A review by icarusabides
The Bone Ships by RJ Barker
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
After an interesting start The Bone Ships pretty quickly becomes a rather dull slog. The writing is fine but there's no great depth to it and it feels rather clunky and obvious in how the characters motivations are portrayed, everything feels a little too signposted.
The characters for the most part are incredibly flat too, Joron has the most development over the course of the book but it doesn't feel earned and no one else is really given any depth. Meas stays the same incredible badass character she starts out as but nothing about her ever actually feels inspiring. Everyone else, bar the underused Guilame, has no actual characterisation beyond their often stated injuries, deformities, and birth defects etc which play a huge part in the hierarchy of this world. Presumably this was intended to mark just how cruel this world is meant to be but that never really landed and the author really likes bringing it up, characters like Farys are rarely mentioned without some accompanying line about their burnt face and they seem to have no other aspect to their character.
There are also quite a few typos and plot holes throughout. The Ship wife of the Cruel Waters being a Gaunt Islander with one leg, something treated with disdain and banishment to a life of begging or shoe making in the Hundred Isles frequently being invited aboard Tide Child and at no point any of the crew wondering hang on that's a bit strange. The Gaunt Islanders having no four rib ships meaning therefore Tide Child will be quickly recognised as an enemy ship being is a plot point despite previous and subsequent mention of Wavebreaker the Gaunt Islander four rib ship...
Chapter 33
“I only saw them from a distance but the four-ribber, I think it is the Wavebreaker"
Chapter 34
“The flag will not fool them, not for long. Once someone who knows the ships of the Gaunt Islands well is consulted they will know they do not have a four-ribber."
Chapter 35
"Meas kept Tide Child on a course converging with the Gaunt Islanders, level with the leading four-ribber."
Sigh
As for the positives, the world building is quite interesting initially but even that is somewhat overdone to the point it interferes with the flow of reading given just how many aspects of this world the author wanted to make unique. It's not terrible but it is a disappointing read overall.
The characters for the most part are incredibly flat too, Joron has the most development over the course of the book but it doesn't feel earned and no one else is really given any depth. Meas stays the same incredible badass character she starts out as but nothing about her ever actually feels inspiring. Everyone else, bar the underused Guilame, has no actual characterisation beyond their often stated injuries, deformities, and birth defects etc which play a huge part in the hierarchy of this world. Presumably this was intended to mark just how cruel this world is meant to be but that never really landed and the author really likes bringing it up, characters like Farys are rarely mentioned without some accompanying line about their burnt face and they seem to have no other aspect to their character.
There are also quite a few typos and plot holes throughout. The Ship wife of the Cruel Waters being a Gaunt Islander with one leg, something treated with disdain and banishment to a life of begging or shoe making in the Hundred Isles frequently being invited aboard Tide Child and at no point any of the crew wondering hang on that's a bit strange. The Gaunt Islanders having no four rib ships meaning therefore Tide Child will be quickly recognised as an enemy ship being is a plot point despite previous and subsequent mention of Wavebreaker the Gaunt Islander four rib ship...
Chapter 33
“I only saw them from a distance but the four-ribber, I think it is the Wavebreaker"
Chapter 34
“The flag will not fool them, not for long. Once someone who knows the ships of the Gaunt Islands well is consulted they will know they do not have a four-ribber."
Chapter 35
"Meas kept Tide Child on a course converging with the Gaunt Islanders, level with the leading four-ribber."
Sigh
As for the positives, the world building is quite interesting initially but even that is somewhat overdone to the point it interferes with the flow of reading given just how many aspects of this world the author wanted to make unique. It's not terrible but it is a disappointing read overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Ableism
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury