Can't believe I've never entered these here on Goodreads before!

The Bone novels, written as a comic back in the '90s, read as pretty timeless. It's beyond delightful that the fate of the world largely rests on the shoulders of two women: Thorn and Gran'ma Rose Ben. And one of them is obviously OVER FIFTY!! (GASP!!) Plus, of course, a trio of goofy, non-human, "Bone" cousins.

But it's almost as if Thorn and Rose (and the recently revealed Briar) have to make up for the lack of other female characters, bar a few incidentals. The fighting villagers are all white men. So are all the ancient monk-warriors. Looking back over crowd scenes and town scenes in the earlier volumes, there's a real lack of estrogen. And there's lots of "diversity" among fantasy races, but none among the humans. Allow me, as well, to offer a heartfelt eye-roll at Bone's tongue-lolling appreciation of the nubile Thorn.

Well. I can't expect a 2017 sensibility in a nearly 30-year old series. I'll just be grateful this ground-breaking series exists.