The Bone Shard Daughter

There is a wonderful sense of decay and menace in The Bone Shard Daughter. Everything in this world feels like it is on the edge of breaking down. The image of palace, peopled by Frankenstein-like animal constructs, but hardly any living things is an intriguing one. The paranoia generated by the environment is palpable too.

Essentially the book follows four main characters: the daughter of the emperor who is not all she seems, the daughter of a governor of one of the empires outposts who is in love with the leader of a popular uprising, a smuggler who frees children from the controlling influence of the empire, and someone living on an island full of people who have forgotten their past who is slowly clearing the fog in her mind.

A lot of things here are not quite what they seem. The islands that make up the empire move around, the emperor's palace is full of mysterious doors that require keys to unlock their secrets, four master constructs seem to control most of the operation of the empire, there is a vicious caste system that provides extreme repression, there are magical creatures (familiars?) that seem to grant powers, there is some mysterious previous group of oppressors who ruled the area before the current empire (but they are only ever really hinted at without to much explicit interaction). This is a rich and layered world with many nuances and hidden secrets that are alluded to.

Finally we have this somewhat twisted magic system with the Bone Shard Magic. Essentially, small pieces of bone are harvested from the children of the empire and these bone shards are used to power the constructs that enforce the oppression. The power from these bone shards slowly drains the life force of the person they were harvested from, resulting in a premature death...

A supremely successful character and world building exercise, this is some truly immersive and unique fantasy.

I'm again late in reading this book despite having an advance copy but I just couldn't make myself pick it up earlier. But I have been quite excited about it for a while now and I have to say, it lived up to all my expectations.

I don't think I have been a fan of island/sea navigation based stories before but I've happened to read quite a few of them this year and they've all been a lot of fun. This world is even more fascinating because it's made up of floating islands and I've never seen that before. I loved how the author gave us enough information about how the empire and the governorships run across all the islands, but the writing is so cleverly done that we never get bogged down in details. We get to see the perspectives of both people in power with privilege, as well as the common people whose lives are much worse.

While the politics of the world itself was so interesting to read, it's the titular “Bone Shard” magic thats the best part of this book. As everyone who reads my blog knows, Foundryside is one of my favorite fantasy novels and I always call the scriving magic in it one of the best ever. And there were quite a bit of similarities between the two, but this book took the concept of etching commands on objects to make them obey you to a whole another level and I was instantly captivated. It still has enough resemblance to database management and sql scripting, so that was an absolute joy to read. I would recommend both this book and Foundryside just for the sake of their magic systems, because I've come to realize that I love this kind of concept which is so familiar to me.

There are quite a few reviews out there where the readers were surprised to see multiple POVs in the book because the blurb gives an entirely different impression, and I feel that's a disservice to this amazing debut. But like always, I went in knowing this information, so I wasn't jarred and really enjoyed getting to know so many different characters. I also decided to listen to the audiobook despite having the eARC because listening seems to be working for me during this pandemic, and the multiple narrators blew me away with their storytelling styles. The pacing may seem a bit slow but the buildup of the story is excellent, and the author takes us on a journey that gets exciting through every chapter. The way that all the multiple storylines converge is also done masterfully, with some excellent foreshadowing as well as misdirection, and I was thrilled when the twists and reveals happened.

Not all of the characters get the same page time, but we quickly come to like each one of them on their own merits and what they bring to the overall story - but Lin and Jovis can be considered the main driving forces in this debut. Lin is the Emperor's daughter and wants to prove herself to him, that she is a worthy heir. She is resourceful and resilient, strong and compassionate, while also being willful enough to do what's necessary to achieve her goals. I really admired how she kept going despite any obstacles and can't wait to see what she does next. Jovis on the other hand has his own goal but is thrust into a bigger game that he doesn't ask to be a part of, but nevertheless can't abandon. He tries to come across as a selfish smuggler with no care for anyone, but he does have a bleeding heart and I fell in love with him immediately. And his relationship with his animal companion Mephi is the most adorable ever, and one of my top highlights of this book.

Phalue and Ramani are an established sapphic couple and it's again something I see so rarely, that it was refreshing. While they may not have many chapters between them, I think as the governor's daughter and a member of the rebellion respectively, they give unique glimpses into the problems affecting the empire and how indifferent the ruling class is. Ramani is also a great foil to Phalue's privileged life, making her see the truth of the common people. Phalue does have the bigger character arc, understanding and learning what she can do with her power, but I felt that Ramani also changed in the process, realizing that idealism and governance might not always go hand in hand.

Sand is the final POV and most mysterious of them all and to be honest, we still don't know much about her at all. Except that the twist in her arc towards the end was something that I did not see coming at all and it sets up for a very unexpected thorn in the side for every other character's plans in the sequel.

