An excellent conclusion to a phenomonal series. I'm eyeing up purchasing special editions of the series as I type, because this series has been such a highlight for me in 2023.

The series is so unique, one I likely would not have picked up on my own until I had seen a booktube review. I am blown away by how this seafaring pirate style fantasy wrecked me emotionally and got me so invested in this crew.

I highly reccomend this series!

The language is deftly done. Little notes such as all ships being he rather than she, or crew being called “deckchilders.” It’s a strange world close enough to our own and, although this a trick common to fantasy, Barker’s lyrical style sells the strangeness. The story itself is a rip-roaring oceanic adventure, packed with violence and beauty. It’s about the beauty of the sea and the brutality of humanity, as well as huge sea monsters and ship-to-ship battles. A perfect storm of fantasy storytelling.

A stunning conclusion to one of the best modern fantasy trilogies. Impressively, each book is thematically and narratively distinct from the others but still moves the overarching plot forward in an extremely satisfying manner. A perfectly bittersweet ending, although the epilogue was a bit on the nose.

I’m not a fan of seafaring stories. But I’m a fan of this book.

I’d heard so much about it and I gave this series a try and now I’m a fan of seafaring stories. Well Mr Barker’s ones anyway. Probably my favourite of the trilogy, it’s so well crafted and has such a fantastic unconventional world. These types of stories are what I love my pupils to read (the older ones). Imagination made reality.

I will not be reviewing this book as I find myself no longer interested in the book. I apologize for the delay and my inability to properly review the book.

THE BONE SHIP'S WAKE begins about a year after the end of the previous book, and a lot has happened since. The actual events don't matter too much (we get the general gist and that's enough) but the way it's changed the characters does matter. And despite not seeing the change, the characters are still familiar enough that it's not jarring but the consequences are there.

A year without Meas has hardened Joron, but the why and how and the emotional turmoil that brings him is made so clear that we still feel for him, cheer him on. It also adds another reason to want Meas back - to help him feel more level (which only makes the relationship and emotional turmoil of getting her back changed more poignant, and also forces him through his arc more realistically as he can't just go back to how things were.)

The world building in this book (and series) is a masterclass in carefully thinking through how the main principles underpinning the world affect everything, right down the linguistics. The terms used on board the ships do no match ours and, even without explanations (that would break world as the characters know what's happening) it is clear why they mean. It's that level of immersion that makes the world building so seamless and so rich.

This is a series that understands the cost of battles and fighting. Beloved characters die frequently and the ones who survive all have to grapple with the consequences - physical and mental - of what they've been through. Not only does it feel realistic to the world that's been set up, one of great hardship, but it also means that the victories don't feel hollow, aren't won on a deus ex machina or were won with overwhelming force that sucked the tension away.

The ending is very satisfying as a result, the characters getting (largely) what the reader hopes for, but without breaking with the tone of the books. Not to mention how a (very) brief epilogue can answer a lot of questions through implication alone.

This book ruined my life. 10/10 would recommend.

But seriously, RJ is one of my favourite authors for a reason. The Bone Ship's Wake is a beautiful end to a beautiful series. He closed out an amazing plot perfectly and ended each character's story arc in an incredibly satisfying way. This is easily one of the best conclusions I've ever read.

If you haven't picked up RJ's book, especially the Tide Child series, you're missing out on one of the most talented fantasy authors writing today.

I very much enjoyed this author's previous trilogy but this one didn't work unfortunately. I forged through all three but I found the story a little trite and the ending forced.

This is one of my favourite new series that I've discovered this year. A perfect end to a trilogy that I've throughly enjoyed.

ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

I’ve completed two series by R.J. Barker now, and Barker stuck the landing in both Kings of Assassins and The Bone Ship’s Wake.

“Of all the people on the ship, the courser knew most what it was to be alone. And Joron, as Meas had once said, had found command was the loneliest place of all.”



I can’t believe how invested I was in Joron, Meas, and the crew of the Tide Child. I wouldn’t have predicted that from reading The Bone Ships. As mentioned in the acknowledgment of this novel, Barker has intentionally focused the narrative on the world-building first in The Bone Ships instead of the characterizations. The main character, Joron Twiner, was always in the role of an observer in the first book of the series. This indeed made me struggle with the first half of The Bone Ships, but the increasing payoff throughout the series was so worthwhile. I do believe The Bone Ship’s Wake is one of the two Barker’s best book so far, and that’s saying a lot considering how much I loved King of Assassins. Now that I’ve finished both The Wounded Kingdom trilogy and The Tide Child trilogy, I will say this, I feel safe in investing my time and money in whatever fantasy series he decides to write next.

“And what is life for us if we are not lurching from one life-or-death situation to another?”



The story picks up a year after Call of the Bone Ships, and danger visits Joron and the Tide Child every step of their way. But Joron won’t back down. His enemies pursuits him relentlessly, time feels like it’s running out for him and every one of them, but still, he’ll persist. One of the issues I had with the previous two books were the seemingly lack of prominent villain, and that situation has been addressed here. But if you look at the review I wrote in Call of the Bone Ships, I also mentioned that my co-blogger said that the real villain of this series is the Hundred Isles itself; the society and vicious culture, and this is intensely evident here. There were some profound themes Barker puts in The Bone Ship’s Wake. Yes, war, leadership, found family, and responsibility are things that have been there since the first book, and they’re here, too.

“And if this was not what his father had promised, if this was not the glorious stories of being fleet, of proud boneships and honourable shipwives, well, that was because life was not stories. Life was painful, and it was hard and it was cruel and full of loss. And if this was not the peace Meas had wanted, had fought for, that was because there was no peace without war.”



However, Barker established once more that one of the main conflicts that every character—both protagonists and antagonists—faces in this series is due to the insistence to follow this outdated law and culture. This is the kind of thing that resonates with me. Believe me, being an Asian often means we have hundreds of superstitions for a variety of situations imparted upon us, and even though there’s no actual proof of their accuracies or effectiveness, we’re still forced to follow them no matter what. For example, in Chinese culture, we’re not allowed to stick our chopsticks into our food—especially rice—because this means we’re bringing bad luck or curse upon ourselves. Proof of this curse? None. And yet, we still follow them. This is just a simple example. The flawed superstitions and culture that the characters in The Bone Ship’s Wake are facing results in a worse outcome, and it is insanely difficult to escape this vicious cycle. Unfortunately, I can’t elaborate more on this because it will mean going into spoiler territory.

“Where there is misery someone’s always getting rich, and you can bet they’d be the last to throw scraps to the needy.”



It pleases me to say that I’m so impressed by Joron’s character development. Allow me to remind you that Joron was a character I felt detached from in the first book. After all the suffering he went through in the previous books, it’s wonderful to witness how far he learned and developed from them. His characterizations and development throughout the entire trilogy felt organic, and it’s all incredibly well-done. I can say with confidence that the found family trope, and all the interactions between the crew of the Tide Child, were the highlight of the narrative for me. Harsh decisions were made, and I love how even though they’re not technically the kindest people out there—point back to the culture thing I mentioned in the previous paragraph—but they always try their best to do the right thing when given the opportunity. Barker has always been great at characterizations, and he proved that again in The Bone Ship’s Wake.

“What is done in desperation can be terrible; what is done from cold calculation, well, that is evil. Or so I count it… Terrible acts, Joron, they are often unthinking. We learn, and we get better. It is those who do not learn, or simply embrace and become inured to the terrible things we do that must be feared, and must be stopped.”



Lastly, I want to mention that I’m not the biggest fan of fantasy books with a heavy focus on a nautical and seafaring adventure. The only other seafaring fantasy series I can say that I love thoroughly was The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb, and now The Tide Child trilogy joined the rank. The naval warfare was some of the best I’ve read, and at several moments in the trilogy, I could practically feel the character’s exhaustion and fatigues from being chased and bombarded relentlessly. Seriously, the ending sequence of The Bone Ship’s Wake was epic and explosive. The visualizations at the climax sequence invoked from the prose was a treat for my imagination. I was captivated, I felt emotional, and the intensity never lets up.

“Better to die attempting something grand, than live in the world the Bern gave us.”



