The Bone Shard Daughter is a solid, rounded up four star read. I loved Jovi’s PoV chapters, and especially his animal companion Mephi, who is the best creature ever, and the more the book went on, the more I enjoyed Lin’s chapters – the Emperor’s daughter. She starts out as a rather bland character, but as the story unfolds, mysteries come to light and her background becomes much more complex than is first hinted at. I was much less invested in the other characters, and I think I’ll have to reread the book to focus on their stories more.

The magic system is well-rounded and interesting, if not completely new. I thought that it was a good blend of taking concepts that are known and used elsewhere and making them into something that can stand on its own two legs. Bone shard magic is pretty cool after all. But while I kept seeing the book being praised for its established lesbian couple, for me it was really Mephi’s book. I was constantly looking forward to his moments and revelled every time he got to shine. His were my favourite bits. It seems that I’m that basic bitch who gets suckered in by a cute animal.

This book was hit and miss for me. I struggled to get into it for a long time. It was worth persevering with as the story was good but I found the writing style difficult to engage with.
I know lots of other have loved it so I think its likely a case of me not the book but it just didn't have that magic spark for me when the blurb had ticked all my reading boxes.

Lin is daughter to the emperor. She lives in luxury, with warm, safe halls, servants to do her bidding and enough food for a full belly. But Lin’s is not a life – only an existence. She receives cold detachment from her father who pits her against his adopted son for the crown. Starved of love, of any memories following a mysterious sickness, Lin stretches herself thin trying to draw his affection & gain his respect.

Jovis, smuggler and outlaw, is on the run. Hiding, and always, always searching. For several years, he has sailed, looking for a ship with blue sails, for his beloved who was taken from him. But his journey is about to splinter off onto a new route. During a short stop on a nearby island, Jovis is caught up in the Tithing Festival, a ritual that sees local children lined up & forced into submission: a small incision made, a piece of bone taken behind the ear. Not all survive, if they do they aren’t likely to live long if the shard sickness gets them. But this is the law, this is a system that fuels the bone shard magic & protects them.

On a remote island at the far reaches of the empire, Sand goes back and forth from home to the grove, collecting mangoes, completing her task, never asking more. But one day, an incident occurs and it is an awaking that it will have huge consequences not only for Sand but for the island and her people.

An uprising is coming and Jovis, Lin, Phalue and Sand are at the heart of it.

I loved Jovis and Mephi. They are some of the most lovable characters, they lift and give some humour to a dark and tense read. I admired Lin for her steel and courage. Phalue and Ranami for their determination and resolve. There are four narratives, each tightly-plotted & with elements of mystery woven throughout.

The Bone Shard Daughter is a rollicking good read! A unique & genius magic system, floating islands, rebellion, creature-like constructs, complex, lovable characters, twists galore. You can’t get better! This really is such an astonishing novel. I adored it!

One of the most exciting and fresh new fantasy books. I can’t wait for the next book in The Drowning Empire series!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

Andrea Stewart somehow created a world so perfectly detailed that I’d willingly go there - even though I am absolutely sure I would not survive there what so ever.

This book has everything you could possibly want in a fantasy - An array of flawed yet incredibly real characters each with their own wishes and dreams, a intricate awe-inspiring magical system and a world on the brink of revolution. There is a magical animal who loves his friend so very much and if that doesn’t win you over nothing will.

Even though we follow five different characters Stewart masterly takes us through each of them, juggle them like it is her job, and not at any point did I have to check whom I was following. Nor did I want to skip a page.
Each character embodies an aspect of this empire, a status and a wish, and each of them burn brightly by themselves. Together they create a wild fire.

Honestly the only thing that annoyed me about this book was the sudden ending, it was like it was wrapping up, and yet not as I know it is the first in a series. In all honestly I had a hard time rating this, as it held everything I love about the genre and yet something was missing.
But if this is how this author makes me feel with her first book I am sure anything else she writes will wreck me.

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart is unlike anything I've ever read before, and I mean that in the best possible way.

At the start I felt a little overwhelmed by the unfamiliar settings the reader finds themselves thrust into - the heir to an empire who cannot remember the first 15 or so years of her life, and a smuggler desperate to find his missing wife. Lin and Jovis' perspectives are told in first person, while the few other perspectives are told in third person; usually I'm not a fan of this narrative style and find it jarring, but here it worked to excellent effect, and soon the story had me wholly absorbed.