There are many inherent themes across the story but the author executes it in such a way that they are very understated but also clear if we are looking deeply. I think the bone shard magic system itself presents a very existential and realistic question, that is also relevant to us - how much should common people be ready to sacrifice for the sake of security provided by the rulers; and is shortened life span and early unexpected death really worth what the emperor provides, especially when there is no accountability and the sacrifice is literally forced on the people. The other aspect of the story is about rebellions and it's leaders - the foot soldiers of a rebellion might be full of commoners who believe in the cause and other idealists who have very noble intentions; but coups are never bloodless and power changing hands is not as peaceful or easy as making plans or giving lofty speeches.

To conclude, this is an absolutely fantastic adult SFF debut with a unique world, intriguing magic system, politics of empire and rebellions, and an ensemble of beautifully written characters. I never try to recommend books using comparisons, but in this case I would like to say that if you loved the magic system of Foundryside, you should totally checkout this book. A great story with even better cast of audiobook narrators, this is now clearly in my favorites of the year list and I can't wait to read what happens next.

Thank you to Orbit Books for giving me a physical ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I highly recommend this book. The magic system is unique and the characters were well-written.
Read my full review on my blog:
https://theliterarybeerlingual.wordpress.com/2020/08/29/blog-tour-the-bone-shard-daughter/

Andrea Stewart's gothic fantasy tale of love, obsession and secrets is intriguing and delightful.

Andrea Stewart weaves a complex tale that keeps you guessing and turning the pages to uncover the secrets at the heart of the book just like the character, Lin, who is searching for the answers of the bone shard magic that her father wields and guards jealously.

The story centres around Lin, the daughter of the tyrant Emperor Shiyen who rules his house and his kingdom with cruelty and mistrust.
They live in the crumbling and oppressive castle that is as much a representation of the empire that they rule as it is the relationship that the Emperor has with his children.

The book has a distinct gothic feel to it when it tells the tale of Lin's life with her father, her brother and the soulless servants that surround her.

Her father is cruel and just as soulless as the servants, continuously fostering competition between Lin and her brother as they claw their way to be their way into their father's affections.

In as much as Lin and Bayan (Lin's foster brother) are the characters, Stewart also makes the environment that they are in as much a character as the people that reside in the castle. There is a palpable air of cloying oppressiveness that reminds me of Shirley Jackson's work.

However, the story regularly shifts points of view to other characters and the wider world outside of the castle in order to show the effects of the Emperor's rule and provide some world building and backdrop to the other protagonists of the story.

Jin is a smuggler who is obsessed with searching for the answers as to how his wife disappeared eight years ago. He is a man that has made bad choice after bad choice, getting himself embroiled with the shadowy underworld of the Ioph Carn, a crime organisation that rules with the same amount of fear as the Emperor on his search for his wife.

We meet Jin as he is following a lead for his missing wife when a disaster strikes one of the islands of this world.

Prior to the disaster, he agrees to smuggle a child to another island in order to save him from the horrific trials of the Tithing Festival, a terrifying ritual in which bones are chiselled from the heads of the islands children so that the Emperor can use their power to bring life to his twisted creations that populate the islands, carrying out the orders that the Emperor commands.

As disaster strikes he saves the life of the young boy and also rescues a strange cat like creature who is as much as a child as the one that he is carrying. The creature becomes part of his life and the boy that he saves names the creature Mephisolou which gets shortened to Mephi. However, things do not go as planned and the creature the he selfishly saves from death, so that he can stop the child he has saved from crying forms a strong bond with Jin. As the relationship grows between Jin and the strange creature, Mephi changes him in ways that he doesn't realise.

There are other characters in the book, Pahlue, the governor's daughter of one of the other islands of this strange world, and Sand. A mysterious occupant of another island whose importance at first is hidden, but becomes much more of a character as the book progresses.

I enjoyed this book immensely, devouring the story of Lin, Jin and Mephi and definitely cannot wait until the next installment of this story. Stewart has crafted a world full of mystery and intrigue that promises to get better and better.

The Bone Shard Daughter is set in an archipelago ruled by a mad-scientist-like Emperor who sews together animal parts and animates his creations with bone shards powered by his subjects' life forces. This novel explores this world from the perspective of 5 different characters, who were my favorite part of this story even if I did find some of their viewpoints more engaging than others.

I most enjoyed reading about Jovis, a wanted smuggler, and Mephi, the adorable intelligent animal who chose to be his companion and brought out the best in him, but I also especially enjoyed the story of Lin, the Emperor's daughter. Lin has been trying to recover her memory for the last 5 years so she can win her father's love and approval and officially become his heir???but since that's not working, she starts stealing his keys to various rooms in the palace and learning his secrets herself.

The Bone Shard Daughter is a really fun book and a highlight of this year's reading with its compelling characters and fascinating magic, although I think I would have loved it more if it had slowed down a bit to deepen the character relationships and worldbuilding.

Full Review on My Website