Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: clairvoyant

In The Bone Season, author Shannon Smith gave us a fantasy/sci-fi epic dystopian tale set in the near future London where major world cities are controlled by a formidable security force, Scion, and where clairvoyant underworld cell member Paige (a rare dreamwalker) is captured by an otherworldly race that would make her a part of their supernatural army.

The action continues in the second installment of Shannon's seven book Bone Season series with The Mime Order where Paige flees Scion while Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare for a rare assembly of the clairvoyant community that is clouded by dark secrets.

"A Clockwork Orange meets A Tale of Two Cities meets Harry Potter in this clever, caring, and spellbinding tale, which promises more to come." (Booklist Reviews)

Think this sounds like the making of a great summer movie? You're in luck - Fox Studios has already purchased the rights to develop this series into a possible movie franchise. Read about it here. The movie is listed at IMDB.com as "in production" with no further details as of yet. In the meantime stop by the library to pick up this book series.

Author Samantha Shanon makes her debut with The Bone Season, the first book a seven-part series of dizzying imagination.

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. Enlisted in an army against her will, Paige is assigned to her enemy in charge of her care and training. And if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

"The first of a projected set of seven novels, this book is for those who like their dystopian science fiction multilayered, philosophical and complex" - Kirkus Reviews

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

New Installment in Sci-Fi Bone Season Series

Sci-Fi Debut Series