If you liked the premise of S.W.A.T., but wished that instead of a group of cops protecting a mob boss from profit-seeking ruffians on the way to prison it was a rag-tag group of outcasts on a ship made of sea creature bones protecting the last of said sea creatures from... well, profit-seeking ruffians...
I know, that was a long way to travel to compare a fine, character driven, modern-day Moby Dick to a popcorn action movie, but something about the focal point of the book being a suspenseful trek from point A to point B with chaos buzzing around it reminded me of cinematic prisoner transport, a la Kingpin in Netflix's Daredevil, or Coleman Reese in The Dark Knight. But enough about that.
Bone Ships brings together a capable captain on a mission to prove her worth and a drunk who may have Peter Principled his way into (and out of) his captaincy. Their dynamic and relationship growth is a highlight of the book, much as Girton and Merela were in Barker's The Wounded Kingdom series. (If you haven't read that, do it immediately.) The development of Joron's and Lucky Meas' leadership would make John Maxwell proud as they progress from Position leadership to The Pinnacle, with Joron finding he is properly suited to second in command, like some NFL head coaches are better as coordinators.
Much of the world-building forces the reader to pick things up on their own, as new vocabulary (or perhaps just nautical vocabulary that I'm not familiar with) is used early and often. There are bizarre new creatures, interesting world politics, an in-depth instruction manual on the mechanics and operation of a giant crossbow, and a ship energy tracking straight out of a video game. The action sequences are furiously paced, throwing you on the deck of the Bone Ships, whether your sea legs are ready for it or not.
Between The Bone Ships and Rob Hayes' Best Laid Plans, I didn't realize how much I enjoy high seas fantasy. Highly recommend.
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C. H.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ships of Bone, like the title says
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2019Verified Purchase
R.W.W. Greene
5.0 out of 5 stars
One more voice
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2020Verified Purchase
I see, with all the reviews this book has garnered, that mine will scarcely matter. What is one more voice saying, "I loved this book" and "I wish R.J.'s world was real" and "Wow! I can't wait for the sequel"?
As brilliant as this book is, why would I waste my time like that? I have other books to read, books that might need my words of support, books that probably are not going to win all the awards and maybe kick off a new subgenre of fantasy. (Not to mention the cosplay... Oh, the cosplay!)
I have spent entirely too much time on this review already. I should go make tea or something. Or check on my bees. Or sit in the dark and pretend to be on a bone ship chasing a dragon. Don't judge me!!!
As brilliant as this book is, why would I waste my time like that? I have other books to read, books that might need my words of support, books that probably are not going to win all the awards and maybe kick off a new subgenre of fantasy. (Not to mention the cosplay... Oh, the cosplay!)
I have spent entirely too much time on this review already. I should go make tea or something. Or check on my bees. Or sit in the dark and pretend to be on a bone ship chasing a dragon. Don't judge me!!!
John S
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting start of new trilogy
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2019Verified Purchase
Ships made from the bones of dead dragons, two kingdoms constantly at war, people that have a large percentage born with defects ( from possible contamination from the bones they use for their ships and living spaces? ), and a crew condemned to die on a "black ship" makes for a very interesting read. Apparently there is one "dragon" or arakeesian spotted which is a huge surprise as they are thought to be extinct and the crew of the Tide Child is sent to find it. All in all a very good book but not as good as the authors Wounded Kingdom trilogy. I had some trouble with all the made up names for normal things and would have liked to have a better understanding of the world this series exists in and these two kingdoms. With that said I'm looking forward to the next book as I have become fond of these characters.
