Only our crew is not going to stand for it. And a race to discover what exactly is going on and stop it ensues... When the crew of the tide child intercepted a mysterious ship they know they are running out of time… R.J. Barker has cut out my heart with a curnow* and shredded it to bits, and I couldn’t be happier. Call of the Bone Ships is a more than worthy sequel to The Bone Ships, so there’s no need to worry about “middle book slump” here. Once again, the author immediately drew me into his unique and fascinating fantasy world, where bone ships—ships made from the bones of giant sea dragons—sail the deadly waters of the Hundred Isles. This series has it all—thrilling action, humor, characters who worm their way into your heart, and of course, dragons and other fantastical creatures.

The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker - Goodreads Editions of The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker - Goodreads

These women and men do not know it yet but they have volunteered to join us. Their ship wife is dead, and as of now so are they.” As she walked past the crew of the Maiden’s Bounty, she stared at them. “And the dead belong to me.”I've to say this again just to emphasize how amazingly well-written these books are. I'm typically not a fan of seafaring stories, be it a book or a show. Whenever I read a book that contained a section involving sea voyage, I tended to view it with trepidation. As such, when I first read The Bone Ships though, I was mind-blown by how much I loved it despite the narrative being predominantly taking place on a ship (albeit one made of bones of a type of dragon called the arakeesian in this world). I waxed lyrical about the superb worldbuilding in my review of that book, and I think that Barker's gamble of spending so much time doing so for the introductory volume paid off for now he could really play with the character arcs and plotlines. That doesn't mean that worldbuilding was thrown overboard though as we did get to learn more about the lore behind its strange and wonderful creatures.

Tide Child Trilogy - RJ Barker The Tide Child Trilogy - RJ Barker

So maybe he had, for once, woken with the idea of how wonderful it would be to have a little pride. And if there had been a day for him to give up the two-tailed hat of shipwife, then it was not this day. They are not the sort of words that you expect to start a legend, but they were the first words he ever heard her say. Special thanks to my Patrons on Patreon for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing! Never lunge with a curnow, Joron Twiner,” she said quietly. “Did they teach you nothing? You slash with it. It is all it is fit for.” Plot resolutions are often resolved by deus ex machina, and the evolving mystery didn’t draw my attention.We’ll find water in the gion forest,” she said, “or we’ll tap a varisk stalk. My officers aren’t soaks.” He tried to speak, found his mouth dry and not merely from last night’s drink. Fear. Though he had walked with it as a companion for six months it made it no less palatable. Call of the Bone Ships deserves all the stars for being one of the best books I’ve read in 2020 and for making me all emotional on this journey. If you haven’t started reading this series yet, I honestly don’t know what are you even doing with your life. A world full of wonders, as myths come to life again; a path sprayed by blood and sweat and tears; and characters who will rip your heart out whether you like it or not. Who would not want that?! Call of the Bone Ships is the second book in The Tide Child trilogy by R.J. Barker. There’s no middle book syndrome here. I was one of the relatively few readers who were slightly disappointed by The Bone Ships on my first read. To sum it up briefly, it was too different from The Wounded Kingdom trilogy, and I expected a focus on characterization right from the getgo. But that wasn’t the case, The Bone Ships spent the first half of the novel heavily focused on world-building, and the characterizations came in the second half. This storytelling decision, however, made the reread experience of The Bone Ships that I did rewarding. And I’m happy to say that Call of the Bone Ships provided a more character-driven narrative in addition to retaining the fascinating world-building.