Supernatural with out the insight
The Bone Season
Samantha Shannon
Bloomsbury Publishing, 467 pages
It is the year 2059 and Paige Mahoney is part of London's underworld using her 'unnatural powers' to acquire information for her employer Jaxon Hall. The problem is the powers she uses are outlawed and another race of people the Rephaite covet these skills. Paige is captured, taken to the Rephaite headquarters and commences her training under the Warden Arcturus. It is here that she learns more about her powers and a hint of the conspiracies that are all around her.
This was a mixed novel to read. The world is interesting, the ideas behind are well thought out but they do not come across on the page. I mean you have an enormous amount of information thrown at you but it was too much. It needed to be teased out through the story as it became relevant. There were so many big themes in this first novel that you are left reeling from an overload of information.
With so much thrown at you it becomes hard to connect with the characters and I struggled with Paige. I like characters that are complex, that are unsure of themselves but Paige flip flops all over the place. I mean she has been chased, captured and tossed into this new world. Does she worry about her Dad at all? No she keeps worrying about a gang of people who she seems to barely like. I mean you do not understand why she is so beholden to this gang of people. You never get a sense that they have strong bonds, apart from her relationship with Nicklas. Her motivations were sketchy and she lacked conviction. I mean she was did not want to be a slave to the Rephaite but was happy to be Jaxon's slave. The relationship between Arcturus and Paige just has obvious written all over it.
You are given a history as to why the people with physic ability are considered a threat but even then it seemed not fully explained. Shannon has taken snatches of history and twisted them but it still seems lacking something. I cannot explain exactly what and maybe it was just way too much to take in.
Then there were ideas and themes raised that never got explained. I mean what is the point of oxygen bars? They are mentioned but you do not know why they are important or not.
The other thing that really annoyed was towards end. I hate it when you get a couple of minor characters who say 'careful something big is coming your way'. It is the 'I know something you don't, know I am going to die and not tell you.'
This is meant to be a seven book series and I am not sure that it is entirely achievable in first person with so much happening around Paige that as readers we need to understand.
I enjoyed the book but I am not committed enough for seven books.
If you want to check out more about Samantha Shannon and her books check out her website.
Samantha Shannon
Bloomsbury Publishing, 467 pages
This was a mixed novel to read. The world is interesting, the ideas behind are well thought out but they do not come across on the page. I mean you have an enormous amount of information thrown at you but it was too much. It needed to be teased out through the story as it became relevant. There were so many big themes in this first novel that you are left reeling from an overload of information.
With so much thrown at you it becomes hard to connect with the characters and I struggled with Paige. I like characters that are complex, that are unsure of themselves but Paige flip flops all over the place. I mean she has been chased, captured and tossed into this new world. Does she worry about her Dad at all? No she keeps worrying about a gang of people who she seems to barely like. I mean you do not understand why she is so beholden to this gang of people. You never get a sense that they have strong bonds, apart from her relationship with Nicklas. Her motivations were sketchy and she lacked conviction. I mean she was did not want to be a slave to the Rephaite but was happy to be Jaxon's slave. The relationship between Arcturus and Paige just has obvious written all over it.
You are given a history as to why the people with physic ability are considered a threat but even then it seemed not fully explained. Shannon has taken snatches of history and twisted them but it still seems lacking something. I cannot explain exactly what and maybe it was just way too much to take in.
Then there were ideas and themes raised that never got explained. I mean what is the point of oxygen bars? They are mentioned but you do not know why they are important or not.
The other thing that really annoyed was towards end. I hate it when you get a couple of minor characters who say 'careful something big is coming your way'. It is the 'I know something you don't, know I am going to die and not tell you.'
This is meant to be a seven book series and I am not sure that it is entirely achievable in first person with so much happening around Paige that as readers we need to understand.
I enjoyed the book but I am not committed enough for seven books.
If you want to check out more about Samantha Shannon and her books check out her website.
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