Title: The Song Rising (The Bone Season #3)
Author: Samantha Shannon
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopian
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: May 14, 2024
Format: Paperback, 10^th anniversary edition
Length:  384 pages

Read if you like: supernatural dystopia, clairvoyance-driven magic, criminal underworlds, morally ambiguous characters, alternate histories, urban fantasy, diverse cast

Rating: 

The Bone Season series is quickly becoming an all-time favourite for me. I was completely enthralled with the first book, and each subsequent installment that I’ve read since has managed to continue increasing the stakes. In The Song Rising, Shannon keeps expanding on a lush, magical concept with a disturbing backdrop, and I found myself so absorbed I couldn’t stop turning pages. Each book has built on the previous while also feeling like a wholly new and contained story. However, all have some core characteristics I love in a fantasy series: a pulse-pounding, action-packed plot with beautifully crafted complexities and foreshadowing. 

The Song Rising was everything I had hoped it would be and more, and while I sometimes wish I’d discovered this series sooner, I’m so glad that I can now hop directly into the next book because I have to know what comes next.

The Book Synopsis: The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

Following a fierce battle for the Rose Crown, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over the clairvoyant syndicate of London. But with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilizing the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging.

As Paige rallies her army of criminals, she continues to meet in secret with her former enemy, Arcturus Mesarthim. Should they be discovered, the fragile alliance with the Ranthen will fail.

But all bets are off when Scion introduces Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for clairvoyants. Now Paige must race against the clock to stop her reign ending in blood.

The Review

What an incredible third instalment in this stellar series. I’m still reeling over how much I loved this book and how obsessed I have become with The Bone Season. 

First off, I loved that the world and characters are well-established at this point in the series, so it meant jumping directly into the action. Shannon continues to find new and inventive ways to build more complexity and nuance into every aspect of the story. The setting is both disturbingly familiar but also removed, the plot is perfectly paced and chalked full of detail and intricacies, and the characters are all now wonderfully multi-faceted. I always find that there’s something so comforting about returning to a familiar universe, even one as unnerving as Scion, but it’s particularly satisfying in cases such as these where the conceptual basis was a little difficult to navigate initially. The Orders of Clairvoyance and the unique particulars of both the magic and societal structures felt dense in the first book, but it’s paid off by now in how much more detailed Shannon can be with every single aspect of the world she’s built so painstakingly.

I loved the way the narrative flowed in both expected and unanticipated ways. To some degree, the revolution behaves very much how you would expect a band of criminals to. It’s a struggle to get off the ground, and then a continuous struggle to maintain any degree of trust. That said, Shannon adds a lot of nuance to the underground by exploring the characters and the human condition, and then contrasting them against each other and the Rephaite alike. This approach makes the subtle yet significant shifts from a criminal underground to loose militia all the more satisfying—it feels organic, like a natural development, but you also get a sense of how hard the transition is and why it’s difficult to maintain. I felt so invested in the outcome that I kept rooting for the characters to come together, but I thoroughly enjoyed that Shannon worked to do this without dulling the edge that they maintain.  

I almost can’t believe how action-packed this book was from start to finish. The pacing was impeccable and I found myself desperate to see what would happen next. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t address (at least at a very high level) the twist at the end that brings Paige to a whole new landscape. The change in orientation completely took me by surprise and also left me incredibly excited about the possibilities that could arise from these new plot elements.  

I genuinely cannot wait to see where the story goes from here. This was an easy five-star read for me, and I’m so excited to continue the series as soon as possible.