#CBR8 Book 37: "Marked in Flesh" by Anne Bishop

Page count: 416 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars

This is book four in an ongoing series. It is not the place to start. This review will contain mild spoilers for things that happened in previous books. If you are interested (I think the series is very entertaining and doing something different from most paranormal fantasy, I know others who strongly disagree), you should start with book one, Written in Red.

Both the human and the supernatural inhabitants in the Lakeside courtyard are concerned about the further scheming of the Humans First and Last movement, especially after the more ancient and powerful paranormal creatures in the wilds have taken an interest in the escalating conflict and seem to indicate that they may want to eradicate the threat of the humans once and for all. Meg and several other of the liberated cassandra sangues keep having worrying visions of death and destruction, while the Lakeside Others are trying to figure out a way to show the more ruthless and powerful elementals that some humans really are decent, have worth and should be spared in the case of further escalation.

As the HFL in both Thaisia (America) and overseas start feeling more confident of their success in claiming more land from the Others, setting traps and killing in coordinated attacks, it's clear that Meg has to figure out a way to communicate more clearly with her fellow seers and her human friends need to start stockpiling supplies and making lists over things they will need in case their communities end up becoming more isolated. Once the HFL members launch their final attacks towards what they consider a supernatural threat, the retaliation is swift and merciless. The Ancients strike back and show the humans once and for all who really owns and rules the land.

While I normally find these books very engrossing reads, I had trouble really getting into this one. The conflict between the HFL and the Others has been escalating gradually in the previous books. It's become clear that the divide between those humans who can live in compromise with the paranormal community and those who can't is becoming greater and causing more strife. The notion of the Ancients, so remote and powerful that even the shapeshifters, vampires and general elementals were in awe of them was introduced and the threat of them really did seem fearsome. It was quite clear that things were coming to a head, and yet I couldn't really bring myself to care all that much.

I still enjoyed reading about the characters, who are all fairly well established by this point. The human "Pack" in the Lakeside courtyard keeps growing as more and more of the people friendly with Meg and the Others find their own families and friends rejecting them. The tension in the story keeps being racked up slowly, but even with something clearly very bad about to happen being telegraphed, I just couldn't seem to summon up the energy to worry too much.

I'm curious about where Bishop is taking these books and where the story is going to go in future instalments. I will still be reading the series, but I think like with Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson books (where I'm now a few behind), I'm just not going to be anticipating each new release with bated breath, dropping everything to read the newest book every year.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR7 Book 29: "Vision in Silver" by Anne Bishop

Page count: 416 pages
Rating: 4 stars

This is book three in The Others series, which is one of my absolute favourite paranormal fantasy series at the moment. While you are given enough information to start with this one, you'll get the most enjoyment if you start at the beginning, with the excellent Written in Red. There will also be minor spoilers for the earlier books in the series here, so if you don't like that sort of thing, skip the review until you're caught up.

In a world where humans are in a minority, and frequently considered legitimate prey by the supernatural races who control the land, tensions are mounting. Many of the cassandra sangue, the female blood prophets who see visions when their skin is cut, have been rescued and the Others have placed "the sweet blood" as they call them, under their protection. Most of the women and girls have lived their entire lives in monitored captivity, however, and a lot of them can't handle their new-found freedom, causing mental breakdowns or even suicides.  It falls to Meg Corbyn, the woman who first managed to escape and has been making a life for herself with the Others of the Lakeside Courtyard to provide guidance. Aided by her human friends, she attempts to write down what she's learned is important for her to feel safe and comfortable.

The Humans First and Last movement is growing, and it's becoming clear that a lot of the humans who are on friendly terms with the shapeshifters and other creatures in Lakeside are experiencing discrimination and prejudice. "Wolf lovers" might find themselves losing their jobs or even homes.  Simon Wolfgard and the other prominent Others in the Courtyard have to consider what to do to aid these humans who have so important to their Meg and shown themselves to be useful and friendly, not just prey. The news reports speak of food shortages all over Thaisia (think North America), which none of the Others can understand, and the strained relationship between humans and Others is getting worse in many places on the continent. Possible insight into the cause of the food shortages comes with the arrival of Officer Montgomery's daughter, alone on a train, with a blood-stained teddy bear, containing a small fortune in gem stones. Her mother, Montgomery's ex, was dating one of the most outspoken HFL spokesmen, and it's clear something has triggered her sending their daughter unaccompanied across the country to her father.

