I selected this book to read mostly because of the title. The Bone Orchard starts out with a really interesting premise – a witch that has the ability to grow people and animals using bones. The story follows of a variety of female characters – except that they are all kind of the same character. A witch called Charm has created “boneghosts” to experience things she doesn’t want to experience – aptly named Pain, Shame, Justice, Desire, and Pride. They all physically resemble Charm except each has their own unique deformity. The boneghosts also serve as prostitutes in Charm’s whorehouse.
After the death of the emperor (Charm’s lover) she is tasked with finding and killing whoever murdered him.
There’s also a class war, war between countries, and war between the princes going on.
I loved the portions about Charm and her boneghosts, but the rest of the plot I found a bit tired and dull. War doesn’t interest me, and the second half of the book feels a bit meandering at times. When I finished it I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, it had started off so good with such unique characters and concepts with a mix of magic and science fiction. I may have had unreasonably high expectations, I suppose.
I do recommend reading it, if only for the boneghosts.
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