoyance is real and illegal. 19-year-old Paige Mahoney is a dreamwalker, able to enter the minds of other people and discover their thoughts. Forced to hide her abilities, she works for Jaxon Hall a mime-lord in Seven Dials who uses clairvoyants for criminal enterprises in return for payment and protection.
Drugged and kidnapped by mysterious people with unreadable dreamscapes, Paige finds herself a prisoner in Oxford. Every 10 years the Scion authorities hand a group of clairvoyants to an alien race called Rephaites who use them for their own sinister purposes. Paige’s master – Warden - wants to expand her ability. Though reluctant, Paige realises that his lessons are her best chance to escape and the more time they spend together, the more she discovers about the Rephaites and their links to Scion and the closer she feels to Warden himself …
Samantha Shannon’s debut YA novel is a fantasy/dystopia mash-up that’s attracted a lot of attention due to the large advance paid for it. Unfortunately I found it a dull, plodding read with worldbuilding that alienates rather than engages and a main character who never really sparked into life. There’s a lot of detail in Shannon’s clairvoyance system, which I can see attracting a dedicated fandom but for me it got in the way of the story and as such, I will not be reading on.
Despite her first person voice, Paige is too much of an observer in events and the action scenes were confusing (in a key confrontation I had no idea what she was trying do other than run from fight to fight to show the reader what was happening). Her relationship with Warden never caught fire as there’s simply not enough interaction there. I also never bought her reasons for saving his life and the revelation of the effect of this had me rolling my eyes.
Although I did enjoy the slang (and particularly Jaxon’s dialect), I was confused by the different types of clairvoyant mainly because the table provided doesn’t explain what the actual abilities are. As such, I had difficulty picturing what everyone could do, which really affected my ability to visualise some scenes. I did like the AU elements – particularly those involving Edward VIII – but it wasn’t enough to carry me through the book or want to read the sequels.
The Verdict:
Samantha Shannon’s debut YA novel is a fantasy/dystopia mash-up that’s attracted a lot of attention due to the large advance paid for it. Unfortunately I found it a dull, plodding read with worldbuilding that alienates rather than engages and a main character who never really sparked into life. There’s a lot of detail in Shannon’s clairvoyance system, which I can see attracting a dedicated fandom but for me it got in the way of the story and as such, I will not be reading on.
THE BONE SEASON was released in the United Kingdom on 20th August 2013. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.
It is raining the day her life changes forever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious movies. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.
It’s the year 2059 in Scion London where clairvoyance is real and illegal. 19-year-old Paige Mahoney is a dreamwalker, able to enter the minds of other people and discover their thoughts. Forced to hide her abilities, she works for Jaxon Hall a mime-lord in Seven Dials who uses clairvoyants for criminal enterprises in return for payment and protection.
Drugged and kidnapped by mysterious people with unreadable dreamscapes, Paige finds herself a prisoner in Oxford. Every 10 years the Scion authorities hand a group of clairvoyants to an alien race called Rephaites who use them for their own sinister purposes. Paige’s master – Warden - wants to expand her ability. Though reluctant, Paige realises that his lessons are her best chance to escape and the more time they spend together, the more she discovers about the Rephaites and their links to Scion and the closer she feels to Warden himself …
Samantha Shannon’s debut YA novel is a fantasy/dystopia mash-up that’s attracted a lot of attention due to the large advance paid for it. Unfortunately I found it a dull, plodding read with worldbuilding that alienates rather than engages and a main character who never really sparked into life. There’s a lot of detail in Shannon’s clairvoyance system, which I can see attracting a dedicated fandom but for me it got in the way of the story and as such, I will not be reading on.
Despite her first person voice, Paige is too much of an observer in events and the action scenes were confusing (in a key confrontation I had no idea what she was trying do other than run from fight to fight to show the reader what was happening). Her relationship with Warden never caught fire as there’s simply not enough interaction there. I also never bought her reasons for saving his life and the revelation of the effect of this had me rolling my eyes.
Although I did enjoy the slang (and particularly Jaxon’s dialect), I was confused by the different types of clairvoyant mainly because the table provided doesn’t explain what the actual abilities are. As such, I had difficulty picturing what everyone could do, which really affected my ability to visualise some scenes. I did like the AU elements – particularly those involving Edward VIII – but it wasn’t enough to carry me through the book or want to read the sequels.
The Verdict:
Samantha Shannon’s debut YA novel is a fantasy/dystopia mash-up that’s attracted a lot of attention due to the large advance paid for it. Unfortunately I found it a dull, plodding read with worldbuilding that alienates rather than engages and a main character who never really sparked into life. There’s a lot of detail in Shannon’s clairvoyance system, which I can see attracting a dedicated fandom but for me it got in the way of the story and as such, I will not be reading on.
THE BONE SEASON was released in the United Kingdom on 20th August 2013. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
