Early Review – The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 496 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN-13 : 978-0062888631
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Twenty-five years ago, five heroes risked their lives to defeat the bone maker Eklor—a corrupt magician who created an inhuman army using animal bones. But victory came at a tragic price. Only four of the heroes survived.

Since then, Kreya, the group’s leader, has exiled herself to a remote tower and devoted herself to one purpose: resurrecting her dead husband. But such a task requires both a cache of human bones and a sacrifice—for each day he lives, she will live one less.

She’d rather live one year with her husband than a hundred without him, but using human bones for magic is illegal in Vos. The dead are burned—as are any bone workers who violate the law. Yet Kreya knows where she can find the bones she needs: the battlefield where her husband and countless others lost their lives.

But defying the laws of the land exposes a terrible possibility. Maybe the dead don’t rest in peace after all.

Five warriors—one broken, one gone soft, one pursuing a simple life, one stuck in the past, and one who should dead. Their story should have been finished. But evil doesn’t stop just because someone once said, “the end.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone fantasy that I got from NetGalley to review.

Story (5/5): It was fun to read about heroes that are later in life and I really loved the bone magic throughout. There was a lot of wonderful adventure here and this was an excellent twist on the typical vanquishing ultimate evil type of storyline.

Characters (5/5): The characters are a big part of what makes this story amazing. The story focuses around five heroic warriors but initially mainly follows Kreya. Kreya lives in an isolated tower with her dead husband and bone creations. All the characters are intriguing and easy to engage with. I really enjoyed reading about them and watching them grow and change even though they were older and had already been through a lot.

Setting (5/5): I absolutely adored this world driven by bone magic. The setting itself is fairly typical fantasy, but the bone magic drives most of the world and adds a really intriguing aspect to the story.

Writing Style (5/5): As with all of Durst’s books this was very easy to read and the writing flowed well. There is excellent description throughout, the story was well paced, I really enjoyed the characters and the magic system. I loved that this was more of a classic fantasy adventure story but with a little twist. I love adventure fantasy but I feel like not a lot of good adventure fantasy is being written right now; this story was perfect for me!

My Summary (5/5): Overall I really loved this. I had high expectations for this story and they were all met. This is a great balance of fast-paced adventure, wonderful characters, an interesting magic system, and a classic “evil vs good” fantasy storyline with a bit of a twist. I loved it! Durst continues to be a must-pick-up author for me and I am so excited to see what she writes next!