R.J. Barker, Call of the Bone Ships (2020)

On By Ola GIn books, Ola, reviews

Author: R.J. Barker

Title: Call of the Bone Ships

Format: Paperback

Pages: 528

Series: The Tide Child #2

Phew, this one has been waiting for its review for a good while now, about three months, give or take a few weeks 😉. I blame NetGalley, the reviews for NG books usually have a “best before” or a “best by” date I need to abide by… But I’m also responsible – to put it simply, I enjoyed Call of the Bone Ships a lot, but still less than book one, The Bone Ships. The reasons for this development are many, but the most important of them all is the worldbuilding. It seems to me that the author did all the heavy lifting already in the first installment, creating a unique universe filled with le Guin-inspired world of islands and seas, gender-reversed roles, tall ships and dragons. As a result, the second book is focused predominantly on character and plot development, and while both are laudably consummate (oh all right, character development more than plot, but more on that later), nevertheless the lure of the uniqueness can no longer apply and the new worldbuilding details are too few to keep the mood of discovery afloat.

But ab ovo: in Call of the Bone Ships the crew of the Tide Child must deal with the revelations left in wake of the first installment. And here I must insert the unavoidable spoiler alert, because the second book grows organically from the first, building upon the foundation formed in The Bone Ships, and there’s no way to talk about Call of the Bone Ships without mentioning The Bone Ships (well, there’s a hint in the title) 😉. So, the arakeesians swim the seas again. In the never-ending war between Hundred Isles and Gaunt Islands the sighting of a water dragon whose whole body can be disassembled and used as a source of various lethal weapons, from ships to spears, is a call for a hunt. Whoever finds the means to kill the dragons and get their bodies will obtain a staggering advantage over their enemy – one that can end the war for good with a crushing defeat of one side. No wonder then that both sides scramble to action, absolutely convinced both of their own righteousness and the truth of the old adage that ends justify all means. Blood flows freely, unspeakable atrocities are committed in the name of greater good, and the noose around the Tide Child gets increasingly tighter. And for the Tide Child’s crew, caught between the warring sides, the whole situation just gets a whole lot more complicated – and deadly.

There are quite a few intriguing reveals in this second installment. The development of the main characters is given prominence over nearly all other aspects of the book, and Barker enthusiastically devotes a lot of his attention to the process of shaping of the relationships between the Tide Child’s crew members. As a result, Joron and Meas, Gullaime and Dinyl, Berhof and Farys, and so many others get the attention they fully deserve. While their journey is fraught with danger, pain, betrayal and death (and there is a lot of death this time around), it also makes them as characters more believable, multi-dimensional, and ultimately more real. Gullaime doesn’t disappoint and I’m glad Barker gave them a bit more space on the pages, on which they can unfurl their wings and indulge their ever-growing curiosity. I love the imagery Barker created for this creature, seamlessly melding human and bird features, both physical and psychological. I also love the mystery surrounding the guillames, the glimpses of their social structure, their beliefs and culture. And I couldn’t help but notice another link to Hobb’s Fitz and Fool characters in the growing relationship between Joron and Guillame.

The author must have taken to heart the criticisms of the slow pace of The Bone Ships, because in Call of the Bone Ships (argh, let’s just call it Call, all right?) the action hurries along at breakneck speed, from one crisis to another. And I know I might be in a minority here, but I actually preferred the measured pace of the first book, where everything had its place and the small idiosyncrasies and stories of the Scattered Archipelago and its people could be appreciated in all their intimate allure. In the second book, the stakes are up, the players multiply, and the game itself gets a whole lot bigger. And I’d be completely fine with it, except that Call tries so hard to avoid the trap of the middle book that at times it risks losing coherence, logic, and believability only to get the multifaceted action going. I won’t point fingers, but there are several instances where the need for speed trumps the need for realism, and we get a lot more danger, unforeseen obstacles, and close shaves with death than humanly possible.

There is an undercurrent of convenience beyond the unbelievable confluence of events. And while the inner journey of the protagonist, or the message, are often more important to the author than the internal logic of the created world, in the case of The Tide Child trilogy with its detailed worldbuilding I feel justified to point out that this result seems more like an unforeseen side effect than the authorial intention. Obviously, by the end of book two we know that Joron’s heroic journey is about to enter the critical phase; that the events arrange themselves so neatly around that need is slightly disappointing, but only because this slip so clearly shows itself on the background of Barker’s admirable wordsmithing skills and splendid imagination. The anachronistic worldview, however much I may agree with it, is still very much visible in this second installment – but I may have get used to it a little by now and, with the exception of few instances, it didn’t bother me as much as before. The pirate democratic heaven, however, was still a too much – as well as the main villain, going into full Maleficent/evil priest from Conan the Barbarian mode😉.

