Paige Mahoney, the Black Moth, has emerged triumphant in the Rose Ring. Crowned Underqueen over the clairvoyants of London, Paige leads the syndicate on a brutal campaign against Scion who have unveiled a new technology, Senshield, that at its core would allow clairvoyants to be identified on a level previously unforeseen. Assisted by the faction of the Rephaim resisting Sargas rule, Paige desperately seeks to train the clairvoyant factions against this new reality. But the betrayal of Jaxon Hall, the White Binder, and her former mentor cuts into her newly established reign as Underqueen. Jaxon has taken the title of Grand Overseer and aids the Sargas who once held him prisoner in Oxford in their campaign against clairvoyants. With his intimate knowledge of the clairvoyant syndicate and their safe houses across the city, there truly is no safe place left within London. The fight may be over before it could even take wing. When she learns of a Senshield weapon component housed in Manchester, Paige and a few of her voyant allies travel there to attempt to undo the technology set against their kind. There she will confront her past which has more of a hold over her than she realized, and the cost of her place within the Scion resistance.
The Song Rising, the third chapter in Samantha Shannon’s Bone Season series serves as a bridge between the existing state of the clairvoyant underworld and the ever-expanding threat of Scion. Where the Mime Order revealed traitors within the London syndicate and Paige Mahoney assumed the mantle of Black Moth and Underqueen, The Song Rising puts her newfound reign to the test. Samantha Shannon does not give the narrative a second to reorient itself, jumping back to the betrayal of a close ally, marking an irrevocable shift within the clairvoyant syndicate. Brutal in its unflinching perspective of resistance and its personal costs, The Song Rising exposes cracks in the facade of the clairvoyant underworld now facing outright culling through new Scion technology. Walking a fine line between her connection to Arcturus and the cost of leading a revolution against the Scion Republic, Paige must come to terms with her newfound identity in the face of increased onslaught from Scion and where best to place herself within the resistance that she initiated.
Rocked deep by the betrayal of her mentor and the intensifying campaign of violence against clairvoyants, this third chapter introduces significant challenges for Paige. Though she is now a leader with the power to bring about change, there is a deep loneliness at the heart of the role she occupies. Desperation holds immense sway over Paige as Scion enacts the next stage of their horrific scourge against clairvoyants with a technology strong enough to hunt them down in mass. Paige’s entire ethos within the syndicate is further uprooted in the reveal that her mentor, Jaxon Hall, was the one who betrayed Arcturus and the other humans who tried to escape from Oxford decades ago. In the face of immense betrayal, Samantha Shannon contrasts Paige with Jaxon – two individuals who had the capacity to resist at Oxford but who walked down different paths. Opposite to Paige, Jaxon’s core weakness comes from prioritizing his place within the system which comes at the expense of others and is something he will pursue incessantly, caught in a perpetual cycle. Paige’s decision to spur a revolution back in London pulls tighter the thread of her personal history having radicalized her – from Ireland and the Dublin Incursion to the ownership of her power within the clairvoyant underworld. Her resistance comes from her agency and her experiences within the syndicate, but also the violence she witnessed as a child. All of this makes it impossible for her to allow others to meet the fate of the gallows or another Bone Season.
The scene at the Thames at the beginning of The Song Rising marks a profound shift for Paige, with the identity of the arch-traitor now revealed and his new role as Grand Overseer giving him the ability to bring further violence down upon the clairvoyants of London. While Paige acknowledges the emotional abuse she endured from Jaxon Hall when she was at his right hand, she considers his reservations, leaving him room to drive a wedge between her and her main source of strength, her relationship with Arcturus Mesarthim. Pretty much since the moment they met, Arcturus has been someone who can contextualize situations for Paige as he is slightly removed from them and has further objectivity. At Oxford, Arcturus could see that Jaxon viewed Paige as an object of power and a commodity, and he repeatedly made that known. Jaxon’s power over Paige is evident in his ability to cloud her perception of what is, and only unburdening herself to Arcturus will alleviate these doubts. Even so, they reach a divide where she is struggling rather intensely and he can’t show that support publicly for fear that it would reveal the truth to their relationship. Even though Paige and Arcturus find openness with one another time and time again, they both still fear being the first person to stand on the precipice of their feelings, and there are still many things that have been left unsaid. But the romantic moments between them in the dark and empty rooms when the world quiets for a second hold their own kind of power – their romantic connection a resistance to prejudice and the powers that want them to be enemies. Arcturus has this quiet reverence around Paige that is just so bleeding romantic I don’t even know how to explain it properly. Very few characters can make saying a first name so romantic but somehow Arcturus manages to make simply saying her name a kind of benediction. His steadfast support as she struggles and his commitment to reminding her of her strength when she doubts herself is not only deeply admirable, it makes him one of the few people in her corner to see her for who she truly is.
Throughout this third chapter, Paige is fighting a losing battle for control. The belief that she can exert control over her feelings and by extent protect Arcturus leads her down a path with severe consequences. The weight of Paige’s increasing personal blame and guilt is tangible across The Song Rising, building in the background to an irreversible choice. The scene in Edinburgh where she leverages giving herself up to Scion in an attempt to destroy Senshield from the inside was almost too agonizing to read. The psychological callbacks to the Molly Riots and the fear and death in a crowd gunned down are all called forth in startling clarity. Paige endures a horrific period of torture in Westminster at the hands of Suhail and Nashira. Yet her courage is not outweighed by the decision to give herself up. Paige has always been a chancer and flirts with martyrdom at Westminster for even the chance to cripple Scion and the Senshield technology.
What makes Paige such an interesting protagonist is that she is complicated, she’s still figuring herself out and makes plenty of mistakes in her journey as a revolutionary. But her tenacity and tremendous courage in the face of such violence is heartening. Paige Mahoney is driven by her convictions and her unconventional moves do reach a satisfying resolution (no matter how stressful they may be to read). The chaos is just part of her charm. The Song Rising reveals an entirely different atmosphere than the first two books in the Bone Season series. Its hopeless energy overtakes the initial momentum gained from The Mime Order as Paige Mahoney, beset by enemies on all sides makes the worst possible choice to get to the right resolution. Though it is the shortest out of all the books, it by no means holds itself back from depicting the harsh realities of resistance. Desperate and full of personal consequence, The Song Rising builds a resounding call to action against continued persecution as Paige Mahoney unwittingly reaches a crossroads with her place within the clairvoyant syndicate and her opposition against the Republic of Scion.
Trigger warnings: torture (graphic), violence, death, murder, grief, gun violence, drug use
Literaryrobin 