276°
Posted 20 hours ago

The Bone Ships: Winner of the Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel (The Tide Child Trilogy)

£9.9£99Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

Eighteen bright corpselights dancing above him, a huge long-beaked arakeesian skull as long as a two-ribber crowned his prow, blank eyeholes staring out, his beak covered in metal to use as a ram. Twined around them was bright pink varisk, vines as thick and strong as a woman’s thighs, leaves almost as big as the gion, fighting it for the light. In exchange for Meas's surrender, the Hundred Isles ships allow the remaining members of the peace faction to leave the island.

The Bone Ships - RJ Barker The Bone Ships - RJ Barker

It had been fast, able to outrun almost anything, even the crisk and the vareen, and when those great beasts of the sea raised their heads looking for prey they had never caught the Sighing East. With world building that is second to none and an engaging, flawed, and likeable main character, this is one you won't want to miss.

However, in some of these cases it did seem that the author only gave these characters more of a role so that he could then brutally kill them off, much to the heartbreak of the reader. Although the narrative was dark and brutal, there was also a lot of heart which made it even more captivating. They have beautiful and suitable places for the situation, conveying the necessary pathos, tragedy and self-sacrifice. RJ Barker has proven before that he can grip you right from the first sentence with an engrossing story and compelling characters.

Call of the Bone Ships - Goodreads Call of the Bone Ships - Goodreads

The huge gion and varisk plants were at their height now; any paths there may have been through this part of the forest had been quickly overgrown by bright creepers, and their sickly colours made his head ache even more. There’s a good chance that Barker is saving the entrance for the final book, but I do believe that I would’ve been able to enjoy this book even further with the appearance of this villain. 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 favor. The trial and tribulations that he is put through in this book are enough to break many a person, but the losses he suffers somehow make him stronger, more confident, as he refuses to break but rather bends and weathers every tempest that besets him, steadily growing into the best version of himself. Of long days before his father’s strong and powerful body was broken as easily as a thin varisk vine, ground to meat between the side of his boat and the pitiless hull of a boneship.Joron uses the pirate fleet to draw Thirteenbern Gilbryn’s attention while sneaking into Bernshulme. This flukeboat was little more than a rowboat, big enough for ten but light enough for one to row if they must.

The Bone Ships - BookPage The Bone Ships - BookPage

In general, the adventures in the sea and on various islands of this world turned out to be dangerous and realistic. Flukeboats were brown to start with, until their owners painted them in lurid colours: symbols of the Sea Hag, Maiden or Mother, eyes of the storms or the whispers of the four winds. The significant amount of early worldbuilding that so hindered the ebb and flow of the tale becomes a boon, having already laid a solid foundation for everything else to expand upon. Tide Child pulls the ship away from the rocks and tows them to safety, but something isn’t right with the ship.I'm just saying that it's a slightly different book in plot and pacing but delivers all the same when taken as a whole. It is expanding and the stakes are rising as the story gradually widens to become more epic, but still maintained an intimacy that explored the camaraderie of those on board the main ship, Tide Child.

the Bone Ships: Book 2 of the Tide Child Trilogy Call of the Bone Ships: Book 2 of the Tide Child Trilogy

He lives in the frozen north with his wife and son, and divides his time between writing and looking after his son. Simultaneously gritty and full of a sense of wonder, The Bone Ships is the perfect adventure for anyone who’s ever had dreams of the sea—or of dragons. While the first book centers sets out one specific goal and the book slowly marches towards achieving it, this one starts out a bit more ambiguously since the previously established conflict in the first book doesn't exist anymore. He had to scrape the words out of his mind, and that was exactly how it felt, like he drew the curve of a curnow blade down the inside of his skull; words falling from his mouth slack as midtide. Even if you don’t necessarily notice it during the calm moments when the storm arrives, you are hit with the realisation that you have come to care about not only about Meas, Joron, the Gullaime and Tide Child, but many of the other crew members too.I wondering if the span of time between the two would cause some problems with me noggin forgettin' things. The majority of people are crippled from birth, or if, as in the case of our protagonist Joron T, the mother dies at birth, they are considered low class and undesirable, never given a chance to rise above their birth. Though of course there was no flock for a man like him, only the surety of the death he walked towards. 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.

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment