Andrea Stewart's The Bone Shard Daughter uses amnesia as metaphor for empire's selective memory. The bone shard magic system is extraction economics made visceral—citizens' life-force mined for imperial infrastructure. The Bone Shard Daughter interrogates whether revolutionary leadership can exist without replicating imperial violence.
I listened to the first book on Audible. Putting the entire print series on my Christmas wish list, because I'll need to re-read the actual words and admire on my bookshelf.
Book Description (from the Publisher)
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.
Reviews
"The Bone Shard Daughter begins with a spark of intrigue that ignites into a thrilling adventure you cannot miss-with a unique (and painful!) magic system to boot."
--Hafsah Faizal, NYT bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame
"The Bone Shard Daughter is intricate and expansive, incisive and thoughtful -- a complex web of political and personal intrigue spun around questions of privilege, duty, and love. Stewart's debut is bound to have fantasy readers clamoring for the next installment."
--Kerstin Hall, author of The Border Keeper
"The Bone Shard Daughter is one of the best fantasy novels I've read in a long time. With stunningly intricate world-building that leaps off the page and characters who are so vibrant that you wish they were real, it grabs you by the heart and the throat from the first pages and doesn't let go until long after it's over. This book is truly special."
--New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas
"[An] action-packed, must-read epic fantasy...One of the best debut fantasy novels of the year."
--BuzzFeed News
I always wanted to be one of those people who wrote beautiful reviews of the books they've read and loved. But I am tired, and too busy trying to write my own books these days. I'm putting these recommendations on the site to support the authors I admire, and hopefully your local bookstore through Bookshop.org.
That being said, if you want to know why I like a book I recommend, just hit me up in the comments, and we can talk!
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