Whether they live or die, I will leave it for you to find out for yourself. But something grand? Oh, they did achieve that. They bloody did. And on that note, The Bone Ship’s Wake is a grandiose naval adventure that concludes The Tide Child trilogy with a bang. From exhilarating chase, crimson vengeance, heartwarming scenes, and heartbreaking moments to an unforgettable climactic ending, Barker has smoothly sailed them all. Well done, R.J. Well done.

“So live, and do not spend your life looking back at what could have been.”



Series review:

The Bone Ships: 4/5 stars
Call of the Bone Ships: 4/5 stars
The Bone Ship's Wake: 4.5/5 stars

The Tide Child: 12.5/15 stars

You can order this book from: Blackwells (Free International shipping)

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions | I also have a Booktube channel

Highly satisfying and achingly emotional, The Bone Ship's Wake was the unforgettable conclusion that I was hoping for in this phenomenal trilogy.

How did this even happen - a seafaring fantasy story becoming one of my favourites? Hats off to R.J. Barker as he did something truly extraordinary. His excellent debut trilogy, The Wounded Kingdom made me eager to try whatever he writes next, and now The Tide Child shot him up to become one of my insta-buy fantasy authors.

“The sentence is passed, only the day is undecided.”

As with most of my reviews of concluding books, I'll generally go in the direction of talking about how I felt about the entire series - in this case, it was resoundingly amazing. Firstly, I have to say that The Tide Child was one of the more unconventional fantasy stories out there, even amongst the more modern fantasy offerings of late. The world is unlike what I've ever read before with a society and culture steeped in seafaring, and also one which is decidedly matriarchal. Even the lore and magic (if you could even call it that) felt unique, with the song of nature playing a fascinating role. With seafaring being the backbone of society's social structure, the one aspect of magic that is most important is the command of wind. This mystical ability resides within bird-like creatures called gullaime, who are termed as windtalkers on board the ships. Speaking of the ships, these are magnificent structures which are built from the bones of sea dragons, the arakeesians.

"If you think you can dilute your pain in blood you are wrong. Blood will only feed it.”

As wondrous as it all sound at this point, the brutal truth is that this world is awfully harsh and unforgiving for those who are not born flawless or perfect. This is where I found the story to be markedly different. I've mentioned to my co-blogger when we finished the second book that the Hundred Isles was the true antagonist of the story, as there seemed to be a lack of a prominent villain so to speak. And that's probably why Barker approached this series differently from his debut, by focusing on the worldbuilding first before delving into the character development. Thereby serving to establish where the true enemy lies - within the very culture and society of the world these characters live in.

“I cannot change what I was, what I did cannot be made less wrong. But I can give all I have to stop those things happening again, and the world can ask no more of me.”

This made the odds practically insurmountable, when the enemy that one faces is all around you. it also made the character arc and growth of the primary protagonist of this story, Joron Twiner, so utterly incredible and so brutally heartwrenching. The entire series was told almost entirely from the perspective of Twiner, the son of a fisherman who was condemned to the black ship, Tide Child, after accidentally killing the son of an important man. He started out as quite a weak character with ingrained prejudices. His growth was an extraordinary story of redemption and how second chances under the right leadership and conditions can transform a person. By the end of the sequel, I said that Twiner was completely unrecognisable from the person we first met. At the start of this volume, he's practically a new man albeit one that's given to melancholy. While I equated his development to be somewhat similar to Girton, I have to say that Twiner suffered even more especially since he's not as physically skilled and strong as the former.

“I have flown that course, the one of vengeance,” he said. “Found my destination is always on the horizon, the journey never to be over.”

I'm seriously at loss for words to describe how phenomenal the character work was in this trilogy. Even the side characters mattered so much, and maybe it's because they mattered that much to Twiner which translated into emotions made palpable to this reader. Barker was not shy on dealing darkness and death, as I've said many time before, this was a very harsh world. As such, I've expected many characters that I liked and cared for to die. However, he had to make it even more painful and heartbreaking in the way those characters died. And then there was that one particular character which I despised for a good half of the trilogy who totally surprised me with her turnaround. Again, another great arc about second chances. Can you already tell that I'm a huge sucker for stories like this?