Grimgrin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantasy Adventure on the Grimdark Seas
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2019Verified Purchase
Excellent start of a trilogy, the book is a mix of grimdark fantasy and historic age of sail. It is set in a global archipelago. The lack of iron and quality wood has forced the use of sea dragon bone and stone for warships and seige weapons. Beware, this novel has minimal exposition and requires the reader to push nearly halfway through before a clear understanding of the character motivation, plot, and setting emerges. I recomend it for fans of Ward's Midshipwizard, Horatio Hornblower, and similar epic fantasy.
roguecaliber
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you like fantasy tales, you'll love this one
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2020Verified Purchase
I picked this book up based on a recommendation from one of my favorite authors, Nicholas Eames. If you are familiar with his work, you will find that Lucky Meas could fit right in with Bloody Rose and her band.
This book has all the fast-paced action, razor sharp wit, and colorful characters that I loved in Kings of the Wyld.
The world building is amazing. The author is completely competent at creating new terms for a variety of things new to this world. Though strange enough to be different, the author still manages to give everything an air of familiarity.
My favorite part is how the book takes the gender biases from our world and completely throws them out. It's not bad luck for a woman to be on a ship, in fact women make up a large portion of the ship's crew. A ship is referred to as a "he" and the captain is referred to as a "shipwife",with sailors known as "deckchilde".
TLDR: if you love dragons, pirates, strong writing/strong characters, and grim tales of the sea, you won't find any better than this book.
This book has all the fast-paced action, razor sharp wit, and colorful characters that I loved in Kings of the Wyld.
The world building is amazing. The author is completely competent at creating new terms for a variety of things new to this world. Though strange enough to be different, the author still manages to give everything an air of familiarity.
My favorite part is how the book takes the gender biases from our world and completely throws them out. It's not bad luck for a woman to be on a ship, in fact women make up a large portion of the ship's crew. A ship is referred to as a "he" and the captain is referred to as a "shipwife",with sailors known as "deckchilde".
TLDR: if you love dragons, pirates, strong writing/strong characters, and grim tales of the sea, you won't find any better than this book.
Ed
3.0 out of 5 stars
Naval fantasy
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2020Verified Purchase
After hearing so many glowing reviews I bought this without knowing much more than people liked it and I. The book people sail in ships made from Dragon bones.
Personally it wasn't my cup of tea but the writing style was good so I can see why people liked it. The first half was painfully slow and other than renaming a bunch of nautical terms there wasn't much going on. Once at sea the action for a bit better but I was never really racing to get home to read this book. I might pick up book 2 of I ever make a lot of room in my the list.
Personally it wasn't my cup of tea but the writing style was good so I can see why people liked it. The first half was painfully slow and other than renaming a bunch of nautical terms there wasn't much going on. Once at sea the action for a bit better but I was never really racing to get home to read this book. I might pick up book 2 of I ever make a lot of room in my the list.
A. C.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic world-building, high seas adventure, fantasy creatures - Great book!
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2020Verified Purchase
Loved the depth of world-building with the mythology and the social structures, even down to the slang of the sailors, most of whom were basically like pirates. I found it quite enthralling! I retired from the U.S. Navy (of course my Navy was steam-driven steel ships) and I enjoyed the (perhaps not entirely accurate but rather thrilling nonetheless) descriptions of life at sea and the sea battles. Wonderful escapist lit! I cannot wait for the second volume to come out!
Top reviews from other countries
TomCat
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most original Fantasy novel I've read in years
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2019Verified Purchase
The most striking thing about R J Barker's The Bone Ships is just how incredibly, numinously, mindblowingly unique it is. I flatter myself in thinking that I'm pretty good at pulling on the threads of a book's various influences and stylistic precedents, but man, Bone Ships seems to have come from nowhere. It's notable, therefore, for being radically different from Barker's previous trilogy - The Wounded Kingdom - which, while a wonderful series, has roots in more traditional genre fantasy. Ballsy move by both Barker and his publishers to go with something so different.
