THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER by @andreagstewart is a solid debut into the Asian fantasy genre.

The worldbuilding is rather mysterious in that we are given very little information, which we have to piece together as the story progresses. Yet, somehow it manages to pull you in immediately and I was immersed from the very beginning.

This is written in multiple POVs, of which my favorite perspective was Lin, the emperor's daughter and titular character. Lin is fighting to regain her lost memory in order to claim her right to the throne, but as she finds clues to her previous life she is forced to reconcile this information with her existing sense of identity.

I also appreciated the commentary on class and privilege through the perspectives of Phalue, a governor's daughter, and Ranami, a gutter orphan.

Overall, this was an easy, fast-paced read that keeps you guessing the entire time. I will say that I was able to predict the reveals, which made the end feel less climactic - but still satisfying nonetheless. I'm looking forward to seeing where Stewart takes us in the next book.

What a interesting concept and characters! I'm definitely looking forward to reading much more by this author.

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart is a fascinating story about magic and power. Sure, magic and power are common storylines, but Ms. Stewart puts it together in a refreshing way. Moreover, for all the rather dark nature of most of the magic that occurs within the story, it is a hopeful plot. All of this makes a fantasy novel that rises to the top of a spectacular list of new releases this autumn.

Some series read like series. You know the first two novels are going to end on cliffhangers, and the first story either explains too much to establish the world or doesn't explain enough. The Bone Shard Daughter is neither one nor the other. Nor does it end with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger.

Instead, it ends at what I would consider a natural break in the story. We meet all the main players in the action and learn their stories. In addition, we gain some basic knowledge about the world and receive hints about a greater problem that these characters will face. Lastly, we obtain the resolution of certain smaller plots which only serve to lead to the next conflict. In short, it is exactly what the first book in a series should be.

One of the best aspects of The Bone Shard Daughter is the balance between questions and answers Ms. Stewart maintains. She provides readers with the perfect number of answers that allow us to understand what is happening. At the same time, she allows the story to naturally raise more questions, keeping your interest.

This is true of every part of the book. It is as if The Bone Shard Daughter is just the tip of an iceberg, with the rest of the series being those portions of the ice still underwater. We know the characters are going to come together in some way but don't know how or why just yet. The magic we see is not the only magic that exists in this world. Again, we know this but don't know what it means or what form this other magic will take. Rather than detracting from the story, knowing that there is more to come for the characters and the world-building only enhances it because it is such a satisfying story.

Like most fantasy novels, the cast of characters is not small. There are four narrators who take us through the action, and they are all fabulous. Compassionate and complex, they are not afraid to admit their faults. Moreover, they all have such passion for their chosen path. They are all about righting wrongs, even as they realize their methods may not be the best to achieve that aim. There is a surprising amount of character growth as well, as these are characters who learn from their mistakes and the mistakes of others. I am excited to see what Ms. Stewart has in store for them all in future stories.

The Bone Shard Daughter is one of those novels that burrows its way under your skin. You find yourself constantly thinking about it, even when you would prefer to be asleep. The hopefulness of the characters bleeds into your everyday life, and suddenly the world looks like a place where you can make a difference. I want to put The Bone Shard Daughter into the hand of every fantasy lover because it is deserving of becoming a best seller.

In a world comprised of islands ruled by a reclusive Emperor with a daughter no one has seen since she was young, where the Emperor's constructs run everything on each island, there are those who are restless, who would bring change to the Empire. At the age of eight, every child goes through the Tithing Festival and has a chip of bone taken from their skull to be stored in the palace until it's needed to power a construct. Lin, the Emperor's daughter, is determined to be named heir, doing everything in her power to learn how to code the constructs. Not everyone is happy about it, though, and will do everything in their power to bring down the Empire.

Growing up with a moderately traditional Chinese father meant our home was decorated with large decorative fans, wall hangings with Chinese characters, strange statues of supposedly heroic figures in Chinese history, and beautiful pillowcases embroidered with scenes featuring mountains, countless stairs, delicate pagodas, scraggly trees, and wisps of fog. They were haunting. Eerie. Forbidding. Magical. I felt the exact same way while reading The Bone Shard Daughter. It was haunting and eerie, especially with the strange Alanga relics that had small, but powerful roles. It was magical, but made me want to jump out of my skin sometimes, especially while reading on my Kindle in the dark. It didn't necessarily feel lyrical, but it did transport me into this fantastical world, and I sometimes feared I wouldn't be able to get out.

