The Bone Season

Reviews

Epic, surprising, and impeccably imagined, The Bone Season seamlessly melds a near-future dystopian world, with high fantasy stakes, and a truly unique brand of magic. Perfect for those who enjoy intricate plots and eclectic casts of nuanced characters. Ten years on from its original release, Shannon’s debut remains one of the most accomplished and original SFF novels I’ve ever read. Compelling . . . a heroine every bit as gutsy as Katniss Everdeen. J.K. Rowling’s now-grown readers are the natural audience for this complex fantasy . . . There’s great imagination at work here. Exciting . . . The future Shannon presents is frightening and well-imagined, and her complex hierarchy is fascinating. Intelligent, inventive, dark, and engrossing . . . Shannon has remarkable talent for world-building . . . . but her most sublime otherworldly creation is the complex, ever evolving, scrappy yet touching Paige Mahoney. [The Bone Season] invokes both the political tyranny of George Orwell and the bucolic mythmaking of J.R.R. Tolkien. Engaging and exciting. It’s energetic, imaginative, and engrossing . . . Buy it, read it, and enjoy. A dystopian thriller that delivers . . . . [The Bone Season] gallops along . . . daring its readers to keep up even as it sinks in its hooks with crackerjack action [and] deftly-accentuated conflict . . . Shannon has a faultless instinct for the prerogatives of storytelling, for the engine that makes an adventure novel go . . . It’s the sort of novel you inhale in two or three days. [A] dazzlingly brainy, witty, and bewitching tale of outrageous courage, heroic compassion, transcendent love, and the quest for freedom . . . the first in a thoughtful fantasy series by a brilliant young writer. This book is for those who like their dystopian science fiction multilayered, philosophical and complex. Shannon offers up a richly imagined debut . . .The internal mythology is complex and intriguing, the emotional struggle is captivating, and the pace rarely falters as Paige unravels the mysteries and dangers of her new home. Part Lisbeth Salander, part Oliver Twist . . . the strong and resourceful Paige is a memorable heroine . . . One buzz book that just might merit its hype. In this special edition of her critically acclaimed debut, Samantha Shannon performs the remarkable feat of improving upon the original beloved text. The story is impossibly richer and more insightful, assuringly accessible, more moving than ever, and glitters with exclusive content. The Bone Season is why fantasy exists. This is a hypnotic journey that crackles with dreamlike energy. Of all the Oxfords that literature has conjured, Shannon’s Sheol I intrigues and terrifies me the most. Her London is a fever dream. And I would linger in the aether forever if it meant spending longer with Paige Mahoney and Arcturus Mesarthim. Darkly thrilling, and dense with inventive detail, this lyrical dreamscape demands your presence. Come, dreamers—I dare you to lose yourselves in this one. Expand reviews