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.  I run this segment in conjunction with the Can’t-Wait Wednesday meme that is currently running at Wishful Endings.  Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them.  For my latest Waiting on Wednesday I take a look at one of my most anticipated reads for the second half of 2021, The Bone Ship’s Wake by R. J. Barker, the final book in The Tide Child trilogy.

Most fantasy readers will be familiar with the incredible talent that is R. J. Barker, especially as the author has been one of the leading authors in the genre since their debut in 2017.  I have been a major fan of Barker’s ever since I read the first book in his The Wounded Kingdom series.  This first book, Age of Assassins, was a great read that focused on an intriguing pair of assassins in a dark fantasy world.  I had a fantastic time reading Age of Assassins, and Barker swiftly followed his debut with Blood of Assassins and King of Assassins, both of which were better than the last.  I deeply enjoyed The Wounded Kingdom novels, and Barker made sure to capitalise on this success by releasing another amazing series the following year.

This second series was the outstanding and impressive The Tide Child trilogy.  Set in another unique dark fantasy world, The Tide Child novels follow a condemned crew who are forced to serve aboard black ships made from the bones of sea dragons and fight in a deadly, long running war.  The first novel in this series, The Bone Ships, introduced the central characters and set the crew on an epic quest to find and kill the last dragon.  This was an incredible and outstanding novel, as Barker was able to produce a powerful and compelling read that made full use of its nautical setting and features.  The Bone Ships was one of my favourite books and audiobooks of 2019 and is a very highly recommended read.  Its sequel, Call of the Bone Ships, was another five-star read that was a particularly strong 2020 novel.  This second Tide Child novel had a great plot, which saw the crew, particularly its Shipwife, Meas Gillbryn and main character, Joron Twiner, start a rebellion in order to end the war and save the returning dragons.  Call of the Bone Ships ended on a fantastic cliffhanger, which leads us into the final book, The Bone Ship’s Wake.

The Bone Ship’s Wake, which is currently set for release on 28 September 2021, has an amazing amount of potential and I already know that it is going to be one of the better fantasy books of the year.  I have been hoping to feature this novel in a Waiting on Wednesday article for a while, but I had to wait for the cover to be revealed.  The wait was worth it however, as the new cover looks pretty damn impressive (all The Tide Child novel’s covers have been exceptionally cool).  In addition, we also have a brief synopsis, which provides some intriguing hints about what is going to happen with this final book.

Synopsis:

Discover a brilliantly imagined epic fantasy of honor, glory, and warfare in this action-packed conclusion to the David Gemmell Award-nominated trilogy.

But the Sea Dragons have returned, a miracle in itself, and who is to say that if you can have one miracle, there cannot be another?

Whelp, I know that I am excited for this.  It looks like Barker plans to end his trilogy on a massive high note, with lead character, Jordan Twiner, continuing the rebellion that was started in the previous book.  It will be very interesting to see how the entire story unfolds, especially as Twiner is dying from a disease, is missing the guiding influence of his Shipwife (captain) who sacrificed herself for her crew, and is also an apparent prophesised world destroyer.  There are so many awesome storylines that need to be wrapped up from the previous novel, and I cannot wait to see what Barker has planned for this final novel.  You have to know that there are going to be some major moments and twists featured in this final book, and I am expecting a particularly large and impressive naval battle at some point (I’m picturing rebel ships and dragons versus everyone else).  There is also likely to be a lot of painful and moving character development, especially as Twiner gets closer to either his death or achieving his unwanted destiny.  It will also be great to see what happens to some of the various side characters, as you become rather attached to several in the previous two books.  All of this should be pretty epic, and I am dying to see how it all comes together.

As you can probably tell from the above, I am pretty keen for this final novel in The Tide Child trilogy.  Barker is an exceptional author, and based on all his prior works, I know that this will be an incredible and captivating novel.  The Bone Ship’s Wake has nearly unlimited potential and I have no doubt that Barker will write one of his best novels yet.  This will be one of the best fantasy books of there year, and if you have not explored The Tide Child trilogy yet, you are missing out.