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. So when the time came around for myself, TS and Petrik to resume our buddy read with the Call of the Bone Ships I was more than excited to plunge into this world again and I was overjoyed to find that it was every bit as good as I'd hoped. The religion of the Islands is perfectly in line with society and reflects the strong relationship with the sea. Thank you so much to Orbit Books via NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own!

This was a much better structured book than the first, and I couldn't put it down, as much as the author hurt my heart in numerous occasions... It put me through the wringer and set up for the third and final book, which has me wanting to grab it right away, but I will be strong and give myself some time to process and put some distance by reading some fluffy and light books, because we need to take care of our mental health, right? 😎😃. There is a rumour that the first arakeesian/keyshan/sea-dragon to be seen in generations has been spotted in the oceans of the Scattered Archipelago. The bones of the arakeesian are used to make the Bone Ships and they were thought hunted to extinction, long gone, faded from the world to fable, to myth and to legend.Look in the mirror when you return to your cabin. Ask yourself if people can change, ask yourself if people can surprise you.” A promising novel that entertains but fails to completely convince me, leaving a sense of deficiency in some narrative elements at the end.

RJ Barker wrote one of my favourite fantasy series of all time, The Wounded Kingdom trilogy. So, when I heard that he was writing a brand-new series called The Tide Child trilogy, I was excited. And by excited, I mean I might have shouted about it to one or two, or seventy random people. I am a huge fan. That said, on my first read I struggled with the start of this book and that influenced my initial rating quite a bit. I still thought this was a very good book in the end, but felt it took slightly long to get there. On rereading this though, I was pleasantly surprised by having an absolute blast of a time and I am happy to say that I misjudged this book a bit.

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One of the things that I have been most impressed with for this series is the author’s ability to create a gripping and consistently well-written maritime story. Narratives that are primarily set aboard boats are notoriously hard to write, but Barker has risen to the challenge, writing a novel rich in naval and maritime detail, with a major fantasy fiction edge to it. Call of the Bone Ships contains an intense amount of intriguing detail about the coming and goings aboard the ship out at sea and Barker does an amazing job highlighting the various day-to-day actions a crew are expected to undertake, as well as all the unique features that makes a ship in this fantasy universe different from real-world ships. This impressive attention to detail translates extremely well into several naval battles and combat sequences, and it was cool to see the Tide Child engage in battle with other ships in some outstanding and beautifully written sequences. In addition, Barker ensures that every major character in this novel had a real nautical feel to them. Everything about these characters, from the way they spoke to how they act or think aboard the ship made you think of old sea-salts who had spent a lifetime on the waves, which helps to bring an interesting ring of realism to the story. I also really love the intense and encapsulating atmospheres that Barker creates with his excellent writing ability, and you get a real sense of the moods of the entire ship throughout the novel, whether it be despair at something bad that has befallen the ship, or the sense of repetitive boredom that arrives from the ship doing the same action day after day with no break in routine. All of this helps to produce a truly exceptional narrative, and I cannot emphasise how impressive the author’s various nautical inclusions are. Joron pilots Keesian Tooth to Slatehulme. Dinyl’s ship is destroyed by Slatehulme’s mangonel, and he is killed. Meas and Joron rescue the surviving prisoners from Safe Harbor. Slatehulme is besieged by Hundred Isles ships; they believe that Meas is the Caller. In exchange for Meas's surrender, the Hundred Isles ships allow the remaining members of the peace faction to leave the island. Joron assumes control of the fleet and becomes the temporary shipwife of Tide Child. An epic tale of duty and obligation and honour, and what bravery really means . . . I can't recommend it enough'

Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing! It diminishes no commander to learn from those which know more. Weak commanders dare not ask. Strong commanders know no fear of learning. And, just so you know, Joron, if I am in a competition I like to win, and as you are my second in command I expect you to win for me. So do not expect me to be soft on you." The Tide Child trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by R. J. Barker. It comprises The Bone Ships (2019), Call of the Bone Ships (2020), and The Bone Ship's Wake (2021). The first book in the trilogy won the 2020 British Fantasy Award for Best Novel.The story itself is completely unique to anything I have ever read before, and very dark as well. The entire war at this point is based on stealing children from the other side to sacrifice their souls as corpse lights on their ships. Additionally, each healthy first born of the Hundred Isles' women is sacrificed in the same regard. These souls seem to make the ships literally alive, as when the ships take damage, the corpse lights go out. This doesn't seem like an intelligent way of life to some people, which may or may not be one of the many sources of intrigue, treason, and subplotting within the empire. Call of the Bone Ships is a superb follow up to the first book in the series, and in my opinion even better, raising the bar and laying down a challenge to Wake of the Bone Ships. It underlines why RJ Barker is one of the best writers in fantasy and together with Jen Williams, still one of the most underrated. Criminally so to say the least. I truly hope more people discover them and that they become the household names their work deserves.

The story focuses mostly on the world-building, and it was really well done. Again, my personal tastes did not make me enjoy this world to the max, but I cannot deny that Barker has woven a vivid and interesting world. The Hundred Isles has a matriarchal society in which citizens are valued for fertility and beauty. Women who survive childbirth and bear healthy children are elevated to Bern class. Healthy men may become Kept concubines by the Bern, but those with birth defects or other undesirable traits are relegated to lower castes. The firstborn healthy child from each family is sacrificed, and their soul is used to make a “corpse light” to light a white ship. I noticed a continuous repetition of terms coined from scratch by the author with the aim of enriching his world, he succeeds in part because he forgets to describe them, remaining simple terms on paper. In fact, it is not enough to give different names to things to create an original setting.Just like this debut series, Barker's writing was always engaging and never failed to pull at the heart strings. Although the narrative was dark and brutal, there was also a lot of heart which made it even more captivating. This book put me through the wringer many times, and from what I've come to expect from the author, the finale will likely be even worse. Call me a fool as I'm all for it, because nothing beats an emotionally powerful conclusion that rips my heart to pieces. We are nothing, Shipwife… If we do not try we are nothing. You are right there. Better to lose it all for what is right than to live in fear.”