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A review by vivaldi
The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Sarah Beth Durst's The Bone Maker is a standalone fantasy which explores the notion of second chances and what comes next after a hero's journey. Traditionally, we often come across fantasy stories which has a definitive "the end" after the grand climax and the concept of forgiveness remains underrepresented within the genre, so seeing these in the premise piqued my interest.
In this dark and haunting standalone, the concept is definitely the standout. In addition to the five heroes reuniting (which paves way for the novel to explore the hurt, forgiveness, and reconciliation), I thought the bone making magic system is pretty interesting - on how that comes with a great cost. I also think there are potentials for the different classed tiers in the city.
On the flipside, I think the overall execution of the premise & the concepts are rather mixed. Conceptually, this book is dragged down by its incomplete worldbuilding. While there are some details provided about the city and its tiers, there aren't enough context given resulting in a feeling of vagueness & incoherence. Even in character-driven novels, I would expect the worldbuilding to at least reflect a character's emotional headspace. There's a sense of disconnect between the characters and the world they live in here. Normally when I read fantasy books over several days, I can tell the quality of worldbuilding based on how easily I re-engage with the story. in the case of The Bone Maker I felt increasingly disorientated when I picked back up reading the book - red flag that the worldbuilding is lacking.
I also have mixed reception with the characters. While I liked the moral ambiguity and the overall character focus in the book, I found that the character development was quite uneven amongst the five heroes. For example I could easily grasp Kreya's emotional headspace but I barely had the chance to really connect with Marso as a character. I also think the 25 years separating the current and past timeline felt a tad under-justified due to the limited scope given the length of the novel. It's one of the cases where an author is trying to do a bit too much in a book and the end result appears stretched thin, which is a shame given the promising potentials given in the premise.
Due to the major shorcomings I've mentioned above, The Bone Maker felt quite underwhelming to me. While I think the magic system and the redemption concept was interesting, I personally couldn't recommend the book because I found execution of the story to fall way short of what the premise promised.
N.B. This book contains following triggering content: corpse, gore, death, and loss of loved ones
(2.5 stars out of 5)
In this dark and haunting standalone, the concept is definitely the standout. In addition to the five heroes reuniting (which paves way for the novel to explore the hurt, forgiveness, and reconciliation), I thought the bone making magic system is pretty interesting - on how that comes with a great cost. I also think there are potentials for the different classed tiers in the city.
On the flipside, I think the overall execution of the premise & the concepts are rather mixed. Conceptually, this book is dragged down by its incomplete worldbuilding. While there are some details provided about the city and its tiers, there aren't enough context given resulting in a feeling of vagueness & incoherence. Even in character-driven novels, I would expect the worldbuilding to at least reflect a character's emotional headspace. There's a sense of disconnect between the characters and the world they live in here. Normally when I read fantasy books over several days, I can tell the quality of worldbuilding based on how easily I re-engage with the story. in the case of The Bone Maker I felt increasingly disorientated when I picked back up reading the book - red flag that the worldbuilding is lacking.
I also have mixed reception with the characters. While I liked the moral ambiguity and the overall character focus in the book, I found that the character development was quite uneven amongst the five heroes. For example I could easily grasp Kreya's emotional headspace but I barely had the chance to really connect with Marso as a character. I also think the 25 years separating the current and past timeline felt a tad under-justified due to the limited scope given the length of the novel. It's one of the cases where an author is trying to do a bit too much in a book and the end result appears stretched thin, which is a shame given the promising potentials given in the premise.
Due to the major shorcomings I've mentioned above, The Bone Maker felt quite underwhelming to me. While I think the magic system and the redemption concept was interesting, I personally couldn't recommend the book because I found execution of the story to fall way short of what the premise promised.
N.B. This book contains following triggering content: corpse, gore, death, and loss of loved ones
(2.5 stars out of 5)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Violence