All in all, Call of the Bone Ships is a highly enjoyable successor to The Bone Ships. While the weaknesses of the first book are still very much present, some even more noticeable than before, and the internal logic takes a nosedive, this second installment also manages to deliver more action, more emotion, and more character development. I’m very interested to see how the final installment will play out, how Barker will manage to tie all the loose ends into a coherent whole, and which of my theories will be validated 😉.

Score: 8/10

65 thoughts on “R.J. Barker, Call of the Bone Ships (2020)”

  1. Loved your review! So, you found Le Guin, Hobbs, and Howard in this book? Honestly, it doesn’t help to drop the names, because in my humble opinion there is no way that Barker could fill those shoes. It’s more like he‘s disappearing in those ocean sized shoes.
    My opposition to your assessment might come from my disappointment with this novel. It was a weak three stars.
    What did you think about the cliffhanger?
    More rambling over there 😎 https://reiszwolf.wordpress.com/2020/11/27/call-of-the-bone-ships-tide-child-2-2020-high-fantasy-novel-by-rj-barker/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Heh, I found inspirations from Le Guin, Hobb, and Howard 😜 That’s definitely not the same thing 😉
      Oh, I do comment the cliffhanger, albeit obliquely, in the part when I criticize unbelievable coincidences – and the infatuation with Campbell’s heroic journey. In short, meh.

      I enjoyed reading this book, but felt the flaws of the first installment were more visible here – that said, though, I’ve read plenty of reviews saying they liked the ramped up action more than the sedate pace of the first novel and didn’t even notice the resulting inconsistencies of the plot, the Deus ex Machina, the oit-of-character behavior necessary to arrive at this cliffhanger. I guess it’s hard to please everyone, but I’m still quite curious about the final installment 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Me too! Looks like those faults were screaming louder at me than at others.
        Campbell’s heroic journey is difficult to apply to trilogies. He doesn’t talk about journeys within journeys or spreading them out over several books in a sequence of journeys. I’m not an expert, though.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Oh yes, you can apply Campbell to whole series, and I have a feeling many authors do exactly that – starting with Lucas who readily admitted it years ago. After all, a series is just one long story 😁
          I like maritime themes and find them rarely in fantasy – and Barker is actually pretty good in making his one float 😉

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  2. Good review! This one is going on the “maybe” pile. The same thing I said at Andreas’s blog about the Rebecca Roanhorse book 😀 Seems like a lot of interesting epic fantasy books are coming out lately that all show some potential, but I’ll keep watching from the sidelines to see which ones will float to the top.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks! 😊
      I’m usually wary of thing that float to the top… 🤣
      I do like this series in big part because of its maritime theme – most of the plot takes place on a ship, there are storms, naval battles, course charting, sea-related military training, etc. You can read the review for the first installment to see if that’s something you’d be interested in! 😁

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I usually like maritime adventures… the thing is.. I am doing the big Malazan read and I need to read Abercrombie’s latest books and that sort of fills in the fantasy slots in my reading schedule for this year. Maybe next year I will try one of those newer series like this one or Black Sun or the Evan Winters series.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  3. As usual, a comprehensive and highly entertaining review. In fact, given your comments and those of the other readers who’ve added to your discussion here, I think that’s where I’ll leave this trilogy. What a shame, I was quite drawn to reading something that may have been inspired by Le Guin. Lovely post, Ola.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Cath! 😊

      Well, I think you’d actually like this one 🙂 It’s not le Guin, because nobody can be le Guin except her, but it’s a really decent effort – more adventurous than philosophical, but with a lot of solid character development.

      Like

      Reply

  4. What an intriguing review! I always like to find comments that differ from my own view of any given book, because from them often come interesting insights that I might have otherwise missed. Of course I enjoyed this second volume in the series more than you did, and found that the diminished attention to background and increased focus on the characters was exactly what the doctor ordered 😉 but there is still book 3 to take into consideration and see if the author will manage to balance things out in the end. Given his track record, I’m quite optimistic…
    And at least we can both agree on the increased depth on the Gullaime, my very favorite crew member 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I do love to see different points of view on this, reflecting personal preferences and various levels of tolerance and enthusiasm 😉 Between you and Andreas, we have the whole continuum covered! 😀

      Yes, team Gullaime all the way! 😀
      Btw, have you read Hobb’s Fitz and Fool series, Maddalena?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

        1. Well, your curiosity might be piqued by the fact that Barker seems to have been heavily inspired by Hobb, both in terms of characters, their development, and their relationships, and in terms of worldbuilding 😁
          Plus, I have a feeling you’ll love Fitz and Fool and Nighteyes! 🤩