I don't know how many books Anne Bishop is planning in this series, but she's fleshing out the world building and the tense political situation with every book. Meg and Simon also grow closer with each book, while neither is able to acknowledge to themselves or the other what most of those around them already know, that they're essential to each other's well being. Three books in, and when these two finally give in to their feelings, I'll probably explode. Of course, there are major obstacles in their path, most prominent the fact that blood prophets feel compelled to cut themselves to get their visions out, and at maximum, a cassandra sangue has a thousand cuts before she dies. There are already hundreds of cuts on Meg's body, and in this book she experiences just how distressed she can make those around her when she's driven to cut thoughtlessly. Meg, just as the other in her found family of humans and paranormal creatures, has a lot of adapting and growing to do.

We meet a few new characters in this book. There's a young blood prophet sheltering with some wolves, who slowly, thanks to Meg's advice, learns to be comfortable in her new home, and seems to be able to show her visions through drawings, without having to cut herself. As she settles in and starts to get used to her new life, she eventually also chooses a new name for herself. There's Montgomery's daughter, Lizzy, who gives the various animal-shifters in the Lakeside Courtyard more experience with "human pups".

This book felt like a more quiet book than the second, Murder of Crows, because so much of what is happening is simmering off screen. Because so many of the humans living in the bigger cities of Thaisia are unaware of the terrifying forces lurking out in the forests and mountains, not realising that the vampires and shapeshifters living in the Courtyards are the most progressive and open-minded, actually willing to interact with humans. The growing discontent, fermented by the HFL movement is putting the humans in very real danger, and this book, it's made clear that there are some very formidable elementals out there, controlling each of the great lakes and even the ocean itself. Train and ship travel is only safe for humans as long as their iron-clad agreements with the Others are kept. Once they start bending and breaking the rules set down, there are dire consequences, and it's clear that there are older, more powerful beings in the wild of the country who wouldn't hesitate to wipe all the humans off the continent if they prove to be an inconvenience. So shit is about to hit the fan, and it's going to be very interesting to see where Bishop takes the series next.

I love this fantasy world, I love the characters. It makes me happy to spend time with them while I'm immersed in the book. I love that the book examines what humanity actually is and should be - and whether the shifters and vampires who will frequently eat humans may not be the most monstrous of the individuals in Thaisia. More is revealed about how the blood prophets were exploited, and it seems entirely just and fair to me that the perpetrators of such abuse are hunted down and eaten. I've said this in my reviews of the previous two books, but if you like paranormal fantasy, you really should do yourself a favour and read these. They're such great books. Sadly, I will have to wait a year for the next one.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR6 Book 21: "Murder of Crows" by Anne Bishop

Page count: 448 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars

This is the second book in the series of The Others. While you get enough information to read it without having read the first one, you should really do yourself a favour and start with Written in Red. It's the best paranormal/urban fantasy book I read last year, and deserves to be read by as many people as possible. This review will also contain minor spoilers for the first one, so you may want to come back and read it once you've finished book 1.

Having survived the assault on the Lakeside Courtyard, and saved the lives of many of the Others living there, Meg Corbyn is now even more beloved of the creatures who live there. They are fiercely protective of her, none more so than the leader of the supernatural creatures, Simon Wolfgard. Their changing relationship is confusing both Meg and Simon, although most of the other inhabitants of the courtyard find it amusing to watch them try to figure each other out. The Lakeside Others and their Meg aren't out of danger yet, however.

Two new drugs are being distributed in towns across the country, with the intent of harming the Others, and further research seems to suggest that they are both manufactured from the blood of cassandra sangues, blood prophets like Meg. There are attacks against shapeshifting Crows in several towns, and Meg keeps having visions about worse to come. The sinister Controller, who used to hold Meg captive wants her either returned to him, or eliminated entirely, to prevent her visions from aiding the Others in any way. The other blood prophets around the country, all captive and exploited for their prophetic ability, seem to see chaos and destruction as a result of the increased hostility from humans towards the supernatural creatures. The Others of Lakeside realise that unscrupulous humans cannot be allowed to control and take advantage of these special young women any longer, and steps must be taken to liberate them.