The setting of the book is just so... odd. It's a sort of dystopian, swashbuckling, naval fantasy set in a secondary world characterised by its vast seas and relatively little land mass. The majority of humans are born with some kind of deformity, it seems, and the society of the book features a class system based upon a person's ability to produce healthy, non-malformed children. Intertwined with this class system is a deep-rooted sense of superstition (as perhaps befits such a piratey novel). There's child sacrifice, the worship of sun (and sea) Goddesses, frequent references to luck and serendipity, and a whole menagerie of weird, weird monsters, from wind-summoning bird-wizards, to flesh-eating water worm thingies, and, most importantly, the super-mysterious "Arakeesians", the long-extinct sea dragons whose bones were once used to build the titular ships.
The world building is dense, sure, but it's never impenetrable, aided as it as by a brief glossary of terms. In fact, "society building" might be more apt phrasing: there aren't reams and reams of fictional histories to contend with, but there is a lot of idiosyncratic language with which to become familiar. The most immediate of this linguistic weirdness is the gender-swapped naval terminology (ships are "him" not "her" etc), which manages to make the novel's style both alien and othering, while simultaneously commenting on the gendered histories that structure the traditional language of war, the sea, leadership and violence. It's brilliant.
The plot is difficult to discuss without veering dangerously close to spoiler territory, so I'll sum it up briefly by saying that The Bone Ships focuses on the crew of one of the eponymous ships, The Tide Child, which has a seemingly straight forward mission to complete. As the novel progresses, however, the narrative builds layer upon layer of intrigue, secrets, hidden objectives and political complexity, until the one-time simple mission becomes an adventure of world-shattering importance. It contains multitudes: rollicking combat on the high seas, manic pursuits of awe-inspiring creatures, and, then, more sombre, slower passages, where grey skies and grey seas are used as sympathetic metaphor and echo for the emotional states of the book's characters.
And what characters they are! Fans of The Wounded Kingdom won't be surprised to hear that charactisation really, really is where this book shines. Barker has a Dickens-esque talent for placing grotesque, morally ambiguous personalities alongside more upstanding, selfless individuals. A movement here, a line of dialogue there, or a physical description inserted at an opportune moment... that's all it takes for Barker to nail a character's personality. He is so, so good at making his protagonists distinct, morally complex, organic and memorable. Sometimes he plays with cliches: maybe the big, burly woman isn't what you'd expect, or maybe the arrogant, ruthless sea captain is hiding a secret about her heritage that changes how the reader perceives her entire character.
In the end, the effortless dialogue, the believable, changing relationships, the bond of the crew and the witty, on-ship, dare-I-say-it.. banter, is just a memorable as the weird setting and the super original plot.
The Bone Ships really has come along and changed the genre. Nobody in fantasy is doing what RJ is doing. This is the most original fantasy novel I've read in so long. This type of writing is what the future looks like. Read it, or you'll get left behind.
The setting of the book is just so... odd. It's a sort of dystopian, swashbuckling, naval fantasy set in a secondary world characterised by its vast seas and relatively little land mass. The majority of humans are born with some kind of deformity, it seems, and the society of the book features a class system based upon a person's ability to produce healthy, non-malformed children. Intertwined with this class system is a deep-rooted sense of superstition (as perhaps befits such a piratey novel). There's child sacrifice, the worship of sun (and sea) Goddesses, frequent references to luck and serendipity, and a whole menagerie of weird, weird monsters, from wind-summoning bird-wizards, to flesh-eating water worm thingies, and, most importantly, the super-mysterious "Arakeesians", the long-extinct sea dragons whose bones were once used to build the titular ships.
The world building is dense, sure, but it's never impenetrable, aided as it as by a brief glossary of terms. In fact, "society building" might be more apt phrasing: there aren't reams and reams of fictional histories to contend with, but there is a lot of idiosyncratic language with which to become familiar. The most immediate of this linguistic weirdness is the gender-swapped naval terminology (ships are "him" not "her" etc), which manages to make the novel's style both alien and othering, while simultaneously commenting on the gendered histories that structure the traditional language of war, the sea, leadership and violence. It's brilliant.
The plot is difficult to discuss without veering dangerously close to spoiler territory, so I'll sum it up briefly by saying that The Bone Ships focuses on the crew of one of the eponymous ships, The Tide Child, which has a seemingly straight forward mission to complete. As the novel progresses, however, the narrative builds layer upon layer of intrigue, secrets, hidden objectives and political complexity, until the one-time simple mission becomes an adventure of world-shattering importance. It contains multitudes: rollicking combat on the high seas, manic pursuits of awe-inspiring creatures, and, then, more sombre, slower passages, where grey skies and grey seas are used as sympathetic metaphor and echo for the emotional states of the book's characters.
And what characters they are! Fans of The Wounded Kingdom won't be surprised to hear that charactisation really, really is where this book shines. Barker has a Dickens-esque talent for placing grotesque, morally ambiguous personalities alongside more upstanding, selfless individuals. A movement here, a line of dialogue there, or a physical description inserted at an opportune moment... that's all it takes for Barker to nail a character's personality. He is so, so good at making his protagonists distinct, morally complex, organic and memorable. Sometimes he plays with cliches: maybe the big, burly woman isn't what you'd expect, or maybe the arrogant, ruthless sea captain is hiding a secret about her heritage that changes how the reader perceives her entire character.
In the end, the effortless dialogue, the believable, changing relationships, the bond of the crew and the witty, on-ship, dare-I-say-it.. banter, is just a memorable as the weird setting and the super original plot.
The Bone Ships really has come along and changed the genre. Nobody in fantasy is doing what RJ is doing. This is the most original fantasy novel I've read in so long. This type of writing is what the future looks like. Read it, or you'll get left behind.
TeriB
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant story telling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2019Verified Purchase
The Bone Ships takes you onto an adventure aboard a bone ship that is magical and amazing with the world it builds through the story and stories it tells.
You get taken onto a journey into a world of seafaring, adventure and magic with magical creatures and dragons, with ships, of course, and a nation that lives by its myths and beliefs. You also get quite some blood and gore and death and an interesting main character, Joron Twiner, who I would say it is safe to say, sets out onto the adventure of a life time.
I loved reading this book. It's world building has to be earned as at the beginning you meet quite a few terms that relate to seafaring as well as to the world this story is told within. Over the course of this book you also get introduced to the social layers of this world, the myths, stories and beliefs that rule this world.
And then there is a sea dragon and a ship, and a story unfolds.
More than anything I loved the story that I got to read. It is so very well told. And it kept me glued to the pages until the very end.
And now, I definitely want more. More of Joron and Lucky Meas and the gullaime and all the other characters and the magic that rules this world.
This review refers to the eARC I received from the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
You get taken onto a journey into a world of seafaring, adventure and magic with magical creatures and dragons, with ships, of course, and a nation that lives by its myths and beliefs. You also get quite some blood and gore and death and an interesting main character, Joron Twiner, who I would say it is safe to say, sets out onto the adventure of a life time.
I loved reading this book. It's world building has to be earned as at the beginning you meet quite a few terms that relate to seafaring as well as to the world this story is told within. Over the course of this book you also get introduced to the social layers of this world, the myths, stories and beliefs that rule this world.
And then there is a sea dragon and a ship, and a story unfolds.
More than anything I loved the story that I got to read. It is so very well told. And it kept me glued to the pages until the very end.
And now, I definitely want more. More of Joron and Lucky Meas and the gullaime and all the other characters and the magic that rules this world.
This review refers to the eARC I received from the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review.
Anonymous
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent, original fantasy
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2019Verified Purchase
First up, let’s get the basics out the way. The Bone Ships, by RJ Barker, is a magnificent book. It really is. Barker’s previous Wounded Kingdom trilogy (Age of Assassins, Blood of Assassins, King of Assassins) was very good, but this is a massive step up, and it wouldn’t be unfair to say that this is Barker’s masterwork.