          …have I convinced you to bump Hobb up your TBR yet??? 😜

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

    1. Yeah, I can see you not enjoying this overly much, Bart 😉 Weirdly enough, I’m willing to overlook some of the flaws here because the writing and characters are really good – but normally I’d be very cross with the anachronistic worldview and the lazy plot resolutions 😉

      Btw, I started reading the jellyfish book – very interesting!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. If I wouldn’t know the faults were there before I started reading, I might overlook them too if the rest already drew me in, but if I know of them upfront, that’s a whole lot harder…

        Cool about the jellyfish! Do let me know what you think after you’ve finished it. I’m rereading Shadow of the Torturer atm – didn’t you get a netgaley copy of that?

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Heh, sorry about that! 😉

          Yes, I did get it from NG – but there are a few books I need to read before I get to Wolfe. I’m reading Suzuki’s short stories atm, quite interesting, and I have a deadline for the new Murderbot , Powell, and Moreno-Garcia books 😉 But I should start reading Wolfe in May (hopefully :D)

          Like

          Reply

            1. 😉 Izumi Suzuki was a Japanese SF writer from the 80’s – she committed suicide in 1986. Her collection is interesting, mainly because it was extremely perceptive with regards to the psychological changes which became more prevalent in the 21st century (possibly again): the titular boredom, ennui, superficiality, etc. Also, very subversively feminist, much beyond the time it was written in. I’m a third in, so can’t say too much, but it’s very intriguing.

              Gareth Powell is a SF author – I haven’t read anything of his yet, I have his space opera The Recollection on my roster now.

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply

          2. I’ve just finished Torturer, I just wanted to give you a quick heads-up that while it still resonated with me, I feel the first part might be the weakest of the lot, so I’d urge you to read at least part 2 as well, in one go. Normally I keep quite some time in between books of a series, as to emulate the idea of reading them as published, but upon rereading it is clear that it is one book, I felt like a review of only Torturer wouldn’t be right. I’ll see what I’ll do when I get to the end of book 2, it might feel appropriate to write a review of Shadow & Claw, but I might continue with Sword & Citadel as well, the downside to that being not a lot of posts this month, but so be it, we’ll see.

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

            1. Thanks. I have the first two installments from NG, so I’ll be reading it as a whole. I usually make breaks between books in a series, but this time, forewarned, I’ll read it in one go 😀

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply

                1. In what way strange? You read it differently because you’re older and more experienced and pick up different things? Or you forgot parts/language and reading it is a bit of surprise? Probably hard to tell if you feel it’s better or worse – I definitely have this problem with re-reads, I see new things but lose the sense of wonder 😉

                  Like

                  Reply

                  1. Both things apply, but the sense of wonder is definitely less. I’m still on the fence about better/worse, but I don’t expect closure on that after I finish all 4 titles.

                    I don’t reread all that often, after Dune 1-4, this is only my 5th reread of speculative fiction.

                    Liked by 1 person

                    Reply

                    1. I re-read LoTR many many times, over 10, but all before I reached adult age. I only recently begun to re-read it after a long time, and was pleasantly surprised that it held up to my nostalgia/comfort read-tinted memories. I only recently begun to re-read Dune, too. Except for Pratchett, I almost never re-read because when I do, with the feeling of wonder no longer present, I start to pick the book apart and feel it’s less than it’s been. This happened to Erikson and Harry Potter alike, so it’s definitely me, not a particular book 😅

                      Liked by 1 person

                    2. Another factor used to be time: too many other books to read. Lately, that seems to apply less, as I feel I’ve read wide enough in SF to have a grip on the genre.

                      Really good books should withstand the picking apart test though…

                      Liked by 1 person

                    3. Heh, they do – Cook’s Black Company would’ve been fine re-read, as would le Guin’s Wizard of Earthsea 😉. I remember most of the books’ content and style even years after, so I very rarely if ever encounter any surprises. With foreknowledge of the book picking it apart seems rather inevitable, especially when it comes to it’s internal logic which I’m quite sensitive to.
                      I read a lot of fiction these days, more than I used to a few years back when I read lots of non-fiction for work. I generally don’t feel a need for re-reads, with the exception of Dune due to your in-depth reviews. Want to see how much of my previous experience with it as a teenager will hold up now 😁

                      Liked by 1 person

                    4. Mmm, that reminds to to start Black Company. Maybe after Wolfe. I’ll reread Wizard too one day – still the best of the series.

