The Bone Ships

By: RJ Barker

Narrated by: Jude Owusu

Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

A brilliantly imagined saga of honor, glory, and warfare, The Bone Ships is the epic launch of a new fantasy from David Gemmell Award-nominated RJ Barker.

Two nations at war. One prize beyond compare.

For generations, the Hundred Isles have built their ships from the bones of ancient dragons to fight an endless war.

The dragons disappeared, but the battles for supremacy persisted.

Now the first dragon in centuries has been spotted in far-off waters, and both sides see a chance to shift the balance of power in their favour. Because whoever catches it will win not only glory, but the war.

Praise for The Bone Ships:

"A vividly realized high-seas epic that pulls you deep into its world and keeps you tangled there until the very last word." (Evan Winter, author of The Rage of Dragons)

"The Bone Ships is excellent. Aside from the standout writing, it's one of the most interesting and original fantasy worlds I've seen in years." (Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author)

The Tide Child Trilogy
The Bone Ships

For more from RJ Barker, check out:

The Wounded Kingdom
Age of Assassins
Blood of Assassins
King of Assassins

©2019 RJ Baker (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"I absolutely loved it. A whole lot of swashbuckling awesomeness by RJ Barker. He has crafted a fascinating world and a twisty plot, both rooted in characters I came to care about. A definite winner for me." (John Gwynne, author of Malice)

"[T]he novel feels like one of Patrick O'Brian's richly detailed sagas of seamanship...a very promising beginning." (Publishers Weekly)

"The Bone Ships is a viciously exciting adventure. I loved every second of it." (Tasha Suri, author of Empire of Sand)

Incredible world

I absolutely love the idea of changing regular real life words in a fantasy book based on the world building in that book. The world of the bone ships is so cool!! Admittedly it can be a little confusing to understand who is talking because of the similar voices the narrator uses. You can piece together who said what most of the time anyway.

just fantastic!

Recommend, great writing.

this starts off strong and continues throughout. the writing is top-notch and the narrator does a wonderful job.

I loved the cast and seeing Meeze through the pov of Joran, as he grows and the crew grows under her command.

So many questions about the world, and you're plunged right in, but it doesn't take long to understand most of the words and way of things as you go through the story. onward to the second book.

Pirate ships made of extinct sea dragons..awesome.

The sea dragons are gone, but their bones are not. And they make an incredible fantasy story, living on, as the framework for the Fleet.
I was looking forward to this one for awhile. There was a lot of buzz on social media, but not having read any previous works by Mr. Barker, I tried to maintain no expectations.
I should also say that I had the audiobook version. I have almost 3 hours of driving back and forth to work every day and it’s a great time to get lost in a book.
This book was very impressive. The detail involved during the battles between ships at sea was entrancing. At times I really felt like I was tilting on the deck with them. The fear and adrenaline is really felt, partly because of the narrators touch I’m sure.
And now I understand why Mr. Barker is so highly respected by his peers. I was fully engaged in the characters and the world he creates. A majority of the setting is on an ancient sailing ship, made of “extinct” Sea dragons bones and crewed by the dregs of society, the “deckchilder”. Captained by one heck of a Leader, her Black ship, Tide Child is Her realm and you really dont want to get in her way. But I loved them all, including the parrot and the windtalker…So much more to say but you’ll find out when you read it, and you should! I really look forward to the next in the series and have some of his past work to read now as well.
I should also say that I am very new at this review thing, and was not provided this book for free to review…I paid for it by my big boy self.
Thank you for stopping by, I’ve gotta get ready to get the kids all dressed up the the small town halloween event tonight…wish I was going as the “windtalker”

My favorite book in a while

This is going to sound simplistic, but simply, I like many things about it, and I don't dislike ANYthing about it. I like the characters, especially as they developed. I like the plot. I like the narrator. I like the world and the nations.
Most importantly, as I said, I don't dislike any part of it. Even the device of replacing English words with slightly different made up words, which I usually find annoying, didn't bother me.
When that magical combination of many likes and no dislikes happens, it means I've found a new author, and that's a beautiful thing!

High Sea Adventure, Dragons, and a Crew's Loyalty

I picked this up because a review said that if I liked Robin Hobb's Liveship trilogy to pick this one up no questions asked. I was not disappointed. I couldn't put down the book for the last four hours and listened through to 2AM. I just bought the next two audiobooks, and you can bet I'm going to devour the rest of this trilogy the first chance I get.

I Enjoyed It, Good Characters, Unique Story

If you enjoy a good swashbuckling story I think you'll like it.
The only complaint is the narrator was unable to provide adequate female voices, everyone sounds male,
I can overlook that.
Good characters, interesting story, steady interest throughout. I'm going to get Book 2 right now!

Wow

I wasn’t expecting what I got… this was a very good book that kept me listening.& the reader was equally good. I will be looking for book 2!

Unique and absorbing story

I had to re-listen to the first 10 minutes of the story to comprehend, then something clicked and I couldn’t stop... literally! I think it was the narrator’s cadence in combination with author’s novel concepts - give it a few minutes and you will be well rewarded! There are so many aspects to this world that are unlike any I’ve experienced in other fantasy. The plot is very character driven and what characters they are- wonderful, minutely developed and idiosyncratic. The Gullaime itself could have an entire novel written as a back story! I just don’t review at all unless I can give a book 5 stars- just wish I could give this author and narrator 6.

Beautiful writing, fun story

I loved the writing and world building. It’s a little slow start but if you stick with it’s a great story. Narrator is superb.

All good things.

There isn’t a negative for me with this book, the story, the characters, the narration… they are all top notch. Absolutely in love with the world, and the way it’s given life is through great great story telling. The narration was as gritty as the world with enough accent and voice given to the characters to give them some breath of life but not detract from the tale.

Overall highly recommend. Jump in my boys and girls and hold tight. Can’t wait to start book 2/3.