History Literature / TheBoneSeasonSeries

*** King of Wands, inverted, represents ruthlessness and high expectations; for Paige, this means Jaxon, a figure whose authority over her she felt even in Sheol I. In ''The Mime Order,'' she struggles to break free of his control in order to be able to decide her own future and that of the London syndicate.

*** Five of Cups is associated with regret, disappointment and pessimism; of being stuck in the past and unable to let go. In ''The Bone Season,'' Paige relives many of her own memories, most notably the one where she got her heart broken for the first time.

*** The Devil is associated with a force of darkness and hopelessness, one so powerful that we are tricked into thinking we can't break free of it. In ''The Song Rising,'' Paige struggles with despair [[spoiler: while imprisoned in the Westminster Archon and even gets a WhatYouAreInTheDark moment when Nashira asks her to betray the Mime Order]]. Implied to be a case of EnemyWithin.

*** The Devil is associated with a force of darkness and hopelessness, one so powerful that we are tricked into thinking we can't break free of it. In ''The Song Rising,'' Paige struggles with despair [[spoiler: while imprisoned in the Westminster Archon and even gets a WhatYouAreInTheDark moment when Nashira asks her to betray the Mime Order]].

--> This was what we feared, we voyants. Not death, but non-existence. The total destruction of spirit and self.

* MentalWorld: The interior of someone's mind is called a ''dreamscape,'' which looks different for every individual depending on their memories and personal experiences; according to Warden, it takes the shape of whatever makes them feel safest. Paige's dreamscape, for example, resembles the poppy field from her childhood.

*** The Lovers is self-explanatory. In ''The Mask Falling,'' having been left alone with him in Paris for several weeks, Paige realizes the true depth of her feelings for Warden, and they reach a new, far more honest understanding with one another.

* ImmortalBreaker: The Rephaim are ageless and invulnerable to amaurotic weapons, yet their kryptonite is a tiny red flower called the poppy anemone. Simply touching one causes painful burns, while getting a small quantity of pollen to the face would inflict catastrophic physical damage akin to accelerated decay.

*** The Lovers is self-explanatory. In ''The Mask Falling,'' having been left alone with him in Paris for several weeks, Paige realizes the true depth of her feelings for Warden and resolves to nevermore deny herself the comfort of his romantic companionship. Right before [[spoiler: he pulls a FaceHeelTurn and nearly gets her captured by the Sargas]].

*** The Devil is associated with a force of darkness and hopelessness, one so powerful that we are tricked into thinking we can't break free of it. In ''The Song Rising,'' Paige struggles with despair [[spoiler: while imprisoned in the Westminster Archon; she even gets a WhatYouAreInTheDark choice when Nashira asks her to betray the Mime Order]].

* NumerologicalMotif: The number seven crops up a lot, being strongly associated with the supernatural and the divine: there are [[BiblicalMotifs seven Seals]], seven orders of clairvoyance, seven books in the series, and seven tarot cards predicting Paige's future. The arch-traitor of Bone Season XVIII was XVIII-39-7. Also, Paige's London gang is based in Seven Dials, where seven roads converge on a sundial pillar. May also qualify as ArcNumber.

** Nashira's murder victims become "fallen angels," spirits which are forced to stay with her and protect her for eternity.

''The Bone Season'' is a seven-book series by Samantha Shannon. Set in a {{Dystopian}}, AlternateHistory England, the story follows a young clairvoyant woman named Paige Mahoney. Since 1859, when the phenomenon of [[ISeeDeadPeople clairvoyance]] first became public knowledge, England has operated under an [[ANaziByAnyOtherName oppressive and strongly anti-voyant government]] called Scion. Paige belongs to a class of criminal voyants who use their contact with spirits and the spirit world (known as the æther) to make a living while avoiding the authorities. She is a rare kind of voyant known as a dreamwalker, capable of [[AstralProjection separating her spirit from her physical body]] and entering the æther in spirit form.

* FantasticRacism: Very much the Rephaim toward humanity. The ruling family's goal is to colonize the human world and install themselves as the apex predators of the Earth. Being ageless and immune to the ravages of time, [[HumansThroughAlienEyes they see humans as being in a perpetual state of decay]], as [[PunyEarthlings petty and weak and naturally subordinate]]. Even the [[spoiler: Ranthen, who share a common enemy with the clairvoyants of London and must work together with them,]] tend to belittle humans to their faces without the slightest remorse.

** In fact, each card from Liss's reading can be understood to represent each book in the series in chronological order.

*** King of Wands, inverted, represents ruthlessness and high expectations; for Paige, this means Jaxon, a figure whose control over herself she felt even in Sheol I. In ''The Mime Order,'' she struggles to break free of his control in order to be able to decide her own future and that of the London syndicate.
*** The Devil is associated with a force of darkness and hopelessness, one so powerful that we are tricked into thinking we can't break free of it. In ''The Song Rising,'' Paige struggles with despair [[spoiler: while imprisoned in the Westminster Archon, even getting a WhatYouAreInTheDark moment when Nashira asks her to betray the Mime Order]].

* NumerologicalMotif: The number seven crops up a lot, being strongly associated with the supernatural and the divine: there are [[BiblicalMotifs seven Seals]], seven orders of clairvoyance, seven books in the series, and seven tarot cards predicting Paige's future. The arch-traitor of Bone Season XVIII was XVIII-39-7. Also, Paige's London gang is based in Seven Dials, where seven roads converge on a sundial pillar.

* AuraVision: "Sighted" voyants can see the aura given off by other voyants.

* ClairvoyantSecurityForce: The Night Vigilance Division, also known as the NVD, is composed of clairvoyants who have agreed to serve Scion for thirty years, patrolling the streets at night and arresting any voyants they find, before being euthanized.