The Bone Maker: A Novel

Written by Sarah Beth Durst

Narrated by Soneela Nankani

""Durst consistently defies expectations.""—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From award-winning author Sarah Beth Durst, a standalone epic fantasy set in a brand-new world of towering mountains and sparkling cities, in which a band of aging warriors have a second chance to defeat dark magic and avenge a haunting loss.

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.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Mar 9, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063069756

Sarah Beth Durst

Sarah Beth Durst is the author of fantasy novels for children, teens, and adults. Winner of the Mythopoeic Award and an ALA Alex Award and thrice nominated for the Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction, she lives in New York. Visit her at sarahbethdurst.com or on Twitter: @sarahbethdurst.

Reviews for The Bone Maker

[Darcia Helle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Bone Maker presents thought-provoking content on what it means to have power over life and death. While we glimpse other bits of bone magic throughout the story, the focal point is this power and the resulting moral dilemma.

Pacing is slow, but intentional rather than meandering. We spend a lot of time deep-diving into the relationships between the five heroes, as well as looking back to see the price each one paid for the war they fought. While this worked for building drama, I felt the slow pace lessened the tension and sense of urgency regarding the situation at hand.

I liked that Eklor was a complex villain, whose evil deeds could be understood on some level, rather than a typical evil villain.

The world-building isn’t all that intricate. We’re given enough detail to visualize aspects of the land, though I felt like I was missing pieces when putting it all together. Also, I didn’t get any sense of the “average” people in this multi-tiered land. I would’ve liked to understand more about them and how they felt about bone magic.

Narration is excellent, keeping me engaged throughout.

Overall, an entertaining listen that I felt stretched out too long in some areas, while coming up short in others.

[Jacquelyn LaReau · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was a short adventure with developed characters but not supremely interesting

[Rasa Tamulione · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have really enjoyed older main character and loved their group of friends and friendships between them - it was refreshing. Magic system was cool (softagic system), just nothing impressive but not bad in any way as well.
However, what I did not enjoy so much was the plot witch I feel was quite boring and predictable with the main big bad evil and all his actions.
I am also not %100 sure about the reader of audiobook. I feel this could have been someone else more suited.
Obviously, all of this is my subjective opinion. Overall, I my experience was 3.25/5

[Billie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Bone Maker
by Sarah Beth Durst
Fantasy Magic
Scribd Audio

Kreya was the leader of the five heroes who had risked their lives, one losing his, to stop Eklor, a powerful magician who created an army using animal bones and also practiced the dark arts with human bones.

Now, twenty-five years later, Kreya devotes her time practicing those same illegal dark arts in order to resurrect her dead husband, who was the one who lost his life on the battlefield all those years ago. If she can find enough human bones she can bring him permanently back to life.

Returning to Vos, she asks her friend and co-hero for some animal bones the woman can enchant with strength, speed, and stealth so Kreya could sneak into the forbidden lands, the same place her husband had died, where the bones of the dead decay under the sun.

Great story. One of friendship, betrayal, and how far one would go and sacrifice for those they love.
Characters were well developed, as was the world. They were easy to connect with and relate to the emotions they were feeling.

Though Eklor, the bad guy, I don't feel was developed enough. He was a little flat.

The narrator did a great job with the characters and the storytelling.

3 Stars

[Giada Vancini · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely adore it! So original and I love that the gender of people is not involved at all in their position in society.thanks

[Alyssa Healy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing? I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did but I absolutely loved it! This is now one of my favorite books of all time. I really enjoyed this wholesome adventure story.