"And if this was not what his father had promised, if this was not the glorious stories of being fleet, of proud boneships and honourable shipwives, well, that was because life was not stories. Life was painful, and it was hard and it was cruel and full of loss. And if this was not the peace Meas had wanted, had fought for, well, that was because there was no peace without war."

What else can I say except that reiterate that I live for stories that make me feel, and nothing is more satisfying than an emotionally powerful conclusion that rips my heart to pieces. The Bone Ship's Wake absolutely did that. The climactic scene had the combined intensity of epic sea battle scenes, heart-wrenching courageous sacrifices and the magical culmination of the power of song.

Already in a emotional mess, I continued reading on to the author's Afterword, which kept on grinding me into a pulp. I had to quote Barker's parting words as I felt that it so beautifully captured what he tried to convey in this story.

"So, just like Meas gave Joron space to change, grow and become a better person, it’s a better world if we can all find the space to let others be who they need to be to get on. And, like the Gullaime shedding her robe to reveal the shining creature beneath, if we let them then people may surprise us in wonderful and magical ways."

Such an extraordinary series, such an incredible author, such authenticity - R.J. Barker, you have won a fan for life.

Book: The Bone Ship’s Wake
Author: RJ Barker
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2021

SPOILER WARNING

Some of the best endings feel like the beginning of something better. Without giving anything away, that is what this superb finale to the Tide Child Trilogy feels like.

I will review book 1 soon, but I wanted to get this one out ASAP as it’s a long overdue review of an e-arc which I couldn’t get to earlier for personal reasons.

The story picks up about a year after the end of Book 2. Meas is still a captive and Joron has been tearing the seas apart looking for her, in the process earning himself the epithet ‘black pirate’.

I’ll admit that despite an adoration for Barker’s previous 5 books I was unduly worried by the beginning of the story proper. It’s risky as fuck imo to start a 3rd book in a trilogy with a slow burn, but that’s what he does. Maybe the first ¼ to a ⅓ of the book is taken up with a chase sequence. Tide Child is desperate and ragged, pursued by fully kitted out and fresh fleet ships. But every time I started to think it was dragging on, Barker hit me for six with something spectacular.

It may still be a little early to make the pronouncement, but nearly a month after finishing I think the Tild Child Trilogy is in my top 5 fantasy series of all time. The prose has an ethereal beauty that truly evokes the seafaring setting. The worldbuilding is so expertly done that you can very easily forget that the hundred isles only exist as words on a page. And the climax… f*ck me it will punch you in the gut, roll you over and drive a knee into your kidneys and leaving you in a heap of tears on the floor.

This has been one heck of a trilogy and I'm just sad it's over. I suppose the upside is that the author won't drag it out for ten books and cause the series to go stale. So there's always the happy memory of that never really happening to look back on. Not to mention that happy feeling of completing a series rather than letting it linger on my to be read pile!

I'll start by saying that, although good, it was by no means as exciting as book two. For me, RJ achieved that rare thing of making book two the best of the trilogy. For my money, this book was always going to struggle after the rip-roaring pace set in book two.

That wasn't helped by the slow, plodding chase on the high seas that took up good portions of this book. I get why it happened and I get what the author was going for. But, for me at least, it just slowed things down and sucked my enjoyment away for good portions of it. There's only so much worrying a character can do at the end of a chapter about getting caught in the midst of a glacial speed kind of chase before it starts to feel more commonplace than worrying for the reader. With this gripe in mind I'd say that, perhaps clocking in at nearly five-hundred pages wasn't necessary. Some bits could have been chopped and nothing would have been lost.

There were also moments/deaths that seemed to just happen/happen with near-pointless reasons or little substantial reason for actually happening. Those moments were ringed by a lot of good, which lifted them up to some extent.

As ever, the lore surrounding the Gullaime was wonderfully done and that character, and the race as a whole, was a huge part of the enjoyment factor of this book for me. I want Gullaime merchandise.

I enjoyed the ending as it wasn't really something I was expecting. I particularly enjoyed the feeling of coming full-circle in a round about kind of way. So hats off to RJ for that ending.

