Publisher: Orbit (Trade Paperback – 12 August 2025)

Series: The Rakada – Book One

Length: 470 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Prepare for one of the most entertaining, thrilling and over-the-top fantasy novels of 2025 with the intensely fun novel, The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford.

Jackson Ford is a compelling author who has written an interesting array of outrageous novels over the years.  Probably best known for The Frost Files series, which followed a telekinetic protagonist as she got in all manner of trouble, Ford has also released several fantastic science fiction novels under the name Rob Boffard.  I have been hoping to read some of Ford’s books for a while now, and I decided to finally take the plunge with his latest release, The Bone Raiders.  The first book in the author’s new The Rakada series, The Bone Raiders sounded extremely cool thanks to its entertaining plot and fun cover, and I couldn’t wait to dive into it.

In the grasslands of the Tapestry, raider bands used to run free as the supreme force of the wilds, pillaging towns and caravans at their leisure.  However, the glory days of the raiders are over, thanks to the rise of a new Great Khan with a vision to have all the people of his realm living under his thumb.  From his capital in Karkorum, the Great Khan has organised the slow destruction of anyone living in the Tapestry, with his mighty armies killing all who defy him.

Of the remaining raiders, none are as feared as the Rakada.  Better known as the Bone Raiders, the members of the Rakada are deadly fighters capable of fighting off most threats in the Tapestry.  However, their greatest weapon is their carefully cultivated reputation, gained by adorning their armour with the bones of the few people stupid enough to fight them.  But after the constant battles to escape the Khan’s armies, the Rakada only have a few raiders left.  With little food or viable targets to raid, the future of the Rakada looks grim, until a chance encounter with an araatan, a giant, fire-breathing lizard, gives young Rakada scout Sayana a bright idea.

After falling on the back of an araatan and accidently guiding its wild rampage to save the lives of her comrades, Sayana believes that these creatures are the future for her band.  Determined to find and train an araatan to be the ultimate combat mount, Sayana forcefully enlists the help of a legendary animal trainer from the capital.  However, coming up with the plan is one thing, but actually learning to ride the giant beasts without being burned alive is a very different proposition.  Worse, thanks to Sayana’s actions, the Rakada soon find themselves being hunted by the Great Khan’s ruthless right-hand, who wants her kidnapped sister returned to her.  To survive the vengeful onslaught coming their way and have any chance at a future, Sayana and her band will need to do the impossible and learn to ride the araatan or die trying.

Ford really did not disappoint with The Bone Raiders, as this awesome novel was everything I had hoped for.  Loaded with slick action, entertaining characters, and a particularly epic fantasy premise, The Bone Raiders was a fiery blast of fun from start to finish.  Working extremely well as the first book in the author’s new The Rakada series, The Bone Raiders was a great fantasy read with a lot of unique heart to it.

I have a lot of love for Ford’s ambitious and particularly awesome plot idea for The Bone Raiders, which saw a small band of badass, bone-covered female raiders attempt to change the status quo of their land by taming walking dragons, which frankly sounds a little out there, but which the author really makes work.  Starting off with a raid which goes bad very fast, Ford provides an excellent opening for The Bone Raiders, which features great character introductions amongst an unfortunate ambush and the sudden appearance of a giant fire breathing lizard, whom one of the protagonists, Sayana, inadvertently rides to save the day.  I really enjoyed how Ford quickly and effectively provided all the key details about this new fantasy universe, and some of the unique characters who inhabit it in this scene, and you get a great sense of the author’s style and humour here.  This opening sequence soon leads to Sayana coming up with the ambitious plan to train the araatan and ride them into battle against the Khan’s forces.  Forced to commit some light kidnapping of an additional supporting character, the protagonist is soon on her way to commit her plan, despite the worries of the Rakada’s leader.

While the protagonists attempt to gain the trust of a wounded araatan, Ford ups the stakes of The Bone Raiders’ plot through the sinister perspective of the book’s main antagonist Yesuntei.  Yesuntei proves to be an excellent complex villain for this first novel, and her deadly hunt for the Rakada leads to all manner of trouble.  Following some excellent sequences in the middle of the book, including a flooded raid and a brutal battle interrupted by sudden araatan attack, The Bone Raiders goes full throttle into its impressive final third, as Ford really amps up the action.  Thanks to a well-executed betrayal, the protagonists enter a particularly dark spiral which can only be resolved by a truly desperate plan.  As you can imagine in a book about first-time dragon tamers, things get crazy in this final section, including an all-out battle sequence with some true carnage.  I loved how all the key story elements of this book come together in this final scene, and it truly was the chaotic ending The Bone Raiders’ deserves.  Finishing off with a final foreshadowed reveal that sets up for some interesting continuation to the series, The Bone Raiders was so much fun to read, and I love its highly entertaining story.

