What do you think?
Rate this book
Bones Like Bridges
War is coming to Oreyn.
Magic is vanishing.
Neither problem matters much to Jek until he is pulled out of the slums and forced into the world of the Great Houses. A bastard heir to a dying magical family, Jek is caught up in the scheming of his half-sisters, who see him as the proof of their father’s betrayal. He's powerless, out of place, and has no-one he can trust.
Jek’s scramble to make a home for himself in a world that will never accept him takes a strange turn when he finds himself drawn to one of the forbidden low-caste vampires, and the illegal magic they carry in their blood.
War is coming to Oreyn
Magic is vanishing.
Jek Grinningtommy is not a hero.
Until he finds someone worth dying for.
Magic is vanishing.
Neither problem matters much to Jek until he is pulled out of the slums and forced into the world of the Great Houses. A bastard heir to a dying magical family, Jek is caught up in the scheming of his half-sisters, who see him as the proof of their father’s betrayal. He's powerless, out of place, and has no-one he can trust.
Jek’s scramble to make a home for himself in a world that will never accept him takes a strange turn when he finds himself drawn to one of the forbidden low-caste vampires, and the illegal magic they carry in their blood.
War is coming to Oreyn
Magic is vanishing.
Jek Grinningtommy is not a hero.
Until he finds someone worth dying for.
Paperback
Published January 1, 2020
3 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Cat Hellisen
45 books278 followersPresumably a person, occasionally a table.
I write stories.
I write stories.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 12, 2020
I read this book a little while ago back when it was still being revised and finalized for publication. I adored it! I fell in love with the world, with the characters, and with the writing.
I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Cat Hellisen's work, but this is something special and will be a treat for anyone who's looking for a refreshing take on vampires and magic.
Highly recommend for fans of Anna-Marie McLemore and anyone who enjoys lush prose and rich world-building!
I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Cat Hellisen's work, but this is something special and will be a treat for anyone who's looking for a refreshing take on vampires and magic.
Highly recommend for fans of Anna-Marie McLemore and anyone who enjoys lush prose and rich world-building!
May 13, 2020
[Disclaimer: I received an advanced review copy of this book from the author]
This is the kind of book you savour. You could devour it in mighty gulps and crawl into work the next day having had no sleep, but you don’t. You don’t because every chapter is a treat to read. You’re too invested in the characters and in the world. You’re dreading the end, when you’ll be ejected from it, when there are no more pages of surprises and stunning prose to enjoy.
I made it last a few weeks and towards the end, I was using it to incentivise myself to do less pleasant things. “If I write 1,000 words tonight, I can read a chapter”, “If I wash the dishes, I can read a chapter”.
Bones like Bridges is the most recent of Cat Hellisen’s “Hobverse” books and I was surprised to learn it was the one that she wrote first - the one that started everything. Although, upon discovering this fact, it made sense. Each of the Hobverse books is built to stand alone. When the Sea is Rising Red is a story about freedom and betrayal, House of Sand and Secrets is a story about social injustice and oppression. While the themes and characters carry across, each narrative is tightly woven and focused on the very personal plight of the main character, Felicita.
This novel is like that part in a symphony where the music swells and you feel it reverberate through you. It’s bigger, darker, sprawling. The stakes are higher, the consequences greater. It is graphic, visceral and so very Hellisen.
It is split into three points of view with each character having a very specific voice. Jek, a half-breed, grew up on the streets and his inner monologue reflects his tough upbringing and “low class” values. Calissa is a House daughter, highborn and scheming. Sel is a young vampire who has been kicked around by life and is now almost certainly completely insane.
The story documents the lives of these three characters when the scriv (the powder that gives the high-born elf-like Lammers their magic) starts to run out. Without their magic, there is nothing to protect them from the neighbouring kingdom’s war machines. It’s a story about survival - what will you do to ensure yours? It’s a story about power - how far will you go to protect it? And it’s about love. Love hard-won and often unconventional.
I said that it made sense that this book was written first. It’s because this is the book where all the lore that has only been hinted at in the previous books is revealed. It’s the book that shows you the history of MallenIve, that finally takes you to the place where the vampires hail from. It’s the book that makes everything else make sense. If you’re a Hobverse fan, you’ll want to have the other books on hand to check back on things (Calissa makes a cameo in House of Sand and Secrets!), and you’ll appreciate the fact that this book revisits Harun and Isandro fifteen years later, and that Felicita and Jannik also have a part to play. If you’re new to Hellisen, you might even want to start with this novel. But prepare yourself, it gets dark.
