The blurb:
The sea dragons are returning, and Joron Twiner’s dreams of freedom lie shattered. His Shipwife is gone and all he has left is revenge.
Leading the black fleet from the deck of Tide Child Joron takes every opportunity to strike at his enemies, but he knows his time is limited. His fleet is shrinking and the Keyshan’s Rot is running through his body. He runs from a prophecy that says he and the avian sorcerer, the Windseer, will end the entire world.
But the sea dragons have begun to return, and if you can have one miracle, who is to say that there cannot be another?
The review:
I’m… almost tempted to leave it there. That’s how I felt when I finished this book. Life has got in the way of me writing the review until now, but even a month later I can still recall how I felt after putting the Bone Ship’s Wake down. I felt… drained, in some ways. Like I’d experienced every emotion at once. I was somewhat sad and melancholy, but with an underlying sort of hopeful giddiness.
This will be a short review. Not because I don’t have a lot to say about these books, but because I don’t know how to say it.
Something I always love in a good story is genuine, natural, character growth. I love books that aren’t afraid to centre their character’s struggles, aren’t afraid to take them to darker places, but still care enough to build them back up. Very few contemporary fantasy authors do that as well as RJ Barker.
Look at Joron Twiner. Look at where he started. Look at where he is now. Think how he got there, and who dragged him. That there, that’s brilliance. Even if you’ve only read the first two books, you know what I’m talking about. If you’re asking me, it only gets better from there.
I love these books. The family feeling of the crew. The awkward tensions between different relationships. The fight for something better. The imposter syndrome. The fact that society itself is the enemy. The fact that it is impossible to look away from the people squashed underfoot. The acknowledgement that some people can be irredeemable utter shits, but that other people can. be. better.
I could talk to you about the worldbuilding. I could wax lyrical about the goth-y aesthetic and the great pacing and all of the ebbs and flows of the plot. But you can read my review of the last book if you’re looking for that.
Right now, I just want to enjoy the fact that I have read an absolute masterpiece.
And the Bone Ships trilogy is a masterpiece.
We received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you to Orbit UK for the review copy!
The Bone Ship’s Wake is available to purchase from 28th September in ebook, and 30th September in paperback in the UK!
Add The Bone Ship’s Wake on Goodreads.
Purchase your copy at Bookshop.org | Amazon UK | Waterstones | Broken Binding | or the Kindle widget below:
