Review: The Mime Order (The Bone Season series #2) by Samantha Shannon

I read the first book in this series, The Bone Season, (click for review) back in 2015, although it seems longer considering how little I can remember of it. Honestly, I just didn't like it at all. Quite literally the only thing I recall is how difficult it was to follow - I didn't understand the magic system or the class order, and I couldn't have told you what was going on with the plot either. So, with a dubious heart, I picked up The Mime Order... and it's way better. I really liked this book!

No spoilers for either The Bone Season or The Mime Order.

Plot summary: Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London...

As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on the dreamwalker, 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. 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.

I skimmed the Recaptain summary for The Bone Season before I even opened The Mime Order, as I knew I wouldn't have had a cat's chance without it. There were no problems with their summary (honestly, that website is a Godsend) but it still didn't help all that much, so I just got cracking. To my surprise, The Mime Order is much, much easier to follow. I'm not sure if it's because all the world-building had been gotten out of the way in the first book (honestly, it was like a textbook at times) or if Samantha Shannon has simply learned from previous mistakes, but I didn't actually have much problem following the plot at all.
 
The world and magic system are still a bit confusing -the photo to the left details the voyant classification system and the many, many different terms are just casually thrown into the prose. However, unlike in The Bone Season, it's perfectly easy to follow the plot without understanding what a Tasseographer does, for example. I still don't know and the chart doesn't explain but hey, apparently that's fine.

It's just much more streamlined and simple than the previous book and I found myself drawn into the plot. It's quite a political story and it could be argued that not a lot really happens, action-wise, but it doesn't feel like that when you're reading. There's a lot of sneaky maneouvering going on and, to be honest, it was really interesting.

I appreciate the uniqueness of this series now. Whilst complicated, I haven't seen anything quite like this magic system before and I love the carnival-esque, gothic glory of the scrimmage and the voyant council. The heads of the rival gangs are magnificent, with different styles of villany and I'd happily read spin-off books about them all. I'd actually like to have learned more about Eliza about the spirit-painting (or whatever fancy name it's called) and the function of the other Seven Seals, as we didn't get to spend much time with them in the first book. There's a few twists at the end, some of which I saw coming but others which were really well planned.

If The Mime Order has one fault, it's probably Paige herself. Don't get me wrong, she's fine. Not annoying or whiny, or overly lovesick. The problem is that she's very naive and a bit sulky, and her relationships with other people aren't really explained. Her attitude towards Jaxon has changed suddenly, but she just seems a bit standoffish and ungrateful for no reason. It's not a massive flaw and it didn't stop me enjoying the book, but the lack of explanation did stand out on one or two occasions.

I actually purchased the third book, The Song Rising, before I'd even finished this one, which is an action I wouldn't have thought likely. The Mime Order finishes in such a dramatic, interesting way, however, that I just have to see how the story progresses. Now that I've read the second book, I would actually recommend getting hold of The Bone Season and starting this series. 

Read my review of The Bone Season, or read Charlotte's more positive review here.

(I've just reread my review and wow - I did not like that book!)

Review: Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

I finished the second book in this duology, Crooked Kingdom, literally about five minutes ago and I have to talk about this series immediately. I feel sad, nauseous and a little bit giddy, all at the same time. This series, especially the second book, is the best I've read in a long, long time.

Plot summary: Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he'll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist:Break into the notorious Ice Court
(a military stronghold that has never been breached)

Retrieve a hostage
(who could unleash magical havoc on the world)

Survive long enough to collect his reward
(and spend it)

Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done - and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first.

I was dubious about starting this series as I did not like the Grisha books. The Shadow and Bone series wasn't bad exactly, but there was nothing particularly unique about it and it wasn't written overly well. I'm not sure if I finished the first book, but I definitely didn't carry on to the second. This series, written by the same author and featuring the same world, did therefore not exactly recommend itself to me.

Then Charlotte, whose opinion tends to echo mine in a lot of bookish things, read Six of Crows (review here), and she ended up buying it for me as a Christmas gift. Turns out that I'm really, really glad I didn't avoid these books just because I didn't like Leigh Bardugo's original serie, or I'd have missed one of my favourite books of the year so far. Admittedly it's only April, but I'm confident it'll stay a firm favourite.

I'm a sucker for books about close knit groups of wildly different people, all working towards a shared objective, bonding and bickering along the way. It's why I loved A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet so much, and other books like Theft of Swords. Six Crows and Crooked Kingdom do that perfectly. The way the relationships develop and change is so perfect and so subtle - I'm not sure I've ever seen characterisation performed so beautifully. The characters are so different, but the way their personalities interweave is wonderfully crafted.

My favourites were Kaz, the criminal mastermind with his own special brand of neuroses, Inej, the gentle but talented wraith and Wylan, the quiet demolitions expert scorned by his Father. However, and unusually for a book with changing perspectives, I was interested in every single one of the six characters. All of them. They were so wonderful and their perspectives so unique, that for once I didn't mind from whose viewpoint I was reading. It alternates every other chapter and, considering that means six perspectives, it's a difficult feat to stop the reader from getting frustrated.

