Most would walk 500 miles, but would you run 1,000 to see if the lies catch up with a nameless woman on the run? The Road of Bones by Demi Winters follows a naive young woman who inadvertently joins a group of Vikings as they go on a dangerous journey. She hopes to find safety, and the others, a nice payday.
Silla’s small world is shattered when a violent attack leaves her father dead and a bounty on her head delivered by the queen of Iseldur herself. But when Silla learns of a safe house in Kopa, she decides to brave the treacherous roads and sneaks into a supply wagon. The young woman may have chosen poorly, though, when the Bloodaxe crew finds her amongst their supplies. Silla is desperate to survive the long journey on the Road of Bones, and she needs this fearsome group of mercenaries to do it. The problem is, Silla is telling so many lies that when the truth is revealed, she’s afraid she won’t just doom herself, but everyone around her.
The worldbuilding is non-existent in this story, which I find (with great disappointment) is often the case in romantasy. The world in The Road of Bones was built up around the plot like a hollow shell to give the characters plenty of space to interact in. But the moment they come up against the barrier, the world’s fragile foundation falls over like a stage set piece. I initially wanted to defend this choice and tried to placate myself with hopes that the world would expand in book two. However, I quickly abandoned this train of thought because this book is over 500 pages, and I find it inexcusable not to create a solid foundation of the world in a multi-book series. The most glaring example of this is that the entire plot is centered on a ruling regime that is hunting down and killing anyone who still believes in the old gods. But you won’t learn anything more than that, despite the main character being a believer in the old gods herself.
Well, Brandee. Maybe there wasn’t time to build the world and flesh out the large cast and make everyone happy. Believe me. This book had nothing but time (500 pages, remember?), and the story’s slow pacing backs up my gripe. This story dragged its feet, and I felt as bedraggled as the group traveling the long Road of Bones. And since there wasn’t much page space dedicated to expanding the world, the reader got stuck bouncing between a bunch of characters that aren’t doing much but entertaining themselves on a horse-fueled road trip. There’s only so much that can happen on a road, ya know like run-ins with creatures, battling bandits, and having a training montage. The breaks from the road were always in a town for a night, so more relational shenanigans can happen before the characters hit the road again. I found the story to be monotonous, with very few interesting incidents to keep me engaged.Â
The book overall feels unbalanced. The worldbuilding isn’t there, but there are a ton of references to things that seem important. The flow of events that happen in quick succession at the front and back end of the book makes the middle feel like a slog. And then the emphasis on character relationships between Silla and the Bloodaxe crew is all over the place. It felt like most members of the crew were tools that Silla would use and then put down once her task was complete. And because the relational development between her and these characters was so situational, it felt awkward and forced most of the time. The romance was nothing special and ended up being a strange collision of desire and all-or-nothing declarations without much of a foundation to make it believable. Yet, there is one relationship in this book that was incredibly strong and thoughtful. I will not name this person and spoil it for the reader, but it was by far my favorite aspect of the story. If the book could have stripped away some of the filler and exhaustive trappings and really played into the dynamics between Silla, her romantic interest, and this other character, it could have had a more intriguing 1,000-mile trek.
When I was reading The Road of Bones, the book was palatable enough. But the longer I sat with it at the end, the more frustrated I got with the countless unanswered questions and the unsatisfying realization that the book didn’t deliver in several areas that make a story meaningful to me. I’m worn out after 1,000 miles and won’t be taking another step to continue this series.
Rating: The Road Of Bones – 6.0/10
-Brandee