As I said in my previous Hobverse reviews, the thing about Cat is that there are no limits to where she’s willing to go and what she’s willing to do to her characters if the story requires it. She won’t play into the genre conventions, so won’t give you a predictable little love triangle with a heartwarming resolution. She’ll dig into the human soul and expose it in all its glory. It’s refreshing for fantasy to be so real.
As I’ve also said before, the other thing about Cat is her exquisite prose. Here are just a few of the beautiful bits you can expect:
“The windows are slits, letting in hardly any sun. The light that does come in stripes the grey floor like a tabby cat.”
“They are like dawn and dusk; my mother filled with mysteries and dreams, and my father brisk, jolly, and quick to temper. He is the sun around which our house revolves.”
“Is this what makes people family - this wounds and hurt? Why the fuck did I ever think I wanted it. It’s too much to pay.”
“‘Look at me,’ she says. There’s something in Her voice. Stars and brilliance. Mother’s death.”
If you like dark, character-driven fantasy that marries political scheming with unlikely love and friendship, then definitely grab this book as soon as you can.
This is the kind of book you savour. You could devour it in mighty gulps and crawl into work the next day having had no sleep, but you don’t. You don’t because every chapter is a treat to read. You’re too invested in the characters and in the world. You’re dreading the end, when you’ll be ejected from it, when there are no more pages of surprises and stunning prose to enjoy.
I made it last a few weeks and towards the end, I was using it to incentivise myself to do less pleasant things. “If I write 1,000 words tonight, I can read a chapter”, “If I wash the dishes, I can read a chapter”.
Bones like Bridges is the most recent of Cat Hellisen’s “Hobverse” books and I was surprised to learn it was the one that she wrote first - the one that started everything. Although, upon discovering this fact, it made sense. Each of the Hobverse books is built to stand alone. When the Sea is Rising Red is a story about freedom and betrayal, House of Sand and Secrets is a story about social injustice and oppression. While the themes and characters carry across, each narrative is tightly woven and focused on the very personal plight of the main character, Felicita.
This novel is like that part in a symphony where the music swells and you feel it reverberate through you. It’s bigger, darker, sprawling. The stakes are higher, the consequences greater. It is graphic, visceral and so very Hellisen.
It is split into three points of view with each character having a very specific voice. Jek, a half-breed, grew up on the streets and his inner monologue reflects his tough upbringing and “low class” values. Calissa is a House daughter, highborn and scheming. Sel is a young vampire who has been kicked around by life and is now almost certainly completely insane.
The story documents the lives of these three characters when the scriv (the powder that gives the high-born elf-like Lammers their magic) starts to run out. Without their magic, there is nothing to protect them from the neighbouring kingdom’s war machines. It’s a story about survival - what will you do to ensure yours? It’s a story about power - how far will you go to protect it? And it’s about love. Love hard-won and often unconventional.
I said that it made sense that this book was written first. It’s because this is the book where all the lore that has only been hinted at in the previous books is revealed. It’s the book that shows you the history of MallenIve, that finally takes you to the place where the vampires hail from. It’s the book that makes everything else make sense. If you’re a Hobverse fan, you’ll want to have the other books on hand to check back on things (Calissa makes a cameo in House of Sand and Secrets!), and you’ll appreciate the fact that this book revisits Harun and Isandro fifteen years later, and that Felicita and Jannik also have a part to play. If you’re new to Hellisen, you might even want to start with this novel. But prepare yourself, it gets dark.
As I said in my previous Hobverse reviews, the thing about Cat is that there are no limits to where she’s willing to go and what she’s willing to do to her characters if the story requires it. She won’t play into the genre conventions, so won’t give you a predictable little love triangle with a heartwarming resolution. She’ll dig into the human soul and expose it in all its glory. It’s refreshing for fantasy to be so real.
As I’ve also said before, the other thing about Cat is her exquisite prose. Here are just a few of the beautiful bits you can expect:
“The windows are slits, letting in hardly any sun. The light that does come in stripes the grey floor like a tabby cat.”
