The Bone Ships
core novel 2019 The Tide Child Trilogy
Record
| First published | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.01 (13,137 ratings, collected 2026-09-14) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780356511832 |
Synopsis
The Bone Ships opens in the Scattered Archipelago, where the Hundred Isles and the Gaunt Isles have fought a grinding, centuries-long war. Because the islands lack timber, warships can only be built from the bones of sea dragons called arakeesians, creatures long believed extinct, a scarcity that has shaped the entire conflict. Joron Twiner, a poor fisherman's son, has been sentenced to serve as nominal captain of the black ship Tide Child, a vessel crewed by criminals and the disgraced, after killing a man in a duel. His command is upended when "Lucky" Meas Gilbryn, a disgraced noblewoman, wins control of the ship through combat and becomes its true leader, with a wind-controlling, bird-like gullaime among the crew she assembles.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Tide Child Trilogy
- Series: The Tide Child Trilogy core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: RJ Barker
Notes
- From the series record (The Tide Child Trilogy): New author record. A completed grimdark nautical fantasy trilogy (the 'Tide Child' bone-ships crew), per Carlos's own named grimdark theme. The Bone Ships WON the 2020 British Fantasy Award's Robert Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel -- a clean, independently sourced win (Wikipedia's own Tide Child trilogy page, corroborated by the book's own current cover copy, 'Winner of the Holdstock Award for Best Fantasy Novel'), not merely a nomination.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Tide Child Trilogy: position 1 of 3: next Call of the Bone Ships (2020)
Sources
← The Tide Child Trilogy dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.