Because we see the entire story through Joron's eyes, there were moments when I was a little confused by the political situation. The themes of loss, sacrifice, responsibility, and loyalty were established, and they’re indeed pretty savage, but the crew of the Tide Child knows they are all in this together. In a world where ships of war are primarily made from the bones of sea dragons, the two political powers continue to scrape together dragon bone though it has been ages since they have found any new dragons to harvest.

Tide Child Trilogy - RJ Barker The Tide Child Trilogy - RJ Barker

The prose itself is cinematic at points, doing a wonderful job of describing the action and creating tension during battle sequences. I loved the tidbits we learned about them and their culture, and I look forward to learning much more in future novels set in this world. Of course, this discovery is tightly linked to the story and revelations of the first book, so I won’t divulge any specifics other than to say that it sets them on a race against time to save lives and uncover the depths of this horrific plot. Following their first grand adventure, which saw Tide Child save the last of the vast sea dragons from whose bones the powerful ships are made, much has changed in the world.

Not enough to fully jar you out of the story, but enough that I wasn't always certain what was being referred to.

Tide Child trilogy - Wikipedia

After the first cup would come the second, and with that would come the numbness that told him he was on the way to deadening his mind the way his body was dead, or waiting to be. The fact that the majority of the book takes place on a ship made of dragon bones was really cool and unique, definitely a breath of fresh air from the usual medieval fantasy flooding the market.Meas is a truly inspirational character who has served as a close mentor to Joron and who continues to lead her crew with wisdom, experience, and humility. Further plot tension is supported by new worldbuilding mysteries and the series of confrontations with antagonists. Where I was apathetic before towards Joron, Meas, the Guillame, the crew, RJ started pulling my strings and I found myself rooting for them and starting to enjoy the journey they were on, just as they themselves were starting to enjoy it. The Hundred Isles was one of the most unforgiving and harsh worlds I've ever read which seemed to highlight all the worst of humanity.

The Tide Child Series by R.J. Barker - Goodreads

Behind it all was some meaning, and although he could not quite fathom it he felt sure of it it, felt certain that this meaning was only a moment away from him. In combat,” he added, and he had to swallow again, forcing a hard ball of cold-stone fear down his neck. The man’s father, Kept Indyl Karrad, has Joron sentenced to serve as the shipwife (captain) of the black ship Tide Child. Meas assembles a crew of criminals, bodyguards, sailors from her previous ship, and a gullaime, a humanoid bird-like creature who can control the wind.Everything is so intricately explained, the battles are so vivid in their depth and quality, and the character dialogue is just wonderful. But Joron knew they had advantages too, those brittle boats; he had grown up helping his father on one, just the two of them against the sea in a boat bright blue and named the Sighing East, for the storm that loved a deckchild.

the Bone Ships: Book 2 of the Tide Child Trilogy Call of the Bone Ships: Book 2 of the Tide Child Trilogy

While the series is nominally about the dangerous events that the Tide Child finds itself involved with, in many ways its plot is driven by the growth and development of the main protagonist and point-of-view character Joron Twiner. He knew these thoughts as offspring of the drink, the melancholy it brought he had only ever been able to drink through, running toward oblivion to escape himself. It is a marine setting, and it is very gender and sexuality inclusive, without having any sex and even romance. Mind you, you don’t have to see the birds to know that ship’s not loved as it should be; you can smell it.This was the time of year when most were lost to firash, the giant birds darting out in ambush, opening guts with their claws and dragging their dying prey away to eat alive. He had no doubt she would turn out to be anything but lucky for him, for the ship or for those aboard, though in truth he cared far less about them, keyshans take them. Around her shoulders hung a precious feathered cloak, and where the fishskin scattered the sunlight the feather cloak hoarded it, twinkling and sparkling, passing motes of light from plume to plume so each and every colour shone and shouted out its hue. This book is a masterclass in character writing, both in making you cheer for the ones you like, and utterly despise the ones you dislike.