The Bone Ships
Winner of the Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel
-
-
4.2 • 48 Ratings
-
-
- $12.99
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
'Excellent . . . one of the most interesting and original fantasy worlds I've seen in years'
ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY
'Brilliant'
ROBIN HOBB, author of The Assassin's Apprentice
***Winner of the Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel***
TWO NATIONS AT WAR. A 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.
A brilliantly imagined saga of honour, glory, and warfare, The Bone Ships starts an epic new trilogy from David Gemmell Award-nominated RJ Barker.
'A vividly realised 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
'An epic tale of duty and obligation and honour, and what bravery really means . . . I can't recommend it enough'
PETER MCLEAN, author of Priest of Bones
'A viciously exciting adventure. I loved every second of it'
TASHA SURI, author of Empire of Sand
'Swashbuckling awesomeness . . . a fascinating world and a twisty plot, both rooted in characters I came to care about. A definite winner'
JOHN GWYNNE, author of MALICE
'The Bone Ships has already built up plenty of anticipation - and with good reason ... Barker's previous series, the acclaimed The Wounded Kingdom Trilogy, was a powerhouse of gritty fantasy, and The Bone Ships promises to launch one of this season's greatest, grandest dragon sagas'
NPR
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Unusual attention to detail makes a water-covered world come to life in Barker's first Tide Child fantasy epic. A ridge of mountains separates sprinklings of small islands, and the only material strong enough to make oceangoing ships is sea dragon bone. However, dragons are long extinct and the old ships increasingly ramshackle, so a bitter and destructive conflict between the Hundred Isles and the Gaunt Islands may at last sputter out. The sighting of a dragon sends conspirators after the beast, some hoping to harvest its bones and others intending to kill it before its carcass can be used to renew the war. One of the seekers is Meas Gilbryn, a disgraced aristocrat turned pacifist. At the novel's opening, she seizes control of the Tide Child, a ship crewed by men and women who have been condemned to death, by slapping down its pathetically failed captain, Joron Twiner. Much of the rest of the novel feels like one of Patrick O'Brian's richly detailed sagas of seamanship as Meas rebuilds her ship and its crew, including restoring Joron's self-respect, while pursuing the dragon. Though characterization is declared more than demonstrated, this is a very promising beginning for a proposed trilogy.
Customer Reviews
Brilliant
Just finished the final (third) book in this series. All three books are absolutely brilliant. RJ Barker’s refreshing take on a toxic, stagnating society, and good people who do bad things whilst striving to do the “right" thing, is superbly imaginative, immersive and unexpected. The maritime angle including warship chase and fighting scenes really get the pulse thumping! While I saw the end coming a mile away, I did not realise just how attached to Joron, Lucky Meas and the Gullaime I had become until I had to say goodbye to them. At which point, I got a bit emotional. I’m adding this trilogy to my list of “All Time Faves” as I know this is one series I’ll want to read again.
An Interesting Read
I didn’t love it but, I didn’t hate it. It was an interesting book once you get past the 160 page mark. Unfortunately, I was so confused for those first 160 pages and the writing style is not my favourite. It took over halfway before I got used to the language and writing style, but that was helped a lot by the audiobook.
I did enjoy the audiobook and the narrator did a good job except for the female voices. Those were bad 😬😬. I will recommend listening to the audio along with reading the book as that really helps to follow the story. I’m also very glad the author put a glossary of terms at the back of the book.
I was not drawn to any of the characters, I didn’t connect with or truly care for any of them. My favourite parts of this story were the wind talker and the keyshan, I want to know about the creatures of this world. They are far more interesting than the humans. I did love the sea setting and ship battles, the ocean is my favourite thing and the action scenes and sailing aspects made me want to be part of the Tide Child crew.
Creative beyond basic comprehension!
I cannot BELIEVE that some people have the mental capacity and imagination to write these kinds of books!
The Author did a great job and I can’t wait for the third book in this series!
（╹◡╹）