Customer Reviews

Bone Song

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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."

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.

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.

Plot Summary: In this gloomy vision of a gothic city living under a purple sky, police lieutenant Donal Riordan is given an impossible job; he must protect an opera diva from a group of bone hunters called the Black Circle. In this world, the bones of the dead hold power, and a true artist's bones can bestow beautiful dreams. Eventually Donal joins an elite group of officers who suspect that some of their most prominent citizens belong to the Black Circle, and they're in a race to expose the members before even more superstars are harvested for their bones.

I think my imagination let me down, because I'm pretty certain it did not do justice to the world portrayed within "Bone Song." This dark urban fantasy is black and greasy like an oil slick, and although this alien dimension could never be mistaken for our reality, I felt an undeniable connection to Tristopolis, and the creatures that dwell therein. I can't recall the last time I encountered such incredible world building, from the bone-fueled power station, to the wraith-driven cars, it was all so intricately woven that I'm having a hard time pulling my brain back to the here and now.

I thought John Meaney had sufficiently creeped me out with his macabre vision of a city that is powered by human bones, but that was just was a warm up act. The real chills came much later. The only bit of warmth comes from the good guys, namely Donal Riordan, and the connections that he's willing to make with anyone -- human, wraith, or zombie -- so long as they're pure of heart. I latched onto Donal like a flame in the dark, and he did not disappoint me. For my fellow romance fans, yes, there is a love story here, and my only complaint is that Donal and the mysterious Laura go from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye. It's a nice addition to the story, but truthfully nothing can upstage the continual unveiling of Meaney's vision. It is the star of the story.

I was deeply impressed by this book, but it wasn't all smooth sailing, which is why I'm not giving this a flat out rave. A lot of times I'd read a passage of dialog, and come away wondering if I really got it all. I thought some parts were unnecessarily cryptic, and instead of getting frustrated, I just let it go after a while. Also, the first half moves very slowly, and while I enjoyed the lavish details raining down, I was more than ready for some action by the second half. Thankfully the book delivered a feast of fights, danger, and suspense. I did not predict who was the `Benedict Arnold' of the plot, and the ending took me be surprise too. I love it when that happens.

One of the first things I noticed about this story is that there is little or no physical description of the hero, Donal Riordan, but he's an engaging character, sight unseen, a detective in the The city of Tristopolis, a thriving future gotham which derives its power from the bones of the dead, and contains a vast array of interesting--albeit sinister--characters with its living elevators, gargoyles, assorted wraiths, Bone Listeners (who divine evidence from victims' bones) and other monsters of the dark. Assigned to protect a diva from a murderer who has already killed four other renowned artists, Donal fails, although he manages to dispatch the killer before he himself is seriously injured. The mysterious group to which the murderer belongs is still at large, however, and as soon as the detective has recovered from his wounds, he finds himself in an alliance with an odd assortment of characters--a beautiful "zombie" who has an uncanny tie to stray cats, and her disembodied associate--in order to solve the case. In the midst of his pursuit of the deadly Circle, Donal unexpectedly finds love and learns that death isn't always the End. Bone Song is an exciting read. Though the ending is a bit of a bummer for Donal, there apparently is a sequel on the way so it can't be all bad!

Necroinvestigations.

This is to all intents and purposes a detective novel first, complete with tough guy detective, corrupt politicians, gangsters, and the rest of the trappings.

The thing that is different is the setting, which in other ways could be like any other Western type city.

The book most similar in flavour I can think of would be Walter Jon William's Metropolitan/City On Fire, but without the politics and socioeconomics.

However, this one is fueled by the bones of dead people, and spells and hexes and zombies and wraiths and intelligent deathwolves all exist.

So, necropower instead of electricity, and other weird stuff aside, the major character has to investigate the continuing deaths of people who are famous and as such have collectable bones.

Secret nefarious cabal, and all that. A dangerous guy to be around tihs detective, whether you are a forensic Bone Listener, or a cabal member, or his zombie boss.

Perhaps a touch more interesting than a 3.5.

Donal Riordan is a good cop in Tristopolis city in world where the sun never shines and death does not always mean dead. When Donal is assigned to guard a visiting Diva against assassination and fails he finds himself in the midst of the darkest conspiracy he has ever had to investigate.

This book is a mystery novel set in a world where death is visible every day and permeates every facet of society. It's a strange world, but one that pulls you in as Donal slowly seems to be getting out of his depth in an investigation that leads to the highest levels of society. Having said that - at times the characters are little flat and it it's the strange death-world the author has created that is probably the real star of this novel. However, it's enjoyable enough to make me get book 2 in the series, DARK BLOOD, when it is published in 2008.

Bone Song is interesting and different, it's also intriguing and chilling. The world is built with such a dark and dramatic flavor that it sucks you in and does not let you go...easily. If a book had a visual flavor I would compare it to Brazil, Gattica, and several other industrial/goth movies. The concept of bones as a power source is interesting, it also raises several moral issues that the author does not address directly. The moral issues are outside the story line, but you think about them as the characters think about them. The core story is about protecting a talented Opera Diva and the people behind the murders of several other artists. The chase is as interesting as the reason behind the murders. I also enjoyed several of the sub characters, you can see the author going further with this world and the sub characters. I can also see the author leaving the novel as a single volume, leaving the audience wanting more...

If you like Goth, SF, and hard boiled detective/noir stories then this book is a perfect blend of all these genres. The world building here is first rate. In a fine ironic twist, in this world you can buy SF/Fantasy books about an Earth with only one sentient species where you can't run the local power plant on dead people and their "necroflux" nor can you enslave wraiths to run household appliances.

I could not help thinking of Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep (the basis for the movie Blade Runner) while reading this book. While there certainly is no relationship between the plots, this book's dark gothic/noir atmosphere was reminiscent of Dick's book. I thought the book was well written. The author did a wonderful job of creating a very different yet real world. There were a few scenes which seemed rather rushed, otherwise if was a great story which kept my interest.