The Bone Ships

I did not know that a fantasy naval adventure was missing from my life, but apparently it was. The Bone Ships is the first novel in a new trilogy from RJ Barker and it is a very promising start. The story follows an officer on a ‘ship of the dead' where people who are condemned try to gain reentry into society by crewing a rundown ship on a hopeless mission.

In this world, it seems that the vegetation does not provide sufficient strength for building large boats, so instead they are built from the bones of great sea dragons (Arkeesians), hence the title of the book. An interesting concept, which gives rise to the central story of the book - tracking such an Arkeesian through the archipelago where the story is set.

Being a nautical fantasy, it gives Barker room to explore new types of fantastical creature and stay well away from the well established tropes. His strange Guillames - gull like humanoids who are able to control the wind, and the the many weird and wonderful sea creatures evoke a wonderfully fresh fantasy.

My one issue with the book was one of pacing, as the start was somewhat slow, but once the book got going it was truly gripping. I am intrigued to see where this world goes!

This is a 3.5* rating, the 4th is because I'm curious about the sequel. And that's despite the fact I wonder if the editor slept while reading it...

I loved: the pirate/fantasy setting, the bone ships built on the bones of slayed sea dragons, Lucky Meas (what a brazen, badass Shipwife???captain???she is), the fact that Lucky Meas is experienced through the protagonist narrative and totally steals the show, the weird fantastical creatures of this world... The guillaume especially.

I loved the plot.

But as mentioned, some editor must have not paid much attention. As an example: too many cases of “the the” or “and and” or some other tiny word repeated unnecessarily... The pacing was too slow the first half of the book. Also something about lack of structure when this new world was presented to us.

It felt very flawed in some places. It's important to say, that despite of it, I genuinely enjoyed this book. Like a rough diamond.

What a wonderful adventure! This was my first experience with R.J. Barker's work and I came away quite impressed with his skill as a storyteller. He drops us into the fully-formed world of the Hundred Isles, a sea-dominated region that's peppered with small islands. Two warring territories, each equipped with extremely valuable ships made from ancient dragon bones, are stuck in constant and endless conflict. When the first dragon in generations is sighted, the race is on to be the first to track it down.

Barker's prose is rich but rough and perfectly suited for a seafaring tale. You can taste the ocean spray and feel the sway of the ships as they traverse the angry seas. The world is filled with unique flora and fauna, but the setting still feels familiar and accessible.

The book also features really satisfying character work, most notably through the main characters Joron and Lucky Meas and the cultivation of their relationship with each other and with the rest of their crew. The connection that is forged between Joron and the Gullaime, the ship's enigmatic, bird-like “windtalker,” is particularly touching. I hope we see more of the Gullaime in future books because the page (and I) lit up whenever it would appear.

Generally, I like to finish books quickly so I can move on to the next thing in my stack, but it was really gratifying to spend extra time with such a well-crafted novel. Even the artwork on the chapter headings is meticulously crafted and beautiful.

All in all, this is a superb start to an exciting new series. The worldbuilding, the prose, the character development, and the story beats are all top-notch. I'm already anxiously anticipating book two. In the meantime, I'm going to jump back and give Barker's Wounded Kingdom trilogy a try to see if that is also to my liking.

4.5 out of 5 stars

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

It's been a couple of days since I read The Bone Ships and I have to say that it has taken me a couple of days to digest it really.

This is my first introduction to RJ Barker and I have got to say that I am pretty impressed. It???s not that I expected the book to be anything but brilliant. However, I didn't know what to expect really and The Bone Ships really surprised me.

The story takes place on The Tide Child, a black ship of The Hundred Isles.
At the beginning of the book, we are introduced to the main protagonist, Joron Twiner, the hapless ship wife (Captain) of The Tide Child. As he is on land, he is challenged to a duel by Lucky Meas Gilbryn and thus we are introduced to the world of The Tide Child, the blackships and the fleet of The Hundred Isles and the adventure they are about to embark on protecting a great Arakeesian, the last of the legendary sea dragons that populate the oceans of The Hundred Isles.

This is an incredibly imagined and strange world that Barker has set his story in and is quite different to the ones that readers are used to. In the first part of the book, Barker gives us some major worldbuilding, describing the Hundred Isles and its culture. The world is populated with all manner of strange things, the plants, the animals and the people.

This is a harsh and menacing world and there is no place for weakness and any form of feebleness quickly perishes. However, not only is the world harsh and unforgiving, its people are of a similar nature. One of the aspects of the people that live in the Hundred Isles is that there is a high level of congenital deformity and those who are able to give birth to undeformed infants are highly prized in this culture. In addition to people of the Hundred Isles, there are the Gaunt Islanders, and we learn that the people of the Hundred Isles have been engaged in a never-ending war with them for hundreds of years.

Not all of the people in this land though are people, or more accurately humanoid. There are the Gullaime. A race of bird like people who are prized for their magical ability to control the wind. The Gullaime are treated as slaves and are blinded at birth for their ???own protection??? and are treated as outcasts on the ships of the fleet, only used for their supernatural feats of managing the winds.

Now I have to say that I loved Barker's world, and I found it very redolent of 1970???s British SciFi / fantasy movement, in that he has used some of that experimental energy from the movement to create a world that is unforgiving and menacing, and at once quite original. As I said it is a harsh environment in every sense of the word and every aspect of it has an opaque menacing quality to it. And on top of that, it has a sense of dankness about it, and Barker constantly describes the dirt, grime and stink of it.

I really found the characters of the book to be utterly absorbing. From the first page to the end of the book, the characters are front and centre of this story. The story???s main protagonist, Joron Twiner is introduced from the very first line and this is who we follow throughout the whole of the book, we get his thoughts, his insecurities and join him on his journey from an inadequate hapless individual who has been thrust into a situation not of his making to someone who grows in his confidence and abilities. I can???t say that when I met Joron Twiner at the beginning of the story that I actually liked him. He is a man that has been sent to the Tide Child to join the crew of a Black Ship, which is essentially a place where people are sent to die. And we get the impression that Joron is indeed a man who has joined the living dead. He is an inadequate commander and when he loses his duel with Lucky Meas and she forcibly takes over the ship, we learn that not only is he hopeless, but he is the conspirator of his own inadequacies and has let the crew of the Tide Child basically govern themselves. However, as the story moves on, Joron begins to grow. Instead of killing him in the duel, which is what usually happens in this world, Meas makes him second in command and moves against tradition. We don???t know why, and neither does Joron, and whilst at the beginning of the book he hates this interloper who has taken his crown from him. He soon learns to respect and admire Meas and her harsh methods. Not only does she turn the crew from a bunch of worthless, hopeless set of miscreants, but she also turns Joron into a respected officer by giving him trust and in her own way encouragement.

Meas is an interesting character. She is a hard woman on the outside (and inside at times) but she is fair and trusting. We never really get to see her whole motivations for the decisions that she makes, but you get the impression that she is fighting for a new way, a fairer way that is inclusive of everyone.

But this book is not just made up of Joron Twiner and Lucky Meas Gilbryn, there is also the crew of the Tide Child. At first, they are a nameless and characterless bunch (and I think that they are done this way purposefully due to the fact Joron Twiner at the beginning of the book never bothered to learn their names). As we move through the tale, the crew starts to take on a more colourful character. We get to learn individuals and their names as Joron begins to learn them and they become an integral part of the story.

And we cannot forget the Gullaime, the strange bird like creatures that perform the magic of controlling the wind. At first, the Gullaime refuses to interact and when Meas fails to get the thing to do as she bids, she tasks Joron to befriend the creature. Although he hates it, he does as she commands and an unlikely friendship develops between Joron and Gullaime.

The other thing that impressed me was Barker???s ability to write bone crushing action scenes, particularly the naval battles. The action scenes are written so smoothly that at times I forgot I was reading words on the page and I could see every battle in my head.

I found R. J. Barker???s book to be utterly charming in its own way. Yes, it is set in a very different fantasy world, but it is not inaccessible, although there is a steep learning curve involved. For me, I found the book to be about journeys, not just the journey of the boat, but the journey of Twiner and the crew as they all move from being unwanted and unloved to having a sense of pride and purpose. Whilst the book is filled with hard edges, there are lots of moments of tenderness peppered throughout.

Barkers ability to write engaging prose is something of a wonder. He writes so self-assuredly that he transported me from my normal comfy chair in the living room, and onto the deck of the Tide Child where I could practically feel the salty sea spray hitting my face and the brine encrusted winds coursing through my hair.