History Literature / TheBoneSeasonSeries

** In another memory, Jaxon tells Nick and Paige that he is "further from the Archon than the cradle from the grave. Not that those two states are all that far apart." ''The Song Rising'' throws this statement into a new light.

The series has met with considerable success. [[FilmOfTheBook Film rights]] have already been picked up by [[Creator/AndySerkis Andy Serkis]]' Imaginarium Studios.

One night, Paige is subjected to a spot check by government agents and [[AccidentalMurder accidentally kills one with her gift]]. She is arrested that very night and transported to a secret [[PenalColony penal colony]] run by a race of [[HumanoidAliens supernatural creatures known as Rephaim]], who have been [[CosmicHorrorReveal controlling Scion from the shadows]] for two hundred years and whose aim is to colonize the human world. Every ten years, a number of captive voyants like Paige are sent to the penal colony to be trained and indoctrinated. These decadal harvests are known as Bone Seasons.

* AstralProjection: Played with. Paige's spirit can leave her body and travel through the æther, but she can't see her own body or anything in the physical world - just dreamscapes and other spirits. Her body stops breathing when she does this, so she can't do it for long without life support.

** Paige remarks in an offhand way that when she found Haymarket Hector and his henchmen [[spoiler: dead, they'd been disfigured "Ripper-style"]]. We find out in ''The Song Rising'' that the poltergeist responsible - the same poltergeist who tortured the Ranthen after Bone Season XVIII - was in fact [[spoiler: the spirit of Jack the Ripper]].

* GuardianAngel: A spirit that returns to the corporeal world to protect the person they died to save. There are also archangels - guardian angels who stay with that person's family, sometimes for generations, even after they die.

* PointOfDivergence: In the year 1859, Earth broke its ethereal threshold, allowing a large party of Rephaim - led by the Sargas - to cross over from the Netherworld. The Sargas were determined to establish themselves as [[TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies the new rulers of the Earth]], so they revealed themselves to the British prime minister of the era and convinced him that they were angels come to save humanity. Control of [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire the British Empire]] was effectively turned over to them. The Sargas then used this power to establish Sheol I and the government of Scion, both tools for controlling the clairvoyant population of the world.

* WitchHunt: Scion's government is built on the systematic rooting out and execution of clairvoyants - none of whom, of course, can possibly be human beings with the right to exist. Amaurotics tend to be very paranoid as a consequence, especially when Scion encourages them to turn in anyone they suspect might be unnatural.

* 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 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.

* 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 all humans as being in a perpetual state of decay]], as 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.

* 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. They see all 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.

* PointOfDivergence: In the year 1859, Earth broke its ethereal threshold, allowing a large party of Rephaim - led by the Sargas - to cross over from the Netherworld. The Sargas were determined to establish themselves as [[TheRightOfASuperiorSpecies the new rulers of the Earth]], so they revealed themselves to the British prime minister of the era and convinced him that they were angels come to save humanity. Control of the British Empire was effectively turned over to them. The Sargas then used this power to establish Sheol I and the government of Scion, both tools for controlling the clairvoyant population of the world.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Paige is five foot nine, which is nothing to sneeze at, but her Rephaite keeper / companion / partner-in-crime towers over her at nearly seven feet. She doesn't even come up to his shoulder. Luckily, he's a tactful sort who usually stands far enough away from her that she doesn't need to crane her neck up at him.

* PsychicLink: [[spoiler: Paige and the Warden]] share a "golden cord" - a spiritual connection that allows them to transmit emotions and images to each another through the æther, and track each other down if necessary. This connection is one of the central mysteries of the whole story.

* PointOfDivergence: In the year 1859, Earth broke its ethereal threshold, allowing a large party of Rephaim - led by the Sargas - to cross over from the Netherworld. The Sargas were determined to establish themselves as [[MasterRace the new rulers of the Earth]], so they revealed themselves to the British prime minister of the era and convinced him that they were angels come to save humanity. Control of the British Empire was effectively turned over to them. The Sargas then used this power to establish Sheol I and bring about the government of Scion, both tools for controlling the clairvoyant population of the world.

* 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. They see all humans as being in a perpetual state of decay, as 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.

* PsychicLink: A golden cord forms between [[spoiler: Paige and the Warden]] in the first book - a spiritual connection that allows them to transmit emotions and images to each another through the æther, and track each other down if necessary. This golden cord is one of the central mysteries of the whole story.

* PointOfDivergence: In the year 1859, Earth broke its ethereal threshold, allowing a large party of Rephaim - led by the Sargas - to cross over from the Netherworld. The Sargas were determined to establish themselves as the new rulers of the Earth, so they revealed themselves to the British prime minister of the era and convinced him that they were angels come to save humanity. Control of the British Empire was effectively turned over to them. The Sargas then used this power to establish Sheol I and bring about the government of Scion, both tools for controlling the clairvoyant population of the world.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Paige is five foot nine, which is nothing to sneeze at, but her Rephaite keeper / companion / partner-in-crime towers over her at nearly seven feet. She doesn't even come up to his shoulder. He's usually tactful enough to stand far enough away from her that she doesn't need to crane her neck up at him.

* GuardianAngel: A spirit that returns to the corporeal world to protect the person they died to save. There are also archangels - guardian angels that stay with that person's family even after they die, sometimes for generations.

* PsychicLink: After [[spoiler: Paige and the Warden]] save each other's lives, three times each, a golden cord is formed between them: a connection between their spirits that allows them to transmit emotions and images to each another through the æther, and track each other down if necessary. The golden cord is one of the central mysteries of the whole story.

* TarotTroubles: In the first book, a cartomancer divines Paige's future using seven tarot cards: Five of Cups, King of Wands inverted, the Devil, the Lovers, Death inverted, Eight of Swords, and one that never saw the light of day. This card reading will haunt Paige throughout the series as she tries to decipher what it means.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Paige is five foot nine, which is nothing to sneeze at, but her Rephaite keeper / companion / partner-in-crime towers over her at nearly seven feet; she doesn't even come up to his shoulder. He's usually tactful enough to stand far enough away from her that she doesn't need to crane her neck up at him.

* PsychicLink: After [[spoiler: Paige and the Warden]] save each other's lives, three times each, a golden cord is formed between them: an ethereal connection between their spirits that allows them to transmit emotions and images to each another, and track each other down through the æther. The golden cord is one of the central mysteries of the whole story.

* ProtectiveCharm: In the first book, the Warden gives Paige a sublimed pendant which repels poltergeists. It ends up saving her life many times over the course of the series.
* PsychicLink: A golden cord forms between [[spoiler: Paige and the Warden]] after they save each other's lives three times each. It allows them to transmit emotions and images to one another, and provides a way for them to track each other down through the æther if necessary. The golden cord is one of the central mysteries of the whole story.

* PsychicLink: A golden cord forms between [[spoiler: Paige and the Warden]] after they save each other's lives, three times each, connecting their spirits through the æther. It allows them to transmit emotions and images to one another and track each other down if necessary. The golden cord is one of the central mysteries of the whole story.

* NumerologicalMotif: The number seven crops up a lot, being strongly associated with the supernatural and the divine. For example, 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.

* PointOfDivergence: In the year 1859, Earth broke its ethereal threshold, allowing a large party of Rephaim - led by the Sargas - to cross over from the Netherworld. The Sargas were determined to establish themselves as the new rulers of the Earth, so they revealed themselves to the British prime minister of the era and convinced him that they were angels come to save humanity. Control of the British Empire was effectively turned over to them. The Sargas used this power to establish Sheol I and bring about the government of Scion, both tools for controlling the clairvoyant population of the world.

* PsychicLink: [[spoiler: Paige and the Warden]] inadvertently form one called a "golden cord" when they save each other's lives three times each. It connects their spirits through the æther, allowing them to transmit emotions and images to each other. Little else is known about it.

* AncientConspiracy: The English government has been secretly controlled by the race of Rephaim since before the conception of Scion.

* AncientConspiracy: Scion has been secretly controlled by the race of Rephaim since before its conception.

* CombatClairvoyance: The average voyant can bring spirits together into a "spool" and throw it at an adversary, temporarily stunning them. Powerful voyants such as binders and summoners can use especially strong spirits which are capable of killing their opponents. Dreamwalkers, however, are the ultimate incarnation of this trope, as they are capable of leaving their bodies in spirit form and directly attacking other dreamscapes.

* PointOfDivergence: In the year 1859, Earth broke its ethereal threshold, allowing a large party of Rephaim - led by the Sargas - to cross over from the Netherworld. The Sargas were determined to establish themselves as the new rulers of the Earth, so they revealed themselves to Lord Palmerston - the British prime minister of the era - and convinced him that they were angels come to save humanity. Control of the British Empire was effectively turned over to them. The Sargas used this power to establish Sheol I and bring about the government of Scion, both tools for controlling the clairvoyant population of the world.

* PsychicLink: [[spoiler: Paige and the Warden]] inadvertently form one called a "golden cord" when they save each other's lives, three time each. It connects their two spirits through the æther and allows them to transmit emotions and images to each other. Little else is known about it.