Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans
From my brief investigations into the author (Chris Evans of The Iron Elves trilogy) it would
seem that he’s a bit of a military historian and I definitely think that’s
where this book stems from. It’s a story inspired by the Vietnam War (obviously
with a fantasy twist) and you definitely get the impression straight away of
confusing objectives coupled with oppressive heat.
Of Bone and Thunder starts off in a slightly confusing
manner, what with the prologue being from the perspective of a bird, but it
very quickly drags you in and becomes a visceral, pumping tale that feels very
real.
We start following normal soldiers doing a normal day’s
work in heat that should only be experienced when you’re standing next to an
industrial oven. We move on to a less normal soldier but still doing what
amounts to a roughly normal day’s work. And finally we find ourselves following
an airborne regiment doing a kind of normal day’s work.
We do see that the Kingdom back home is in turmoil and has almost exploded into open rebellion whilst conscripted soldiers fight in a searing hot jungle for a cause they don't know about.
I felt like, to start with, the plot meanders slightly with regards to the soldiers on the ground, rather than
being propelled onwards into the maw of some great big bad evil end of the
world nonsense. But I think that is also kind of the point with soldiers
fighting a war that they see as pointless. That isn’t to say that the story
isn’t compelling; we find ourselves sucked into the very real struggles of the
soldiers on the ground (and air).
One of my favourite parts of the story is the rags (read:
dragons). Evans uses them to create dragon-based air squadrons. And it’s
awesome. There’s something about the way Evans describes them that makes them
feel heavy, hot, and oh so real and dangerous. And that’s before they even
start breathing fire. I love it.
It’s compelling in its characters and every page reveals
something deeper in each of the characters that makes you more interested in
them. You become invested in the characters as you see their faults, their love
for their comrades, and what they are willing to do to keep one another safe.
Evans does a great job of not pulling any punches or
trying to glamorise warfare but at the same time the crescendo to the story
will still get you cheering for the characters at their triumphs (I was smiling
like a goon on the train).
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought it was a detailed exploration into the minds of soldiers on the ground, how social change affected them, and the stresses of dealing with a command structure unprepared for the environment they faced.
It was well written, the characters were quite flawed but ultimately sympathetic and I found myself excited to get back to it. What more could you ask for?! Dragon? It has that too!
I would definitely recommend this book to fans of the
Malazan series. This book is a dark exploration of war that still has also
those features that make you want to read on and dig deeper into the world, the
characters, and the conflicts.
