The Bone Shard Daughter

By: Andrea Stewart

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus, Feodor Chin, Emily Woo Zeller

An emperor fights to reclaim her power and her place on the throne in this "utterly absorbing" fantasy tale of magic, mystery, and revolution (Emily Duncan).

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.

"One of the best debut fantasy novels of the year." (BuzzFeed News)

"An amazing start to a new trilogy." (Culturess)

"It grabs you by the heart and the throat from the first pages and doesn't let go." (Sarah J. Maas)

"Epic fantasy at its most human and heartfelt...inventive, adventurous and wonderfully written." (Alix E. Harrow)

"Utterly absorbing. I adored it." (Emily Duncan)

"A thoroughly fantastic read." (Kevin Hearne)

"Stewart's debut is sharp and compelling. It will hook readers in and make them fiercely anticipate the rest of the series." (Booklist)

"Groundbreaking epic fantasy for a new age." (Tasha Suri)

"Begins with a spark of intrigue that ignites into a thrilling adventure." (Hafsah Faizal)

©2020 Andrea Stewart (P)2020 Orbit

Critic reviews

"An unforgettable tale of magic and intrigue, and the start of a fascinating trilogy." (Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, author of The Gutter Prayer)

"A grand, ingenious and sweeping tale of power, magic and heart, The Bone Shard Daughter is groundbreaking epic fantasy for a new age." (Tasha Suri, author of Empire of Sand)

"Stewart etches this story into your heart, filling it with everything I love about fantasy: a well-realized world, dark magic that challenges your presumptions, and deep questions about identity. Highly recommended." (Marshall Ryan Maresca, author of the Maradaine Saga)

a very excellent read

I love love love this book. well written well narrated. can't wait to read more

Fabulous Debut Novel - Magic & Mystery

I won't lie, I bought this book because it had a great name and a great cover, but it was a gamble that paid off: the book is a good as it's awesome cover and epic name implies.

THE GOOD

Pacing: First off, the pacing is excellent. The author employs a trick used by graphic novel writers to keep you coming back for the next chapter (or issue in the case of comics); she ends each chapter with a mini cliffhanger. It works great for keeping you invested in the story, and due to it the book has nearly flawless pacing.

Characters: All of the characters are interesting, altough Lin, Jovis, and Sand are the stand-outs. Phalue & Ranami aren't quite as compelling for me, but I appreciate the complexity of their relationship. I also appreciate that they are a lesbian couple and that is really no big deal at all. Unlike ours, this Fantasy world is apparently not obsessed with how people have sex. It was quite refreshing.

Point of View: I was surprised when I realized that the book shifts back and forth from first and third person perspectives. It was so smooth that I didn't notice at first. Usually such a switch would be jarring or at least noticeable, but in this case it was handled deftly by the writer. An impressive feat for a new author.

Island Setting: I enjoyed the shades of Earthsea I detected with the world being made up of islands. Islands that migrate! I'm looking forward to learning more about that particular detail.

Cool Magic Systems: Right now the book appears to have two different magic systems, one which is delved into with some detail, the other which is a bit more vague, though I suspect future volumes will better explain. The Bone Shard magic that this book details is interesting and unusual. It seems to be a mostly "hard" magic system, though time will tell.

Unsolved Mysteries: the author does a great job of surrounding Lin, Jovis, and Sand's stories with multiple layers of mystery. And while we do get some answers by the end of the book, they just create more questions. I can't wait for the next book to learn more!

Prose: I'd actually say the prose is neither good nor bad, it mainly just doesn't "get in the way". There is no real poetry to the writing, but neither is the writing or dialogue "clunky".

THE BAD

That's a bit of an exaggeration, since there was nothing bad about this book at all. I will indulge in some nitpicking however...

Rushed/Pat Ending: the book ties things up somewhat abruptly at the end. There are some moments which feel a little too choreographed, and left me wanting a little more, especially where character interactions are concerned.

Anti-climatic Climax: so the "final battle" that one characters story led up to was a little undercooked. What should have been an exciting action scene lacked a lot of the tension necessary to build excitement. As a new author I'm sure she'll improve here, and it wasn't BAD, just not the Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson/Joe Abercrombie level of "boss battle" I've become accustomed to. (I'm spoiled, I know).

No Humor: It is actually quite a compliment to the writing that it didn't occur to me until about 80% of the way into the book that there is almost no humor at all. While this certainly isn't grimdark, the lack of humorous dialogue may leave some readers feeling it's lack, especially if you are used to writers who mix in witty banter with their drama. Despite the lack of laugh-out-loud moments, I don't feel the book lacked for much. The book has a lighter and more hopeful tone, so the humor is not needed to offset the drama as it would in say... a grimdark book.

