Epic! Great world building and unlike anything I’ve read before. I love the whole concept of the bone ships. By the end of the book I felt like part of the crew of the Tide Child. I look forward to book two.

For generations, the people of the Hundred Isles have used the bones of slain ancient dragons to build their ships to fight in an endless war. Although, the dragons have all disappeared, the battle for supremacy has raged on between the two great nations. Now, the first dragon in centuries has been spotted, and the race is on to capture it and turn the tide of power in their favor. For whoever can capture the dragon, not only wins the glory but the war as well. Despite such an interesting premise, I was bored throughout this entire book. Nothing about the plot, characters, or writing interested me at all. I just found it so dense and slow. There wasn't technically anything wrong with the book, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

This is the first book I’ve read by RJ Barker. I liked the premise - Joron and Lucky Meas meet aboard the ship Lucky Tides and pursue a sea dragon. The world building was rich but the writing style was too filled with jargon and the first 15% of the book was hard to get into for me. I would like to give the author another try (I have heard good things about the Wounded Kingdom trilogy) but would rate this at 3 stars.

The world-building in RJ Barker's The Bone Ships: The Tide Child #1 is original and bold. Barker has created a new world, full of detail, history, and culture for this series.

In the world of the Hundred Isles, ships have been built from the bones of sea dragons--white, gleaming ships, equipped with corpse lights. But there are also black bone ships, captained and crewed by condemned criminals. And Joron Twiner finds himself on Tide Child, a black ship, in retaliation for killing the son of a powerful official in a duel.

Joron Twiner presents an intriguing protagonist as he gradually grows from an angry, depressed, nineteen-year-old and begins to question the rules and history of his society. I found this particularly interesting as the growth is slow and not readily accepted as Joron clings to the traditions he has been raised to accept.

Lucky Meas takes command of the Tide Child from Joron and not only allows him to live, but gives him second in command. Lucky Meas has been Shipwife (captain) of one of the most famous of the bone ships and has become a legend for her courage and skill in battle. How did she become condemned to a black ship? Whatever the reason, Meas is a leader and she is able to get both ship and crew into shape through force of will.

Meas, Joron, and the crew of the Tide Child are in search of the last sea dragon and the attempts to protect it or kill it.

(At the end, there is an appendix ranks in the Fleet and the Hundred Isles that (in my opinion) should have been at the beginning to help the reader adjust to this new world. Definition of the bern, berncast, Fleet ranks, etc. would make entering the world easier.)

I had not read RJ Barker before, but as soon as I finished The Bone Ships (knowing it would probably be a year's wait before the next in the series comes out), I ordered Age of Assassins, the first in Barker's Wounded Kingdom trilogy. Which lets you know how much I liked the book and the author. I literally put my Kindle on large print and walked while reading--mostly inside because adding the heat index to 98 degrees make walking outside too damn hot.

Read in August; blog review scheduled for Sept. 2.

NetGalley/Orbit Books
Fantasy/Adventure. Sept. 24, 2019. Print length: 512 pages.

The Bone Ships is book one of a new fantasy series. Don’t be thrown about by the concept of a handful of warriors chasing after the world’s last sea dragon. This is not a children’s book. It is a bold, exciting, adventure that is dark, gritty, and ruthless. At first, it may be difficult to enter this world because the prose - the incredible prose - is filled to the brim with terminology that is unfamiliar and customs and history that are often only hinted at. Nevertheless, this is a book with a great payoff. It is well worth the time to dig into this.

It is a fantasy world where almost all the action is naval in character. Two great warring island nations do battle on glorious ships made of dragon bone. And, the dragons 🐉 are gone for three generations now so any hint of dragon bone is more valuable than gold. Nothing else that ships can be built with floats like this bone. And, there are all kinds of bows, crossbows, and siege engines mounted on these boneships.

To be a part of the dragon bone fleet is to have the values of duty, loyalty, honor, and bravery. But, alas, our hero, Joron Twiner, rides not on a magnificent fleet ship, but on a black ship of death manned only by condemned prisoners, the Tide Child. He is in command- sort of - on a drunk more like it while his sailors let the ship rot in a forgotten bay.

Those looking for a strong female lead will look no further than Lucky Meas, the toughest, most ornery, sea captain to ever sail the however many seas they have there. Meas takes Joron and his motley crew and turns them into the most tenacious crew to ever sail.

This is a book chock full of action and all kinds of fascinating creatures, particularly the Gulliame (or windtalker) who can fill the ship’s sails with wind. And, the giant sea serpents and of course, the sea dragons, mightiest of all, who are referred to as Keyshan or Wakewyrm.

The biggest problem is that the sequel is not due out till Fall 2020. It’s going to be a long wait.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.