As I mentioned in my spoiler warning at the top of the review, Written in Red was by far the best paranormal fantasy I read in 2013 and to say that I was excited to read the sequel is an understatement. I can't quite put my finger on why I didn't love this as much as the first one in the series, but for reasons that are too vague for me to be able to properly articulate (real helpful, I know), I don't feel like I can rate the sequel a full five stars. That doesn't mean that Murder of Crows isn't a great book, and I suspect it will be in the top three paranormal books I read this year, depending on how well other favourite authors of mine, like Ilona Andrews and Seanan McGuire, deliver on their next books, coming out later this year.

The very interesting dynamic with the supernatural predators of the world being by far the strongest majority in Bishop's alternate version of North America continues to fascinate me. Making the reader sympathise and side with dangerous, fairly ruthless shapeshifters, vampires and elementals against the humans is a wonderful twist. Not all the humans are bad, of course, there is far more nuance and complexity here. Most of the police officers in Lakeside are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to keep the peace with the Others, if nothing because they have seen firsthand the devastation that the elementals and creatures like Tess can wreak if the humans keep upping their hostilities and attacks on supernaturals in other parts of Thaisia. While the first book was mainly confined to the Lakeside courtyard and the adjoining town, this book lets the reader get glimpses of the wider world, and the increasing tensions between the humans and the supernatural creatures. It's also obvious that most humans are unaware of that the Others don't just consist of shapeshifters and vampires, but also pretty much all the elemental forces you can imagine, and therefore have no idea what peril they are courting by provoking a war with them.

My favourite parts of these books are probably the smaller, quieter moments of the books with Meg learning to fit into the wider world, making friends with human women and Others alike, or trying to figure out why it's fine for Simon to share her bed as a wolf, but scary and unnerving to her when changes into his human form. There is clearly a romance building between the two, but it's a very slow burning one, with the relationship changing in small increments. Simon is confused and somewhat troubled about his attraction to a human, while Meg, having lived locked up and sheltered for most of her life, abused by her handlers, is having trouble even understanding why being close to Simon's human shape is more difficult to her than his wolf shape. She has so many new things to experience and become accustomed to, attraction just confounds her further.

I haven't been able to find out from Anne Bishop's website or other places online how many books she's planned for this series, whether it's a trilogy or if she has something more elaborate planned. All I know is that I'm completely hooked, and will be pre-ordering the next one as soon as it becomes available.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR5 Book 136. "Written in Red" by Anne Bishop

Page count: 448 pages
Rating: 5 stars

I try not to resort to book blurbs to summarise the books for my reviews, but sometimes, they're bloody hard to do without some help. Hence:

No one creates realms like New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop. Now in a thrilling new fantasy series, enter a world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities - vampires and shape-shifters among them - who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans.

As a "cassandra sangue", or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut - a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg's Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard - a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liason job. First, he senses that she is keeping a secret, and second, she doesn't smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she's wanted by the government, he'll have to decide if she's worth the fight between the humans and Others that will surely follow.

I hadn't actually read the blurb when I started the book, and was therefore extremely pleasantly surprised by the world building presented in the introduction. The Others, or the terra indigine are the original inhabitants of Earth. They are vampires, and shape-shifters of all manner of varieties. There are elemental spirits, and ancient terrifying things that go bump in the night. The humans originated in this world's version of Europe, and as they started exploring new parts of the world, discovering that there were a lot of things out there with teeth and claws who would considered them prey. In Thaisia, this world's version of America, the humans eventually managed to settle enough people to make safer settlements. The humans are clever and inventive, but the Others control all the natural resources they need to make their new inventions work. In the more heavily populated human areas, there is usually an uneasy truce between the Others and the humans. In every large city, there has to be an Others-controlled Courtyard, where the Others operate the businesses and keep an eye on the humans, making sure they don't get any ideas above themselves.

