**Spoilers. I was lucky enough to get an Advance Copy of this book back in December. Spoilers will happen in the review so be prepared.**
Well this is a game changer for the series. We are getting to the Prisoner of Azakaban territory as we begin to expand the world and up the stakes. Paige is now the Underqueen of the Unnatural Assembly but when Jaxon jumps over to the Rephaim side, she’s blindsided. Not only does she have doubts about her abilities, her mentor is working with the enemies, giving them all of their secrets. The Mime-Order’s partnership with the Ranthen is tenous at best. She must first prove to the voyants that she is worthy to follow and to the Ranthen’s that she worthy to be funded. After a disastrous mission to take down senshield, a device that can detect the auras of Voyants, Paige takes off to investigate leads in Manchester. Trying to stay ahead of the evil military mastermind, Vance. Nothing has been easy for Paige and that is definitely true but she really comes into her own. Paige very much wants to what’s best for the voyant community and end Scion but she has to combat so many things. She has to prove her worthiness to her people and to Ranthens. Making things complicated is Jaxon, who many people still support and don’t believe that went over to the Scion. Others see Paige’s youth as another drawback. When Paige makes the mistake of acting on unproven intel and that makes sensheild even stronger, she has to move everyone underground. Paige may not see it at the point but I think this was a pivotal point for her. It proved her willingness to make the hard decisions but also it outsmarted her enemies. Jaxon admits that even he couldn’t figure out where they disappeared too. As the story plays out, we see more and more of cruelty of the Scion and how it’s not just the Rephaim who are committing it. The introduction of Vance is an example of a human doing unspeakable things on other humans for advancement or for their own enjoyment. It almost seemed like Vance sees her role as more of a game then anything else. To me that makes her scarier then the Rephaim. Samantha Shannon is getting better and better with each book. It’s almost as a writer she is learning more about herself, as Paige is doing the same thing on the page. The ending leaves as many answers as it does questions but also opens us to even more possibilities. I will do my best wait patiently for book 4.
I didn’t realize that Samantha Shannon published two novella’s in connection to her Bone Season series. I was delighted that one of was Jaxon Hall’s infamous pamphlet. On the Merits of Unnaturalness. Fans of the series will be familiar with the title as it is bases of the clairvoyant community and what made Jaxon a major player in the syndicate. Under the pseudonym of the Obscure Writer, Jaxon goes through all the different types of Clairvoyance there is and grouped them in seven different orders. This also created a hierarchy among the community by ranking orders by difficult and by rare each gift is. I feel like this is a must read for fans of the books because it really clears up a lot of the different gifts that the characters have and how they relate to each other. It also explains why some are treated with more reverence then others. We understand that Paige’s gift of dreamwalking is rare but not only that, it’s part of the seventh order so it makes her even more powerful among the community and having her in his gang, it makes Jaxon more powerful too. It also cleared up more as to why the “vile augurs” were so despised and exiled to Jacob’s island. I feel like I have a better understanding on the syndicate and Paige’s life after reading this.
Speaking of understanding more about Paige’s life, the second novella is the The Pale Dreamer. It chronicles the early days of Paige in the Seven Seals. She has only been in the gang for three months and so far on desk duty. Aching to prove her worth, Paige gets a chance when a Poltergeist is set loose in London. We see that even three years before the action of the Bone Season, Paige was already brave, a little brash but a quick thinker. Her powers are still raw but you can see the glimpse of her strong she will become. This is also shows us why she goes by The Pale Dreamer. It was the name given to her by Jaxon himself. It was the events depicted in the novella that lead her to becoming his Mollisher. At the time the Seven Seals is only Jaxon, Nick, Eliza and Paige so we get the glimpse of their early relationship between these characters. Also it lays the groundwork to the future conflict between Paige and Jaxon but also not that surprising as to why Nick and Eliza chose Paige over Jaxon at the end of The Mime Order. It’s definitely worth a read for any fan but not necessary to enjoy the series as a whole as it doesn’t really add to the narrative. It just fills out the world and Paige’s backstory a little more. With a little less then a month before the release of The Song Rising, it’s a good read while you wait.
On Tuesday, the second book in the Bone Season series, The Mime Order comes out. If you have read the other posts you know that Kate and I loved the first book, The Bone Season and a certain character, Warden. So we both were anxiously waiting the sequel. I already had a chance to read The Mime Order. There are a few perks of being a bookseller. Having the opportunity to read books before they are officially released is just one of them. The problem with reading books before the release is that when I’m done, I can’t talk about them because no one else had read them. I know, I know. I’m probably not getting much sympathy out there so I’ll stop complaining. I am very happy that it will finally get to be released so Kate and our cousin Sarah, who suggested The Bone Season to us can finally read about it so we can discuss it. Finally!