Written in Red by Anne Bishop Series: The Others,
Published by ROC on 2013-03-05
Length: 433 pages
Reviewing eBook from TN R.E.A.D.S.
Rating:
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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 Liaison job. First, he senses she’s 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 humans and the Others that will surely follow.
Written in Red by Anne Bishop is the first book in The Others and I cannot believe that it took me so long to read it!!! It’s no secret that I’m a fantasy lover and THIS book is that and SO MUCH MORE. In the book, the author creates an alternate world where everything paranormal tenuously coexists with humans. It’s really a fun read! In this first book of the series, Meg Corbyn is running, from what no one knows, and finds herself in the Lakeside Courtyard. Shape-shifter Simon Wolfguard has no love for humans but something about Meg leads him to help her. When Meg’s secret comes to light, Simon will have to decide if helping her is worth risking his family and friends in the courtyard.
Meg is an interesting character. For someone of her age, she’s extremely naive and while reading in her POV you find out that she has never lived outside the facility that she ran from. Her sole experience with the outside world consisted of pictures and video clips and of course her visions. You see she a cassandra sangue, a blood prophet. With each slice of her skin, she gets glimpses of the future, making her a very valuable asset. All she wants for herself is a life away from the facility, a real chance of living.
Simon Wolfguard is the alpha, so to speak, or designated leader of the Lakeside Courtyard. He along with other Others live within the confines of the Courtyard, but as an experiment and a way to work with humans, they have shops open to humans and Others. Simon owns the bookstore *sigh* and is raising his nephew after his sister was killed. I really liked Simon, but at the same time he scared me to death! He isn’t human and the author does a great job of conveying this with his odd wolf-like mannerisms, his ruthlessness, cunning, and his loyalty.
While Simon and Meg are really the main characters, there are many other characters that play vital roles: Henry Bearguard, Sam, Vlad, and many others. I love them all! The uniqueness that each brings is unlike anything I’ve ever read in a paranormal fantasy.
The plot focuses on two things: Meg and the government’s hunt for her and Asia Crane. Asia is introduced as annoyance to Simon. She basically is trying to get inside the Courtyard, for what you’ll have to read the book but trust me when I say she is crafty. The hunt for Meg though is the biggest part of the book and really it comes down to one question: will the Others protect Meg or give her back?
Overall I really enjoyed this book! Despite being 400+ pages, I read it quickly, not wanting to set it down for ANY reason. Why 4 instead of 5? There was a bit of head hopping in the beginning and a lot of info dump regarding the world-building that left me slightly confused. By five or six chapters in though, I had it figured out 😉 If you enjoy paranormal fantasy, I highly recommend you get a copy of Written in Red. It won’t disappoint!
Final Conclusion:
I have bought a copy of this book about a year or so ago and I still haven’t read it. It sounds like a book I will enjoy and I heard so many good things about it, but I just can’t seem to get around to reading it. And I am glad to hear all the characters are unique, I like it when each character has their own distinctive personality. It sounds great how the author really brought out the wolfish charactertics in the wolfguard. Great review!
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I absolutely LOVE this series! Glad to see you read it and enjoyed it as well. The world building is just stunning imo.