The Bone Palace

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The Bone Palace
The Bone Palace.jpg
Author Amanda Downum
Cover artistLary Rostant
SeriesThe Necromancer Chronicles
GenreAmerican Fantasy
Published2010 (Orbit Books)
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages480 (Mass Market Paperback)
ISBN 0316069000 (978-0316069007)
Preceded by The Drowning City  
Followed by The Kingdom of Dust  

The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum is a 2010 American fantasy novel centered on the fictional city of death, Erisin. It tells the story of the royal necromancer, Issylt Iskaldur and the princess mistress, Savedra Severos. These characters represent a strong sense of sexual identity that break the normalcy of typical castes. [1] Critics praise the novel for its unique perspective on relevant subjects in the world today. [2] It was nominated for the James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award in 2010 [3] and the Spectrum Award for Best Novel in 2011. [4]

Contents

Setting

The Bone Palace takes place in the royal city of Erisin. This “capital city is reminiscent of Rome during the Enlightenment”. [5] The city is made up of “the high class lives and intrigues of the wealthy and aristocratic families of wealthy and aristocratic families”, [6] but also “poor and lower-classes”. [6] The plague has spread through the city and continues to lurk through the streets. Corpses are not a rare occurrence due to the plague and murders. This city is also haunted [7] and filled with magical sorcerers. “Vampiric vrykoli” [8] live underneath of the city in their “bone chilling vampire lairs”, [9] and “demons stalk the streets”. [10] “The taverns and gardens of plague-ridden Erisin and the titular ruined palace at its center make a dark and richly detailed background for this complex and bloody tale of sorcery, madness, and intrigue” [8] .

Synopsis

When a prostitute dies carrying a royal signet, Isyllt Iskadur, necromancer and agent of the crown, investigates the murder and discovers that the vampires of Erisin are somehow involved. Unable to leave Forsythia's death unsolved, she continues her investigation which leads to more lies and secrets ahead. Meanwhile, inside the palace, Savedra Severos, the prince's transgender mistress, deals with assassination attempts and then stumbles upon the mystery of a missing Severos woman whom no one remembers. Savedra and Isyllt cross paths as they discover a conspiracy that links their two cases.

Savedra is the prince's mistress and the Severos household is always scheming for her to become the princess to add the Severos name among royalty. She begins her quest for answers when she hears about the murder Isyllt is investigating and tries to find out more about the mysterious murders and who plotted an assassination attempt on Ashlin. Her search leads her to the name Phaedra Severos, a member of her family, the problem is most of the information of Phaedra has been removed. Eventually, the plot thickens when Savedra hears the tale of Savedra; Savedra and Ashlin explore Phaedra's former fortress and Savedra has no one to trust with all the information she has uncovered, which is why she turns to Isyllt.

Isyllt, on the other hand, is investigating the Queen's stolen jewelry and the death of Forsythia. Isyllt's investigation leads her to the underground where the vampires dwell; it is there where she reunites herself with Spider and first learns about Spider's, a vampire that aids her or so it seems, plot for a revolution. In an attempt to find Forsythia's murderer Isyllt summons her spirit and discovers the scent of the murderer. At this point, Isyllt and Savedra come to the realization that their investigations may be intertwined and they begin working together.

With Isyllt and Savedra working together they now begin to close in on the scheme conducted by Varis, Kiril, and Phaedra. Throughout the novel Kiril is involved trying to persuade Isyllt to discontinue her investigation and at the same time he is plotting with Phaedra to overthrow the palace. Kiril is also a third narrator in the story who plays a significant role and as he is at the heart of the conspiracy and is someone who Isyllt loves dearly. Together Phaedra, Varis, and Kiril are plotting to overthrow the palace and alter Erisin's societal structure dramatically with the help of Spider and young vampires.