The basic story is simple enough. The Hundred Isles have been fighting a war against the Gaunt Isles for generations. In this world of scattered islands, the battles are fought on the seas between ships built from the bones of gigantic, extinct sea dragons. Over time, with no new supply of bones, ships have become only more valuable. Then a new sea dragon is spotted making its way through the islands. If either side hunts and kills the dragon, the vast haul of bones will prolong the war for many more generations.
Joron Twiner is the Shipwife (captain) of the black ship the Tide Child. Black ships are old, decaying bone ships crewed by women and men condemned to death. Rather than take his ship into battle, Twiner has laid up in an isolated bay, found a tumbledown shack and is slowly drinking himself into oblivion, leaving his crew to their own devices on board ship. And there he remains until the day that Lucky Meas turns up to challenge him for the position of shipwife. Lucky Meas has been condemned to the black ships after losing her position in the fleet, but she’s not taking it lying down. After defeating Twiner and sparing his life, she sets about getting the Tide Child into shape. Because Lucky Meas has a plan: she will not let either the Hundred Isles or the Gaunt Isles capture the sea dragon. She will protect it in its passage through the archipelago, fighting off both sides if necessary, until it is beyond reach and then she will kill it, denying the bones to everyone and hopefully hastening the end of the war.
The Bone Ships is simply the story of the Tide Child as it carries out its mission.
Like I said, a pretty simple story, right?
Well, at that level it is. But where The Bone Ships really shines is in its world building and its characters. Barker dives deep into a very alien world. Much fantasy – most fantasy, and I include my own in this – is based approximately on locations, cultures, and history from our world. The Bone Ships really isn’t. In the ocean-based, ship-focused story, there are obvious echoes of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series and CS Forester’s Hornblower, but Barker has created a complex, unique world to set the stories in and then he has followed through rigorously to the consequences of this world. It’s worldbuilding that informs every aspect of the books. Any examples don’t really do justice to the immersive nature, but let’s take a few anyway. The Hundred Isles is a strongly matriarchal culture, and this manifests itself not just in the political set-up or people’s positions, but in the language. Ships are always ‘he’, the captain is the shipwife, people are referred to as ‘women and men’, not ‘men and women’, and so on. The ships, being built of bone, have different names for their components. The masts are ‘spines’, the front is the ‘beak’.
But that’s just scratching the surface. From the birdlike wind wizards, the gullaime, to the brutal sacrificing of first-born children (luckily not explicitly described on the page, for those of us who don’t have the stomach for that), and a complex set of shipboard customs, this is an intricate and very different society. It is also not one that is admirable. Anyone born disabled in any way or born to a mother who dies in childbirth is consigned to an explicit underclass.
The complexity of the worldbuilding could cause some problems as the reader flails for familiarity – and a few reviews reference that – but it didn’t for me, and the reason for that was the characters. There are a quite a lot of them, but all of them are well-realised and convincing, and they are what lead you into the story. Joron Twiner and Lucky Meas, being the leads, are the most interesting, but there are plenty of other great characters. They are our guides into a world that at first is difficult to understand but which becomes increasingly convincing.
There isn’t a great deal of fantasy set aboard ships for some reason. Robin Hobbs’s Liveship Traders series is the most obvious example, and The Bone Ships deserves comparison with Hobbs’s books, in tone as well as in it’s shipboard setting.
The Bone Ships is exhilarating, engrossing, and thrilling in equal measures. I loved the time I spent in the company of the crew of the Tide Child. A few readers may find themselves cast adrift by the alienness of the fantasy setting, but I don’t think most will. I understand there was a glossary in the book, but I didn’t have consult it once and didn’t even realise it was there until I saw other people mention it.
One note, though, and I feel I should include this, because I’ve noted it for some self-published books recently and I want to be fair: there were quite a few typos in the ebook edition. Not so many that it interfered with my enjoyment of the book, but they were noticeable. I don’t know if the print edition shares those.
