Appealing to the adventurer in all of us, The Bone Ships is an excellent book for any reader in search of a fantastical journey. Things are getting worse with the reappearance of the keyshans , the race is setting between the isles and certainly the hundred isles wanted to seize this power. Alas long time had passed since the last Keyshans were murdered and they realized it’s not an easy thing. Secrets must be unburied… The Tide Child trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by R. J. Barker. It comprises The Bone Ships (2019), Call of the Bone Ships (2020), and The Bone Ship's Wake (2021). The first book in the trilogy won the 2020 British Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

The Bone Ships (Tide Child Trilogy, book 1) by RJ Barker The Bone Ships (Tide Child Trilogy, book 1) by RJ Barker

Call of the Bone Ships is the second book in The Tide Child trilogy by R.J. Barker. There’s no middle book syndrome here. I was one of the relatively few readers who were slightly disappointed by The Bone Ships on my first read. To sum it up briefly, it was too different from The Wounded Kingdom trilogy, and I expected a focus on characterization right from the getgo. But that wasn’t the case, The Bone Ships spent the first half of the novel heavily focused on world-building, and the characterizations came in the second half. This storytelling decision, however, made the reread experience of The Bone Ships that I did rewarding. And I’m happy to say that Call of the Bone Ships provided a more character-driven narrative in addition to retaining the fascinating world-building.RJBarker wrote one of my favourite fantasy series of all time, The Wounded Kingdom trilogy. So, when I heard that he was writing a brand-new series called The Tide Child trilogy, I was excited. And by excited, I mean I might have shouted about it to one or two, or seventy random people. I am a huge fan. You may wonder why it did not get a higher rating then. The truth is that this was a very good book in the end, but it took its time in getting there. Well damn, how does Barker keep on doing it? Over the last few years, RJ Barker has been one of the most consistent and outstanding fantasy fiction writers out there, producing several incredible and deeply enjoyable novels. I was a major fan of his debut, The Wounded Kingdom trilogy, as all three novels, Age of Assassins, Blood of Assassins and King of Assassins were amazing reads, with each one being better than the last. However, Barker’s writing was on a whole other level in 2019 when he published the first entry in The Tide Child trilogy, The Bone Ships, an epic read that detailed the trials and tribulations of a condemned crew aboard a ship made from dragon bones. I absolutely loved The Bone Ships and it was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019. Needless to say, I was extremely eager to receive my copy of Call of the Bone Ships, and it was one of my most anticipated reads for the second half of 2020. Unfortunately, circumstances forced me to hold off reading this novel until the end of the year, which I deeply regret as this was another awesome novel from Barker that got an easy five-star rating from me. It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of RJ Barker's Wounded Kingdom series, and when I recently reread the first book in the Tide Child trilogy I was once again reminded how much I love his stories and I kept on thinking about the story and the characters long after that reread. So when the time came around for myself, TS and Petrik to resume our buddy read with the Call of the Bone Ships I was more than excited to plunge into this world again and I was overjoyed to find that it was every bit as good as I'd hoped. R.J. Barker's The Bone Ships was one of my favorite fantasy reads of last year. It had the perfect blend of epic fantasy and maritime fiction. The fact that the majority of the book takes place on a ship made of dragon bones was really cool and unique, definitely a breath of fresh air from the usual medieval fantasy flooding the market. That book only served to whet my appetite for what would come next and I was extremely excited when I was able to get an early copy of the follow up CALL OF THE BONE SHIPS from publisher Orbit Books.

