Friday, July 3, 2026

mask falling

Paige Mahoney is at it again. The Mask Rising is the 4th book in the 7-book Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon. In the dedication, Shannon notes that this is the middle book. I guess I didn't realize how many there were when I started, as I've probably mentioned in the past. The 6th book has been announced, and just recently revealed it's cover art on Shannon's website. That book is due out early next year. The 7th book? Who knows. And will Shannon decide that she needs an 8th to really wrap things up? I know, sorry, but... maybe. it's like, art, and stuff

Paige Mahoney is, of course, the main protagonist in this series, and you just can't keep a good woman down. After making serious and significant inroads on the UK battlefront, Mahoney has decamped to Paris for the majority of this installment. Many of the same characters we met in the first 3 books still appear, but many for only short periods, or mentions, as they are still in England. This book does take the overall story arc onto a more global stage, with implications mentioned for Portugal and Spain as well, altho we don't visit those places. Perhaps a foreshadowing of some future book's setting?

The series framework is a kind of sawtooth shaped story arc or increasing tragedy, conflict, or obstacle,  which ratchets up the tension, and when resolved drops the anxiety back down again for a beat, before the next thing comes along that needs to be overcome. The seem to come pretty regularly (hence the sawtooth analogy) in large part because the Mahoney character runs toward trouble rather than away. Its in her DNA to fight injustice and oppression and putting herself in harms way not only comes naturally, but appears to be her preferred modus operandi. i'll just let it eat me, and cut my way out from the inside *

So would I recommend that you read this series? Its not really SciFi, and its not Swords & Sorcery. Magical Realism? Is that even a thing? Maybe just call it Speculative Fiction. If you like that kind of thing, with some clairvoyance and some rebels-against-the-evil-empire action then you'll probably enjoy this series. You could wait until she's done, so you don't have to hang around waiting for the next installment, but some folks like that, so, you do you!

 

* That's not an actual quote from this book, but a trope we've all seen a number of times. I just read the exact thing in the book I'm reading right now. Which is NOT, by the way, the next book in this series.

 

 

 

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