This was another amazing entry into The Others series. What I love most about this series is that the Others are not just humans who can turn into wolves or hawks or crows. They truly are alien to the human characters. In this world, humans exist on sufferance. The land is owned by the terra indigene. Humans are just another kind of food for most of them. The Lakeside Courtyard is one of the few places where humans and smaller forms of the terra indigene interact.

After the events of the previous book, everyone is on edge. The Elders are trying to figure out how much of the humans to keep and whether or not they are worth the bother. They send two of their Elders to observe the interactions between humans and Others in the Lakeside Courtyard. They haven't picked a really good time.

Lieutenant Crispin James Montgomery is one of the humans that the Others trust. He is living in their compound with his young daughter Lizzie. His sister and her two daughters and his mother have recently come from the destruction in Toland. His mother is making a place for herself in the Courtyard but his sister is too much under the influence of his brother Jimmy to fit in. When Jimmy arrives with his wife and two children all sorts of things start to go wrong. He is a bad person. The wolves want to expel him from the Courtyard but the Elders want them to keep him around to observe. He wreaks all sorts of havoc.

This was a smaller story than the previous book but just as emotionally intense. Simon Wolfgard and Meg Corbyn are falling in love which is a new experience for both of them. Meg is a Blood Prophet who is trying to find a way to control her need to cut herself to trigger her visions. She is the role model for the other younger blood prophets. Simon is trying to understand Meg and take care of her but he wonders if they can ever have a relationship. A wolf and a human seem an unlikely pair.

Despite the emotional intensity, there were all sorts of elements of humor too. The actions of the human pack which the Others tend to refer to as exploding puffballs is constantly baffling and sometimes scary to the Others who deal with them. Talk about cultural misunderstandings!

I loved the way that Meg makes friends with all the various others from wolves and crows to vampires and elementals. I also love her relationship with Simon's nephew Sam and his friend Skippy. I thought the potluck and the humans acceptance of Skippy was one of the most touching things I've read in a long, long time.

I love this series and gladly point to my keeper copies when people want to know what great paranormal books look like.

This installment was great, for once the threat wasn't so much from the Others which puts life in Thaisia in perspective...lots to fear besides the Others. Another thing I really love about this series is that it reminds me of the Soap Operas that I grew up with. Not the melodrama so much as the style...you can almost hear an announcer saying, "Meanwhile at the mayor's office" and the story cuts to the Mayor's office for another part of the story from another perspective. Just love this series and am dying with the realization I am going to most likely have to wait a year for the next installment. UGH!

Oh my, I can't believe this series keeps getting better. Another great read with action and explanations. Highly recommend.

Satisfying end of this series. It was a pleasure to find the characters once more and learn more about them.

“Just a game. Simon thought we’d had great fun. Bet the other wolves did too.”
“And you?” Monty said.
“We look at the same things, but we don’t see the same things. It made me realize how easy it can be to screw this up and send the wrong signal.”

The human rebellion has been brutally put down by the Elders, and the ones left are unsure of where they fit and what to do. The more human terra indigene are also unsure as to what the Elders want. Everyone is on edge, and territories are being redrawn.

Left mostly well enough alone is the Lakeside Courtyard, for which everyone is grateful. Blood Prophet Meg and Simon Wolfguard try to maintain the balance that they have worked so hard for, but when Lieutenant Montgomery’s bad seed brother shows up, will that balance be broken? Meg has seen the future and it is bleak- her, standing next to a grave in the woods.

What I loved

Reading about Simon and Meg is like coming home to me. I love their squabbles, Meg’s continued learning about what it means to be human, and more importantly, a woman, and Simon coming to terms with the fact that he is becoming an integral part of the human community while maintaining his wolf nature. The character development in this installation was rich and relatable, and the police and other girls in the community got a lot more page time. This helped the world build also, since a post-human wipeout world always requires some survivors to give context.

I also loved that the romance narrative is (slowly but surely) progressing! While a good fantasy does not require a romance sub-narrative, it is never unwelcome when done right, and I love the slow build up of Simon and Meg as they come to terms with the feelings they have for another. Can a Wolf love a human? Can a once-victim learn to love, physically and emotionally, when she was once denied those feelings? Bishop handles this so well, so delicately. The reader wants to know more.

What I didn’t love as much

There is not much to complain about, except for some minor characterization issues that are personal opinion. I felt that the Elders’ reactions to things were sometimes… out of place? I just can’t picture the all-powerful forces of nature feeling shame, or guilt about not knowing something. In my head, they’d just act like they meant to do what they did all along and then do what the terra indigene ask of them. Their feelings of humor at Meg’s reactions and other such little whimsies I understood more, since forces of nature would be capricious, but any admissions of fault just seemed out of place.

Lieutenant Montgomery’s characterization also felt a little heavy-handed. The man is evil, but is he too evil? There is no feelings of love, guilt, or compassion at all, only greed and self-interest. It made him very easy to hate, of course, but he was almost too easy to hate.

Like I said, personal problems. This did not stop me from full-heartedly loving this installation into The Others series, Etched in Bone, and anxiously await the next one! Anne Bishop is my hero. Five waves! Pre-order now so it’ll be on your doorstep March 7th!

You know how with a lot of series, the last book is all about the big battle, and then there’s only a small section of emotional wrap up? Not here, baby! The big picture stuff was pretty well resolved in book four, leaving Bishop free to go back to the core relationships in the Lakeside Courtyard. And since I love these characters beyond belief, I was a very happy camper.

Yes, there is still peril to the Meg, humanity and the smaller shifters, but the focus stays on our main cast. The world building in this series is brilliant, the characters, both human and shifter are treated with poignancy and heart. They experience such aching growth and the interpersonal dynamics and romance will have you longing for more.

If you haven’t picked it up yet, the series is complete so now is the time. And if you need more convincing, tell me what I need to say to get you to buy book one (Written in Red). My heart was full of joy when I finished the book and yet I was so sad that it was all over, but hey, that’s what re-reads are for.