The Bone Ships - BookPage The Bone Ships - BookPage

The world was already established as being completely unique, fresh, and fun - but this book went above and beyond by taking the reader to many different locations and dumping more lore into this world. I'm going to be thinking about the world that was built here for many years, and it will be difficult for a fantasy book to come close to capturing the wonder that has been built here in the future. s gullaime grow. I adore these creatures, who add a bit of humor to the story—although you have to watch out, because where there is humor, pain and horror follow close behind. The story starts as we immediately join our favourite crew of misfits who make a deeply disturbing discovery. Of course, this discovery is tightly linked to the story and revelations of the first book, so I won’t divulge any specifics other than to say that it sets them on a race against time to save lives and uncover the depths of this horrific plot. A large part of why I enjoy these books so much is the characters, and the bonds between them. Joron is imperfect but oh so willing to learn and oh so ardent in his desire to do better. Meas is a hard taskmaster but a brilliant leader, with a firm understanding of right and wrong, even when those definitions contradict the societal norm. Gullaime, or should I say Officer Gullaime, is sweet, stubborn, and sometimes simply hilarious. Then there’s Anzir, Farys, Solemn Muffaz, Dinyl, Coughlin, Aelerin and more. None are perfect but all are loyal and their hearts are in the right place.Only our crew is not going to stand for it. And a race to discover what exactly is going on and stop it ensues... This one felt more like a grand, epic pirate fantasy with tons of twists and turns and with generous heaps of action throughout. My only criticism that I could possibly come up with in terms of this story is that I am sad that this is only a trilogy and that my journey in this world is soon coming to a close. I think the biggest compliment I can give the Tide Child trilogy so far is that I get the same feelings reading these books as I do when I read Hobb. The character work, especially here in book 2, is phenomenal. There are so many character moments throughout this book that gave me chills while reading them, and the only other author to consistently do that for me is Hobb. I think part of the reason these moments hit so hard is that Barker makes you feel like a part of the crew of the Tide Child. You really feel as if you share in their triumphs as well as their failures and when you see how far some of these characters have come it’s impossible to not get caught up in the emotion of these hard hitting moments. Joron Twiner is Meas' second in command and he has a bond with the guillame. This story has Joron featured just as much as Meas as they come upon the strangest ship they'd ever seen with the strangest cargo ever beheld. Desperation has birthed evil.

The Bone Ships by RJ Barker | Hachette Book Group The Bone Ships by RJ Barker | Hachette Book Group

The style is not bad, although it does not make big discounts for a better understanding of what is happening. Some events are depicted indistinctly and fragmentarily. However, the various positive aspects of the writing style offset these shortcomings. The moment the realization of just what was being risked hit me was singularly profound, and I am deeply, deeply curious how Barker will work all this out in the trilogy's final book. The Hundred Isles are not what they seem, and the stakes are higher than I ever could have guessed. The implications hinted at in the events of Call of the Bone Ships are grand and epic in scale even as the cast remains small and focused. Barker continues to create a beautifully atmospheric world that is gritty, yet hopeful. As Meas and her crew continue to try to avert war, we learn more about the politics of the Hundred Isles and the gullaime, as well as see more locations within the world. He takes the already interesting world and expands it even wider, giving the reader more room to imagine and explore. I've to say this again just to emphasize how amazingly well-written these books are. I'm typically not a fan of seafaring stories, be it a book or a show. Whenever I read a book that contained a section involving sea voyage, I tended to view it with trepidation. As such, when I first read The Bone Ships though, I was mind-blown by how much I loved it despite the narrative being predominantly taking place on a ship (albeit one made of bones of a type of dragon called the arakeesian in this world). I waxed lyrical about the superb worldbuilding in my review of that book, and I think that Barker's gamble of spending so much time doing so for the introductory volume paid off for now he could really play with the character arcs and plotlines. That doesn't mean that worldbuilding was thrown overboard though as we did get to learn more about the lore behind its strange and wonderful creatures.First of all, the setting isn’t much extended - we see storms, yet another island, sea battles, and even a mutiny. But neither the map brings fresh locations, nor is the magic system enhanced. Even the characters are mostly the same. In summary, the given scenery is just the same, and the given relations between characters meander their way forward in expected ways. I'll confess, this sequel did not take me in any of the directions I was expecting at the end of The Bone Ships. I had thought we'd jump straight into the action, calling up the Arakeesians and taking down the Thirteenbern. Her officers? What did she mean by that? And he added another item to a growing list of resentments in his head.