The Lakeside Courtyard, where Simon Wolfgard (guess what he turns into) is the leader, is probably the most progressive of all of Thaisia's Others-controlled areas. The Others in the Lakeside Courtyard even have human employees and generally seem pretty tolerant, but if the local humans forget themselves and trespass, they are still ruthlessly eaten. Meg comes stumbling into the Courtyard in the middle of a fierce snowstorm, nearly frozen to death. Just the fact that she's poorly dressed for the elements and seems so unafraid of the Others, intrigues Simon and the other terra indigine of Lakeside. They always have to have a Human Liaison, who does just what it sounds like, liaises between the Others and their peculiar and often a bit hostile ways, and the humans who deliver post, services and goods to the Courtyard. Meg, knowing that no expense will be spared to recapture her, is relieved to be in an area where human laws don't apply, and big, fierce shape-shifters and bloodsuckers will eat anyone who tries to trespass.

Meg is wary among the Others, but a lot more terrified of being taken back to the compound where she was held captive. She and her fellow blood prophets (always female, it seems) are locked up and every aspect of their lives are controlled. They're told when and what to eat, how much to exercise. As long as they co-operate, they are pampered, but they can also be brutally punished for disobedience. Every inch of their skin is a valuable commodity, as every cut yields an absolutely true prophecy, which can be triggered by a specific focus. Hence the Controllers sell the predictions, and the girls are discarded when they no longer have skin left to cut. The girls are taught about the outside world through pictures and films, and occasionally given misinformation as well, to test their prophetic abilities. It's clear that Meg vaguely remembers a time before she was taken to the compound, and given a number rather than her name, so it's clear that girls suspected of her "gift" may just be seized when their prophetic abilities manifest. Because the girls are driven to cut themselves to get the prophecies out, no matter what, and sometimes they end up hurting themselves if not controlled, the government has decreed that all cassandra sangues are to live under the "benevolent ownership" of state-approved Controllers. They have no legal rights of their own, and are as such, slaves to their masters.

"The Meg" as she is called by the inhabitants of the Lakeside Courtyard is a fascinating character. She could easily have been seen as a Mary Sue, because every new thing she sets out to do, she seems to manage admirably almost immediately, and pretty much everyone seems to love her within minutes of meeting her. Yet it's also clear that the blood prophets aren't entirely like normal humans. They're not entirely Other, but there is a reason that Meg doesn't smell like prey to the shape-shifters, and that her "sweet blood" is deemed off limits to the vampires. In addition, because Meg knows that she needs to stay in the Others' good graces, so she's not eaten, or worse, left to fend for herself against the Controllers' men who are looking for her, she tries her best to be open-minded, polite, efficient and agreeable. Because she has so little practical experience in the real world, she frequently struggles with fairly mundane tasks, and the various species of Others find her very amusing to watch. She's also not been brought up with the prejudices towards Others that most humans have. While she forces herself to be cheerful and useful around the Courtyard, she's clearly both afraid and annoyed by Simon, and the fact that the two of the grate so much on each other is clearly a sign that in future books they are meant to be. There's a little bit of romantic tension in the book, but anyone looking for paranormal romance or lots of kissing and shape-shifter/vampire smexy times, will be very disappointed.

I already mentioned that the world building does something completely new to me in paranormal/urban fantasy. The idea that the supernatural creatures are not the minorities that have to hide their true selves from most humans, or "come out" as part of the story, but are in fact the dominant species, cause let's face it, they are bigger, faster and stronger and humans are just clever meat to them, is awesome. It's such a nice twist on what you normally find, and had me intrigued from the very first page. That the various supernatural inhabitants in the Lakeside Courtyard are all well developed, with a number of interesting and complex characters in the community making the story not just about Meg and Simon. There's just as much diversity among the human characters. Some are selfish and prejudiced and anti-Others, and some are determined to make sure they leave in harmony with them, avoiding pissing them off to the point where they just exterminate the human settlements.

I've complained before that with a lot of the genre, you have to read a couple of books before the world is fully established, you really get a feel for the characters, and the stories really get going. This is not the case here. Bishop skilfully hooks you into her world, she makes you care deeply about her characters, and she introduces enough complications and plot momentum that you are never bored. I kept expecting the book to lose me, it couldn't possibly be quite so perfect all the way through, but this really is a great start to a new series. I couldn't really find niggles. The main plot of the book is also tied up, so it can be read as a stand alone, but there is a lot of tension set up between the humans and the Others that will clearly become important later in the series. I'm also glad I waited this long to read the book, as it means the next one is out in March 2014, making the wait for the next one less painful. If you like paranormals, but are a bit bored with the sameyness of the genre - do yourself a favour - read this book.