“They are like dawn and dusk; my mother filled with mysteries and dreams, and my father brisk, jolly, and quick to temper. He is the sun around which our house revolves.”
“Is this what makes people family - this wounds and hurt? Why the fuck did I ever think I wanted it. It’s too much to pay.”
“‘Look at me,’ she says. There’s something in Her voice. Stars and brilliance. Mother’s death.”
If you like dark, character-driven fantasy that marries political scheming with unlikely love and friendship, then definitely grab this book as soon as you can.
July 2, 2020
Oh my freaking hat...this book. I've been ripped and torn asunder by it all. I do not have the words to do this book justice...nor am I able to talk much about it without dropping some spoilers, but oh my freaking hat. Just damn. Read it and just be blown away.
June 17, 2020
[Disclaimer: I received this book as an advanced review copy from the author.]
I knew I was going to like this book because I’ve read Cat’s work before and always been blown away by it. Well. I was blown away by Bones Like Bridges, but also blown to pieces and I’m still trying to put myself back together again.
This book is incredible. The writing is vivid and lush, the character voices are strong and compelling, and the setting is so unique and beautifully realised. I was immersed from the first page and then couldn’t look away, even as the story proceeded to smash me to bits. Be warned: it’s a dark tale, sometimes very upsetting… but it’s also achingly beautiful.
You experience the world through the perspectives of three characters from three very different social groups within this troubled and complex world. The multiple perspectives are expertly handled and create a rich, layered atmosphere. Something that struck me over and over as the story unfolded was the sheer scale of it. It digs deep into individual characters and their personal relationships while also capturing a sense of this epic world with vastly different societies clashing against one another on a grand scale, and it just WORKS.
You don’t need to read the other Hobverse books before reading this one, but I did enjoy having my distant memories of those books rekindled by the appearance of familiar characters and concepts, and since reading this, I’m eager to pick those up again for another read.
If you’re into dark fantasy with strong world-building and characters you’ll never forget, then you’ll love this.
I knew I was going to like this book because I’ve read Cat’s work before and always been blown away by it. Well. I was blown away by Bones Like Bridges, but also blown to pieces and I’m still trying to put myself back together again.
This book is incredible. The writing is vivid and lush, the character voices are strong and compelling, and the setting is so unique and beautifully realised. I was immersed from the first page and then couldn’t look away, even as the story proceeded to smash me to bits. Be warned: it’s a dark tale, sometimes very upsetting… but it’s also achingly beautiful.
You experience the world through the perspectives of three characters from three very different social groups within this troubled and complex world. The multiple perspectives are expertly handled and create a rich, layered atmosphere. Something that struck me over and over as the story unfolded was the sheer scale of it. It digs deep into individual characters and their personal relationships while also capturing a sense of this epic world with vastly different societies clashing against one another on a grand scale, and it just WORKS.
You don’t need to read the other Hobverse books before reading this one, but I did enjoy having my distant memories of those books rekindled by the appearance of familiar characters and concepts, and since reading this, I’m eager to pick those up again for another read.
If you’re into dark fantasy with strong world-building and characters you’ll never forget, then you’ll love this.
July 3, 2020
This book is my everything. Put me in the world of Oreyn and I'm a happy person. Jek and Sel and, yes, even Calissa. I love them. This book is very action-y. I'm not sure I can recall any moment where something isn't happening, or falling apart, or burning down. It's a ride that you'll love every second of.
I wish that I could review this intelligently. I want to tell you that Cat's words are like poetry - like a song that eats its way into your bones and makes a home there. I want to tell you that her characters are so very human (even though they aren't) - flawed and fumbling and so sure of themselves and perfect. I want to tell you that this book tackles real world things - classism, racism. It does. I'm just not eloquent enough. Please read this book, this series. It is much too good for people to sleep on.
I wish that I could review this intelligently. I want to tell you that Cat's words are like poetry - like a song that eats its way into your bones and makes a home there. I want to tell you that her characters are so very human (even though they aren't) - flawed and fumbling and so sure of themselves and perfect. I want to tell you that this book tackles real world things - classism, racism. It does. I'm just not eloquent enough. Please read this book, this series. It is much too good for people to sleep on.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews