The Bone Palace

The Bone Palace follows necromancer detective Garrett Primrose as she investigates a murder mystery in the cold northern city of Erisín. When a royal courtesan is found dead with a missing royal artifact, Garrett must navigate palace politics and ancient magic to solve the case. Crown Prince Samarkar and his transgender mistress, the Lady Seething Death, become entangled in the investigation as dark forces within the palace walls threaten the kingdom's stability. The story weaves together elements of noir detective fiction with dark fantasy and complex court intrigue. The book explores themes of gender, power, and identity against the backdrop of a richly detailed fantasy world influenced by Eastern European folklore. Bear's handling of magic systems and political machinations reflects deeper questions about the nature of truth and the price of justice.

Readers consider this a stronger book than the first in the series, with richer worldbuilding and character development. The complex politics, necromantic elements, and LGBTQ+ representation receive frequent mention in reviews. Likes: - Nuanced depiction of trans and queer characters - Intricate mystery plot - Development of returning character Samarkar - Vivid descriptions of magic system and palace life Dislikes: - Slow pacing in first third - Multiple storylines can be hard to follow - Some found the writing style overly dense - A few readers wanted more focus on certain side characters Ratings: Goodreads: 3.94/5 (1,217 ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (54 ratings) "Bear writes fantasy that respects both the reader's intelligence and the richness of historical reality," notes one Goodreads reviewer. Several readers mentioned struggling initially but finding the payoff worthwhile: "Takes time to get going but rewards patience with a fascinating story."

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🦴 The Bone Palace is the second book in Elizabeth Bear's Eternal Sky trilogy, which draws heavily from Mongolian mythology and culture rather than the more commonly used Western European fantasy tropes. 🏰 Bear wrote this complex fantasy novel while dealing with late-stage Lyme disease, which she has spoken about as both a challenge and an influence on her writing process. 📚 The book explores themes of gender fluidity and features a transgender necromancer as one of its main characters, which was notably progressive for a fantasy novel published in 2010. 🗡️ The magic system in the book is based on blood sorcery and necromancy, incorporating elements from various historical beliefs about death magic across different cultures. 🌟 Elizabeth Bear won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2005, and has gone on to win multiple Hugo Awards for her short fiction, establishing herself as a prominent voice in speculative fiction.