The world that this new series and the blood prophet books takes place in, exhibits superb world-building and word craft. This author has an almost lyrical way of writing about this alternate earth that has a somewhat addictive quality, I finished this book in one sitting. It was satisfying in a lot of ways to also see humans not be in the apex predator role, with all the good, bad, and plain stupid behaviors that this might entail.. While I think this new series has a slightly weaker premise than the previous one, I quite enjoyed the varied characters and plot lines. I think it could be an excellent parallel to the first series, and I like that she is exploring other areas of her world. I just hope there is more interaction between the two and that she further explores other groups.

Damn, I'm happy to be back in this world. At first, like many others, I wasn't going to read this because I was missing my original characters. However, this reminded me why I loved this world. We're working on a mystery- type story, yet it was the small interactions that made me love this book even more... and hate a few of them. Ms. Bishop sure knows how to write despicable, evil characters. My only issue was this book dragged; it felt more like a 500 page book rather than a 400 page book (yes, it makes a difference), but I still loved the story. .Overall, I'm hoping this isn't a standalone, because I need a second book.

So this is not a Meg & Simon book. However, that being said, I really enjoyed these new characters and setting. We meet Vicki who is on her own after a difficult divorce from a man who is a jerk. Her part of the divorce settlement is cabin smack dab in the middle of a wooded area populated by "The Others." I look forward to more with these characters.

Electronic ARC provided by NetGalley.

I always enjoy reading Anne Bishop's books, and I enjoyed this one too. The three star rating is mostly because this book doesn't really say anything new about the world of the Others or about how they relate to humans.

In "Lake Silence" we are introduced to Vicki, who has recently acquired a small town lakefront property as her divorce settlement from an emotionally abusive husband. Like most of Bishop's main female characters, Vicki is dealing with past trauma and trying to forge a new way ahead for herself. I liked the fact that Bishop made it very clear that although Vicki's husband never hit her, she was still horribly damaged by his verbal abuse and manipulation. The property that Vicki is now responsible for is in territory held by the Others, and they have an interest in seeing it restored and maintained properly. The plot begins when Vicki's lodger Aggie (a crow shifter) discovers a dead body on the property, and a new police chief is brought in to investigate.

A lot of the plot here is a small scale retread of what we saw in Meg and Simon's books. There's a community where the Others and some local humans are learning to understand one another and work together. There is also a group of humans who think that they can get away with bullying the locals and trying to cheat the Others (you have to wonder how stupid they are to try this since the big flare up in "Etched in Bone" was less then a year ago in universe). I liked the new characters well enough, and enjoyed reading the book, but it really doesn't add much to this universe, and having seen how the Others previously reacted to human aggression, a lot of the possible tension in this book was removed for me. I would recommend "Lake Silence" to anyone who enjoyed the previous books enough to want more in that universe.

A great addition to the world of The Others!

Can't wait for more!

Overall I’m a fan of Anne Bishop’s new Others book. Vicki is a plain heroine, which is not something we see very often. Despite that, she is kind and generous and people respond to that, and it is lovely to see in a fantasy novel. Vicki, as a heroine, does leave a little to be desired though. She has very realistic anxiety, but that could be frustrating at time because she never appeared to be working on that. Instead of feeling like exploration of mental illness vitally needed in popular culture, it read as an excuse for Vicki to let people do everything for her.

That said. This book has a good hook - I was invested in the story from the first sentence, and it was nice to see more of the Sanguinati, my favorite Others from her previous series. This book has a more clear cut format than many of her previous books, with clear POV shifts between chapters and this delineation was nice. The overall framing was a little strange though - firstly because Vicki says things like “some things to know”, that make it feel like she is talking to another person without providing any further reason to believe that Vicki sees herself as addressing an audience. Secondly, Vicki’s chapters are the only ones in first person, and the switch between first and third person is jarring.

I love Anne's Others' books. To me, they're like cuddly comfort books with violence. Maybe it's because I've been traumatized in the past, but it's easy for me to look past the fact that good guys get damaged because I know Anne will make it right. Something bigger, meaner, and more straight-forward than the bad guys is going to step in and lay waste to (not merely deal with, but destroy) those that need it. One could only wish it happened in real life.

