A high seas coming of age story about a condemned and broken teenager finding new life and new purpose under a fierce and likewise condemned legendary captain aboard a "Ship of the Dead", where condemned criminals are sent to perform the most unsavory and dangerous of voyages until such time that they die of age or job hazard. It’s part Pirates of the Caribbean, part Game of Thrones, with all the fury and adrenaline of 300, and a dash of Tolkien for levity.

I have to confess- when I read the opening scenes of Chapter 1, I had serious doubts I would like this story. Both Joran- our main protagonist- and Meas- the disgraced captain who takes over his ship- were thoroughly unlikable in such a way that I wasn’t sure I’d make it to the end without having to proverbially jump ship to get away from them. Wow was I wrong, and wow am I glad that I kept reading. The growth that the entire cast undergoes is so thorough that by the halfway point you'll forget the story ever started out with a giant clusterf***k of horrible people crammed together on a derelict ship. Fair warning to any who pick up this book- the world that Barker creates is as uncompromising as Ancient Sparta and brutal as anything you’ll encounter in Westeros. Trigger warnings for off-screen religious sacrifice of human infants, off-screen mutilation, supernatural whaling, and brief mentions of rape in addition to the genre-typical violence. And yet there’s such hope in dark places as any you’ll find in Middle Earth.

The worldbuilding curve is steep but accessible. I have only the barest familiarity with sailing terms and ships, and I was easily able to guess at what jobs and features on these “bone ships” (vessels made from the bones of slaughtered sea dragons) correlates to real world sailing crews and ship parts. The people are beautifully diverse in appearance, gender, and sexual orientation. The cultures are so vivid, the settings feel like you can just step right into the page and go sightseeing, and the creatures are a beautiful blend of the unique and the familiar. All of this weaves together into a fantastic tale whose goal is to strike back at the notion of physical “perfection”, social prejudice, xenophobia, blind adherence to tradition, harmful exploitation of natural resources, and the normalization of war and violence. Five well-deserved stars, and just one question- when can I get my hands on the arc for Book 2??

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

The cover blurb is a bit misleading. Yes, this book winds up being about chasing a dragon, but first, it is about the union of two characters- Joran Twiner and Lucky Meas, different as can be and how they come together to lead a kickass, swashbuckling, sea battle against insurmountable odds.

Ok. This book took a while to grip you (hence the reason for 4 and not 5 stars). First, the world building was difficult for me to comprehend. The reader is thrown into a maritime adventure but with a vernacular and culture just different enough to be confusing. On top of that, I really really did not care for the main characters for about the first 3rd of the book. They were written well- they were interesting, flawed and real, however I just didn't LIKE them. But then, a sense of purpose, renewed hope and honor prompts these characters to blossom. And WoW! The pages did not stop turning.

This is my first R.J. Barker book. I know that he has a loyal following, and that his writing must be good. But wow, he really is a master at his craft. I think I can confidently say that this tops any Jack Sparrow adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

It took a long time for me to actually care about the main characters of this book, which was disappointing. The protagonist, Joron, is more of an observer of a legendary figure than the figure themselves. However, in the second half I did grow to like them somewhat. I enjoyed seeing him and his crew learn about duty, honour, friendship, and loyalty. The characterization became more prominent in the last third of the book, which was also disappointing.

The world-building is intricate and inventive, though the book isn't easy to read with lingo, new & unique names constantly being introduced, and the world-building feels like info-dumps. There wasn't much direction until about 40% into the book. The last 20% was a lot better, though. I don't enjoy long seafaring journeys, so this wasn't really the book for me, unfortunately.

3.4 / 5 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2020/04/01/the-bone-ships-by-r-j-barker-review/

Though all in all an interesting, often exciting read, The Bone Ships didn’t tick all the boxes for me. Though occasionally I found the dialogue wandering and the description exhausting rather than thorough—most troubling was the realization at about the 75% mark that I just couldn’t wait for the book to be over with so I could move on to something else.

Joron Twiner is the ship-wife (captain) of a Ship of the Dead—a vessel crewed by a group the sea over already considers dead. They are treated as part of the navy, but not. See, they are not people, but the dead, the lowest of the low, a caste already dead and only yet to be buried at sea. Now, how Joron got this post is a tale. But that is for another time. The real story here is of Lucky Meas, the last dragon, and Tide Child.

