Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 4th February 2025
Paperback
Published: 1st March 2017
Hardback, Special Edition - Waterstones Signed
Published: 14th November 2023
Paperback
Published: 5th September 2023
Hardback
Published: 14th November 2023
The Bone Season
By (Author) Samantha Shannon
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
5th September 2023
28th March 2024
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Dystopian and utopian fiction
Clairvoyance and precognition
Urban fantasy
Paperback
624
Width 129mm, Height 198mm
454g
THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION, FULLY UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIAL A lavishly reimagined tenth anniversary edition of the first novel in the sensational Bone Season series, by the Sunday Times and New York Times-bestselling author of The Priory of the Orange Tree. 'A fabulous, epic fantasy thriller ... Lavish, ebullient, escapist' The Times ________________________________________________ Welcome to Scion. No safer place. The year is 2059. For two centuries, the Republic of Scion has led an oppressive campaign against unnaturalness in Europe. In London, Paige Mahoney holds a high rank in the criminal underworld. The right hand of the ruthless White Binder, Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare and formidable kind of clairvoyant. Under Scion law, she commits treason simply by breathing. When Paige is arrested for murder, she meets the mysterious founders of Scion, who have designs on her uncommon abilities. If she is to survive and escape, Paige must use every skill at her disposal and put her trust in someone who ought to be her enemy.
Truly extraordinary and thrilling * Andy Serkis *
In this special edition of her critically acclaimed debut, Samantha Shannon performs the remarkable feat of improving upon the original beloved text. The story is impossibly richer and more insightful, assuringly accessible, more moving than ever, and glitters with exclusive content. The Bone Season is why fantasy exists. This is a hypnotic journey that crackles with dreamlike energy. Of all the Oxfords that literature has conjured, Shannons Sheol I intrigues and terrifies me the most. Her London is a fever dream. And I would linger in the aether forever if it meant spending longer with Paige Mahoney and Arcturus Mesarthim. Darkly thrilling, and dense with inventive detail, this lyrical dreamscape demands your presence. Come, dreamers - I dare you to lose yourselves in this one -- London Shah, award-winning author of the Light the Abyss series
Epic, surprising, and impeccably imagined, The Bone Season seamlessly melds a near-future dystopian world, with high fantasy stakes, and a truly unique brand of magic. Perfect for those who enjoy intricate plots and eclectic casts of nuanced characters. Ten years on from its original release, Shannons debut remains one of the most accomplished and original SFF novels Ive ever read -- Kate Dylan, author of Mindwalker
A new breed of women authors are claiming fantasy for their own. Leading the charge is Samantha Shannon * Harper's Bazaar *
A dark and exquisitely rendered fantasy unlike anything out there. The Bone Season is a must read * Kami Garcia, No. 1 New York Times bestselling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures series *
Samantha Shannon has a hugely inventive talent and an imagination with seven league boots. She's hit the ground running * Susan Hill *
A richly dramatic and unadulterated pleasure, filled with horrors, wonders and charm * Justina Robson, author of the Quantum Gravity series *
The book invokes both the political tyranny of George Orwell and the bucolic mythmaking of J.R.R. Tolkein * USA Today *
A Hunger Games-esque debut * Irish Daily Mail *
A rapid-fire wonder of a book, where clairvoyants and humans battle it out against scary monsters and super-creeps ... The Bone Season is our next Twilight * Marie Claire *
The Bone Season is more like the novel that JK Rowling and William Gibson never teamed up to write * Wired *
A Hunger Games vibe and a few Shades of Grey * Vanity Fair *
The Bone Season plots out a criminal underworld in a future where clairvoyancy exists; part fantasy, part dystopia, all intrigue. Its a world of impressive scope, accompanied by Tolkienesque appendices, glossaries, maps and all * Vogue *
It has conviction in spades ... The Bone Season has the kids vs dystopia kick of The Hunger Games, but while its better written ... Its also got the star-crossed romance of Twilight * SFX Magazine *
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 *
Marks the arrival of an extraordinarily talented British writer set to challenge the worldwide bestseller list domination of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series and Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games * The British Fantasy Society *
The Bone Season, set in 2059, stems from Shannon's interest in works such as The Handmaid's Tale and A Clockwork Orange, which have backdrops of repressive regimes, and in John Donne's poetry * Sunday Times *
A complex and epic dystopia * Bookseller *
Shannon writes so well that you stay interested, intrigued by the knife-edge motivation of characters with six-seater lips whose high-collard dresses always made her think of the gallows. And although many of the paths walked by The Bone Season will already have been well travelled by fantasy readers, Shannon shows real skill in combining them so easily into an original and enjoyable escapist fictional world. Like so much recent young adult fiction, I suspect this series will appeal to the fearless teenager dwelling within many adults. The ending certainly gripped me to the marrow * Daily Telegraph *
A dark, embattled, highly wrought fantasy ... Whatever the future holds, there is no doubt that Samantha is the real thing, her own sternest critic and a born storyteller * Observer *
On the quite wonderful style and craft of words Samantha displays I really cannot heap enough praise it is remarkably self-assured writing, most especially for a debut ... the most engrossing read I have had so far this year and frankly the most absorbing and compelling debut Ive read since the superb Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Hugely recommended * Forbidden Planet International Blog *
Shannons world is meticulously detailed and has a strong internal logic ... Plenty of entertaining action ... The pace of The Bone Season seldom slacks off, and the strong and resourceful Paige is a memorable heroine. This is one buzz book that just might merit its hype * BookPage *
A remarkably accomplished debut -- Jonathan Wright * SFX Magazine *
Impressively realised -- Alison Flood * Sunday Times *
The Bone Season is enough to transport even hardened sceptics of the fantasy genre into its imaginative realm -- Anita Sethi * Metro *
Frightening and well-imagined ... fascinating ... The large talent on display here suggests just how good Shannon could get in the next six books of this promising series -- Elizabeth Word Gutting * Washington Post *
Plenty for readers to get absorbed in ... With six novels to go, and an author clearly driven to go deeper and deeper into a unique world, many will surely follow her -- Tom Shippey * Wall Street Journal *
Had me gripped as if in a vice ... Samantha Shannon is a young writer with a future that looks anything but dystopian * Stylist *
Theres a great imagination at work here, and Shannons just getting started -- Sue Corbett * People *
Dynamic and direct ... There is an exciting breadth to Shannons world * Evening Standard *
With echoes of Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games and Trudi Canavans Black Magician trilogy, this is an excellent debut that will keep the reader gripped all the way to the end and leave them asking when book two will be released * Irish Examiner *
Dont just suspend your disbelief send it to the pictures and sink into this fabulous, epic fantasy thriller ... Lavish, ebullient, escapist ... Bring on the sequel * The Times *
Fascinating It will be very interesting to see where Shannon goes with this -- Ned Denny * Daily Mail *
Samantha Shannons The Bone Season is my perfect cup of tea ... My inner teenager enjoyed every last word * Sarah Vine, Daily Mail Books of the Year *
Samantha Shannon 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 an international bestseller. She lives in London. samanthashannon.co.uk / @say_shannon