This book took some of my favourite aspects of fantasy storytelling, and weaved them into a fascinating world of shifting islands in an Endless Sea, with a rich and fully-realised history and mythology, and the characterisations were also incredible.

The Bone Shard Daughter managed to feel like an entire story in and of itself, whilst also feeling like merely the beginning of a much greater adventure. Honestly, I loved this and will be recommending it to all of my fantasy-loving friends and family. This was an easy 5 stars to give.

Also, I love Mephi.

Well this book is a stunning debut novel. It’s also a stunning start to a fantasy series! I can see this book becoming a book tube favourite . This book follows Lin , the daughter of the Emperor, who is told by her father she will not become heir to the throne. She then decides to learn and master the bone shard magic they possess which create animal like things! It’s very engrossing and engaging and if you liked big fantasies like The Poppy War then this is definitely worth a read. Cannot wait for the sequel

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I heard the premise for this and was instantly swept away!! It sounded so amazing. And luckily, it completely lived up to it. I did find it interesting, if a little hard to get into, but once you get past the set up, it really spins up fast.

Plus the ending is all TWISTY and full of cliffhangers and I need book 2 right now omg.

I took a while to connect with Lin, but I loved her guts and sneaking around. I also really enjoyed her relationship with Bayan and the blacksmith. Her story is definitely central, despite Jovis having more page time. And the reveals are all around her. I am most excited to see what she does next, and am looking forward to seeing how she deals with one of the reveals that we know and she doesn’t!!

Jovis is probably my fave character (I lie, it’s Mephi!!) but it took me a long while to see the point of him. Before the stories started stitching together though, I did love that his perspective showed us so much more of the empire, as well as showing us a first hand account of the island sinking and the bone shard ceremonies. But his arc really revolves around the entirely wonderful Mephi, and I am completely HERE for that :D

We then have three smaller main characters - Sand, Phalue and Ranami. Phalue and Ranami are a really interesting addition, as they end up interacting and playing into Jovis’s storyline, and again it takes a while to see what they add. But their arc around the shardless as well as the commentary on class within the society is fantastic, and that’s before you take into account that they’re together. They make a fascinating couple and I’d love to read about how they got together some day! They are super cute, and we also get to see their love tested in some serious ways, which I liked.

Sand is our final main character, and its clear early on that she’s very separate from the rest - I suspect that will change in book two though, and I’m very excited to see that! She’s harder to get to know for spoilery reasons, but I think will really come into her own more and more.

This story really is a slow burn to full on addiction. The magic set up is something I’d not seen, and completely loved. The world is fascinating and I think we will see much more of it which is great. And the storytelling is incredibly sweeping, making you read much further than you should into the night ;)

I definitely recommend this, 4.5 stars.

This is now one of my favourite books of the year!

The magic system is possibly the most unique one that I have seen and I was rooting for the main character all the way through!

Plus I want a Mephi of my own!

This was incredible. I wasn’t sure about this going in because I’d never heard of this author before so I didn’t set my expectations too high. However I was absolutely blown away. Probably one of the most unique fantasy books I’ve read in a very long time. The world building was top tier and I just want to learn even more going forward. We follow multiple perspectives and it really worked having the story told this way. The magic system was probably my favourite aspect and it was also kind of creepy too. I highly recommend this to any fantasy lover looking for something a bit different and a distinctive new world to get engrossed in.

Review - The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

The Bone Shard Daughter is the first book in the fantasy trilogy ‘The Drowning Empire’ and the debut novel of Chinese-American author Andrea Stewart. It’s also easily one of my favourite books of 2020!

The story is set in an East Asian inspired fantasy world, where Bone Shard magic is used by the Emperor to fuel monstrous animal-like constructs. Stewart doesn’t hold your hand with the world building and you have to put the pieces together yourself to make sense of the geography, history, culture and magic of the Empire. I loved that it wasn’t all spelt out with an info dump upfront, and the questions you are left with when you finish the book keep you thinking about it for days.

The world and setting is richly drawn and unlike anything I’ve read before, with the Empire itself being made up of floating migratory islands. The islands migratory patterns effect their distance from and interaction with other nations, their seasons and their trading patterns. The magic system is also unique, with Bone shards forcibly taken from all citizens as children, before being used by the Emperor to weave Bone Shard magic to power constructs that help him rule and enforce law and order. The magic isn’t without sacrifice, and if a citizens Bone Shard is used they will suffer from bone shard sickness and early death. When we get a glimpse into the inner workings of the magic system is seems intricate and complex, and I can’t wait it to be explored further in the next book.