I really enjoyed how this novel came together, and Ford clearly had a lot of fun writing The Bone Raiders, as the book featured a light-hearted style that expertly matched its over-the-top story.  Bringing together a great blend of high-octane action, chaotic characters and amusing humour, there is a lot to love and laugh about The Bone Raiders, as Ford tries to reach those readers who love a more comedic tilt to their epic fantasy.  However, there is far more to The Bone Raiders than that, as the author cleverly inserts inventive world building, subtle messaging, and some devastating emotional stakes around a particularly powerful cast.  All this captivating complexity is well showcased through three separate perspective characters, each of which provides a different take on the events of the book, including the main antagonist’s hunt for the protagonists.  Combine this with Ford’s excellent ability to pull together an over-the-top sequence of events, including several with araatan-riding shenanigans, and this was a very entertaining read that makes great use of the author’s complex and emotional writing.

One of the things that makes The Bone Raiders work so well is the varied and unique characters featured within the plot.  Ford does an amazing job of breaking the story up between three fantastic main figures, and there is some compelling character development which adds to the complex emotional intensity of this crazy novel.  Of these, the main protagonist is Sayana, a young scout of the Rakada, who ran away from a life of privilege to be free.  The idealistic and determined Sayana proves to be a great catalyst for many of the book’s main plot elements, and Ford provides some interesting character interactions amongst her plans, especially as she finds romance, rejection and the resentment of her chief in the same place.  The author writes an excellent arc around Sayana as she attempts to find herself, while also providing some hints at her past and who she truly is.  While I saw the big reveal about Sayana coming, it was still fun and should lead to some additional glorious carnage in the future.

While much of the focus of the plot is around Sayana, you also get some excellent chapters from the perspective of her fellow raider, Hogelun.  The Rakada’s muscle and brawler, Hogelun was an interesting choice for a secondary perspective figure, but it was one that worked well.  A straightforward figure, Hogelun provides some interesting alternate viewpoints to the plot, while also trying to deal with a complex romantic relationship.  Ford works in an excellent storyline about Hogelun finding her confidence and not letting others think for her, and I really enjoyed seeing her opinion on the chaotic events of the plot.  While Hogelun is fun, my favourite point-of-view character was the antagonist, Yesuntei.  A deadly figure who serves as the Great Khan’s right-hand, bringing about his vision, Yesuntei is resolutely determined to achieve her master’s goal.  However, when her sister is kidnapped by the Rakada, she risks everything to recover her, including returning to her war-crime roots.  Yesuntei ends up being a very worthy villain for this book, especially as Ford slowly strips away her veneer of control to showcase the deranged figure within.  Ford also increases the audiences dislike of this character by showing the layers to her manipulations, especially towards her sister, that are cleverly revealed as the book continues.  This helps turn Yesuntei into an excellent antagonist for this novel, and I was impressed with how Ford wrote her alternate perspective.

Of the remaining cast I need to highlight, one of the more significant is the eagle hunter, Tuya.  Yesuntei’s sister, Tuya’s affinity for training and controlling animals sees her kidnapped by Sayana and Hogelun to help in their wild plan.  Tuya proves to be one of the few truly selfless figures in the entire novel, and she proves to be a clever foil to both Sayana and Yesuntei, calling them out on their faults.  Ford writes a great storyline around Tuya getting her freedom, and her reactions and motivations are some of the more realistic in the entire book.  I also must highlight the other members of the Rakada, each of whom play a great role.  The Rakada chief, Chimeg, was a great pillar of wisdom for the book, even if her advice is ignored by the others, and Ford writes a great story around her weariness of the fight, especially after so many defeats and setbacks.  The archer Erhi was another great inclusion as the brains of the Rakada, as well as Hogelun love interest, and her complex narrative has some definite ups and downs.  Finally, there is the particularly awesome final member of the Rakada, Khun, a seemingly crazy raider who joined the Rakada and has been having fun ever since.  Khun is the book’s chaotic centre, and there were some hilarious scenes involving her.  However, as with the rest of the cast, Khun has a dark past that is cleverly revealed by Ford as the book progresses, and which helps to make the already entertaining Khun a favourite character.  All these great figures and their complicated development help to enhance the book’s amazing and epic plot, and I really appreciate how Ford uses them to make The Bone Raiders into something special.

With some brilliant chaotic energy, amazing action and a great sense of fun, Jackson Ford blazes into an awesome new series with The Bone Raiders.  An outstanding novel, The Bone Raiders was a highly addictive read that effortlessly keeps the reader’s attention.  I had an incredible time reading The Bone Raiders, and I cannot wait to see how The Rakada series progresses going forward.  The recently announced sequel, Sisters of the Lizard, is already a highly anticipated 2026 fantasy release for me, and if it’s as entertaining as The Bone Raiders, I already know I’m in for a good time.

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