The overall tone for most of this book, I'd say a good solid two-thirds, was bleak to oppressively bleak. The situations going on within the plot, the overall mood of the crew and the events transpiring in the world at large just had so little joy in it that you couldn't help but wonder if the characters, or some of them at least, may end up tipping over the edge out of sheer misery. It made the high points feel that much higher when they were happening in such a miasma of misery and it was just about done well enough to not feel too much to trudge through. It was a damn close thing, though.

Overall, I really enjoyed this trilogy, despite a few iffy moments in this book. I'd highly recommend anyone goes out of their way if they fancy a good nautical fantasy series as the Tide Child Trilogy certainly fits the bill.

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t finish it. I love the world so I’m happy to blame myself for not being able to grasp the slow pace of the book. I would have enjoyed more battles and less chasing.
Hopefully one day I’ll finish and find out how their story ended. I’d love to know but for now I need to put it down.

The Bone Ship’s Wake is the third and final part of R.J. Barker’s Tide Child trilogy. And, just to get this out of the way, it is very, very good. If you’ve read the previous two books in the series and are wondering whether or not you should pick this one up, the answer is a very strong yes. Pretty much put down this review, walk quickly to your nearest bookshop, and give them your money. Because you want to know how this series ends - and I can at least tell you that it ends with the same kind of wit, compassion, energy, imagination and raw humanity which made the first two books so bloody brilliant.

A lot of that is the characters. Joron in particular, is a top-flight protagonist. In part that’s because of how he has a blend of strength and fragility which makes him feel very much a person. Now leading a fleet of ships, preying on the shipping of his enemies, and trying to rescue his captain, Joron could be seen as a legend in his own lifetime. Indeed, the text explores the formation of legends in this way - both Joron and his captain, Lucky Meas, can be shaped and driven by the expectations of their crews. Reputation, and the power of story, is looked at as something between a strength and a potential weakness, a set of constraints and freedoms given out by the tale that those around us tell themselves. But Joron lives inside his own legend, struggling to live up to it, and knowing he can use it to realise his goals. Fighting his own insecurities and depression, Joron also struggles with the more physical aspects of a progressive disease which makes him doubt his own sanity.

Some of which may sound frightfully depressing, but if Joron struggles, he also fights, fights to find Meas, and fights to find himself, to define who he is, both as part of and against his own legend. That energy, that courage, the victories being as honestly earned as the sorrow in defeats, gives the story a set of emotional stakes and catharsis that means you care. Well, I do anyway. Joron is real, in his doubts and in working past them, in his illness, struggling with it and through it. And, of course, there’s heroics and moments of dazzling courage mixed in there, physical and otherwise.

The world is, well, something special. A richly imagined tapestry of sea battles, dragons, piracy, politics, family, and the growth of legends. It’s obvious (to me, anyway) how much fun the author has working with the great ships, crafted from the bones of monsters. You can feel the wine-dark waves slapping against the bone hulls, the icy wind cutting through heavy coats, and the isolation, majesty and terror of the open sea. There are stern chases here, and a use of language which makes the world feel dependent on its seas, and those who sail them a society of their own. The rhythms of everyday life on a ship are wrapped around the core of the story, and the sea is the spine of the thing, the way people live in it, work with it, and let it become part of them. I will mention that there are, of course, some ship battles - they’re visceral, bloody, unflinching and real; including the grim tedium and tension of the longer chases, followed by moments of blood and fire. But even outside those times, the glowering skies, rolling waves and dangers of the deeps, make the story feel alive.

I won’t spoil the story - at least any more than I already have. But I will say that this is a wonderful conclusion to one of the best fantasy series I’ve read in the last few years. It provides a tale that will keep you turning pages, and the kind of emotional payoff that will leave you thinking about the ending for days. This is a book that delivers a fantastic ending to a brilliant series, and if you’ve made it this far, you should absolutely, one hundred percent go and pick a copy up.

This book was amazing, it made me ugly cry throughout the last few chapters.

This whole trilogy was fantastic from start to finish with some of the best written characters EVER.

