Etched in Bone

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 show more 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. show less

I listened to the audiobook version of 'Written In Red' in December 2013. I didn’t write a review because I was so blown away all I’d have been able to say was: “Best fantasy novel I’ve read in a long, long time.” I needed a bit of distance to get some perspective on what I enjoyed and why. Eventually, realised that 'Written In Red' was closer to classic science fiction than it was to urban fantasy. Anne Bishop wasn’t writing about supernatural creatures roaming city streets. She’d created an alternative reality, imagined the way good science fiction should be: starting with two small changes to our familiar reality – humans are not at the top of the food chain and shapeshifters are not only real but dominant – while show more keeping everything else the same and then working through the consequences. She then delivered complex, credible, I’m-hungry-to-know-more world-building in simple prose. But what made the book unmissable was that she made her world real to me by creating characters I cared about and putting them in peril.

As I read through the 'Murder Of Crows', 'Vision In Silver' and 'Marked In Flesh', Meg's world became increasingly complex but it remained emotionally driven. I became more and more attached to Meg and her friends of all species in The Courtyard and they kept being placed in peril in a way that cranked up the tension and kept me turning the pages. