Books by R.J. Barker
RJ Barker is a critically acclaimed and award-winning author of fantasy fiction. He won the 2020 British Fantasy Society (BFS) Robert Holdstock award for Best Novel for his fourth novel, The Bone Ships.
The Bone Ships
by R.J. Barker
🏆 Winner Best Fantasy Novel, 2021 British Fantasy Awards
The Bone Ships by RJ Barker is the first book in The Tide Child trilogy (the second book in the trilogy, Call of the Bone Ships, is also already out, as book prize awards tend to lag publication by a year or so).
“In Whitby Museum, they have ships that have been carved out of bone by Napoleonic prisoners of war, and that stuck in my head: ships of bone, that’s pretty cool…So I wanted bone ships. Why would you build your ships out of bone? And the only answer is, because there’s no wood. So I needed to engineer a world without wood, which is how we get this world of vines that grow quite quickly during a season and then die back, and they’re not strong enough to make big ships. And then you get onto the question: how big does something need to be if you’re going to use its bones for ships? And the answer was: really big. So I had sea monsters. My editor was straight in with, ‘Let’s call them dragons.’ And I said, ‘I don’t think they really are dragons…’ But she said, ‘No, no, no. They’re dragons.’ So okay, we’ll call them dragons. And that was the starting point.” Read more...
Interviews with R.J. Barker
The Best Fantasy Worlds Books, recommended by R.J. Barker
For many readers, the feel of a fantasy world lingers long after the plot has faded. The key ingredient, says author R.J. Barker, is that the characters really do inhabit their world in their thoughts and actions, so that we can believe in it too. He introduces us to his five favourite worlds, each with the power to convince, compel and surprise you.
Interviews where books by R.J. Barker were recommended
The Best Fantasy Worlds Books, recommended by R.J. Barker
For many readers, the feel of a fantasy world lingers long after the plot has faded. The key ingredient, says author R.J. Barker, is that the characters really do inhabit their world in their thoughts and actions, so that we can believe in it too. He introduces us to his five favourite worlds, each with the power to convince, compel and surprise you.
The Best Fantasy Books of 2021
What sets fantasy apart from other genres of fiction? Its untethering from reality. In a year like 2021, that will be a welcome feature for many readers out there. If you’re looking for the best fantasy books, 2021 is shaping up to be a vintage year in the genre. However you like your fantasy—epic or short, high or low, dark or comic, contemporary or historical—it’s a great time to be an avid reader in the realms of the imagination.
