The Bone Season

Samantha Shannon

Set in the mid 21st century London, with a history that dates back to mid-19th century, Shannon has created a world unlike any I have encountered. This London is known as a Scion, a protectorate city where the government keeps citizens safe from clairvoyants. The underworld of clairvoyance is organized and regulated by a hierarchical structure based on the type of access a voyant has to the netherworld (Mediums, Binders, Seers, etc). Our protagonist is Paige, aka Pale Dreamer, who is a dreamwalker. She can sense and enter the dreamscape of others. The prime storyline here begins when Paige is kidnapped and taken to Sheol, which is a voyant prison colony near Oxford. It is here that she has her eyes opened to the real power structures of the world, with Rephiam (non-human netherworld immortals) masters, scary monsters and human corruption. Paige is a product of Bone Season XX, a once in a decade harvesting of human voyants for use by the Rephiam. But the Pale Dreamer is not a typical voyant, either in gifting or in spirit. And she will fight to get back home.

4 stars (out of 4)