The story is told across five POV’s. Lin, the Emperor’s daughter and titular character, who is trying to regain her memories and prove to her father that she is ready to learn Bone Shard magic and be named his heir. Jovis, a smuggler turned reluctant hero who is searching for his abducted childhood sweetheart. Phalue and Ranami, a Governors daughter and her girlfriend who have extremely different class backgrounds and upbringings. And finally Sand, a mysterious woman who comes to her senses after hitting her head and realises she has been living her life in a haze.

I enjoyed Lin’s chapters the most, and the tension in mystery in her storyline is definitely what kept me reading this book into the night! She is a fantastically defiant, rebellious and driven protagonist. Jovis came in as a close second for my favourite POV, with extra points for the inclusion of a cute magical animal sidekick called Mephis. I really enjoyed how Phalue and Ramani’s storyline explored class difference, and I thought Phalue’s struggle with coming to terms with the privilege her status affords her was really well done. I also loved that Phalue and Ramani’s relationship wasn’t used to drive any inter-family conflict or societal shunning as I’ve often seen WLW relationships used in other fantasy books. Across all the storylines themes of identity, family, belonging, rebellion and class difference are explored.

I have seen some people criticise this book for being slow paced, but for me this book comes as close to perfect as you can get. It perfectly introduces the characters and the world and is a great set up to an exciting trilogy. Now I’m just sad that I have to wait for the second book!

While I did enjoy this, it was a bit uneven for me. The only storyline I really cared about was Jovis's. So, everytime we went somewhere else or followed someone else I was just waiting to get back to Jovis.

Part of this could be that Jovis was the only one who travelled far - the others were very confined to one location.

Anyway, it ends in an interesting place and I imagine that I will read the next book in the trilogy. I hope that the next book builds on this. I do get the feeling that there is a good amount of action planned and a strong story arc for the rest of the series.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

One of the best debut fantasy books I've read in a long time. Particular strong points are the magic system, the multiple characters, and Mephi!

I'm grateful to Nazia at Orbit for an advance copy of The Bone Shard Daughter to consider for review.

Well.

The Bone Shard Daughter has just everything you need in your fantasy. There are complex, relatable characters, a world so well developed and portrayed that you can just luxuriate in it (seriously - I want to skip lockdown and go and stay on a floating island) and an enthralling plot that will seize you from the first page.

There are in fact, four plots. FOUR!

First we meet Lin, cloistered daughter of the Emperor, but seemingly a failed daughter because she's lost her memory and can't learn his bone shard magic.

Then Jovis, who at first seems the kind of rogue who abounds in fantasy - a thief, smuggler and chancer on the run from the authorities and from crime gang the Ioph Carn. But Jovis proves to have depths and motivations to him and to be embarked on a quest of his own.

There's also the mysterious young woman Sand, trapped on a remote island and also suffering memory loss.

And finally, Phalue. What can I say about Phalue? She's a headstrong young woman, a fighter and a lover (not above wearing her armour specifically to impress her partner Ranami), a bit confused, idealistic - and the indulged daughter of her island's Governor.

Stewart's approach is to spin highly engaging and fast-paced stories for all four protagonists, using the light each of these casts on different aspects of the invented world to fill out the overall picture. It means the book takes off right away, with little or no hiatus when it switches focus between the four (always a risk when they are many points of view) as we come from each strand into the next with an enlarged sense of what is going on. And equally there is something for everyone here: palace intrigue, revolutionaries seeking to free an oppressed peasantry, romance, a cruel emperor (his "constructs" - artificial beasts who acts as spies or agents - are powered by bone shards taken from children when they come of age. The life-force of the constructs drains the originator of the shard of life and vigour until they eventually die). And much, much more (FLOATING ISLANDS!)

Each of the four central characters has their own mystery (or mysteries) and it's pretty clear that not everything is as it seems. The apparently stable order guaranteed by the Emperor may be about to crumble, with other powers crowding into the islands, causing disasters and change. We will see, I'm sure, in future books exactly how Lin, Jovis, Phalue and Sand fit in with that and how - whether - they reconcile their different quests and needs. Meanwhile, The Bone Shard Daughter offers us some wonderful relationships - Lin with her prickly, reclusive father (who has brought in a foster son to jostle with her for the throne), Phalue and Ranami, two women obviously in love but constantly bickering about politics and much else, Jovis, absorbed in his endless quest yet constantly going out of his way to save people (and animals!) Perhaps they fill a gap in his life, make up for a loss, or perhaps they help him fend off some awful truth about whatever he's looking for? And Sand, who we see least of, but who achieves a lot despite her exile to a remote island.