It all begins with Joron piss drunk on a beach. Tide Child—his Ship of the Dead—idles off shore, drifting, waiting. Waiting for Lucky Meas. Now how she came to find him on this beach is another tale, again not for this time. But find him she did, and pull him from his cups she did as well. Joron returned to Tide Child not as its Captain, but as crew.

Centuries before the dragons vanished, hunted to death by humans for their bones. Bones used to build strong, fast ships. Ships, such as Tide Child. Long after the dragons disappeared, their bones are still used and reused, warred over and against, all to fuel a cycle that will only be over when either all the humans or all the bones lie upon the bottom of the sea.

But then, a lone dragon emerges.

And so ships near and far marshal to it, each hoping to win this prize for their own. For the dragon represents wealth, glory, fame, and new ships like Tide Child. But not all would use it as the other. Lucky Meas has a plan for the dragon, but what is it? And how is it different from the rest? And is Joron willing to follow her, knowing that should he, he will almost certainly be going to his grave? But then again, he is already of Tide Child. And thus already dead.

This began as a grand adventure into realms unknown, filled with pirates, glory, and dragons. I loved the various and unique beasts, the description of the numerous horrors that stalked the wilder parts of the land and sea. The text definitely showed its creativity, which I never stopped appreciating. The world-building showed no less. Though not exhaustive, it was pretty well complete. I hope the proceeding installments continue the trend found early on. Later… I found it more of a glimpse of every port philosophy, like a game or movie that focuses on one element once only to never look its way again. Episodic, but with one constant. Tide Child is that constant. A glimpse is taken, a picture taken, then back to Tide Child and onwards—this is what it felt like.

I honestly don’t know how or when I soured on the Bone Ships. It just kinda happened. At first, it was an interesting, unique adventure—somewhat reminiscent of Dragon Hunters, by Marc Turner. While in the latter’s case I became more immersed the longer the story went on, in the former’s I just became bored. And I’m honestly not sure why.

It could have been that I just felt the story went on too long. That there was too much detail but too little action. That there was a lull in the telling, where the tale lost me and I mentally checked out. And there was this—all of these. About the halfway point (maybe 40%) I felt the pace slow; it hadn’t exactly been storming along to that point, but now it really slowed. While there are a few actiony bits here and there, I found them few and far between. Normally this wouldn’t’ve bothered me. I stayed around for all 15 Wheel of Time books, after all—yet here it did.

I had trouble getting into this one, to be fair. I had several false starts, ultimately resulting in my decision to read this as an audiobook. Now, it could have been a reader issue, but wasn’t: I quite liked the reader (Jude Owusu), though it took me a bit to warm to him. It was more likely an author issue. This was my first Barker book. I have the first Wounded Kingdoms book, but haven’t read it yet. It was the language, the content, the feel, the… the dialogue. I found it a bit clunky. Often somewhere between banal and fustian (flowery, but carrying little meaning), I found it little more than filler.

TL;DR

I’d probably even recommend this, even though I didn’t love it. It was still a good read, even if it got a little too long towards the end. Other than Joron, I found very little character development evident. While Joron’s change is significant, pains are taken with Lucky Meas—pains which I felt never evolved into anything. She was still a myth by the end of the book, instead of flesh and bone. Thing is that while it began as a good and action-packed adventure, by the time the Bone Ships came to its conclusion I was already over it. The reader is good, the adventure is good, the description is good, the world-building is better than good—and all came together and worked for me. Until it didn’t. Hopefully it works well throughout for you. It just didn’t for me.

Not my jam unfortunately :/ I had to DNF about halfway through because I just could not get into the characters. I feel bad giving a star rating to a DNF book, but it’s required to post.

R J Barker has created an extraordinary novel. It's a story of redemption and suffering, of hope and betrayal. The characters are fully developed and fascinating. What really sets it apart, I feel is the worldbuilding. The author has created a world so different from our own and yet so detailed and logical.

There's plenty of action as the crew of a condemned ship sets off on a secret mission to find and defend the last Dragon in their world. I was sucked in to the story and fully immersed in no time. I can't wait to read more. Highly recommended.

