u/Upstairs-Gas8385

“I’ll not deny the Hag my love, Let us fly to her in pride. I’ll not deny the Hag my love, For duty have I died.”

One thing to know about me is my love for pirates. Ever since I watched Pirates of the Caribbean at the ripe age of 7, I have loved pirates, i love the adventure , the sea shanties, the roar of cannon, and the walks down the gangplank. I love pirates in every form, from one piece, to treasure planet, to even the real historical figures, I adore pirates, and because of my love for them, I’ve been craving reading some fantasy novels based around pirates or at least something very close. Thus I’ve finally read The Bone Ships by RJ Barker and man I liked it!

This is exactly what I’ve been in search for when it comes to nautical fantasy, it’s got a very interesting world, a cool story, great pacing, great action and enjoyable characters! I really like the concept of this never ending war between these two nations who essentially sail the bones of sea dragons, which are now allegedly extinct. I also think the way Barker uses familiar pirate media, especially POTC, and adds his own dark flavor to it, makes for one of the most unique, and interesting worlds I’ve comes across in recent memory. I really don’t know that I’ve read anything quite like The Bone Ships as far as world building goes.

The pacing here is also very solid, I don’t think the author wastes anytime moving the plot along and instead gets you right into the action, which speaking of which, is very well written! There’s a lot of fighting in this book, and while it’s not exactly like the pirate media you’re probably used to, I do tho k if you like the age of sail, you’ll dig how he writes action here. My only complaint is that the characters aren’t particularly deep in any meaningful way, tbh eh are an entertaining group to follow, but not one I’d call very memorable tbh.

Otherwise though, The Bone Ships is a very enjoyable nautical fantasy that has finally scratched the itch I’ve had when it comes to pirate fantasy and I’m interested to see how RJ Barker develops his story and world in the next two novels. 8.5/10

“Time has power, as does place.”

Winter Solstice is the fourth book in The Wandering Inn and by now I think someone reading these books is either in, or they’re out and me personally, I’m firmly in the former camp. I can honestly say that I’ve fallen in love with The Wandering Inn as a series, and I’ve been enjoying myself immensely with every entry and of course Winter Solstice is no exception to that, but I do have to admit that this one is my least favorite so far.

I feel as though up to now, despite the slice-of-life nature of the story, The Wandering Inn has been building momentum towards the next large story beat, but it Winter Solstice departs from that and feels more like a long side story, which it basically is.
I’m not necessarily complaining that the plot here is more focused on the characters just existing, and I do enjoy the Wistram days chapters but it does feel like a lot mor “relaxed” than I had personally expected. So for me at least the plot is lacking.

The good news though is that the characters continue to be the strongest part of this series and despite the plot being less interesting, I can’t say the same about the povs we get in this entry. From seeing the backstory of Ceria and Pisces, to more from Rags, to Erin’s return to the Inn, all of the characters are immensely enjoyable to follow throughout the novel. I again found myself grinning like an idiot at several parts and near emotional devastation at others, which to me highlights the strength Pirateaba has as an author for getting you invested into the world they are creating.

Overall Winter Solstice is a good entry into The Wandering Inn, even though I didn’t love the plot in this one as much as pervious entires, I did still find immense pleasure in just getting to be with the characters. I continue to be amazed by how good these books are and I’m very much looking toward to seeing what happens next. 8.5/10

“Either you took a risk and died or became famous.”

Flowers of Esthelm is the third entry into The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba, and I can officially say that if I was not before, I am totally hooked on this series! While flowers of Esthelm doesn’t reach the height of Fae & Fare, this book was absolutely awesome and it really expands the scope of the series yet again.

I feel like so much happens in these books that it’s hard for me to legitimately do a review because what do I cover? There is so much good stuff in these pages to attempt to convey in mere words, and it’s especially hard to do without spoiling massive parts of what actually took place, so I believe after this entry, I will start doing spoiler reviews. Anyways back to the review.

The focus of this book shifts from Ryoka and Erin to characters who up until this point have been secondary in nature, but I think it really works for what this book is going for. We get introduced to Laken, who frankly I’m still mixed about, but we also get to see more from Lyonette, Toren and people in both Liscor and Celum. I feel like this book also is much more on these slice of life side compared to F& F&F. That doesn’t mean that this book doesn’t have tension, in fact there’s like a three - four chapter stretch that has arguably the most action intensive scenes this series has had so far, but outside of that, it feels a bit more relaxed.

I was pretty surprised to find myself so deeply invested in characters who’ve had little page time compared to Erin and Ryoka, but I guess I shouldn’t be because Pirateaba has an incredible talent for getting you to fall in love with, or even hate characters within a couple of sentences. For instance, in the last entry, I was not the biggest fan of Lyonette, but actually seeing things from her perspective in this novel, completely changed my opinion. The same can be said for the Horns of Hammerad, while I enjoyed them as characters before I feel like this was the novel that actually made me completely invested in them as an adventuring group and I loved what they went through.

This novel, as I mentioned before, also does have a 3 to 4 chapter stretch that is probably some of the best writing that this series has produced so far. I won’t go into any sort of major details because if you haven’t read it, I would hate to spoil it, but there is a section here that takes place in a city that has been overrun by goblins and it is absolutely fantastic. I didn’t cry, but man I got misty eyed at a few parts and chills even more.

I also really enjoyed the few bits of Erin and Ryoka that we do get in this novel, especially Erin who had a great set of moments when she introduces a certain beloved playwright to the inn world. I might be biased because I love their plays but that moment really stuck out to me and I really enjoyed everything that happened in Celum.

Overall, while it may not have reached the height of Fae & Fare, Flowers of Esthelm is another great entry into The Wandering Inn! Every entry has become more in rounder by the series and unfortunately for me I am at this point totally hooked and I cannot wait to see what happens next. 8.8/10