The Plot: Slow, but Carefully Crafted

The Bone Shard Daughter can best be summed up as everyone against the Emperor because he literally uses his people's life forces to power his constructs and protect everyone from the Alanga, who haven't been seen in generations.

There's his daughter, Lin, who was struck with an illness when her father adopted a son, Bayan, who she now competes against in a race to regain memories and gain keys to all the locked doors in the palace. Secrets are around every turn and danger lurks in the shadows. There's no love lost between Lin and Bayan as their father turns them against each other, but Lin is desperate for approval, to be named heir as the Emperor's sole blood child. She'll do anything to learn the secrets, to prove herself worthy.

Jovis travels the islands as a smuggler while hunting down information about a ship with blue sails. His wife vanished on it 7 years ago and he's desperate to get her back. When an island mysteriously and abruptly sinks, he saves a little boy and a kitten-like creature, Mephi, which earns him both a new, unwanted job of rescuing children from the Tithing Festival for a fee and a new friend who bestows incredible powers, powers the Shardless Few want to use for their own ends.

Phalue is a governor's daughter and thinks she knows her common born girlfriend's problems with the governor and how the island is governed. But, Ranami doesn't believe she does. When Ranami gets both of them up in above their heads with the Shardless Few, more than a few revelations are made, and more than a few changes are in order.

Finally, Sand just wants to collect as many mangoes as she can, as is required of her, until she falls, injures herself, and starts to see shards of a past she can barely grasp. Now she just wants to get rid of the fog she and countless others are stuck in and get off the island.

There's so much to this book, so many story lines. At first, it was a little difficult to figure out what they had in common, how they could possibly converge. For almost half the book I felt a bit out to sea, and it was slow going. I liked their individual journeys, but it was a bit boring and tedious. Finally, when everything started to come together, it really came together. Realizations exploded in my head and I couldn't read the second half fast enough. It was creepy and eerie and made my skin crawl, but every word of it was delicious. It's a carefully balanced story of those who would keep things as they are and those who seek revolution while also subtly pointing to danger just around the corner.

The Characters: Very Human

The characters were really the stars of the book. They propelled the story forward, made things happen with their choices. They were human, so they didn't always make the right choices, didn't always think things through. Each had their own motivations even when their threads became twisted with another's. I liked that Lin was desperate to get what she wanted, so desperate that she made mistakes that just made the story leap forward. I loved the conflict in Jovis's heart, and the idea that his loyalties are torn, or maybe he has none. The ambiguity about him at the end was absolutely perfect. Ranami made my heart ache as she was so desperate for one thing that she became blinded to several facts that would make her innocence apparent.

Most of all, I adored the relationships. The ones in the palace were fascinatingly dysfunctional, which turned out to be even more dysfunctional by the end. It was bizarre, but, bizarrely, it all worked. The one that stole my heart, though, was between Jovis and Mephi. I loved Mephi so much I wanted to reach into the book and pull him out so he could be my friend. I'm dying to know exactly what he is, but I have my suspicions. The one disappointment I had was that between Phalue and Ranami. I liked it, appreciated it, but it also felt thrown in and not as developed as the other relationships. Or maybe the story was just so massive, so long, that there wasn't enough space to fully develop it. Even the one between Lin and the blacksmith she forced into making keys for her had depth and feeling in it. The one between Phalue and Ranami felt shallow compared to every other relationship, almost as though there wasn't any real feeling behind it even though they tried hard.

The Setting: Out to Sea

The world is comprised of islands that float around. Each island has its place in the dance. Since I have an e-ARC, I don't have the world map, which was disappointing because, in my mind, it's fabulous. I loved the tropical nature, the division between the dry and wet years. Each island was much like the others, but had some subtle differences. Since it's an empire of islands, though, it really showcased both what unified them into an empire, and divided them from the empire.

Then there's the palace. It was kind of creepy as the family consists of only three people. The rest of the palace has a whole bunch of weird constructs and some servants who skedaddle as soon as someone appears. It felt so empty and quiet, almost as though no one actually lived there. The weirdest part was the locked doors. It was fun to explore what was behind them with Lin, but also made me feel like my heart was going to jump into my throat because there was no telling what she would find.

Overall: Beautifully, Eerily Fascinating

First of all, Mephi made the book for me. I was so taken by him that, even if the story had been terrible, I would have kept reading only for him. Fortunately, the story was beautifully, weirdly fascinating. The world was well-thought out, the characters were likable even when they weren't, and the converging story lines really made things interesting. Overall, a haunting story with a great deal of potential to be something massive, yet compelling.

Thank you to Angela Man at Orbit for a free e-ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.
Link to post: https://thelilycafe.com/book-review-the-bone-shard-daughter-by-andrea-stewart/

This seems to be my year for reading an unusually large number of books featuring necromancy and/or assorted death magics (Gideon the Ninth by Tamsin Muir and The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher); an odd coincidence, considering the fact that I can’t recall reading anything that touched on the subject in years (I think it was probably Sabriel, by Garth Nix, about three years ago…?) Anyways, another fun jump into a darker flavor of magic. I may need to create a new shelf for the topic.

What’s it about? – The emperor has been ruling his country for many decades with the aid of bone shard magic (a form of bone magic that creates animal-like effigies called constructs). He is a heavy handed ruler and revolution is brewing along the edges, especially now that a combination of age, grief, and over-extended territory is loosening his grip on control. The empire is literally falling apart, islands are sinking and earthquakes are devastating increasingly fearful citizens; citizens who are already discontent with the tithing system that requires them to give up a shard of their own bone to the empire. Each shard hangs over the heads of their donors, as they wait for the day it is used by the Emperor and begins to slowly draw away their life force to power the imperial constructs. If their shard is used, it is a slow death senetence.

The story follows the the points of view of five main characters from different islands who each have very different perspectives on the social, political, and magical problems that are rotting away at the heart of the empire.

Characters:

Lin – Emperor’s daughter, who suffered a devastating illness five years ago which caused her to lose most of her memories. Her father sees this loss as a failure and is toying with the idea of disinheriting her. She is desperate to prove herself—and to find herself. Bayan, emperor’s foster son, may end up inheriting if Lin’s father can’t stop being a turd.

Jovis - A smuggler who is tough, resourceful, and in debt to a major criminal group. He has spent the last several years on a quest to find his missing wife Emahla and reluctantly doing assorted heroic things along the way, despite being convinced he is in no way heroic. He gets bonus points with me because he has a super awesome animal familiar named Mephi. Also funny: “Is it still talking to oneself if the other person is unconscious?”

Phalue - Set to become governor, if she inherits from her father. Though previously a bit of a philanderer, she is deeply in love with a woman named Ranami, though the two are occasionally at odds on the topic of class politics, “she could no sooner leave Ranami than the world could leave the sun”

Ranami - Very conscious of class disparity and has high standards for people in leadership. She is willing to make tough decisions if she thinks a cause or outcome is worth the price. She and Phalue have a very cute love language that totally includes crabs (of the crustacean variety)

Sand - We meet her doing difficult manual labor as she gathers mangoes. She is having unusual memory issues.

The prose is engaging and incredibly <i>pretty</i> considering the fact that there are a lot of grotesque monstrosities made of bone magic. Plus loads of nifty scenery with floating (...and occasionally sinking) islands.

TW: As you may have guessed from the title of this book, some of the magic contained within features some pretty intense body horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for granting my request for a review copy. I was surprised to receive an approval so close to the publication date!

I love the multiple stories taking place here and how they weave together to tell of a system that is great and treatrous. It was easy to connect with these characters and their stories were all compelling. I am 40% into this book and I am just going to go buy it. I am enjoying it that much. What a great voice to add to my list of must-read fantasy authors.

I started reading this without knowing much about it. I will admit that it was the cover that drew me. But the more I read the less I could put it down. The world building and magic system is immersive and I enjoyed every moment I was reading this story. I hope to read more soon!

