Book Review: The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

The Song Rising sounds awkward to me. Maybe This Song Rising.

Following a bloody battle against foes on every side, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over London's criminal population. 

But having turned her back on Jaxon Hall, and with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilising the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging.

Little does Paige know that her reign may be cut short by the introduction of Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for the clairvoyant community and the world as they know it.

This is the third book in The Bone Season series (I have reviewed the previous ones if you're new to the series The Bone Season and The Mime Order), so spoilers for the first two. This is the first of the novels that I've listened to on audiobook. The voice actor,  Alana Kerr Collins does a pretty good job of capturing Paige's voice and does all of the other books so no jarring changes (and hopefully none in the future).

Despite, liking Collins it took me a while to finish this book. It technically took me eight months to read this book exactly according to my Goodreads. 20.9.2017 to the 20.5.2018 for a book that's twelve hours and a bit long. I got to the Chapter 7/25% in by 31st of December and didn't properly go back till May. I just didn't want to. I went after other audiobooks, I wasted time repeatedly going through the oddest and rubbish opinions my local library has (it's rubbish for me, there's like no fantasy or horror of any kind), instead of listening to this book already downloaded to my phone.

Though, with the next novel not coming out till 2020 so not like it a big deal, with a planned six books from the start, I do wish they had been coming out more frequently. I don't think its time, more the last of pacing. The start of the book is political stuff as Paige recovers and takes control of the Mime Order.

In terms of world-building, we get to see more of other Scion control locations and what has gone down in the past. That was interesting and seems to be more where the series is going.

We get new characters that are fine, though once again I couldn't say who for sure was actually introduced in this book. The old characters do a lot of searching. I didn't feel that connection to them this book.

Slight Spoiler, Highlight to see: I was also half convinced that Shannon was going to kill off a main character and did not care. Half-convinced in I thought she just might do it.

I had completely forgotten that Paige is still only meant to be like 19 when all this shit is going down. I guess that's because of the time that takes for the books to be written and I've been slowly ageing and ageing away from Paige. Though, she was already in the future so she was always going to be the youngest of us two.

The ending is quite a cliffhanger, in tune with the other books. I'm kinda disappointed due to what's been set up for the last book, but I also get the choice.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Gaelic Dungeons. This novel was okay once I actually listened to it. I might just wait until the series is finished before picking more novels. I want to know what happens, but all at once might work better.


I paid for this book with my own damn money thing time. I probably would have request it off NetGalley if I had saw it.

Book Review: The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon

You know this is a sequel because there is a number 2 on the cover.

In the internationally bestselling The Bone Season, Paige Mahoney escaped the brutal penal colony of Sheol I, but now her problems have only just begun: many of the fugitives are still missing and she is the most wanted person in London.

As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city’s gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take centre stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner.
Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided. Will Paige know who to trust? The hunt for the dreamwalker is on.

This the sequel to The Bone Season, so expect spoilers for that book in here. If you've not read the first, why not check out my review of it instead.

I'm just going to say it. This book is not as good as Bone Seasons. The thing is that book was so good; its a hard act to follow, especially with it ending on cliffhang and you're just dump back into this world which would be fine if you had read the books back to back but I didn't.

I don't think there is good job re-establishing characters and events from past novel. Frankly, in a series that's going to be so long it's important that you don't have to read the last book before the reading the next. Things and characters are mention in pasting without proper explanation. It's hard to remember everything when its been over a year since you've read the first book and I just don't have the time to reread every book before I read it's sequel (I'm not a big rereader to begin with) and I bet others are that way too. A lot of stuff went down in the end of the last book and just hard to catch up.

I think the big problem is the plot drags a little and I pushed myself through this book mainly because I was eager to read another book. That might just be my problem, but I never felt that way with the last book. Also while there is more world building, we pretty familiar with it now and finding about this world was one of my favourite things in the last novel.

I still love the characters, Paige is still awesome.  Still very interested in for going on with these characters.

Overall, I gave this book four out of five books for Mimes. Second Book Syndrome is horrible thing, while I'm wondering how this story going on for five more book. Hey, that might be good thing and I'm keen find out what's going to happen next.

I got this for review off Netgalley. It being published by Bloomsbury on the 27th January 2015.

Book Review: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Well, I could write a book by the time I'm 22 if I actually ever wrote anymore.

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, kidnapped and drugged, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite creature with dark honey skin and heavy-lidded yellow eyes. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die

The Bone Season is apparently the next big thing. Sadly, I think this likely to hurt it more than help it as a series. It's the first in the intended series of six books (we definitely getting two sequels anyway). Its a good book but not amazing. It's an interesting world being built. Technically, a dystopia, fantasy and petty sure a parallel time-line (there's like a different history from our one). It's 50 years in the future with technology stuff but also magic.

Our protagonist is Paige Mahoney who for some reason came from currently free Ireland to an imprison Britain (London, England specifically) when a child. Paige is a Dreamwalker which a rare type of clairvoyant. Since Clairvoyants are illegal, Paige finds herself in World of Crime. But where else are you going to find yourself next in line when only 18.

Anyway, while on the train Paige accidentally injuries two Scion Police thingies and that where the fun begins. BA BA BA, Paige finds herself in Oxford, which has been ripped off the maps because its home to the Rephaite; creatures from another dimension who feed off human life force. I want to imagine them as lizard people, they're not described that way. They actually look like humans I think, but taller. Maybe its the name, green blood or the yellow eyes but they're lizard people to me.

So Paige gets picked by Warden to be his human/trainee, which is special because he never picks humans ever. Dark motives at hand. Paige helps plans of rebel amongst the Clairvoyants but we won't be getting into any of that. If want to know more about the dark motives/rebel, read the book.

Characters are interesting lot and there is a lot of them. In fact, I've already forgot most of their names. I like Nick though and the evil head lizard lady.

Information is given at good pace and I never found myself just flicking through the pages bored (which does happen with me sometimes. I'm usually end three times at once or jumping from things). The ending is handle really well, has a proper ending but leaves with wanting to know what happens next.

In summary, an interesting and good novel. I will continue to read the series but honesty I would wait till it comes out in paperback. I give it 5/5 stars for missing body parts. Like it is really good, it just not amazing, knock the air out of you good. Potential there though and the writer's young so she possible she could learn/mature to be as the series goes on.

I  have now reviewed the next two books: The Mime Order and The Rising Song (soon).

I got this book off NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for Review.