Normally I hate romance in books like these - it's usually unnecessary and shoehorned in for the sake of it. Here though, it's more of a subplot of a subplot. It's so subtle and non-attention-grabbing that I actually felt the story was better for it, which is something I never actually thought I'd say. The end result of the relationships was never straightforward and yet it was always suited the couple involved to the nth degree. So, so perfect.

The story itself is wonderful too. Six of Crows is a simple heist (well, not so simple at all, but the premise is straightforward at least - 'steal some stuff') and Kingdom of Crows is a more complex plot where the characters have to deal with the less than ideal consequences of the aforementioned heist. Each book has so many twists and so many turns that I lost count of the time I wanted to gasp at how Kaz Brekker tricked me (and everybody else) again.  

The writing style is completely different to the original Grisha trilogy, to the point where I wouldn't have believed it was written by the same author. It's adult, it's complex and parts of it are simply beautiful. I don't know what happened between that series and this one, but it worked. 

Charlotte told me that Crooked Kingdom was even better than Six of Crows, but I didn't really get on board with that until close to the end. Because I read them so close together, they sort of merged into one book for me. Well, until the end of Crooked Kingdom. I CRIED. I actually sat there and properly cried. It's an actually perfect ending that suited all the characters. I loved that it wasn't perfect, that not everybody got a happy ending and that it wasn't what I had hoped would happen - it was better than that. It was brave and awful and amazing and... ARGH. It's perfect, for all the characters.

A third book hasn't been announced and, strictly speaking, the story has been concluded. However, there is scope for another book (or another hundred, fingers crossed) and I cannot wait for that day. I swear, the second that book is announced, I'm on it.

For a series I didn't even want to read, it's amazing. Hell, for a series I did want to read, it's still amazing. The prose is beautiful, the characterisation is masterful and I absolutely didn't want to put this series down for a second.

And look - I found a shop on Etsy that sells Six of Crows themed candles! You can buy a Matthias candle or a Wraith candle, and Novelly Yours have kindly offered to give all you lucky readers 10% off! Just use the code TAKEOFF10.

What has your favourite book of 2017 been?

Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

This is going to be a very, very difficult book to review. The Lies of Locke Lamora is one of those books that is possible to enjoy almost in hindsight - I found it quite heavy and almost inaccessible at points, but then the ending was so damn perfect that I'm dying to read the sequel. Looking back, it's possible that I'd enjoy it more now that I know where it's headed and how well it develops.

Plot summary: They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count.

Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards.

Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city.

But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming.

The story actually reminded me of The Way of Shadows series by Brent Weeks, only with a more formal tone. Locke and his friends together form The Gentleman Bastards, a small gang dedicated to pulling elaborate stunts and ruses to do what no other criminal will - steal from the nobility. They make an interesting, perfectly balanced group: Locke is the mastermind behind every one of their escapades, Jean cannot be bested in a fight, Calo and Galo are a set of super sneaky twins and Bug is their errand boy, slowly being initiated into the trade.

I genuinely believe that a strong set of friendships can make any book. Royce and Hadrian in Theft of Swords, or Sparkhawk and Kalten in The Elenium series by David Eddings. Even Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in the Lord of the Rings films. When a bond between certain characters is so strong that it's almost tangible, it makes the reader so much more invested in everything they do. 

The Lies of Locke Lamora is perfect, in that respect. I found the characters flat and lifeless for the first two thirds of the book but when the narrative began to reveal how they all interlinked, my opinion of the book as a whole went way up. They don't really start to take shape until this point, but afterwards they're some of the best characters I've ever seen. They work together so well and I can't wait to rejoin them in the next book, Red Seas Under Red Skies.

The world-building is unbelievably well thought-out, but it almost goes too far in the opposite direction. The plot is broken up by interludes, which are basically just lengthy, long-winded essays on the city's history shoved in for background information. That's fine in theory, but they're really frequent and usually not necessary or relevant at all. By two thirds of the way through, I'd stopped giving them my full attention and just skim-red.

It's also very jumpy time-wise. For example, we might jump in to the middle of a stunt, then go back to the preparation of the stunt, then back to the middle and then way back to travelling to the stunt. I understand that it's necessary sometimes, in an Ocean's Eleven-style, 'this is how we did it' kind of way. It's just too convoluted and sometimes it's difficult working out when/where you are as the time shifts aren't always clearly noted.

I keep referencing the two thirds point of The Lies of Locke Lamora, I know, but it really does feel like everything changes at that point. I'd struggled to get in to the story, the plot was bogged down by description, the characters were flat... it wasn't great, to be honest. But after that point... wow. It becomes a truly amazing novel. All the problems with it were magically fixed and I didn't want to do anything but sit there and read it.

I bumped up my rating from three stars to four, just on the strength of the ending. It's perfect. Clever and perfect. It's one of the best-written (and perfect!) endings I have ever read. I finished it at 2am and just had to sit there and process everything that had happened. I obviously can't discuss it too much, but it hit me hard in several different ways.

To conclude, read The Lies of Locke Lamora but STICK WITH IT. It is hard going for a while but I promise that it does pay off. It could do with being 100 pages or so shorter (by condensing the interludes, perhaps) but the wonderful characters, enthralling plot and perfect ending easily made it one of my favourite books of 2013.

Visit Scott Lynch here, or find him on Twitter.