The Bone Shard Daughter

In an empire controlled by bone shard magic, Lin, the former heir to the emperor will fight to reclaim her magic and her place on the throne. The Bone Shard Daughter marks the debut of a major new voice in epic fantasy.

The emperor's reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire's many islands.

Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people.

Title: The Bone Shard Daughter

Series: The Drowning Empire

Author: Andrea Stewart

Genre: Fantasy

Hardcover: 448 pages

Publication Date: 09/08/2020

Publisher: Orbit

Language: English

ISBN: 0316541427

ISBN-13: 9780316541428

GOODREADS

My Review

My cup is full; I'm done reading for 2020. When a book is this good, I wonder, how can this possibly be topped? And so I stew and celebrate simultaneously over what I just read, cleanse my palate and try to move on...schleppingly.

I have been at this point before. I know there will be amazing books to follow, but this year seems to be an exceptionally remarkable reading year for me in terms of what books I have read (not necessarily in how many I read). So, this is where the mix of flavors and genres comes to the rescue, and hopefully, I can make it past THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER.

This novel was one of my most anticipated this year, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I found the writing and pacing of the storyline right on par and flawless. The plot is told in different POVs with a four-point axis of storylines and characters, propelling towards the same point through various circumstances, independent and unknowing, generating the crescendo of the novel.

Lin, the daughter of the Emperor of the Imperial Empire has lost her memories. Her mother passed away when she was just a child. Since then, she lives with her father and his constructs, while being kept within the confines of the palace, only to see foster son Bayan garnering more education, affection, and praise then her, the rightful heir of the Emperor.

Her biggest desire is to learn bone shard magic so she wouldn't be left without the knowledge on how to protect the Empire from the Alanga. At the current state, she has not earned enough keys to enter special rooms that will open up that knowledge to her, while Bayan has surpassed her in training and has been given more rooms to access.

As any good protagonist of a great story, Lin will not stand to be idle and pursues her luck to garner replica keys made from the originals she steels for just a short while. A risky operation that could get her as well as those helping her caught and persecuted. To do this, she trades a favor but does not hold up her end of the bargain. With more rooms to access now, she is discovering who she really is and the secrets about her parents that have been kept from her.

In the meantime, on Deerhead Island, Jovis the navigator, or perhaps better called the smuggler, is trying to escape a heap of problems he has created for himself. In the pursuit to find his long lost love, he has unbelievable luck to get away with almost anything, but perhaps not from the Ioph Carn who will continue to chase him over land and water. When Jovis takes on a young boy to sail him to his parents, the entire Island gets swallowed up and disappears. The word about his actions though does not vanish but rather gains momentum, so he ends up doing more and more smuggling of children so they would not have to attend the upcoming Tything festival. While at sea, he picks up a peculiar creature and it is the most adorable companion to have. Not quite a cat, not quite an otter. As it turns out, Jovis learns to communicate with the creature and they become a rock-solid team throughout the adventure.

There are two other character lines that will feed into the story. Those of Phalue who is in love with Ranami; not exactly unrequited, but perhaps at rest in some ways, as well as the story of Sand, who we meet climbing the mango trees at the edge of the Empire.

The empire is ruled by Lin's father, by proxy. His constructs are the executive front line via bone shard magic. Ilith - Construct of Spies, Uphilia - Construct of Trade, Mauga - Construct of Bureaucracy, and Tirang - Construct of War. Their commands are inscribed on bone shards similar to programming.

During Lin's quest, she is bound to face the constructs. If she does not want to be under her father's rule anymore, she will have to learn the magic of bone shards fast, by herself, secretly in order to deflect them. What she isn't aware of, is that there is a revolt building in other parts of the kingdom mounting to rise up to meet at their doorstep. This is the part where the other storylines begin to intersect and come together.

There are many elements that are crafted into the story that keep the novel interesting. The shift in perspectives and storyline are not immediately obvious to be connected which makes it such an engrossing read and a great foundation for the next book to follow. Though I am not sure where it will all lead, the ending made for a great commencement while pieces fell into place, and others were left to speculate over.

Everything about this novel spoke of perfection to me. The writing was immaculate, the characters boasted a variety of personalities, temperaments, and personas to become familiar and invested in, the world-building rose and fell appropriately with the storylines, and the overall plot was masterfully created.

I absolutely loved this fantasy and found it to be a flawless read I enjoyed immensely.

I do not doubt that the praise over this novel won't spread like a brushfire, but should you have not heard of THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER yet, then do yourself a favor and pick it up. For me, it was a highlight of the year.