Put simply, The Bone Shard Daughter is the strongest start to a fantasy trilogy I've read for a long time, and I'll watch out keenly for the next part because these characters really speak to me - as well as the background of floating islands migrating under wind and tide in the endless ocean. Put this one to the top of your reading pile.

REASON TO READ

The next big fantasy trilogy. Get on board now and be the first to experience the new fantasy everyone will be talking about.


REVIEW

This is my favourite fantasy book of 2020, which is high praise as there have been some extraordinary fantasy books this year. The Bone Shard Daughter debut novel from Andrea Stewart and the first in the Drowning Empire trilogy has originality, the characters have depth and the rich Asian inspired setting is a break from traditional fantasy settings as is the unique and disturbing magic system. If I had to compare this book to another series then it has a strong tones of Raymond Feist mixed with Robin Hobb.

Andrea Stewart’s world building is effortless. She weaves four singular character story’s using different and clever narrative techniques from first to third person POV into a captivating story that immerses you immediately into their lives from the very first page. These characters are Lin, the daughter of the Emperor struggling to live up to her father’s expectations and struggling with memories from her past. Jovis the lovable, smuggler rogue, searching for his missing wife. Phalue is the daughter of a governor who struggles to reconcile the privileged life she has been brought up with the injustices around her. And finally the mysterious Sand, who after a head injury begins to see that everything in her life is not as it seems.

I am really looking forward to seeing where Stewart goes next with this series, that is a definite future classic.

Escape from reality with this breath taking new fantasy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of five.

There is a lot going on with The Bone Shard Daughter: part fantasy, part political thriller, part mystery, part sea-adventure, part sapphic romance. If all of that sounds good to you, you’ll be even more please to know that the book emerges more than just a sum of these parts, delivering a page-turning debut that is brimming with potential. I just finished the novel a few hours ago, and I already long to dive back into the world of the Endless Sea, its twisty magic systems, and its numerous characters.

The novel begins with a solid start, introducing our cast of characters who are scattered across the Endless Sea and its ever-shifting islands. The current Emperor comes from a line of monarchs who harness power from bone shards to create constructs – magical creatures with instruction embedded into their being like code. This magic comes at a great cost, draining vitality from the owner of the original bone shard and shortening their lifespan. The cost is borne by the subjects of the Empire, so it’s little wonder that rebellions are afoot. Through the book, we shift through several point of views that paint a picture of these evolving conflict through their individual plot threads.

One of the main protagonists, Lin, is embroiled in a rivalry with her foster brother – one that will determine the Emperor’s chosen heir. She has amnesia and has no memories of her own childhood, her largest obstacle to gaining her father’s favour. What Lin lacks for in memory, she makes up in sheer determination in resourcefulness, and she’s not above scheming her way to the top. What I love about Lin is that while she is ambitious, there are further depths to her characterisation as we also see her vulnerability and ever-growing sense of self. Her story was riveting due to the exposition on the bone shard magic, and a thrilling mystery that surprised me numerous times due to its twist and turn.

Jovis is the other protagonist with the most page-time, he’s a smuggler who’s primary goal is to find his missing wife – until he encounters a certain magical creature. Move over, The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda – because Jovis and Mephi are THE iconic father/son duo of 2020. Their deepening bond is one of the most joyous thing to watch develop during this novel. If I had to pick, Jovis would be my favourite character – I do love a reluctant hero who’s so certain they have closed their heart off to the world. At the beginning, Jovis had convinced himself that he stands apart from all the kindling conflict – as a biracial man he’s never been wholly embraced by this world. His arc is in many ways a great foil to Lin’s narrative, and it was immensely satisfying to watch the two stories unfold in parallel to each other.

Phalue and Ramani is that established sapphic couple that we rarely get to see at front and centre in SFF. I love how queer characters and relationships are written into this world, as it’s taken as part of the norm. With Phalue and Ramani we get to see the two sides of a revolution, a reckoning between the privileged and the oppressed. While their love story is foundational to their story arc, I appreciated that their story is larger than their romance. More of this representation, please!

The last POV fleets in and out of the book, offering us a glimpse of a far flung island on the edge of the Empire. The way the story pieces together through the little nuggets we receive from this perspective is masterful, and the ending left me howling for Book 2!

