Bone Song [Hardcover]

John Meaney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 26, 2008

Hailed as “the first important new SF writer of the 21st century,” John Meaney delivers a darkly luminous new thriller that blends futuristic noir with gothic fantasy. Here, in a city of the dead where desire is very much alive and murder a pleasure for connoisseurs, an honest cop must face his own darkest impulses just to have a prayer.

There have been four victims already. Famed for their beauty and one-of-a-kind artistic gifts, they were murdered in the most shocking ways imaginable and their corpses stolen. Now the famed diva Maria daLivnova is arriving in Tristopolis—a city literally powered by the massive necroflux generators that process the dead—and it is up to Lieutenant Donal Riordan to make sure she ends her limited engagement alive.

But Riordan isn’t the only one watching deLivnova. For the Diva is being followed by two other secret “protectors”: Commander Laura Steele—who’s made a more or less successful transition to para-life—and her partner, the invisible free-wraith Xalia. They are part of the necropolis’s vast underground network and they’ve mobilized against an unseen enemy for a battle of epic proportions. For a perverse death cult with powerful members in every stratum of society has learned how to distill from the bones of their sacrificed victims the ultimate thrill—a nectar that, once tasted, is impossible to resist. And the more precious the life, the greater the pleasure it is to take it away.

Soon Riordan will find himself in the unlikeliest of alliances as he journeys through a world of corruption—both aboveground and below—among gargoyles and zombies, spirit slaves and assassins, science and sorcery, in search of an enemy even the dead have every reason to fear….

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This mélange of mystery, dark fantasy and over-the-top gothic horror marks a dramatic departure from Meaney's existential SF epic, the Nulapeiron Sequence. In Tristopolis, where corpses are incinerated by the thousands to produce the necroflux that sustains the city and its undead inhabitants, police lieutenant Donal Riordan learns that a disturbingly well-organized cult is killing the world's most talented artists. Tasked with keeping a visiting opera diva safe, the intrepid cop soon finds himself caught up in a sweeping necromantic conspiracy that could involve the very highest ranks of government. Meaney makes extensive use of dark colors and gothic imagery (a golden clock, formed of interlocking metal bones; the bat-winged ambulance), and Tristopolis is at times more fascinating than its inhabitants or the relatively conventional hard-boiled story line. With many plot threads left untied or simply ignored, readers will have to wait until future installments to pass judgment on this ambitious saga. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Meaney’s latest novel straddles the line between gothic fantasy and detective fiction in creating an alternate world in which humans coexist with mythical creatures and a cultlike underworld that feeds, literally, on death. Police lieutenant Donal Riordan faces perhaps the most challenging assignment of his career when he’s asked to provide protective services to, of all people, an opera diva visiting his native city of Tristopolis. A handful of celebrity artistes have already been dispatched under mysterious circumstances, and Riordan quickly realizes that the murders are only the gruesome preliminary clues to a much larger conspiracy involving Tristopolis’ death-obsessed ruling elite. Before he can track down the lead conspirators, however, he becomes involved in an unlikely alliance—and steamy romance—with an undead military commander who is already deeply engaged with the enemy in a chesslike battle in which Riordan is merely a pawn. Readers who enjoy this sort of fanciful, macabre romp can look forward to its sequel, Black Blood, slated for publication later this year. --Carl Hays

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (February 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553385143
• ISBN-13: 978-0553385144
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,807,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm John Meaney (aka Thomas Blackthorne), writer of hard SF, gothic SF/dark fantasy, and near-future thrillers. Having studied physics and computer science, I've been an IT consultant and taught software engineering on three continents. Nowadays, I hide in a Welsh valley and write full-time.

I've trained in martial arts since I was a kid, primarily shotokan karate. I'm a trained hypnotist, so don't look into my eyes... And I adore cats.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addams Familyesque World, March 6, 2008

By 

JFBeilman "Bibliophile" (Wichita, KS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bone Song (Hardcover)

I just finished reading this book today and it is so good that I had to write this review. The first thing I liked about this novel is the worldbuilding, which reminds me of the Addams Family. There's a similar gothic creepiness and dark humor. Imagine if the whole world were like the Addams Family! This parallel Earth, has perpetually dark skies, multiple sentient species in addition to humans, and "necroflux," which is a form of energy produced by the "dead."

In the story, cop Donal, uncovers a sinister conspiracy which among other things, murders artistic people for their vivid "bone dreams." They also want to deprive non-human sentients of their civil rites, which is reminescent of the X-men series. There are multiple twists and turns, including a major one for Donal. I can hardly wait for the sequal were Donal adjusts to his new "status."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deliciously Dark, May 31, 2007

By 

Scott Masterton (Blaine, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

John Meaney's latest book "Bone Song" is on one hand a departure from his Nulpeiron Sequence novels while at the same time highlighting Meaney's greatest literary gift: the ability to create new and original worlds.

Donal Connor is a cop in the classic noir sense; he lives in a world where humans and supernatural creatures coexist and often times work side by side. Although the book is people by interesting three dimensional characters, the real "character" of the book is the city of Tristopolis; a gothic city (picture London coupled with Paris with no daylight). The world in which Tristopolis is situated is literally powered by the dead. Computers replaced by sentient spirits and magic; werewolf security systems not to mention a sexy boss/partner that also happens to be a zombie.

After a series of brutal murders of famous artists, Donal is given the mission of protecting a glamorous Diva who is possibly next on the list and the fun begins there. Although the novel is incredibly dark, Meaney takes that darkness and plays with it, creating interesting shades of grey.

It seems these days that the science fiction book market is filled to saturation with vampire slaying, Dominatrix type novels aimed at readers that previously had subscriptions to the "romance paperback of the month Club". If this is your cup of tea, then take a pass on Bone Song. However, if you're interested in something truly different, Bone Song might be your latest page turner. Definitely worth the read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing second half, but great first half and worldbuilding, March 30, 2009

By 

Minsma (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bone Song (Mass Market Paperback)

2.5, maybe. I haven't been so disappointed in a book since I don't know when, chiefly because it has such incredible worldbuilding and because the first half of the book absolutely blew me away. I was completely enmeshed in the world and the characters and couldn't wait to get back to it each time I put it down.

About halfway through, though, it seemed to have a schizophrenic breakdown. The previously tight and compelling POVs (split between two main characters) mushroomed into multiple, shallow head-hopping POVs which seriously diluted the flow of the story and the characterizations. That would have been bearable (because the worldbuilding remained amazing and compelling, the plotting intricate), but then the characterizations and plot went to hell as well. People started falling in love instantaneously for no apparent reason; others launched on paths of boneheaded revenge for really cooked up motives that had more to do with authorial convenience then true motivations. Even the characters, late in the book, admitted they were stupid. Plot points were thrown in for no good reason except that, again, the author needed to get someone from point A to point B and show off more worldbuilding; the main character turned into a Maury Stu-type character that could do no wrong and was the best of the best, easily victorious in any contest; and absolutely no care was given to the emotional underpinnings of the story. Things happened, we were supposed to care, but they were so paint-by-number, handled so woodenly and shallowly, that I found myself not caring at all.

But that worldbuilding! Wow. I kept reading long after I would have put most books down because the depth and originality of this world dominated by death, the macabre, and the dead was truly breathtaking. If you love books with dazzling settings and don't care overmuch if the characters have no more depth than a video game and the plotting bears more resemblance to a software program, you'll probably enjoy this book more than I did. I think if the first half of this book hadn't had everything going so damned well, I wouldn't have been as severely disappointed. As is, I'm not sure I'll bother reading any more in this series.