You know when I first started reading this series when The Bone Ship came out I was incredibly unsure about this series. It was a naval series and so very out there with the bone ships, its criminal and flawed characters. But somewhere at the end of the first book the characters started growing on me and by the second book (last year) I was very happy to be reading on. Now I'm sad that this series has come to an ending. For now.

This book completely upsurped me in ways that I didn't think it would. I was never Joron's biggest fan but his fight and struggle to get back Meas was so completely sold on me and I was right there with him, trying to get his shipwife back. Balding my fists when they were being chased my other ships, hoping they wouldn't catch up, but ready to fight if they did.

Despite my e copy being over 500 pages, it was a very captivating read. I never did expect that of me with naval fights like we get in this book. And boy do we get some nice ones. I was also wholy on board for the continued relationships we got with Joron, Garriya, Cwell, Gullaime, Mevans, Brekir, Meas and some other minor characters. I cared about every single one of them.

And then there are the keyshans, this dragon like creatures that are waking up. I'm so happy that Joron doesn't actually have that much power over them. He can just wake them up and that is it basically. It would have given everything such a different feel if these huge and magnificent and quite frankly terrifying creatures could be controlled my one man.

All in all this felt like such a good ending to this story of Joron and Meas. But at the same time I want more. More about their new world. About Garriya and who she really is. More about the gulliame society etc. So hopefully R.J. Barker will grant my wishes some day.

The Tide Child series - which The Bone Ship's Wake completes - give us that rare thing, a perfect trilogy. In these books Barker gets so many things right. Each part is a complete, exciting adventure in its own right. While telling an increasingly complex story as whole, one could still pick any of them up and enjoy it without having read the earlier parts (though why you'd deprive yourself like that, I have no idea). Each book is actually better than the previous one. While the setting is profoundly convincing and the events involving and exciting, Barker doesn't let them rule his writing. Because most of all, and best of all, at the centre of these stories is the most wondrous, gloriously portrayed, developing relationship, between Shipwife (captain) 'Lucky' Meas Gilbryn and her Deckeeper (First Mate) Joron Twiner.

I came to realise, and to love, that the plot - all the voyages, battles and double-crosses - and its motivation - the desire to escape the endless tyranny of the Bern - was pretty much secondary to that complex and evolving relationship. And that is good, because the dimensions of that central relationship - the secrets, the hurt that both have suffered, their prickliness, their faults - are so sprawling and angling, well, I could have read these books if they featured Joron and Meas having their chats on deck, and nothing else. Both are simply glorious humans. Put them together and Barker's writing simply soars away. It's just intoxicating.

Not, though, in case that gives the wrong impression, that the plot itself is inconsequential. Far from it. As this third book opens (slight spoilers, if you haven't read the others) Meas has been captured by her enemies and is being tortured. Joron, determined to rescue her, has made himself into The Black Pirate, scourge of the seas, and is raging his way through the Hundred Islands' fleet, using the ships that Meas gathered in her mission to forge peace between the Hundred and the Gaunt Isles. In doing this he comes into his own as a leader, a planner and a killer. Nobody in these books is wholly good, or wholly bad: it's clear that Joron has done some dreadful things, Barker doesn't hide that. The ostensible goal in these books has shifted from defending the newly returned Arakeesians (great sea dragons) in The Bone Ships to forging that alliance for peace in The Call of the Bone Ships to this bloody quest for vengeance in The Bone Ship's Wake. More and more personal, less and less in service to the Thirteenbern, Meas' mother. And increasingly bound up in that relationship, that deep and profound friendship, that has grown between Joron and Meas since the day she took his shipwife's hat in the first book.

Behind all the salty nautical jargon, the lonely seas and the skies, the tactical problems and superhuman endurance and cohesion of the crews, we come to this. At last, in the closing pages of The Bone Ship's Wake, everything else falls away, everything is made plain (including things from the previous books that were less clear at the time) and we see the two, in many ways greatly diminished - facing overwhelming odds, nowhere to go - revealing, finally, what they mean to each other. NOT a romantic relationship but a strong and profound friendship and yes, a loving one, almost beyond words, tested and tried in fire and ice.

What a story.