One of the things that makes the Others so fabulous is that appearances don't matter to them. Nothing that is just surface matters to them. Who people are, and what that impels people to do, is their only real benchmark. I would be happy to live in a world with them in it, even though it meant, on some levels, I'd be prey.

The plot: Emotionally abused ex-wife takes "junk" land given to her in the divorce settlement and tries to reopen a defunct hostelry business ; abusive ex gets together with cronies and tries to rob her of the little he gave her; turns out someone else actually owns the land, he just "gave" her the rights to the buildings and certain levels of use - which is all his family had ever had; his bad luck is that the Others are the actual land holders, they like really his ex, and they really don't like him, the cronies, or their underhanded methods. (And who would?) Things get out of hand, for the humans, from there.

The characters: I liked them individually, but worry about the predominance of males and the possibility of triangles, quadrilaterals, or other relationship stupidity in further books.

Vicki (the new "caretaker" of The Jumble) is healing from her abuse and the occasional bursts of backbone and growth are a good thing to see. Her high level of fragility was tiresome now and again; she did struggle to overcome it, so that helped. She hated the men always acting like she'd break and rose up in response to that - however, not stupidly! When they were right, she just grumbled. I liked that. Nothing worse than a "strong heroine" who insists on doing something, even something that makes them too stupid to live, just because they have to insist on their independence and strength.

The men: Wayne Grimshaw (with a name like that he should have been an Other!), police officer, was pretty straightforwardly a good capable man put in a position he didn't ask for but handled well. Julian Farrow, ex-police officer now a bookstore owner with a secret past and Intuit powers, should have been a superhero with a background like that - he's a "friend" of Vicki's. Ilya Sanguinati, vampire and power-lawyer extraordinaire, struck me as being very like Vlad from the earlier novels with a law degree thrown in. Any, and all, of these guys seemed to hint at some time of being capable, if not willing, of developing an interest in Vicki. Which is why I was concerned about relationship stupidity. I guess I'll just have to see in later books - which, cross your fingers, Anne actually plans to right for us because I'd be happy to read them right now!

All of that said, if you've not read any of the Others series, while this would not be a bad place to start, it's not the best. It's set in a new place and has new characters. However, if you really want to grow into the world and understand it on a deeper level, you be happier starting at the beginning. Not to mention, you'd miss out on all the characters from the earlier books! Something you definitely shouldn't do.

Continuing her “Others” series, Anne Bishop introduces us to new characters and a new setting. As part of her divorce settlement Vicki was given a rundown lodge that she it trying to fix up. She even has a lodger, although it turns out Aggie is one of the shape-shifting others, and she has found a body. Watching the twists and turns as Vicki tries to do the right thing and also explain human oddities to the others is fantastic. This series is the best, world building is top notch and I want more! Highly recommended.

Though it's tentatively called the sixth book in The Others series, this thrilling romp through the world of the terra indigene carries minimal references to the previous five books. The setting is semi-familiar, a small town in the same region, but unlike the college town feeling brought by Lakeside and it's inhabitants, everything in Sproing is a bit less... civilized.
Similar to how the series began, Anne Bishop begins this book with a woman attempting to distance herself from her past. This time, Vicki DeVine is a recent divorcee and trying to make due after a contentious separation from her ex-husband. The only thing she appears to have gotten out of that relationship is a rather run-down, lake-front B&B with some rather stringent conditions on renovations and land use. That and an ongoing roulette wheel of anxiety triggers thanks to years of mental and emotional abuse.
Bishop skillfully weaves themes and tropes that she introduced in previous books to tell a new tale, with a new cast and setting. The traumas of Vicki's past are treated seriously and with gravity, by others if not by herself, and trauma and emotional wounds are treated respectfully in how they are carefully explained and handled by multiple characters. In both using the explaining of 'human things' to the terra indigene, as well as the guise of characters being new in town, Bishop is able to provide information without sounding as if she is narrating exposition to readers.
As politically twisted as the previous books, this one too depicts the follies of men and a world attempting to rebuild in a more gentle way - mostly. Much like in Lakeside, the citizens of Sproing are a mixed bag, and newcomers ride a delicate edge of establishing themselves while meeting, some for the first time, the terra indigene. On the other hand, the wild woods are much closer to Sproing and the area surrounding Vicki's cabins at The Jumble, on the edge of Lake Silence, and the terra indigene there are much less used to human interaction.
While this book and this series are generally tagged within a romantic sub-category, if Bishop continues with the adventures of these characters that romance, similar to the first five books, will build slowly. It is only right, with these characters and the things they have been through, and it adds to both the credibility of the characters as people and Bishop's world-building chops. Certainly any future additions to this world will be full of plenty other to keep the characters, and readers, occupied.

