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Published Aug 2013
480 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others' minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.
But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city - Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly - as soldiers in their army.
Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.
The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine - a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.
"This extremely strong beginning will have readers eager to see whether Shannon can maintain her stride for a lengthy series." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. [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." - Booklist
"This book is for those who like their dystopian science fiction multilayered, philosophical, and complex." - Kirkus
"A dark and exquisitely rendered fantasy unlike anything out there. The Bone Season is a must-read." - Kami Garcia, coauthor of the Beautiful Creaturesseries
"What a ride! Imagination on that scale is exhilarating. I didn't just like this book, I loved it." - Ben McNally, Ben McNally Books, Toronto
This information about The Bone Season was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Samantha Shannon was born in West London in 1991 and started writing in abundance when she was twelve. She studied English Language and Literature at St Anne's College, Oxford, from 2010 to 2013, specialising in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Principles of Film Criticism. She is the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Bone Season series. Her work has been translated into twenty-six languages. Her fourth novel, The Priory of the Orange Tree, was her first outside of The Bone Season series and was a New York Times bestseller. She lives in London.
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