                      My memory isn’t fully functional it seems, while I remember style and overall vibe, I tend to forget lots of details. Once it made for a very powerfull experience, when I reread a Dutch book for the 3rd time, and I had forgotten how a certain character died, that really floored me, because I thought I remembered everything and because of that hadn’t seen it coming. I cried for an hour at least.

                      I want to reread some of the books I consider favorites and read at the beginnings of my journey into SF, to see how they hold up, and partly to review them as well, as I didn’t review back then. After Wolfe, Heretics of Dune will be my next reread. Asimov’s Foundation 1-5 is also on the list, and I’ll have to tackle Anathem too again one day, and maybe some Banks.

                      Very curious what you’ll make of Dune. It’s the only 100% succesfull reread if the series so far.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    5. Oh wow, I can imagine how shocking it would be if you thought you remembered the book and then something like this happened and you were convinced it wouldn’t.

                      I didn’t like Foundation first time around, I must admit. I don’t think I would like it any more re-reading 🤣

                      As for Dune, I started already but had to return the book to the library before I could finish. There’s a long queue because of the upcoming movie, so it will be some time before I can get my hands on it again 😉 Started out just as I remembered it so so far, so good 😁

                      Liked by 2 people

  7. This was a really interesting review! I have yet to start this series, but I really hope to get to it soon! I am curious to finally see for myself this worldbuilding, and I am sorry this second book didn’t meet all your expectations, but since I love a good worldbuilding but usually I go all in for the characters, I am quite optimistic toward this series!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Dawie! 😀

      I must admit I let my Warhammer reading languish on the side somewhat… Still on the second Gaunt novel! 😅

      But if you find a moment/opportunity to read this seafaring series, I think you might enjoy it too!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I absolutely adored this. Easily one of my favourite fantasy novels in recent memory.

    The character development in this was fun and it’s left me wanting a gullaime of my very own. But I know, if asked, what the response would be: NOT WANT!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Aww guillaume… 🤩 They’re an absolutely fantastic creature, want to read more about them!

      Btw, is it just me or do you also think that guillaume-Joron relationship seems based on the prophet-catalyst relationship from Hobb’s Fitz and Fool series? 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I hadn’t thought of that but, now you mention it, the similarities are there.

        The next book will be the last in the series and I feel like there’s going to be something big with Gullaime. How heart-breaking was it when Shorn sacrificed himself and, after all the NOT WANT, Gullaime was upset ☹

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Yeah, poor guillaume… I had that theory at the beginning that guillaumes were somehow related to arakeesians, like the water forms of Hobb’s dragons to the flying ones – certainly they can communicate and they talk about familial links – but hopefully Barker will come up with something more original than that. Looking forward to the final book!

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  11. Awesome and thorough review as always, Ola! I love how you break things down so perfectly, drawing parallels with titan-esque classics and revealing how these newer generation writers draw inspiration from them to create their own thing. For some reason, I feel like you have A LOT of expectations for the finale and I hope the final book will impress you sufficiently to consider this trilogy decent! 😛

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thanks, Lashaan! 😊
      I can’t help but see the links and inspirations and lifted ideas… Maybe should’ve been a detective! 🤣🤣🤣

      Yes, I do have quite high expectations for the last installment – I really hope Baker won’t take the easy way out… I didn’t care for the cliffhanger, it seemed very artificial and a clear example of authorial fiat to muddy the waters, so there’s a bit of apprehension in my expectations too! 😀

      Like

      Reply
  13. buriedinprint

    It seems to kinda make sense, that “need for speed” would overrun realism. And I suppose most people are just impatient with the second book in a series to begin with. I imagine that it must be as hard to be a trilogy’s second book as it must be to be a middle child in a family of three. I just finished the second of Haida/Heilsuk author Eden Robinson’s Trickster trilogy and it was very good but how can you not want to just get to the third book, eh? (The third is waiting for pickup at the library now, so I shan’t have to wait much longer.)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yes, you’re right: the readers’ pressure – and the publisher’s – is probably an important factor in how the second books are shaped. Still, I cannot help but think it’s ultimately to the detriment of the book, always considered not for what it is but for what it isn’t (a beginning or an end).

      Like

      Reply
      1. buriedinprint

        And now that I think about it, it must really only affect (afflict!) trilogies, because it’s evenly paired in a duology (Atwood’s Handmaid’s and Testaments) and there are “two middles” in a quartet and after that, such as the monstrous manga series you’re reading, the more books there are, the more one simply accepts that there will be some that are more enjoyable/satisfying than others. Poor trilogies. They need a support group!

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

  14. Pingback: Get to Know the Fantasy Reader Tag – Re-enchantment Of The World

  15. Pingback: R.J. Barker, The Bone Ship’s Wake (2021) – Re-enchantment Of The World

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s