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

My Rating: 4 Stars

Can we take a moment to talk about first lines? I have always believed that the first line of a book can tell me a lot of what I need to know about how much I’ll enjoy the story. In fact, I just posted an entire Tik Tok video about books that had me hooked by the end of the first line. Want to know what book was included in that video? The Bone Shard Daughter. The first line to this amazing book is “Father told me I’m broken.” I don’t know about you, but that one line had me so intrigued that I couldn’t stop myself from starting this book immediately. Even though I was in the middle of another book…

The main characters of this book are the Emperor’s daughter, a Governor’s daughter, the Governor’s daughter’s girlfriend, and a lovable, if a little broken, smuggler. Let’s be honest, we love a tortured soul in a book. Oh, and did I mention that aforementioned tortured soul has a talking animal companion? While all of the characters in the book were great, I’m a sucker for a talking animal so Mephi was hands down my favorite.

While I did enjoy the main characters immensely, and can say with complete confidence that I liked all of their POVs almost equally (the smuggler was obviously my favorite because of Mephi), the strongest thing in this book for me was the magic system. It was unlike anything I had ever read and was morbidly fascinating. It was interesting to see so many facets of the magic, and to see how its use impacts people differently throughout the Empire.

Overall, this book surprised me, delighted me, intrigued me, and kept me interested all the way through. While there were a few pacing issues, and fewer action scenes than I tend to like in a book (a matter of personal preference, I know) I thought that the characters, world, and magic system were all set up well for future books. I can’t wait to see where this series goes, and can only hope that Andrea Stewart plans to keep my precious Mephi safe. Hey Orbit, can we get Mephi plushies?

Oh wow, that was pretty amazing! There is so much in this book that I loved, starting with the major players: Jovis, a smuggler; Lin, the emperor's daughter; Phalue, the governor's daughter; Ranami, Phalue's girlfriend and part of the resistance, Sand on an isolated island of the lost memories, and Mephi, who I just wanted to cuddle with! The world-building and magic/science system were quite intriguing and I am definitely looking forward to finding out more about it. The storylines were wonderfully complex, but still fairly easy to follow, although, I loved that I couldn't figure out what was going on until closer to the end, and there were still some surprises! The story was told from the point of view of each of the major players (except Mephi), but I was never confused about whom I was switching to nor what was going on. And I was always excited to get back to each person. There was quite a bit of death, but there was also survival and triumph. I loved how these characters learned and change along the way, and how the author moved them throughout the story like pieces of a chessboard. This is probably going to end up being one of my favorite starts to a series this year (and I've started a lot of them this year) and I will be anxiously anticipating the next one! I loved this so much, I will probably look for the audiobook so I can revisit it a different way, probably just before the next one comes out!

FTC Disclosure: Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

First of allow please allow me to appreciate authors, publishers, and the NetGalley team for providing an opportunity of reading this amazing fantasy.

Interestingly I do not see much public response for this fantastic work, and just want to mention that this work provides a very refreshing and very interesting view on bone magic, which was practiced by some pagan societies and even up to the 16th century and may still be practiced in some groups. Fantasy books published within the last couple of years do not normally depict this form of practice that was part of our social life...
I sincerely appreciate the name of the series, "TheDrowning Empire", because the empire we are following in this book is drowning both physically and metaphorically.
Overall this book was a 5-star read for me and there is one aspect of this work, that was really bothering me: from four points of views we are following, two are narrated in the first person and the other two in the third, which was really disturbing m reading pace and I was focusing on it more than I should have been. Other than that plot is very interesting, language is very accessible yet not primitive, overall a very interesting and fast read.

Brief synopsis: as a citizen of the empire you are obligated to "donate" a bone shard to the empire and whenever your bone is used in making constructs, the helping governing power of the empire ( emperor is the main person who handles practices), you start getting sick until your life powers are completely taken over and some characters are trying to turn the governing body and change the governing system and social life...
From the beginning, we sympathize with the main character, the heir, who lost her memory due to an illness brought by a person who is now jeopardizing her future and make her cognitive functions limited and unable to remember magic she is to learn.

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If possible, please share a physical copy if possible for me also appreciating this book the book in physical form as well!

4.25/5 stars I really enjoyed this!! I went in thinking it would be a stereotypical YA fantasy, but the plot was strong and the characters were great. We follow for perspectives and I really loved the main two. They're flawed but understandable, and both grow a lot through the book. The author did a great job at giving me red herrings and then what I thought was going to be the plot twist, was either a small reveal leading to a bigger twist, or a wrong turn to then give me the real twist. I'm still not sure what one of the POVs was for. I know she is going to have more of a plot in the other books, but I kept having my theories, but I think they are all wrong. I definitely have theories about Jovis' pet Mephi.
I also liked that the two main characters did not have a love interest in the first book. I think they are going to be each other's love interest, but it was nice to have a book that only had romance in one of the POVs. I am really excited for the sequel, and I'm sad that it's probably super far away. The only issue I had with the book was that I wish there was more world building. Is bone magic the only type? What is the caste system? Is there a continent with a bunch of islands? Or are they all islands? I think the book said there was a map in the final version and I think that would clear those two questions up, but they shouldn't rely on a map.

