Book Review: "The Bone Shard War"

The conclusion to Andrea Stewart's masterful trilogy is as emotionally resonant as it is politically thought-provoking.

Warning: Several major spoilers for the novel follow.

I remember being absolutely blown away when I read Andrea Stwart’s The Bone Shard Daughter a few years ago. It was everything I looked for in epic fantasy: imaginative and complex worldbuilding; a magic system that was complicated by not overly ornate; and, of course, fascinating and richly-textured characters, all of whom were doing the best they could in a world that growing more unstable and uncertain with every day. And now, at last, we have the conclusion to this magnificent saga in The Bone Shard War. 

When this novel begins, some time has elapsed since the previous volume. Lin still struggles to keep the Empire from completely falling apart, even as she also has to deal with repeated threats from various revolutionary groups. Jovis, meanwhile, has been taken captive and, through the use of bone shard magic, forced to commit acts of atrocity, causing him no small amount of mental and emotional anguish and self-loathing. Phalue and Ramani–one of the best sapphic couples to have emerged from recent fantasy–find their own paths diverging, as  the former is coerced into helping Lin and the latter tries to maintain a tenuous hold on power. And, of course, there is also Nisong, one of the exiled constructs of the former emperor who finds herself increasingly disillusioned with the quest for power and revenge.

As with the other books in the series, The Bone Shard War asks some fascinating and knotty questions. Of particular interest is the issue of personal agency, and throughout the book we see the extent to which magical and political power doesn’t necessarily mean that a character has control over their own destiny. And, because we’ve been led throughout the trilogy to care about and love these characters–even if we won’t always agree with what they’re doing and even if we sometimes want to shake them to get them to exhibit some good sense–we feel the weight of these philosophical questions as much as they do.

For Lin, the issue of personal and political agency manifests as her continuing desire to do right by the Empire, even though her every action seems to bring about more chaos, death, and destruction. We feel with her as she struggles against the limits imposed by both the weight of history and by her own internal crises. As a construct herself, she has to grapple with what it means to be both an artificial being and yet, paradoxically, one of those who has the strongest claim to the throne. For all of her power and skill and political savvy, however, she repeatedly confronts the reality that the Empire as it is can no longer go on, nor can she be the savior that she so desperately wants to be. In the end, of course, she has to also accept that she isn’t the person who can rule the Empire and that, in fact, it may be best that rule be turned over to a council rather than one single authority.

Indeed, what I particularly appreciated about the ending was the extent to which it proved that things don’t always end happily, no matter how much we or the characters might like them to. Thus it is that Lin is finally reunited with Jovis, only to discover that the very steps she had to take to save his life have stripped his memories from him, leaving him to rebuild his identity from the ground up. Their future is as uncertain as that of the Empire, which is fitting, I think, given the extent to which the series has made clear that autocratic rule can never really sustain itself. As bureaucratic and sluggish as the new political system may be, at the very least it avoids the brutality and excesses that almost always attend one-person rule. There is, then, a remarkable progressive politics underpinning the story’s narrative, which is yet another way in which The Bone Shard War is a marked departure from so much of what fantasy usually has to offer.

At the same time, it’s not all doom and gloom and ambiguity, for Phalue and Ramani do end up together at long last. Having been separated by circumstances, it’s quite lovely to see them brought together, particularly given the fact that we’ve seen how much they each care for the other. Even though they both come from vastly different worlds, they’ve nevertheless managed to find a way to be together, forging a love that, in its essence, also has consequences for the wider Empire. If these two people can find a way of not only coexisting but loving one another–and this while one of them has become one of the most powerful people in the Empire!--then surely there is hope for everyone else. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss at least two other elements that really set this novel apart. First, there’s the villainous Ragan. Of all of the characters, he’s the one who seems to be the closest to a pure villain, in that he is driven so much by hate–and does so many things–that it can be difficult if not impossible to really sympathize with him. However, even with him there is a strong sense that his life has been one of tragedy, as whatever kindness or softness he might have possessed was beaten out of him by the monks who took him in. Though he is Alanga and thus a being of tremendous power, he ultimately finds that his greatest limitations are those he imposes on himself. He becomes as brutal and ugly and miserable as the very forces he tries so hard to defeat and, as such, his fate is a warning of the dangers of power. 

Second, there are the ossalen. These mystical creatures have a powerful connection to their chosen Alanga and, as it turns out, they are also the very basis of the islands upon which the Empire has been built. Of course Jovis’ ossalen Mephi is definitely the cutest of these–he’s like a cat and an otter mixed into one–but the others are just as charming and heartwarming. One of the things that makes Ragan such a malicious and unlikable character is the fact that, unlike all of his fellow Alanga, he doesn’t have any affection for his ossalen or care for its well-being. Far more than just cute animal sidekicks, however, the ossalen are a key part of this universe and the way it functions. 

All in all, The Bone Shard War is a stirring and resonant conclusion to Stewart’s trilogy. She manages to give us characters with heart and a story with both a strong narrative and a lot of political and philosophical heft. I can’t wait to see what she has for us in the future!