The Bone Ship’s Wake is the third and final part of R.J. Barker’s Tide Child trilogy. And, just to get this out of the way, it is very, very good. If you’ve read the previous two books in the series and are wondering whether or not you should pick this one up, the answer is a very strong yes. Pretty much put down this review, walk quickly to your nearest bookshop, and give them your money. Because you want to know how this series ends - and I can at least tell you that it ends with the same kind of wit, compassion, energy, imagination and raw humanity which made the first two books so bloody brilliant.
A lot of that is the characters. Joron in particular, is a top-flight protagonist. In part that’s because of how he has a blend of strength and fragility which makes him feel very much a person. Now leading a fleet of ships, preying on the shipping of his enemies, and trying to rescue his captain, Joron could be seen as a legend in his own lifetime. Indeed, the text explores the formation of legends in this way - both Joron and his captain, Lucky Meas, can be shaped and driven by the expectations of their crews. Reputation, and the power of story, is looked at as something between a strength and a potential weakness, a set of constraints and freedoms given out by the tale that those around us tell themselves. But Joron lives inside his own legend, struggling to live up to it, and knowing he can use it to realise his goals. Fighting his own insecurities and depression, Joron also struggles with the more physical aspects of a progressive disease which makes him doubt his own sanity.
Some of which may sound frightfully depressing, but if Joron struggles, he also fights, fights to find Meas, and fights to find himself, to define who he is, both as part of and against his own legend. That energy, that courage, the victories being as honestly earned as the sorrow in defeats, gives the story a set of emotional stakes and catharsis that means you care. Well, I do anyway. Joron is real, in his doubts and in working past them, in his illness, struggling with it and through it. And, of course, there’s heroics and moments of dazzling courage mixed in there, physical and otherwise.
The world is, well, something special. A richly imagined tapestry of sea battles, dragons, piracy, politics, family, and the growth of legends. It’s obvious (to me, anyway) how much fun the author has working with the great ships, crafted from the bones of monsters. You can feel the wine-dark waves slapping against the bone hulls, the icy wind cutting through heavy coats, and the isolation, majesty and terror of the open sea. There are stern chases here, and a use of language which makes the world feel dependent on its seas, and those who sail them a society of their own. The rhythms of everyday life on a ship are wrapped around the core of the story, and the sea is the spine of the thing, the way people live in it, work with it, and let it become part of them. I will mention that there are, of course, some ship battles - they’re visceral, bloody, unflinching and real; including the grim tedium and tension of the longer chases, followed by moments of blood and fire. But even outside those times, the glowering skies, rolling waves and dangers of the deeps, make the story feel alive.
I won’t spoil the story - at least any more than I already have. But I will say that this is a wonderful conclusion to one of the best fantasy series I’ve read in the last few years. It provides a tale that will keep you turning pages, and the kind of emotional payoff that will leave you thinking about the ending for days. This is a book that delivers a fantastic ending to a brilliant series, and if you’ve made it this far, you should absolutely, one hundred percent go and pick a copy up.
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