Characters

Themes

Societal Roles

Leading The Bone Palace with strong female characters through the ability to make any role higher in class and more respected: it's captured through the method in making a transgender narrator a leader in their societal lifestyle, as she is the mistress to the Prince. [16] Although the feminine roles are stronger than the masculine characters in the novel, the desire to convey the characters as a group that are of the "oversexed variety" is not approached as every character competes in their own manner in obtaining higher societal status without having preferences in sexuality, as in every character fills their hierarchical role regardless of gender. [17] Savedra, even though she is a self-proclaimed bodyguard to the Prince and Princess, her transgender role is one "who loves to fight but isn't reduced to her tomboy archetype", and the being of her sexuality isn't conveyed to classify her as a different role compared to other individuals in Erisin. [18] Relationships were not even based on jealousy or competition as Savedra and the Princess were close. [18] Finally, Isyllt's history and relationships as it was from backgrounds that were previously studied uncovered more relation to comparing Erisin's hierarchical status and roles to the modern world. [19]

Awards

The Bone Palace was nominated for two different awards in the year 2011 and 2010. The recent nomination was for Best Novel for the 2011 Spectrum Award. [20] The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards honor "outstanding works of science fiction, fantasy and horror which include significant positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered characters, themes, or issues". [21] In the previous year, the book was nominated in the honors list of the James Tiptree, Jr. Award 2010. [22] This represents the Science Fiction or Fantasy that explores and expands the roles of women and men for work by both women and men. [23]

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References

  1. ↑ Morgan, Cheryl (1 Jun 2011). "The Bone Palace". www.cheryl-morgan.com. Retrieved 16 Oct 2014.
  2. ↑ Bourke, Liz (1 Jul 2014). "Juicy and Interestingly Complex: Amanda Downum's Necromancer Chronicles". tor.com. For Books. Retrieved 16 Oct 2014.
  3. ↑ Kelly, Mark R (2014-07-17). "Science Fiction Awards Database". sfadb.com. Retrieved 16 Oct 2014.
  4. ↑ "2011 Best Novel Other Nominees". www.spectrumawards.org. Nov 2011. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 16 Oct 2014.
  5. ↑ Johnston, Alex. "Crossing the Lines in Erisin". Outvisions. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  6. 1 2 Fergus, Stephan (25 December 2010). "The Bone Palace, by Amanda Downum". Civilian Reader. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "The Bone Palace:Necromancer Chronicles, Part 2" . Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  8. 1 2 The Bone Palace. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum". Bitten by Books. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Goodreads: The Bone Palace" . Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  11. 1 2 Morgan, Cheryl (2011). "The Bone Palace". Cheryl's Mewsings. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  12. ↑ Mandelo, Lee (10 January 2011). "Queering SFF: The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum". tor.com. Macmillan. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  13. ↑ Bradshaw, Lindsay (2010-07-02). "Blood Thirsty: Why Are Vampires Ruling Pop Culture?". Texas Tech Today RSS. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  14. ↑ Leszek, Gardeła; Kajkowski, Kamil (2013). "Vampires, Criminals Or Slaves? Reinterpreting 'Deviant Burials' In Early Medieval Poland". World Archaeology. 45 (5). Academic Search Complete: 780–796. doi:10.1080/00438243.2013.849853. S2CID   162304848.
  15. ↑ Jia (2010-12-16). "REVIEW: The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum". Dear Author. Dear Author Media Network LLC. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  16. ↑ Mandelo, Lee (2011-01-10). "Queering SFF: The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum". Queering SSF. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  17. ↑ Orbit, Books (2006). "An Interview With Amanda Downum on THE DROWNING CITY". Orbit. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  18. 1 2 Jia (2010-12-16). "REVIEW: The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum". Dear Author. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  19. ↑ Mark. "Amanda Downum Interview". gemmellaward.com. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  20. ↑ "Spectrum Awards". spectrumawards.org. 2011. Archived from the original on 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  21. ↑ "Spectrum Awards". spectrumawards.org. 2005. Archived from the original on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  22. ↑ Kelly, Mark R (2014-07-17). "Science Fiction Awards Database". sfadb.com. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  23. ↑ Sturgeon (2011). "James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award 2011". sfadb.com. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
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