ETCHED IN BONE is book 5 in series by
the unbelievably awesome Anne Bishop. This is a dark
fantasy series, and I absolutely adore how skillfully
Bishop makes us feel the vast Other-ness of her
characters. Shifters, vampires, and the very powerful fae-like Elders
of the terra indigene, primal and primordially magical beings, control
most the
world. These beings think of humans as a nuisance and a source of
food, calling them "clever meat." Using such subtle distancing
techniques as the
shifters who tolerate some humans calling them "the Lizzy" (for
someone who is a decent woman) versus "that Clarence" (for a
naughty boy),
like Elders of the terra indigene, primal and primordially
magical beings, control most the world. These beings think
of humans as a nuisance and a source of food, calling
them "clever meat." Using such subtle distancing
techniques as the shifters who tolerate some humans calling
them "the Lizzy" (for someone who is a decent woman)
versus "that Clarence" (for a naughty boy), The
Others makes me feel outnumbered and outclassed by a species
with a very different mindset. I love how Bishop can make the chills
go down my
spine as I viscerally experience how precarious a position homo
sapiens are in!
Humans are desperately trying to stay alive and safe,
clustered in small communities after much of North
American's human population was wiped out in retaliation
for an attack on The Others by the Humans First and Last or
HFL league in book four, MARKED IN
FLESH.
Lakeside Courtyard has survived the purge, but Simon Wolfgard
Wolfgard, their wolf shifter leader, and Meg Corbyn, an
escaped blood prophet, must work closely with their Other
and human companions to keep things on an even keel in
their small patch of the world. Safety for all lies in
keeping things peaceful. But this peace is threatened when
human police Lieutenant Montgomery\'s small time thug
brother shows up, looking to mooch off his family and run
his cons in Lakeside Courtyard. Montgomery\'s brother
stirs up trouble in the community, and the Elders insist
that Simon cannot kill him until the Elders have learned
from the brother why some humans are evil and worthy of
being eaten and some are not. Meg uses her increasingly-refined
prophecy skills to help Simon and the Others try to avert disaster,
but she sees how
this will end
refined prophecy skills to help Simon and the Others try to
avert disaster, but she sees how this will end- with her next
next to a gravestone and a fresh corpse.
I continue to be torn whether Meg or Simon is my
favorite character in this series. Meg is a true ingénue,
continuing to learn about the world around her after her
escape from humans who hold cassandra sangue, or blood
prophets, imprisoned to sell their prophesies. Having
grown up sequestered, Meg is overwhelmed if she has too
many new experience at once. She and Simon are in love,
but neither realizes it, and I love to watch Simon protect
and encourage Meg. There is an extremely slow-building romance
between Meg and Simon, but part of the pleasure to me in reading it
is how the
romance is slowly blooming without the overt awareness of either
partner. Long time readers will be rewarded by the satisfying
progression between the
two in ETCHED IN BONE.
Fantasy lovers will be thrilled, as well, with ETCHED IN BONE
providing a fantastic punch of gritty and dark
politics and interspecies war. This series is utterly
engrossing. As with every release in The Others, it
will be so hard to wait for the next book to come out,
because I want to stay immersed in this world. Bishop's
ETCHED IN BONE gets an A+ for dark, gripping fantasy.
New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop
returns to her world of the Others, as humans struggle to
survive in the shadow of shapeshifters and vampires far more
powerful than themselves...
After a human uprising was brutally put down by the Elders—a
primitive and lethal form of the Others—the few cities left
under human control are far-flung. And the people within
them now know to fear the no-man’s-land beyond their
borders—and the darkness...
As some communities struggle to rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard
has emerged relatively unscathed, though Simon Wolfgard, its
wolf shifter leader, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn must work
with the human pack to maintain the fragile peace. But all
their efforts are threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery’s
shady brother arrives, looking for a free ride and easy
pickings.
With the humans on guard against one of their own, tensions
rise, drawing the attention of the Elders, who are curious
about the effect such an insignificant predator can have on
a pack. But Meg knows the dangers, for she has seen in the
cards how it will all end—with her standing beside a grave...
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