The Bone Ships Tide Child Book One by RJ Barker

I read the Tide Child Series a few years ago, so this isn't going to be an in the moment review as most of mine are. It was one of those series that every time I went into B&N I picked it up, I put it down, I came back to it, put it down again and ultimately left without it for months. Finally, I believe that on one birthday weekend, my husband just added it to my stack and said omg if you don't like it, you can get rid of it, or something to that effect. I have been grateful forever since Tidechild was life changing, hell life affirming for me. 

While The Bone Ships is slow to start, a complaint I see often regarding the series, this slow pace, was, in my opinion, needed. This is a brutal world of oppression, not to mention the whole sale slaughter of an important portion of its eco system. A faster opening pace would not have given the reader the full effect of this world. Not to mention the political machinations that drive much of this story. There is a lot going on in the background in terms of politics here, and any faster paced opening would have lessened the impact greatly in later books. 

As I've now read all of Barker's books I can say that one of his greatest strengths as an author is his ability to transport the reader almost physically to the worlds he's describing and Tide Child series but this first book is probably the greatest testament to this. The dragons of course is the best part of this series, his descriptions of these creatures evoke the same emotions that you feel when seeing a whale for the first time, especially given that they have been hunted to almost extinction. The way he describes the Bone Ships is just as amazing. They become so real for the reader that you can easily imagine standing on the deck of one. For this reason alone, I'd recommend reading really any of his books but this series in particular. You become emotionally invested because everything is so real you are now a part of the world. 

However, there is only one reason you should read Tide Child, and that's Joron Twiner. It is his actions and the relationships that he forges with the crew of The Tide Child that makes this series simply shine. Twiner is a broken man who spends most of the series period bringing himself back from the brink. He learns to not just trust those around him, but himself, he comes to terms (as much as possible) with the grief of losing his parent, and he doesn't just learn to accept the brutal world he lives in he accepts that he wants to fight to change it. And that last portion was truly wonderful. To go from an opening scene where he has simply given up to the Twiner we come to know by the end of even book one, but the series period is almost a promise to anyone who is broken that it is possible to not just live but to find something worth fighting to live for. And that is wonderful. 

I absolutely recommend this book for fantasy fans, of course, but for anyone who has ever struggled with themselves.