Once again Anne Bishop takes you to a land far away, a land you never want to leave. Her writing style is one I've never come across before. The writing was flawless and captivating. The characters were riveting and mesmerizing. With one sentence you are swept away in a fantastical world where the beings mimic humans and humans try and make peace with being "clever meat". I love the multiple POVs, I feel like I get so many more answers and questions that way. I love getting into the head of the Others and finding out how they think. Ms. Bishop is a genius who can weave a new thought pattern in these Others. What makes it even more unique is that no two types of terra indigene thinks the same.

We meet the terra indigene and this incredible world in Anne Bishop's earlier series, The Others. Honestly this reads as one of the cozy Inuit thrillers they talk about in that earlier series. Vicki is trying to get by living at The Jumble, a place she received in her divorce settlement. At the time she had no idea it was to be used as a Other training camp. When a dead body shows up, mystery and intrigue come from every corner. With the help of Aggie Crowe and Ilya Sanguinati she must find out why she's being threatened and who wants her property.

I love Vicki, Julian, Grimshaw, Aggie, Ineke, and Ilya. Each character brings a new dynamic to the story that sucks you into the mystery. All of the POVs interconnect to bring you a whole wider view of this world and it's inhabitants. Ms. Bishop brings back old style mystery with a twist, and I'm very much in love with it. My new favorite beings are the lake Elders and the Lady of the Lake. Imagination went wild with them and they are such a great new addition to the world.

I didn't want this book to end and I found myself trying to slow down with every chapter. It was so hard to put down. I can't wait to see more from Spriong. Definitely a must buy, a must read.

I have an 8 month old and a full time job, so when I tell you I stayed up several hours past my bedtime because I couldn't put it down even knowing the consequences, KNOW that it is that good and that you should run and buy your copy now. And then go buy Bishop's previous Others series because you're going to want more when you're done. The characters are complex and fantastic, the setting came alive, the world building is magnificent and the story is killer (literally, a lot of murder and mayhem in this novel). I had a hella hard time putting this down, and it was deliciously well done. I can't wait for more.

Pub date: Mar 2018
3.5 This spin-off is centered around another wounded woman, Vicki, becoming a bridge between humans and the terre indigene. I was happy to see another in this series, even though it didn't have Meg or the Lakeside gang.

So. Freaking. Good!!!!!
It took me a tiny bit to get into it because Vicki is so different from Meg, but Anne Bishop had me sucked into her incredible world very quickly.
It was so cool to see a different point of view and how people were behaving a little after the Great Predation. I loved all the characters and am very much looking forward to seeing them grow and develop. Loved the way the author added to the world she'd built in the first five books and am seriously considering re-reading them...for the third time this year😎.

Overall I’m a fan of Anne Bishop’s new Others book. Vicki is a plain heroine, which is not something we see very often. Despite that, she is kind and generous and people respond to that, and it is lovely to see in a fantasy novel. Vicki, as a heroine, does leave a little to be desired though. She has very realistic anxiety, but that could be frustrating at time because she never appeared to be working on that. Instead of feeling like exploration of mental illness vitally needed in popular culture, it read as an excuse for Vicki to let people do everything for her.

That said. This book has a good hook - I was invested in the story from the first sentence, and it was nice to see more of the Sanguinati, my favorite Others from her previous series. This book has a more clear cut format than many of her previous books, with clear POV shifts between chapters and this delineation was nice. The overall framing was a little strange though - firstly because Vicki says things like “some things to know”, that make it feel like she is talking to another person without providing any further reason to believe that Vicki sees herself as addressing an audience. Secondly, Vicki’s chapters are the only ones in first person, and the switch between first and third person is jarring.