I really loved the idea of this book. I loved the idea of ships made of the bones of dragons and the possibility of extinct dragons coming back. Unfortunately this didn't pan out the way I had hoped. The characters were okay, and the plot was fine, but I was waiting for more action. I also didn't love the characters, and great characters make me want to keep picking up a book. Not for me, but I've liked works by this author before so I'm looking forward to what he has next!

I can see why so many people loved this book. The writing is great, the story is fun and unique. I just couldn't get into this one as much as I wanted to and that is more from my particular taste than the quality of the book. I had a hard time relating to the characters and that made it hard for me to fully invest. That is not to say this isn't a great book, it just wasn't made for me. Give it a try, you'll probably love it.

Unfortunately I just couldn't get into this story. I found my mind wandering while reading it and had to read the same page over and over. I would be willing to give it another shot at a different time perhaps.

While a little slow to start, the worldbuilding and characters are so, so, so much worth it. If you love stories about the sea, or about sailing on the sea, or stories about a rag-tag group of characters coming together to form a camaraderie/found family feel? This should be on your tbr list.

Oh, what a luscious, heart-rending, beautifully crafted book this is! In the world of warring island nations, the most valuable commodity – one that comprises the great war ships that grant naval supremacy – is the bones of sea dragons. The supply is limited, for the dragons are believed to be extinct, so the bones are salvaged and repurposed to for the great ships of the fleet. Then there are the black ships, the ships of the condemned and untouchable. Fisherman’s son Joron is one of those wretched souls, sentenced as “shipwife” (captain) to a black ship and determined to stay as drunk as possible. His fortunes change with the arrival of “Lucky” Meas, an extraordinary leader and daughter of the ruler, although why she might have been sentenced to a black ship, Joron has no idea. As Meas trains and then inspires the dissolute crew, Joron goes from grudging obedience to trust, even as he learns her true mission. For after centuries a sea dragon has been spotted, and the contest for its precious bones threatens to plunge the world into unending war.

There is so much to love about this book, but for me it was the language that enchanted me the most. I found myself slowing down and repeating passages just to savor them. In many senses, the narrative text itself was a character and gateway to this world.

Tide Child’s colour showed he [in this world ships are masculine] was a last-chance ship, the crew condemned to death. The only chance anyone had for a return to life was through some heroic act, something so undeniably great that the acclaim of the people would see their crimes expunged and their life restored to them. Such hope made desperate deckchilder, and desperate deckchilder were fierce. Though if any forgiveness had been offered to the dead it had not been in Joron’s lifetime, or in his father’s lifetime before him.

At some point this crew of the violent and the lost had decided that Meas could be trusted, and if she kept her side of the bargain then they would keep theirs. It was an odd thing, thought Joron, to find a purpose in such a dark place as a black ship.

Superb world-building, compelling characters, and carefully nuanced tension mark Bone Ships as a book to treasure. And there will be more – I can hardly wait!

The begging was dragging but then the action started and it was tense. All the ships and captains and islands. Missions that seemed suicidal but I don’t think that the book was for me. It didn’t catch my attention in 100%

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair review.

Happy New Year, dudes! I hope everyone’s holidays went swimmingly, and I hope you’re all rested up and ready for the new and improved Litcast of Doom! We kicked things off with a new segment, WHAT’S COMING OUT THIS WEEK, and you have another new segment, TALES FROM THE VAULT coming out this weekend, but I know what you’re all here for.

So let’s talk about THE BONE SHIPS by R.J. Barker.

Our Goodreads summary:


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.

–

If you’re unfamiliar with R.J. Barker, he also wrote the Wounded Kingdom trilogy, starting with Age of Assassins. Here, Barker takes his grounding prose and applies it to the place you need grounding most: a ship! But not just any ship – a black ship. Which, in the context of this world, means we’re never getting off.

Our protagonist, Joron Twiner, used to be the shipwife (re: the captain) of the black ship The Tide Child, where Fleet crewmen unfit to serve were sentenced instead of just being killed. And we say “used to be” because within the very few first pages, his hat, role, and some of his dignity get snatched up by “Lucky” Meas Gilbryn, of whom legends and songs are written. The novel then progresses to show us how Meas gets the crew ship-shape and out to sea, where we eventually discover her true intent: to protect the last sea dragon so no new ships can come of it, until it’s too far gone to salvage, and then take it out.

THE BONE SHIPS feed my inner desire to abandon life and go be a pirate somewhere, all while giving us a story grounded in someone who’s almost as lost as we are. We come to find that Joron was never part of the fleet, but just a simple fisherman who was sentenced to The Tide Child after killing a shipwife in a fair duel by the shipwife’s father. The only reason Joron was put in charge was his lack of ties to any singular clique in the crew – he owed no one loyalty, nor anyone to him, so he was a neutral party that could potentially run things without showing favoritism. But his background, despite being of the sea, is not of the Fleet, so we get to see how things improve and operate from his point of view.

Speaking of point of view, I mention in the podcast episode that Barker does some fiddly things in his writing. He writes from a close third person perspective, save for a few points that are like, “If only Joron had looked to see [redacted],” or “If only he knew that he was part of a legend,” etc. In any other story, it’d seem out of place or unnecessary. But here, it fits the tone well and adds to the flow of the story.

I also appreciate how the story is colored by Joron’s trauma involving the death of his father. Many times we witness him take a step back because he’s haunted by the exact circumstances of his death (in that he was ground in the hulls of bone ships), and how he has to fight past that trauma so that he can move forward. Not to say that he gets cured of it – we see it throughout most of the book – but it gives us more of an insight to who he is as a protagonist, and how it affects his decisions throughout the narrative.

I know I’m getting big and fancy here, but as a tl;dr let me say this: I love THE BONE SHIPS – the narrative does take some getting into, granted, but once you’ve gotten through the first chapter it’s like hands are pulling you deeper and deeper into the story, and I was ready to drown in it. I’d recommend THE BONE SHIPS to anyone who wants to check out some truly epic fantasy out on the high seas.

ABOARD THE BONE SHIPS is out now on your favorite podcatcher!

Aaaahhhh this book was definitely one of my top reads of 2019. It’s one of those books that does a fantastic job of using the familiar as a jumping point, and launching into a world completely it’s own. The world-building is absolutely stunning (and sorry to those in my life who had to listen to me rant about how good it was!). The characters are great, and all expectations were subverted.



I really enjoyed Joron—and his growth!—but I found that I truly got invested through the other characters, Lucky Meas is the type of larger-than-life character that I really adore, and I think she’s done so well. I also got so invested in the Gullaime (y’all are gonna have to read the book if you wanna know why, but I adored it!).



I could continue raving about how good this book was for pages, but I’ll keep it short, it’s a book that stands out well among other fantasy books, with masterful world-building, relatable and flawed characters and a story that it’s impossible not to get sucked into.



Recommended for anyone who’s a fan of fantasy, and who is a sucker for stories on the high seas (okay, let’s be honest I’m gonna be recommending this book to everyone and their dog because I think it’s that good)

Grade A high fantasy sea story.

There were so many interesting ways this story played with the societal/gender worldbuilding. It consistantly uses "women and men" instead of the reverse, and uses a generic "woman" instead of "man." There were so many little details in the worldbuilding like that that were just fascinating.

I Also appreciate a story that commits itself to being <i>about</i> a legendary figure from the <i>point of view</i> of Nobody Special. What set this one apart is the really great character arc the narrative allowed its Nobody Special.

The relationship between the protagonist and the famous captain was really what kept me invested through a large and sprawling plot that, in my opinion, could really have been pared down. There were several points where I was pretty lost, and had to track back until I remembered that this named character had, in fact, been introduced three chapters ago only to disappear again until now.

If you enjoy big plots that involve politics and themes about the love-hate relationship society has with the concept of war, military sff, sea stories like Aubrey/Maturin, or books with immersive worldbuilding then I recommend this book highly.

As a reviewer, I’m finding that I can’t connect well with epic fantasy. The book has solid writing but the intense length and plot lines were hard for me to connect with. This one just wasn’t for me, but I greatly appreciate the chance to review!

4 stars. Unexceptional, but a fun read. (Note that I am only reviewing the story itself, not the excerpts from other books that appear at the end.)

I enjoyed the fresh setting. I had quite enjoyed stories of the British Navy as a young girl, so mixing the high seas with fantasy was pretty great!

And I truly loved the worldbuilding. There are so many hints of a tantalizing history buried beneath the story. And the gullaimes are some of the most unique “creatures” I’ve come across in a whole.