The Bone Ships is the first in the Tide Child trilogy, and I for one can’t wait for the next.
The basic story is simple enough. The Hundred Isles have been fighting a war against the Gaunt Isles for generations. In this world of scattered islands, the battles are fought on the seas between ships built from the bones of gigantic, extinct sea dragons. Over time, with no new supply of bones, ships have become only more valuable. Then a new sea dragon is spotted making its way through the islands. If either side hunts and kills the dragon, the vast haul of bones will prolong the war for many more generations.
Joron Twiner is the Shipwife (captain) of the black ship the Tide Child. Black ships are old, decaying bone ships crewed by women and men condemned to death. Rather than take his ship into battle, Twiner has laid up in an isolated bay, found a tumbledown shack and is slowly drinking himself into oblivion, leaving his crew to their own devices on board ship. And there he remains until the day that Lucky Meas turns up to challenge him for the position of shipwife. Lucky Meas has been condemned to the black ships after losing her position in the fleet, but she’s not taking it lying down. After defeating Twiner and sparing his life, she sets about getting the Tide Child into shape. Because Lucky Meas has a plan: she will not let either the Hundred Isles or the Gaunt Isles capture the sea dragon. She will protect it in its passage through the archipelago, fighting off both sides if necessary, until it is beyond reach and then she will kill it, denying the bones to everyone and hopefully hastening the end of the war.
The Bone Ships is simply the story of the Tide Child as it carries out its mission.
Like I said, a pretty simple story, right?
Well, at that level it is. But where The Bone Ships really shines is in its world building and its characters. Barker dives deep into a very alien world. Much fantasy – most fantasy, and I include my own in this – is based approximately on locations, cultures, and history from our world. The Bone Ships really isn’t. In the ocean-based, ship-focused story, there are obvious echoes of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series and CS Forester’s Hornblower, but Barker has created a complex, unique world to set the stories in and then he has followed through rigorously to the consequences of this world. It’s worldbuilding that informs every aspect of the books. Any examples don’t really do justice to the immersive nature, but let’s take a few anyway. The Hundred Isles is a strongly matriarchal culture, and this manifests itself not just in the political set-up or people’s positions, but in the language. Ships are always ‘he’, the captain is the shipwife, people are referred to as ‘women and men’, not ‘men and women’, and so on. The ships, being built of bone, have different names for their components. The masts are ‘spines’, the front is the ‘beak’.
But that’s just scratching the surface. From the birdlike wind wizards, the gullaime, to the brutal sacrificing of first-born children (luckily not explicitly described on the page, for those of us who don’t have the stomach for that), and a complex set of shipboard customs, this is an intricate and very different society. It is also not one that is admirable. Anyone born disabled in any way or born to a mother who dies in childbirth is consigned to an explicit underclass.
The complexity of the worldbuilding could cause some problems as the reader flails for familiarity – and a few reviews reference that – but it didn’t for me, and the reason for that was the characters. There are a quite a lot of them, but all of them are well-realised and convincing, and they are what lead you into the story. Joron Twiner and Lucky Meas, being the leads, are the most interesting, but there are plenty of other great characters. They are our guides into a world that at first is difficult to understand but which becomes increasingly convincing.
There isn’t a great deal of fantasy set aboard ships for some reason. Robin Hobbs’s Liveship Traders series is the most obvious example, and The Bone Ships deserves comparison with Hobbs’s books, in tone as well as in it’s shipboard setting.
The Bone Ships is exhilarating, engrossing, and thrilling in equal measures. I loved the time I spent in the company of the crew of the Tide Child. A few readers may find themselves cast adrift by the alienness of the fantasy setting, but I don’t think most will. I understand there was a glossary in the book, but I didn’t have consult it once and didn’t even realise it was there until I saw other people mention it.
One note, though, and I feel I should include this, because I’ve noted it for some self-published books recently and I want to be fair: there were quite a few typos in the ebook edition. Not so many that it interfered with my enjoyment of the book, but they were noticeable. I don’t know if the print edition shares those.
The Bone Ships is the first in the Tide Child trilogy, and I for one can’t wait for the next.
Fantasy Geek
4.0 out of 5 stars
A confident start to a series
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 3, 2019Verified Purchase
The Bone Ships is set in a world where all the Navies are dependent on Dragon bone the best substance in the world for Ship Building, Joron our protagonist is a Shipwife ( captain ) busy drowning in self pity and a sad past he finds himself losing his command and ship to lucky meas one of the worlds most
celebrated Captains, pulled out of his depression he finds himself
Made 2nd in command and roped into a dangerous mission as something long thought vanished has reappeared in the world again.
The Bone ships is a rollicking good time for fans of naval adventures it’s a character based fantasy even if there is quite a bit of action deals with serious issues but isn’t grim dark or any other type of extreme if I was looking to make a comparison then robin Hobbs Ships series would be a fair comparison not only because of subject matter ships made out of extinct dragon parts Or the mild ecological overtones but also both are mainly character driven works though with very different styles.
The world building is great this is a matrical culture with caste system based on health and fertility something almost unique in fantasy and that spills over to terminology in a cool and logical way , dragon bones are regarded as weapons and are the trigger for an arms race and the characters especially there growth and bonding are a real high light, I heartily recommend.
celebrated Captains, pulled out of his depression he finds himself
Made 2nd in command and roped into a dangerous mission as something long thought vanished has reappeared in the world again.
The Bone ships is a rollicking good time for fans of naval adventures it’s a character based fantasy even if there is quite a bit of action deals with serious issues but isn’t grim dark or any other type of extreme if I was looking to make a comparison then robin Hobbs Ships series would be a fair comparison not only because of subject matter ships made out of extinct dragon parts Or the mild ecological overtones but also both are mainly character driven works though with very different styles.
The world building is great this is a matrical culture with caste system based on health and fertility something almost unique in fantasy and that spills over to terminology in a cool and logical way , dragon bones are regarded as weapons and are the trigger for an arms race and the characters especially there growth and bonding are a real high light, I heartily recommend.
simon211175
5.0 out of 5 stars
Keyshan!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2020Verified Purchase
I wanted to read this book when I first heard about it, a little while before release. With so many books waiting to be read, this one took a back seat. Inevitably I waited until the UK entered lockdown to start this. It's here that I discovered I read far more at work than I can at home.
So here we are, one month later and I've finished a book so fantastically written that I should have devoured it in far less time. Every character someone you either get behind from the word go or want to throw overboard. The plot is nothing new; the time-old tale of shipwife wins ship from other less experienced shipwife in a duel, then together they sail the seven seas in search of the last dragon. It's written, however, in a way that transports you to the Tide Child itself, the smell of ship life ripe in your nostrils (or my bin might need emptying).
As I got further and further into the story I felt I knew what was coming. Looking forward now to how the next instalment plays out, especially regarding Joron's friendship with Dinyl.
If you read fantasy, you can't miss this book. If you don't read fantasy, you can't miss this book.
So here we are, one month later and I've finished a book so fantastically written that I should have devoured it in far less time. Every character someone you either get behind from the word go or want to throw overboard. The plot is nothing new; the time-old tale of shipwife wins ship from other less experienced shipwife in a duel, then together they sail the seven seas in search of the last dragon. It's written, however, in a way that transports you to the Tide Child itself, the smell of ship life ripe in your nostrils (or my bin might need emptying).
As I got further and further into the story I felt I knew what was coming. Looking forward now to how the next instalment plays out, especially regarding Joron's friendship with Dinyl.
If you read fantasy, you can't miss this book. If you don't read fantasy, you can't miss this book.