Of course, the supporting elements that made the previous books so readable - naval battle, the close observation of the little society aboard the Tide Child, the portrayal of the deeply alien yet very familiar world of the islands, the Gullaime and its kind - are lacking here. The Gullaime, in particular, takes a central role as we learn, finally, about its role, its hopes and its fears. (I love the Gullaime!) Those things are just as strong. But Barker has resisted the temptation to double down, to give us yet more and more naval battle, more and more ship-speak. We know he can do that, we know this world, we can feel it, smell it, taste it. There's simply no need to pile it on. We know Tide Child by know, we fear for him - but we know what he is capable of, in the hands of the deckchilder, that found family held together by a combination of fierce discipline and something like love.

But Tide Child is in new waters now, facing danger beyond anything we saw before, and possibly needing help beyond what the brave souls who crew him can achieve...

This final instalment is an epic, triumphant read, fully meeting the promise of the earlier books. Be warned, though - it's a true RJ Barker story, it may break you. Reading this book is like receiving a broadside from a ship of the Fleet. Once loosed, everyone is at risk, from the shipwife standing rigid on the deck to the deckchilder aloft in the spines. You'll not escape unscathed. Just trust in Shipwife Barker, who has brought us safe before through storm and fire and ruin and can do so again.

In short I'd STRONGLY RECOMMEND The Bone Ship's Wake.

The Bone Ship's Wake is a brilliant conclusion to RJ Barker's epic maritime fantasy trilogy. Joron Twiner has come a long way since we first met him, dead drunk and unable to stop a terrifying woman from taking his shipwife's hat. Two books later, he has become terrifying in his own right and refuses to take that hat back; still battling despair and self-loathing, but clinging to Lucky Meas's vision for a better world.

Those who have made it this far will be delighted to learn the final book once again delivers politics and sea battles, dark prophecy and sacrifice. As ever, it leans in hard to its setting: expect protracted ship chases and the cold calculations of shipboard discipline. I found the opening act slow even while I appreciated its homage to Master and Commander (one of my favourite films), although I was entirely sucked in by the thrill of ghost-haunted iceberg-ridden fog banks. My patience was rewarded by the slow-burning plot and the ongoing focus on character development. I loved the focus on the ties that have been forged aboard the Tide Child; loyalties that are repeatedly tested in a final instalment that offers temptations and compromises if Joron and the crew will but waver in their commitment to Meas and to one another. I also appreciated some overdue perspective on various antagonists, who have previously felt a little one-dimensionally evil with a capital E; here we see that life is complicated, people are trying their best within their own frame of reference - in the end, humanity’s greatest crimes can be understood as a failure of imagination and (implicitly) of hope rather than as acts of pure malice.

A stirring tale well-told, brave for dictating - and sticking to - its own terms. After all, we all know naval fantasy sinks, right? Not this time. Bloody brilliant.

A devastating finish to the trilogy. There are themes of loyalty and betrayal running through this book with some treachery taking me by surprise.

Joron Twiner who we have followed from the beginning of the book is a much darker character than in previous books because of the loss of his shipwife Lucky Meas. The author doesn′t shy away from showing his ruthlessness, even portraying the point of view of his victims. Alliances are made with former enemies and with the avian species of the guillaime. The society and history of the guillaimes is explored in this last book and makes some of the most interesting storylines. We also explore more of the geography and flora and fauna - the detailed world-building in this trilogy is one of its chief delights. There is a return to Bernshulme which is the centre of the Hundred Islands rule, and the complexities of that visit could be an entirely different kind of narrative for the characters involved there. (As an aside, anyone who was a fan of the BBC series ″The Shadow Line″ will be entertained by the fact that the motive that launched some of the actions in Bernshulme is the same one as in that series.)

I did find a couple of things that detracted from the book for me. There is a homage to the Aubrey/Maturin books in one of the major incidents early on in the book, which the author
acknowledges. Because I have read those books, I recognised what was going to happen so that took away the suspense of the plot, which may not be a problem for those who haven′t read that series. And, although I found the ending satisfying for Joron, I did find it quite bleak for the culture left behind. In a trilogy which had a very compassionate view of people′s failings and motivations, the final resolution destroyed too many people for me.

I had a copy of this book early through Netgalley