The Bone Season | ★★★★☆.5 | (read 2024)
The Mime Order | ★★★★☆ | (read 2024)
The Song Rising | ★★★★☆ | (read 2024)
The Mask Falling | ★★★★☆ | Book 2 of 2025
The Pale Dreamer | ★★★☆☆.75 | Book 3 of 2025
The Dawn Chorus | ★★★☆☆ | Book 4 of 2025
The Mask Falling | ★★★★★ | Book 5 of 2025 (I started writing this review whilst only 50% through — I guessed that this would be a 5 star read).
Talk about a juicy blog post! I took the plunge into Paige’s syndicate world, finally, at the end of 2024, and boy am I having a great time.
I have had the original version of these books sitting on my shelf for literal years, but when I heard that Samantha Shannon was republishing heavily revised versions of these books, I knew I had to wait until they were available before reading them. I both regret not reading this series sooner, and am really glad I waited for the authors revised editions.
It is very rare for a book series to have a compelling plot, diverse and complicated characters as well as being written well, but The Bone Season series certainly has all three. The Bone Season is set in a future, somewhat dystopian London where there are people with gifts, or clairvoyance, and those that do not, and England (along with some other countries) are controlled by Scion, who are hell-bent on eradicating those who they deem ‘unnatural.’ Paige Mahoney, our main character from Ireland, is an ‘unnatural’ with the ability to dream walk (essentially sending her consciousness beyond herself) and to detect other dreamscapes around her. She is a member of the underground clairvoyant community, the syndicate of criminals where she puts her gifts to use before being captured by Scion and sent to Oxford where chaos ensues.
The world that is so very like our world but not quite that Shannon has created is so intricate, and every detail has been thought of. You are immediately enveloped into Paige’s world, and you really cannot help but root for her. I won’t pretend that Paige’s life is an easy one, but she is truly a character that is, like us all, not without her flaws but continuously does her best with the hand she has been dealt.
The writing is exceptional. The writing is incredibly detailed, and it has this ability to really pull you into the world. I am not going to lie, there is an aspect of being thrown in media res with The Bone Season, and it can feel overwhelming when there are so many new terms being used. However, this series is worth sticking it out through what will inevitably be a confusing first few chapters. Before you realise it, you are familiar with the terminology and you become completely immersed in Paige’s London and Oxford.
I think there is often a critique of fantasy books that have characters that are hundreds of years old, or characters that are not human, but they are portrayed as no different than the young, female main character (essentially). This criticism that I think is often very valid is not one that can be assigned to this series. Arcturus is not of this world, and the Rephaim do not want to be human, and they do not act like humans. It is so refreshing to read a book that shows a clear contrast between our young main character who starts off in the dark and somewhat naive of the world around her, and the ageless otherworldly beings. That being said, the character growth displayed in this series is such a highlight in this series.
There’s not a lot that I can say without spoiling some aspect of this series, but I also think in the current political climate, a book that grapples with issues of censorship, media manipulation, and violent occupations of unwilling countries, this series is more important than ever. Anyone who says that books ren’t political have never read a book in their lives.
If you have read this series I would love to hear your thoughts! You can always find me over on Instagram @kell_read ✨
