The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

I cannot remember now where I heard of The Bone Season. Possibly, it was on that list I mentioned back in January of books that hadn't found their audience yet. Regardless of that, I placed it in my Thriftbooks wishlist and the price dropped under $4 at the beginning of February, so I bought it. I've been dropping a little behind in my non-YA and I was looking for something to catch up with so I picked it up.

One of the great delights of reading is discovering something new and wonderful. When I pick up a book that I've heard of or one from an author I know, I have certain expectations. I try to keep an open mind, but those expectations influence my reading. Usually, my expectations are met or exceeded and the experience is good but it's like talking to the friend of a friend. I don't know this book personally yet, but I've shared experiences already with it either through other people telling me about it or through other books written by the same author.

Picking up a book I've never properly heard of is a different experience. I don't know the author so I don't know what to expect from them. There's no trust there that the book is necessarily worth my time, but there's no preconception to live up to either. Every page is a discovery. When this works out well, it's the most exciting experience.

The Bone Season is a dystopian novel set in the near future of London. The monarchy really ended with Victoria and Edward VII was a madman who unleashed a plague of 'unnaturalness', or clairvoyance, on the world. At least that's the official party line of Scion, the totalitarian government bent on eliminating clairvoyants, also called just 'voyants.'  Being forced underground, the voyants turn to various types of crime and band together in criminal syndicates.

Enter Paige Mahoney. Paige is an unusual type of voyant called a dreamwalker. While most voyants can only interact with the aether (spirit realm) in superficial ways, Paige has the ability to send her spirit out of her body entirely. There are drawbacks, of course, like the tendency to stop breathing when her spirit is out of body, but it allows her to snoop around the minds of others. She is a valuable commodity in this world.

She is, however, until caught in a random check and snapped up by the authorities. She expects to die, but instead she's transported to a secret colony in Oxford where she learns that an alien race from the aether called the Rephaim has been gathering up voyants for centuries.

The world is reminiscent of "V for Vendetta" complete with underground plots and political intrigue. Paige is very relatable protagonist. While her anger could be distancing, her compassion makes her enticing. She doesn't act like the dashing hero, but more like a young but competent woman in a situation beyond her ability entirely comprehend.

The beginning was exposition heavy. While Shannon did a decent job interweaving the exposition with action, the first 25 to 50 pages were noticeably slower going than the rest of the book and require patience to slog through. There is a lot of jargon slung around and only half explained about various types of voyants that eventually blends into the flow of narrative. On the upside though, once past the initial investment of time, the narrative moves at a brisk pace. There is plenty of action as well as intrigue. All the characters are richly drawn and the setting is well nuanced with detail.

Oh, and it's the beginning of a series.

The Bone Season was not written with teens in mind, but would be appropriate for a teen well versed in dystopian literature.