THE VERDICT

Don't let the "BAD" points I listed stop you from reading, as again, they were all just nitpicks really.

This is a fabulous first book from a clearly talented writer, and I'll be anxiously awaiting for the sequel!

p.s. great narration!

Spectacular

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

Looking forward to the next one

I enjoyed the story and the world-building. The ending felt a little rushed and blunted as if there originally had been more.

Narration-- there have been a lot of reviews about the narration.
I think Emily Woo Zellar did a great job narrating. While some have reviewed her negatively, in my opinion, the issues rest with the post-production, not with the narrator. Natalie Naudus' performance was fine. She does drag out words, often in a monotone voice (think Kim Kardashian) which is a personal pet peeve of mine, and her pacing sometimes sounded a little awkward, like run-on sentances. Feodor Chin's choice for the voice of Mephi a little odd but otherwise enjoyable.

Kudos to the audio publisher for actually hiring Asian performers.

Holy cow!

I was utterly stunned by this book! The story is masterful, in some ways it was completely predictable, but at other times I was completely blown away by a twist I never saw coming! The setting was similarly beautiful. Expertly described, there were times I felt like was really there.
The three narrators were similarly wonderful. Each had such a unique voice and way of presenting the characters, you could feel the emotion in the reading.
Perfect 10/10 all around!

Interesting magic system, well done familiars. Great read/listen!

From the get go there is mystery and intrigue. Great character development, you can see the evolution of everyones motives and thought processes as they go through different experiences. You connect and empathize with the characters really quickly. Great book!

Power through!

At first I struggled to get into this book but once I was 8 chapters in it definitely got so much better! The story is interesting and unique, the magic system is also very cool and I enjoyed the individual stories. The only thing I struggled with was the male voice (a bit to gruff for the character he’s playing) but that’s really my only complaint. Overall the book is great and can’t wait to read the rest. The ending left me wanting more!

Two out of three performances solid

Two of the three narrators were great, but the last one (female) would announce the chapter title loudly and then lower her voice so softly I had to jack up the volume to even understand what she was saying. It drove me insane, especially since I listen on a commute and, when the chapter would change, I would be blasted by the regular sound level of the next narrator. This continued to be a pain throughout the book, so much so that I began to dread the change of narrator. The narrators obviously didn't talk to each other about performances either because when characters were interchanged throughout the journey of the book, the performances for the same character were wildly different.

Overall a decent read with a refreshingly new storyline for the YA community with lackluster performances by the audiobook narrators.

Surprisingly unique, chilling, and diverse

This book surprised me. You read in the summary of an Emperor's daughter, though are met with multiple perspectives with even more diversity. They all quickly won me over. The Bone Shard Daughter was a breath of fresh air. It had so much originality that I didn't know I had been missing till the last page. Even the magic was unique in its chilling complexity.

The author had a beautiful writing technique. I hadn't even realize till later that two characters where written in first person and the other two third person. They flowed so well I didn't feel the transition. And as I have read other reviews I now know too how fervently the Author respects the readers intelligents. Often things can be over explained to the point were you feel annoyed and insulted or even more often to were you can't develop your own thoughts or feelings. So with out the author hammering ideas into your head the story now has the opportunity of becoming unique to each of it's readers.

The map, yes thank you Andrea Stewart, was gorgeous. The soft detailed lines brought this Asian-inspired fantasy to life in my mind. Also the world building was very nice. Again I was so surprised by this book. I loved the diversity of the different characters. Poor, Noble, single, tragic, in love, betrayed, honorable. They all had a unique facet to them. As well the empires magic reminded me of necromancy with a distinctive element of its own. And what I thought was a predictable plot totally blew up in my face.

Good? Not Good? Definitely good. Hell yes Mephi was my favorite. Very supportive and enduring. I WANT ONE SO BAD! Though even with his cuteness the plot was more chilling than I realized going in. There was a build up, a sense of foreboding. Multiple theories dashed through my head and I could never pin them down. In the end this book seemed to be a set up for something much greater. Though I didn't mind it in the least. The author steadily gave information at a perfect pace, the story stayed engrossed. Furthermore Natalie Naudus,  Feodor Chin, Emily Woo Zeller did a beautiful job narrating. I will definitely be back for book two.

Narrator has harsh “S”

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep listening to this after the first ten minutes. The narrator has a really harsh “S” that was somehow amplified worse by a stereo speaker. Felt like an assault on my ears and S is a very common sound! But the story had pulled me in. So I listened to it reasonable quietly on headphones and the effect was lessened. Recommend trialing the voice before you buy if you are sensitive to these types of things.