Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.

For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I check out the new upcoming book from one of the fastest rising stars in fantasy fiction, RJ Barker.  Barker shot to prominence in 2017 with his debut novel, Age of Assassins, which was quite an impressive piece of fantasy fiction.  Age of Assassins was the first book in The Wounded Kingdom trilogy, and the rest of the trilogy, made up of Blood of Assassins and King of Assassins, were released to high critical acclaim in quite a remarkably short time period.  With The Wounded Kingdom trilogy finished, Barker has moved on to a brand new series with The Bone Ships, the first book in his planned The Tide Child series, which is set to be released in September 2019.

I really enjoyed Barker’s The Wounded Kingdom trilogy, with Age of Assassins and Blood of Assassins being among the top fantasy books I read in 2017 and 2018 respectfully.  I still have to read King of Assassins, even after featuring it on my Books I Wish I Read in 2018 Top Ten list.  Despite not getting around to reading it yet, King of Assassins is still quite high up on my must-read list, especially as I have heard that it is the strongest book in this inventive and exciting trilogy.  I hope that I will get a chance to read it in the next few months, and I would like to read it before I look at Barker’s upcoming book.

A number of details about The Bone Ships have already been released.  The book’s amazing cover has been out for some time, and plot details about the book are available on Goodreads.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A crew of condemned criminals embark on a suicide mission to hunt the first sea dragon seen in centuries in the first book of this adventure fantasy trilogy.

But betrayed and condemned to command a ship of criminals, Meas is forced on suicide mission to hunt the first living sea-dragon in generations. Everyone wants it, but Meas Gilbryn has her own ideas about the great beast. In the Scattered Archipelago, a dragon’s life, like all lives, is bound in blood, death and treachery.

The above summary sounds like The Bone Ships is going to be a lot of fun, as Barker goes from a trilogy about assassins to a book that focuses on a suicide squad of pirates as they attempt to kill a dragon.  I mean, that is just plain awesome: pirates fighting dragons!  Even if I weren’t already familiar with Barker’s ability as a fantasy author, I would already be trying to get a copy of this book.  With Baker at the helm of this epic-sounding story, I have no doubts that this book will an absolute joy to read, and I am really looking forward to it.

The Bone Ships has real potential to be one of the best fantasy books of 2019, and no doubt it will be one of the most sought-after releases this September.  I am quite excited for this latest novel from Barker, and I am sure it will prove to be an interesting book to review.