Call of the Bone Ships by R.J. Barker – Review

Published: November 24, 2020

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: The Tide Child #2

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 528 (Paperback)

My Rating: 5.0/5.0

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:

A brilliantly imagined saga of honour, glory and warfare, Call of the Bone Ships is the captivating epic fantasy sequel to RJ Barker’s The Bone Ships.

Dragons have returned to the Hundred Isles. But their return heralds only war and destruction. When a horde of dying slaves are discovered in the bowels of a ship, Shipwife Meas and the crew of the Tide Child find themselves drawn into a vicious plot that will leave them questioning their loyalties and fighting for their lives.

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CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

How are there so many amazing sea-faring fantasy stories this year??? This is one of several that I’ve picked up in the last year and they’ve all been great, though this stands out as one of the best. The plot is epic, the characters are amazing, and they have grown so much since the first book!

As it says in the synopsis, the crew of the Tide Child discovers a ship full of dead and dying slaves who are being carted off for some unsavory purpose. More unsavory than just being slaves, and it’s most likely being perpetrated by their own people. This sets them off on the dangerous task of finding out who’s doing this, why they’re doing it, and where they’re taking these poor tortured souls off to. In short, the Thirteenbern is gathering the sick and unwanted, packing them on slave ships, and taking them off to her secret island to make a deadly poison. Basically, they’re disposable workers and she really, really needs this poison to kill the sea dragons so she can build more ships. Obviously Meas is not okay with this, especially since some of those people lived in the peaceful town she was trying to build. (Also, I hate it when I’ve forgotten names/terms after I read a book and wait to long to write the review).

This book is absolutely packed with action, intrigue, and rebellion. It honestly couldn’t get much more intense unless there was perhaps… a character you dearly love was on death’s doorstep. Poor Joron has had a bad run this book and he won’t be doing much running now unless he gets really good on that peg leg. He was sliced and diced, garotted, poisoned, and now he’s lost his leg too. Still manages to stay in good spirits for the most part though. And the gullaime! He’s one of my favorite characters – so strange, with his wind magic and weird eyes. Honestly, all the characters have a pretty bad time in this book and are constantly being chased around the oceans. Heck, they almost get completely wrecked by a sea dragon that DESTROYS AN ISLAND! 

I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in this series. R.J. Barker has upped the ante once again, leaving me with a sense of dread, because clearly he’s not afraid to hurt the characters I love. I hope we get to learn more about what makes Joron and the gullaime so special in the next book and some more tidbits about Meas’s past would be welcome too.