[ayoshina-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Five warriors—one broken, one gone soft, one pursuing a simple life, one stuck in the past, and one who should be dead. Their story should have been finished. But evil doesn’t stop just because someone once said, “the end.”The low-key premise reminded me of Roshani Chokshi's Gilded Wolves—obviously I was intrigued by this fantasy novel because of that alone and overall, this novel wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be.Generally speaking, it was not terrible. Nor great. In layman's terms—meh...?There was great potential there and I am a little surprised the author decided not to expand this to a series considering how each character brought something unique and fresh to the table, and of course, the short description below that initially won me over when picking up what I originally considered a gem:“You’ve all heard the legends. There were five of us, tasked by the guild master to eliminate the threat posed by the rogue bone maker Eklor.” She held up one finger. “Kreya, our bone maker, a rising star in the guild, chosen for possessing a power that could rival Eklor’s— if she lived long enough to hone it.” A second finger. “Zera . . . that’s me, my loves.” Her audience cooed appreciatively, and Kreya rolled her eyes. “Bone wizard. Unknown until then, but soon to be unrivaled.” Third. “Marso, a bone reader, with a unique gift of seeing the truth of the past, present, and future that far exceeded the skills of other bone readers.” Four. “Stran, a warrior with experience in using bone talismans to enhance his already prodigious strength.” And five. “Jentt, a reformed thief, who specialized in using talismans of speed and stealth to win his battles.”“The legend says that the guild master tasked five, but he did not. He tasked only one. Kreya. She chose the rest of us. All that befell us is her fault. All the glory, and all the pain.”That sounded good on paper, right? But the author, in my opinion, didn’t deliver. I felt like I was just going through the motions when reading this and truthfully, I was a bit bored by the halfway point despite finally meeting the rest of the original crew besides Kreya, Zera, and recently resurrected Jentt, who are each dealing with their own struggles/new lives after their disbandment and war.More so, what made this a somewhat taxing read was the main character, Kreya. I honestly didn't care for her. And more times than not, my primary focus was on Zera, Marso, Stran and less frequently Jentt. I understand her husband died but for her to just abandon her crew/”best friends” after his sudden death (that she caused btw) and to then—after 25 years—go out to seek them for help/guidance in bringing back her dead husband and to save the world (again). Yeah no. I wasn’t feeling that. I would have gladly told her to fuck off.Altogether, what I disliked—Kreya, slow-going storyline, lack of perspective of the other characters minus MC, did I mention Kreya?, lack of world-building, the abrupt ending (WTF was that?!) that could’ve been more fleshed out, and despite it being an adult fantasy (40’s + 50’s aged team), the strong YA vibes I got was not my cup of tea.One of the few positives of this book that I really enjoyed was the concept of bone making, bone reading, magic, special use of talisman, etc. The magic system really intrigued me and it was something I haven’t seen in other adult *cough*YA with older characters*cough* fantasy books I have read thus far. I hope to see more of this in the future.

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An unusual fantasy adventure — 25 years after the action, focused on bone magic, and determined to explore the grey areas of morality and power. I enjoyed the sometime ambiguity, the theme of self-sacrifice, the plot line that leads to getting an older heroic gang back together. I'm also intrigued by the recent small but mighty genre of necromancy-focused/bone obsessed fantasies. Great read!

Advanced readers copy provided by Edelweiss.

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Twenty-five years after the five heroes defeated the evil Eklor they find out the victory wasn't quite what they thought it was. We have a real mid-life crisis here, with some interesting not-quite usual, but many that have become more standard, twists and bumps. And an interesting magic system.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

THE BONE MAKER asks what happens after the heroic actions, the adulation, and the fame and after the story should be ended. Five people defeated an evil bone maker named Eklor twenty-five years earlier and then went their separate ways. Jentt, who was the thief, died during the battle leaving his wife Kreya who was the group's leader bereft but determined to get her husband back. Zera returned to the seat of power and used her talents as a bone wizard to become rich but not happy. Marso was the bone reader. He couldn't deal with his visions after the battles were over and is now struggling to live. Stren was the warrior who managed to build a new life with a wife and children after the battle was over.Kreya was a bone maker who could use bone to animate the inanimate. Since the battle, she has been studying books about the bone makers art because she was determined to find a way to make her husband live again. She needs bones and her blood to work her spell. But bones are not easy to come by. In fact, there is a major taboo in the society about bones which causes all who die to be burned to ash. Kreya knows one possible source of bones - the battlefield where they defeated Eklor. But she needs help to get there. She tracks down Zera to make some of the talismans she needs if she is going to get the bones to reanimate her beloved Jentt. But Zera and Kreya discover something horrible on the battlefield. Eklor is still alive and still making the monsters that almost gave him victory in the last battle.They need to get their original group back together to convince the leader of the Guild the Eklor is back and that new heroes need to be found to defeat him again. Only there are major problems with this plan...I loved the storytelling. The worldbuilding was intriguing and the characters well-rounded. I liked the mythology. I liked Kreya's willingness to pay any cost to get her husband back even it it meant defying every taboo and breaking any law. There was a lot of philosophy in this story about the costs of choices and the consequences of them. Fans of intriguing fantasy about what happens after "the end" will enjoy this thought-provoking story.

[krau0098 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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!