Ever since hearing of the name of Mr Barker's new Fantasy book, I couldn't think of it without seeing this in my head:
For me, this story will always be inexplicably linked with Andre Baugher's roar of pure outrage. I will always feel slightly startled and like giggling. It's almost kinda difficult to take the book seriously. But that's just me and my immaturity and love of Captain Holt. And - for reasons I shall get into - it's actually a really good title.
Really good book? When I read books these days, I am often writing reviews in my head, like a sports journo trying to have the story ready as soon as possible after the final whistle. With The Bone Ships, I ended up changing that review multiple times.
The why of that lies with the plot and for that to make sense, I must explain a few things. The Bone Ships is the story of a Hundred Islands Black Ship, made of sea dragon bones and crewed by those condemned to death. Its narrator is Joron Twiner, Deckkeeper (or First Mate), a callow and scared young man who owes his position to many things that are not his fitness for the role. The true rhythm of the story is Joron growing up and becoming fit for that role. I fully applaud that but as a consequence, The Bone Ships sometimes feels less like a novel and more like a set of connected short stories, some of which swept me along more than others. Some scenes are merely pleasant fun. Others, like Joron with the Gullaime (birdlike wind magician) or Meas' confrontation with Coughlin or the very first scene, are special. There is an overarching plot of course; a hunt for the first sea dragon to be sighted in a long, long time. But at times the sea dragon feels a long away.
What ensured I never lost interest was the prose. Barker's ability to throw his voice astounds me; every book feels slightly different. In The Bone Ships, he made the world feel wild and harsh just through Joron's voice and the crew of hard-edged pragmatists with whom he works. This is a world of constant death and strict social mores. At times the characterisation doesn't quite feel right for the tone he sets but that is such a small quibble. The tone, the style, the world it voices - it's a mortal strong current.
Speaking of characterisation, Barker set himself something of a challenge in terms of portraying a big fighting ship's crew and by and large, he succeeds. Other than Joron and 'Lucky' Meas, the shipwife/captain, none of them get much limelight but they all possess verisimilitude and charm. They all show off the wildness and size of the world too. As for Joron and Meas themselves, oddly enough I'm not a big fan of either on their own, but their dynamic together is a lot of fun. I've never really said that before, but there's the right notes of exasperation, sarcasm and respect to their relationship and they throw a light on each other's more interesting traits. However, there's one thing about their relationship where I think Barker set himself a really big challenge and doesn't necessarily succeed is that because Shipwife Meas (i.e. most powerful person around) has Joron's back 99% of the time, there's never really a sense of potential failure to Joron's actions except for when he's in battle, and he's too important to die. I'm reminded of some of Bernard Cornwell's comments about it being more fun to pit Sharpe against his own side than the French - in The Bone Ships we are denied that fun. It is the one thing that I'd wished changed about this book. And maybe its the true cause of not always being swept away by the narrative momentum.
In any case, I have tacked to and fro enough with writing this review, and should get to the point. The point is that The Bone Ships is a book with many strengths and charms. It's an interesting, lyrical mix of savage violence and heartwarming growth, of unconventional worldbuilding and Naval history, buddy comedy and thoughtful introspection. I wish the plot had been more and there were moments where I didn't feel the violence but these didn't detract from what The Bone Ships was. I mentioned earlier that it was a great name; it's great because it references one of the major cool parts of the worldbuilding, its great because it makes clear the morbidity of the setting, and its great because bones are what lies underneath. And this story, under its story of naval adventure, does a fine job of digging under people's skins. And that's what makes The Bone Ships as a whole great.
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