This review is getting lengthy but I just have to say how much I love the bone shard magic system. I saw on one of Andrea Stewart’s online book launch that she compared it to computer coding – and I thought this was ingenious. The way the text explored the ethics behind these magical constructs, which are fuelled by human life force, is thought-provoking and nuanced. I can’t wait to see where it will take us in future books.

I wish I could have stayed in this world for longer. Whether it was drifting on the sea with Jovis and Mephi, or secreting through hidden doors in the oppressive Imperial Palace with Lin, or stoking the fire of rebellion with Ramani – every part of this world came alive for me during the reading experience. This was especially the case with the audiobook, which was narrated by Natalie Naudus, Feodor Chin, and my favourite Emily Woo Zeller! I thought the performance on Lin and Jovis’s chapters were especially atmospheric and noteworthy.

Without a doubt this is my favourite adult SFF debut of this year and I am so excited to follow these characters. Do not hesitate, run to grab your copy ASAP and come scream with me all about it!

Andrea has delivered an incredible debut. She manages that rare thing where the end of each chapter feels like a wrench as you get sucked into every character's story over and over and pulled away again and again. With the beautifully realised world, the wonderful characters and some amazing central mysteries presented through the book, I can't wait to revisit the series.

Enjoyed this East-Asian inspired dark fantasy that had diverse characters. It had a slow pace, but lots of political intrigue, well developed world and it was emotional.
The writing was beautiful and the magic system was complex and interesting.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

The Bone Shard Daughter is a new adult fantasy I was very much looking forward to once I saw the blurb about it having a main F/F couple. It certainly does and I was very pleased as to how this world did not have homophobia at all, plus there wasn’t any different in treatment between genders that I can think of! It was very refreshing!

There are several point-of-views in this story: Lin, the daughter of the Emperor, who lost her memory after getting sick and is now struggling to earn her father’s love and respect back so as not to lose her position as heir; Jovis, a smuggler who gets entangled in saving children from the horrific ritual of getting bone shards removed for the Emperor’s use; Sand, a girl who has no memories of before arriving in her island, but that one day starts remembering who she used to be and tries to get the other islanders to remember, too; Phalue, the daughter of a governor will become governor herself and is trying to get her girlfriend Ranami to marry her; and Ranami herself, who is deeply in love with Phalue but struggles to conciliate her love for the governor’s daughter with her desire for revolution and taking the governor from his position of power.

It’s one of those stories where you start to see the different plots converge and get very excited when the characters meet, something that was very well-executed in this book! Personally, I don’t normally like multiple POVs and they definitely slowed the story down a lot, but they also allow for a bigger exposure of the world and move the story from different points, creating a more complex and interesting story.

The Bone Shard Daughter’s biggest strength is its twists: I mostly did not see them coming until they were smacking me on the face, and the ever-present feeling of secrets and betrayal made for a very compelling read. I just needed to know what was going to happen next! The magic system was also a highlight because it felt very much like coding but make it bone magic, which was very cool.

Where the story fell a little flat for me was mostly in the characters – they felt so much like other characters I’ve read (Jovis reminded of Flynn Rider from Tangled so much, and the humor did not quite work for me) and their motivations were so transparent that it was obvious what would happen next. Thankfully, the plot twists were so interesting that they mostly made up for it.

All in all, I had a mixed experience – I enjoyed the magic, the plot twists and some aspects of the world, but it also did not feel like the most original story with the most original and complex characters. It’s a very solid fantasy and I think it will be a crowd-pleaser – I tend to be quite picky with my fantasy, so my lukewarm rating should not stop you from reading it if the synopsis interest you!

Loved this dark fantasy that features a diverse set of characters and an East-Asian inspired world for how it rolls the plot with a slow enough pace to live through it, how it emotional constructs the themes of political intrigue, classism, unfair privilege, and revolutionary goals, how it sets up a complex magic system so effortlessly, and how beautifully it's written. Overall, definitely recommended!

The Bone Shard Daughter is a modern fantasy: diverse, feminist and unapologetically magnificent in its execution. Set in an imagined Asian-inspired world, under the rule of the Sukai Dynasty, the story is narrated through multiple characters including the emperor’s daughter, the governor’s daughter, a smuggler and an amnesiac. Fit to burst with adventure, power struggles and even an adorable, mysterious dragon-otter companion that can cast magic. If I had a bone to pick, it would be that the story ended sooner than I’d hoped. There are shards of this that will inevitability lead to a second instalment, and I look forward to that.