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Barker continues to create a beautifully atmospheric world that is gritty, yet hopeful. As Meas and her crew continue to try to avert war, we learn more about the politics of the Hundred Isles and the gullaime, as well as see more locations within the world. He takes the already interesting world and expands it even wider, giving the reader more room to imagine and explore. Call of the Bone Ships was one of my most anticipated books in 2020, and for a good reason. I really loved its predecessor, The Bone Ships and I was pretty sure I’m not going to be disappointed. And hoo boy, I was not. It’s been a while I was so emotionally impacted by a book. RJ Barker absolutely destroyed me. How strange it felt to say those words, those fleet words that he knew more from his father’s stories of service than from any real experience. They were good words though, strong words with a history, and they felt right in his mouth. If he were to die then they were not bad final words for his father to hear from his place, deep below the sea, standing warm and welcome at the Hag’s eternal bonefire.
The Bone Ships: Library Edition (Tide Child Trilogy)
He knew these thoughts as offspring of the drink, the melancholy it brought he had only ever been able to drink through, running toward oblivion to escape himself. But he could not drink now. Not in front of her. He would keep going even if just to spite her. If she put him to cleaning filth from the bilges he would do it, biding his time, waiting for his moment. Call of the Bone Ships raises the stakes even higher, new bonds are formed, and you better keep your eyes peeled because you can just never know when something unexpected will happen. And if you are like me, you’ll be cursing Barker along the way whether because he ends a chapter in a way that you can’t help but read on, or because of all of the emotions he’ll put you and his characters through. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.All was chaos in the dark. Joron saw vague shapes. Was it gion, was it a woman? Was it varisk, was it a man? Was it a sword, was it a branch? Was it? Was it? Was it? I was a Hundred Isles shipwife, boy. How many innocents do you think fell to my blade? Too many. You think I would throw away the one person I genuinely care about for those who I know nothing of? Those I care nothing for?... No, never.” Voices from outside, because even here, in the long-abandoned and ghost-haunted flensing yards there was no real escape from others. Not even the memory of Keyshan’s Rot, the disease of the boneyards, could keep people from cutting through. It’s a weird thing trying to review a book that was a tale of two halves. I do not want to focus solely on the individual parts, but rather the whole.As with all things, I think it is about balance. The author took a risk with his approach, and The Bone Ships comes out on the right side. Just shy of great, it is a very good read and I would definitely recommend it, but with a caveat. Be warned going in that is a slow build, and persevere. The read is worth the time. For an unknown author, I might have put this down. But I trusted RJ to deliver, and in the end he did. A wonderful testament to his skill and talent. I will be ready and waiting when the sequel arrives.
Call of the Bone Ships by RJ Barker – The Unseen Library Call of the Bone Ships by RJ Barker – The Unseen Library
Things are getting worse with the reappearance of the keyshans , the race is setting between the isles and certainly the hundred isles wanted to seize this power. Alas long time had passed since the last Keyshans were murdered and they realized it’s not an easy thing. Secrets must be unburied… All who are brought on this ship, Gullaime, are criminals, and lost and unwanted and hated by others. Meas say Tide Child is a new start.” The words, concepts and sayings of the original world are well woven into the dialogues of the characters. They have beautiful and suitable places for the situation, conveying the necessary pathos, tragedy and self-sacrifice. Dialogues with antagonists are also well done.
And of course I was right. As I was sitting there, staring at the last words of Call of the Bone Ships, all I could do was scream “noooooo” in my head. Partly because of the ending and partly because I realized that we have a year waiting ahead of us until the next book. And that’s just so goddamn unfair. But hey, I can torture myself with a reread (or a relisten more like, especially if Call of the Bone Ships will have the same narrator, who I’m sure will just put the book on a whole another level and I swear I’m damn excited to get my heart broken all over again by his voice).
The Bone Ships - BookPage The Bone Ships - BookPage
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.This is a really good example of a good second book in a high fantasy series. Where book one was enjoyable, but perhaps a bit overloaded with new terminology and ideas, in this one it all felt almost natural.
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