
Alex Kapranos recommended track Tears in the Typing Pool by Broadcast in Tender Buttons by Broadcast in Music (curated)

In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Book
At the end of World War II, J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of America's preeminent physicists. For...

Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear
Book
"Part memoir, part history, part documentary, part impassioned manifesto...it might be the most...

Twisted: Steel Brothers Saga
Book
Ryan Steel, his world recently upended by an earth-shattering secret, now faces yet another...
romance

Ross (3284 KP) rated The Bone Ships in Books
Oct 28, 2019
The first quarter of this book feels like wading through treacle, it is so thick with unexplained terms, creatures, materials and nautical job titles. Even things like trees are renamed as "gion" or "varisk", making it really hard to make head or tale of.
The story follows Joron, a depressed man lumbered with the role of shipwife (captain) on a black ship (one manned by those serving a prolonged death sentence for numerous crimes). His ship is abruptly taken over by Lucky Meas, shipwife of great renown, and his mediocre crew miraculously turned into one that would die for each other.
The crew soon find themselves secretly hunting down a rumoured dragon, not to kill it and take its bones, but to protect it from those trying to do so. And then kill it where nobody can salvage its bones and, hey presto, the world will be at peace.
The journey part of the story is really quite painfully dragged out, with some long sections of ship training (I am now very well versed in how to load, aim and fire a made up ship's crossbow!) and some mediocre action scenes thrown in to pad the story out (most of which involve the crew embarking on an impossible mission that they accomplish nonetheless).
Joron is not a likeable main character. He, much like the main character in the Wounded Kingdom, is a whiney brat who has to be battered into submission before adding any value to those around him. I didn't care in the least about him, or the fate of those on the ship. There was a point where my reading ground to a halt, when I could no longer take the seemingly endless sea voyage and cringeworthy pirate speak.
The final quarter of the book is more action-packed and some scenes are massive improvements, compelling the reader to carry on. However, by that point I was fed up with the book and the crew and their bloody pointless journey.

Beyond the Invisible Hand: Groundwork for a New Economics
Book
One of the central tenets of mainstream economics is Adam Smith's proposition that, given certain...

Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis
Games and Entertainment
App
[FULL GAME! NO EPISODES! Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis: Nina and Max return to the touch screen in...

He Who Drowned the World
Book
What would you give to win the world? Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high after her...

City Centre
Simon J. Halliday and Clive Woodward
Book
Simon Halliday has tackled everything that life has thrown at him, be it on the rugby field, or in...

The Notebook (2004)
Movie Watch
In 1940s South Carolina, mill worker Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) and rich girl Allie (Rachel...