For decades, the emperor has reigned with the help of his constructs, created with bone shard magic, tasked to keep the citizens in line and, should the need arise, to protect the islands from the return of the Alanga. More and more, however, people have been questioning whether this protection is worth the cost and what the emperor has been up to hiding away in his palace since the death of his wife. Lin, the emperor’s daughter, has many of the same questions, as she strives to prove to her father that she’s worthy to be his heir and learn his secrets. In further reaches of the empire, the smuggler Jovis is on the run and searching for his missing wife, while Ranami attempts to recruit her girlfriend, Phalue, to a rebellion against her own father, the governor of Nephilanu Island.

The Bone Shard Daughter is the first installment in Stewart’s epic fantasy trilogy The Drowning Empire. It covers a lot of ground with a total of five point-of-view protagonists spread all throughout the islands of the Empire. Despite this ambitious scope, the story flows well and maintains a consistent pace. I was never confused by the switching point-of-views, and I felt that I got to know each of the protagonists well. Despite the distance between them, the character's stories were intertwined in a number of ways. And instead of a single culmination at the end, the mysteries in this novel were continuously unraveling, allowing time for me to create my own theories.

Lin’s determination and conflict between doing what she needs to and not putting others in danger makes for a compelling primary character. Her chapters are filled with suspense and surprising revelations, however, my favorite point-of-view by far is Jovis, in no small part due to Mephi, his adopted animal sidekick of unknown origins. While most of our characters are actively trying to dismantle or takeover the Empire, Jovis is much more of a reluctant hero. He wants nothing more than to be left alone and find his wife, but his plans are constantly derailed by people seeking his help.

Though we don’t see as much of Phalue and Ranami, they are no less important. It was a treat to see their pre-established sapphic relationship that, quite realistically, underwent a fair amount of friction, primarily due to the class difference between them. Rebellion and oppression are common topics in epic fantasy, but it’s much more rare to find a main character like Phalue who has to address their own privilege and how to overcome the biases it gives them.

Stewart’s worldbuilding in this novel was top-notch for several reasons. First, it was delivered from a multitude of perspectives, which allows us to begin to develop a conception of the whole of the empire, from the palace to the Endless Sea. Secondly, there were a number of components that felt fresh and contributed intricacies to the plot, such as constructs made from bone shard magic (at no small cost to the empire’s citizens), floating islands that migrate, and relics from an ancient civilization. And finally, the worldbuilding was delivered gradually and naturally, in large part through the mysteries that Lin and Jovis were each individually working to solve. This means that even at the end of the book, there’s still a lot left to discover about this world.

If you’re looking for a new epic fantasy trilogy to jump into, The Bone Shard Daughter is an excellent choice that provides complex mystery, a unique magic system, and a satisfying ending that will nevertheless leave you wanting more.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Orbit for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was so, so good!! I was hooked from the first line, enthralled with these characters who weren't afraid to go after what they wanted, even when it could cost them everything. I esp loved Jovis's relationship with his companion, Mephi. I can't wait for more of their misadventures!

It started out a little slow, but that is most stories we follow 4 different POV'S

*Lin : The daughter of the Emperor. Lin has lost all of her memory and must regain it before she can be heir and also prove that she is more worthy of the right than her adoptive brother.

*Jovis: (my favorite) he is a smuggler with so much Flynn Rider vibes it's not funny. He is on a mission to rescue his wife even after it's been years since she has been taken. Once his new companion Mephi comes into his life something inside him starts to awaken.

* Ranami : The Daughter of a Governor who has fallen in love with a commoner woman who tries to show her how bad it really is in the "real world"

*Sand: She has an accident that awakes her from a haze and once you start learning more about her it is mind blowing.


