The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1)

by Samantha Shannon

[inlibrisveritas]

The Bone Season is a book that has taken me by surprise. I knew going into it that it had extensive world building and that I was probably going to enjoy it, but I hadn’t expected to enjoy it so much that I flew through all 466 pages in a single afternoon and still wish I had more to read. It’s unique, detailed, and utterly addicting.



I don’t think I’ve ever used the words fantasy and dystopian in the same sentence, or at least not that i can remember. It’s usually the sci-fi genre that has it, but this is a different cup of tea. We have an alternate history as well as a future look of our own world where voyants exist. Claravoyants, are exactly what you think and more. They connect to the aether in some form and interact with spirits…and for this they are feared and persecuted. However everything isn’t as it seems and Paige is smack-dab in the middle of it. Now she must deal with a race called Rephaim, who treat them as slaves, and horrible creatures that have a taste for flesh. This book offers so much in terms of information, and the world building is some of the best I’ve read this year. The world is so detailed we get a flow chart for the different types of Voyants…and trust me there are a lot. We get new creatures to learn about and a new history, our own cities turned into something new. The Bone Season is rife with details and I just couldn’t get enough.



Shannon takes just as much care with her characters as she does with her world. Paige is a girl with a tough past and a tough personality. She’s definitely someone who can take care of herself but in many cases is forced to ally with people to gain what she needs. I really loved her, even though her outer toughness and her need to remain stubborn could get frustrating. I love that because she’s so different from other Voyants she’s had to protect herself, but because of that difference she’s also had to distance herself and remain closed off. Then there is Warden, the Rephaim now in charge of Paige. I’ll admit that it barely took a few pages before I was ready to claim him for the ever growing book boyfriend harem…even though Paige wasn’t falling for him, I definitely was. He’s hardened to most things and they exist on different levels, which is quite interesting. I enjoyed seeing them interact with each other and the different layers of their relationship. Then there are the other Rephiam which I wasn’t so fond of, especially Nashira who is as cold and selfish as it gets. Even the characters we only get a few chapters of are worth noting, like Jaxon, Nick, Liss, and Julian.



I’m definitely glad I decided to grab this one from the library and I’m glad I took the chance to read it before it was due back. I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, which apparently will have 7 books total. I need to know what is going ot happen with Nashira, Warden, and Paige. There is just so much I need to know.