Book Review | Bone Weaver

Toma lives in the wilderness with her adoptive upyri parents and sister—oblivious to the turmoil brewing in the Kosa Empire. However, when the tsar shows up on her injured on her doorstep, her peaceful existence is upturned. Revolutionaries kidnap her sister, and she must team up with the tsar to save her.

Bone Weaver by Aden Polydoros presents a lush dark fantasy told through evocative language.

Right off the bat, I’ve got to say that the worldbuilding was by far the highlight of the book for me. The story effortlessly blends together and draws from imperial Russian history with Slavic folklore in a way that felt natural—like steamships were created to more safely navigate waters filled with rusalki.

I also really enjoyed the exploration of political and religious conflict throughout the book. For instance, bogatyri are imperial magic users whose powers are derive from the three sister goddesses while kolduny are witches whose powers derive from the Unclean Force and are considered heretics. (Side note: my one qualm here is that since most of the lexicon in this book derives from Russian, the term "Unclean Force" did stick out like a sore thumb to me.)

However, while the world itself is richly immersive, I unfortunates found the characters themselves to be flat and the dialogue wooden at times, so this book was a bit of a mixed bag for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Details:

Publication Date : September 20, 2022

Publisher : Inkyard Press

IBSN : ‎1335915826

Pages : 448

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