I did so enjoy this book and can not wait for the next one

Bone Shard Daughter introduced a new compelling world with political intrigue that will make you desperate for the next book. Told from various perspectives, Stewart explored how an empire that runs on the lifeblood of its citizens affected each person.

Lin, the emperor's daughter, was pitted against her father's foster son for both his affection and knowledge of bone shards. Jovis was a smuggler who unwittingly became a rebel tasked with taking down the imperial system. Ranami and Phalue were lovers who came from different backgrounds and found themselves at the heart of a rebellion, and Sand was just trying to piece it all together.

While the perspectives may seem overwhelming, they worked well with Stewart's storytelling and added a layer of understanding to the complexities of the world. The Bone Shard Daughter's world and magic was extraordinarily unique and the characters, especially Lin and Jovis, were captivating. Some readers might be frustrated that The Bone Shard Daughter ended with many unanswered questions, but I'm excited to see how this world expands in the following books.

I interviewed the author for the Reading the End podcast! Link is below, and transcript is forthcoming at the link as well.

The nitty-gritty: Fascinating world building and interesting characters make The Bone Shard Daughter a solid debut fantasy.

Book hype can be a double edged sword. On one hand, it can call attention to a debut author who might not otherwise get noticed, but it also sets up high expectations for the reader. The Bone Shard Daughter is one of fall’s most hyped fantasy debuts, and I’m very glad I had the chance to read it. Does it deserve all the hype, though? I found this book to be both amazing and frustrating, which led to a somewhat mixed reaction overall, so hopefully I can break down some of my feelings in this review.

The story takes place in a world made of floating islands and follows the perspectives of three main characters. Lin lives on Imperial Island and is the daughter of the Emperor. She wants nothing more than to please her father, who is in the process of deciding who will succeed him as Emperor: Lin or Bayan, a boy who came to the palace and is under the tutelage of the Emperor. His successor must be skilled in practicing bone shard magic, which is used to create the constructs that protect the kingdom. Lin, unfortunately, cannot remember anything about her life except for the past five years, due to an illness that stole her memories. Her father refuses to teach her bone shard magic until those memories return, so Lin decides to take matters into her own hands and learn the magic on her own.

The next point of view is a smuggler named Jovis, who is desperately searching for his missing wife, a woman named Emahla who was kidnapped seven years before. Jovis has stolen a valuable cache of a substance called witstone which he intends to use as payment towards the boat he secured in order to search for Emahla. His only clue as to her whereabouts lies in the memory of a ship with blue sails that left Deerhead Island just when Emahla went missing. Meanwhile, Jovis has made a name for himself stealing children away from the Tithing Festival before they can have their bone shards removed for the Emperor, and now parents everywhere are asking him to save their children. But a catastrophe on the Island sends Jovis out to sea, where he rescues a small creature named Mephi.

Phalue is the governor’s daughter and she hopes to follow in his footsteps someday. She’s in love with a commoner named Ranami who is part of a resistance group called the Shardless Few. Phalue wants Ranami to marry her, but Ranami doesn’t agree with the governor’s policies and the way he treats his subjects, and so she's turned down Phalue's proposal. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that Ranami wants Phalue to join her in overthrowing her father.

Finally, there is a fourth character who appears only a handful of times. Sand lives on an island called Maila and as far as she knows, she’s always lived there with her friends Leaf, Coral, Grass, Shell and the others. She spends her days collecting mangoes from the trees, but one day she falls and injures herself and something in her memory is jogged. Bits of memory of another life are starting to intrude, and now Sand is wondering if maybe she came from somewhere else.

All four of these narratives eventually come together, or at least their relationships become clearer, and it was fun watching how Stewart connected the dots over time.

By far my favorite thing about The Bone Shard Daughter is the world building. Stewart has created a world made up of floating islands, islands that tend to move around on their own. In this first book, we only get a glimpse of the wider world, as the focus is mostly on Lin, Jovis and Phalue, but there’s so much potential for this intricate world and idea, and I hope Stewart delves a little deeper in the next book.

Of all the story lines, Lin’s was my favorite, since her story revolves around bone shard magic, which is very cool. In this society, children are forced to have a shard of bone removed from their skull, the idea being that the Emperor will eventually use that shard to power his magical constructs, Frankenstein-like creatures cobbled together out of bits of animals. The Emperor carves a magical command on the bone and inserts it into the construct, and the construct then obeys whatever he tells it to do. He keeps all these shards hidden away in secret, locked rooms in the palace, and uses them randomly as needed. The diabolical part of this is that you never know when the Emperor is going to use a particular shard, and once he does, that person eventually becomes sick and dies.

