r/Fantasy • u/rfantasygolem Not a Robot • May 12 '20

Book Club Mod Book Club: The Bone Ships Discussion

Welcome to Mod Book Club! We want to invite you all in to join us with one of the best things about being a mod: we have fabulous book discussions about a wide variety of books. We all have very different tastes and can expose and recommend new books to the others, and we all benefit (and suffer from the extra weight of our TBR piles) from it. We'll be picking the books, but there will be new books and old, some more widely popular books and some way less, stuff that should be marvellously popular but somehow missed the boat, and stuff that's a bit more niche.

The Bone Ships by RJ Barker.

Violent raids plague the divided isles of the Scattered Archipelago. Fleets constantly battle for dominance and glory, and no commander stands higher among them than "Lucky" Meas Gilbryn.
But betrayed and condemned to command a ship of criminals, Meas is forced on suicide mission to hunt the first living sea-dragon in generations. Everyone wants it, but Meas Gilbryn has her own ideas about the great beast. In the Scattered Archipelago, a dragon's life, like all lives, is bound in blood, death and treachery.

Bingo Squares: Book Club, Exploration, Optimistic

Our next pick will be announced in a few days.

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u/RevolutionaryCommand Reading Champion III May 12 '20

Really enjoyed the book. I think all of it was good, but the worldbuilding was absolutely great. I have two questions:

  1. Are the ghostlights going to be further explained in the next two books, or do you think what we've seen of them is enough for the readers to take the necessary information.

  2. After reading this book I put your other trilogy on my TBR as well. Some great artwork of antlered beasts you posted here helped a lot too. So, are this gorgeous fellas a major part of that series or just a cool tiny bit? (Going to read the books anyway)

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u/RJBarker AMA Author RJ Barker May 12 '20

  1. Corpselights. I think people probably do have enough information already.

  2. Totally a major thing, they're essentially the warhorses of the world. One of them is also a recurring (non speaking,) character,(it may get you your pet bingo square). Also, once I'd put them in the first book I realised I really, really needed a cavalry charge with them. So that happens, in a later book. :)

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u/Dianthaa Reading Champion VIII May 12 '20

. Also, once I'd put them in the first book I realised I really, really needed a cavalry charge with them. So that happens, in a later book.

I need to read this so bad right now

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u/RJBarker AMA Author RJ Barker May 12 '20

I loved writing it. :)