Unfortunately, to me, the characterization seemed somewhat lacking. I find it difficult to say exactly why, but although some of the characters were objectively interesting - Lucky Meas and Solemn Muffaz, for instance - I did not find myself as intrigued as I would have hoped. And the writing itself is less than ideal. I know that using “they” and “them” pronouns for single characters is becoming all the rage these days, but it really took away from the narrative. The use of repetition quickly grew tiring, and sometimes the phrasing was just plain awkward.

Content concerns include violence (well, it’s basically pirates, what can one expect?), confused and objectifying uses of sexuality, and some mild coarse language.

I am grateful to NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC of The Bone Ships.

Joron Twiner was a fisher in the Hundred Isles before being sent to the black ships as punishment. He was shipwife of the boneship Tide Child, until he was displaced by Lucky Meas Gilbryn. Lucky Meas, Joron and the crew of the Tide Child are tasked with tracking down the last remaining sea dragon (for reasons that keep shifting, they either want to save it or kill it). At the end of the book there is an appendix explaining the ranks in the fleet of bone ships and in the Hundred Isles. I suggest that you read this appendix before reading the book. If I had done so, it would have prevented a lot of confusion.


If you are expecting a rollicking sea adventure full of fire breathing dragons, look elsewhere. The sea dragon stays under water and doesn’t show up until the second half of the book, when the action picks up. It’s a good thing that I liked the author’s first fantasy trilogy, otherwise I would have given up on this book before I ever got a glimpse of the dragon. The first half of the book was a slog, with too many characters but not enough information about them. The story is told from Joron’s point of view so we never really get inside the head of anyone else, including Lucky Meas. I missed the compelling relationship between the protagonists that made The Wounded Kingdom trilogy entertaining for me.

The world in which this story takes place was very muddled to me. People seem to have a difficult time producing healthy children, for unexplained reasons. The Gaunt Islanders and the Hundred Islanders have been at war with each other forever, for very fuzzy reasons. Lucky Meas is perpetually cranky and Joron is perpetually insecure. There’s no levity or wit in this book, but it isn’t rough or violent enough to reach the level of grimdark. My favorite character was the Gullaime or windtalker “an avian race of magicians able to control the winds”. At least his dialogue was a relief from the “tough talk” employed by the rest of the characters.

Two things about the book got on my nerves. First, the author refers to ships as “he” rather than “she”. Since I am accustomed to the feminine pronoun, every time I read “he” I had to stop and think who the author was talking about. I never got used to this. Second, the author is working very hard (probably too hard) for gender equality. The crew of the ship is comprised of both men and women. Once this fact is established it is not necessary to say “the women and men did X” which the author did repeatedly. Just say “the crew did X”.

Based on his prior trilogy, I’m willing to cut this author some slack and I’ll probably read his next book, but I’m hoping for improvement. The narration by Jude Owusu of the audiobook was very good. 3.5 star

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

The Bone Ships is a unique fantasy story that I was not prepared for when I started reading it. The distinctly different but unforgettable characters, the insanely strategic plotting and planning, the plot twists and overall overwhelming moments that create this epic story, is unbelievable.

The cast of characters is great and diverse. They're each well developed, full of compelling motivations, personalities and backgrounds that set them well apart from one another. Like his magic systems, it's clear that Barker excels at creating characters with rich cultural history that is a true joy to piece together over the course of the story.

Now Barker's writing is a simple one, and by no means is this a con. In fact I adored how straight to the point it is. He didn't try to manipulate the writing to add suspense, because he's a genius who could add suspense through the plot itself. He also didn't need purple prose to express emotions. The characters' feelings hit you and you understand and sympathies with them nonetheless. Barker is a magnificent storyteller and one that can keep your attention. From the first page through to the last his ability to craft a spectacular story that you can lose yourself in really shines through in The Bone Ships

I loved this book!

The best ships have been built with the bones of dragons. These ships have been used to fight an endless war. The ships outlived the dragons until now. There has been a dragon sighting. Both sides want to get their hands on it. Some to use for ships, some to finally stop the war.

This is one of those books that stayed with me even when I wasn't reading it. That tells me it is well worth 5 stars.

The story is fantastic. The characters are great and grow on you page after page. And I loved the gullaime!

This is my first time reading anything by this author and now I'm a big fan.