I also loved the palace, full of hundreds of locked rooms all relating to bone shard magic. When Lin does something to please her father, he gives her a key to a room, which leads her to some very interesting discoveries.

There are also several shocking reveals in the story, some I saw coming and some I didn’t. For obvious spoiler reasons I won’t talk about them, but I thought they added a lot to the plot.

But something kept me from completely loving this story like so many other reviewers. As with several recent reads that I’ve had issues with, there is a lot going on in this story, maybe too much. And often with too many story elements, the plot becomes confusing and fractured. I also had so many questions at the end of the book. I don’t mind a little mystery leading into the sequel, because that’s how you hook your readers and get them to come back for more. But Stewart left lots of cool ideas just dangling with very little explanation, and it frustrated me to no end. A few: How was Lin able to learn bone shard magic so quickly? Why is there a different key for each of the locked doors in the palace? Why are cloud junipers so important and what do they do? Who were the Alanga and what happened to them, and why is everyone afraid they’ll return? How exactly do you stick your hand through a construct’s flesh to insert or remove bone shards? (That is never explained and it drove me nuts!) Why is Mephi afraid of witstone? Why are the leftover Alanga artifacts on the island like statues and murals opening their eyes?? These may seem like insignificant details, but it drives me crazy when I get to the end of the book and there still aren’t any answers.

Overall I’m giving The Bone Shard Daughter four stars. I loved Stewart’s ideas and I see a lot of potential for the rest of the series. The pacing suffers a little in places, and I didn’t enjoy all the different character point of views as much as Lin’s, but I am very curious to see what happens next. And hopefully to get some answers to my burning questions!

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.

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.

What an amazing book! The world building is fantastic, the characters interesting and the writing style superb. Within the first twenty pages I was sucked in and didn't want to put it down. The magic system is interesting and relatively unique. In a simplified explanation, bone shards are used to animate constructs which are then used in the government for everything from decision making, security, spying and intelligence, Last but not least, they are pretty creepy. Be warned, the point of view does move between characters. I think the transitions work, but it can be a bit disorientating if you aren't paying attention. Overall, I would put this among the better fantasy debuts I've read. I'm eagerly looking forward to part two.

Publisher: Orbit
# of pages: 448
Is this book part of a series?: Yes
Do I recommend it?: Yes
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart is a debut royal fantasy novel. It follows five perspectives (Jovis, Lin, Phalue, Ranami, and Sand, in rough order of page count) as they navigate stratae of power in an empire known only as the Empire.

The Emperor’s rule is powered by bone shard magic. When every citizen of the Empire is eight years old, a bone shard is ritualistically taken from them. Then, the emperor stores them away for use in a future construct. Unfortunately, once a bone shard is put into use, the person gets very sick, and their life is drastically shortened. One day, smuggler Jovis is asked to get one child away from this ritual. This revolutionary act starts a chain of events for Jovis that get him far more enmeshed in the Empire’s future than he wishes to be.

The Emperor’s rule does not suit all people. Ranami sees the plight of the poor, and insists that her island can be ruled better. She is in love with the governor’s daughter Phalue, even though she strongly disagrees with her father’s rule.

The Emperor rules all with an iron fist, even his daughter. Lin and her father’s foster-son Bayan fell ill a while ago. This illness stripped them of their memories. The Emperor has set them against each other in a battle for keys in the short term and the throne in the long term. Lin must puzzle through what her father wants of her, and if she should really be listening to him.

Sand is on an island, and suddenly wakes up to the fact that she doesn’t know how she got there, and that she should probably leave.

Discussion
I spent quite a bit of words on that summary, because I wanted to make it clear who this book prioritizes plot-wise. Although the book is titled The Bone Shard Daughter, a significant part of the action is spent with Jovis, Phalue, and Ranami, none of whom perform bone shard magic.

Despite these somewhat subverted expectations, The Bone Shard Daughter is a fun read. All of the point-of-view characters have distinct, engaging, voices. The plot takes a few turns, some the reader can see coming (like how detatched Jovis does not remain), and some that are a bit surprising.

I received this title from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.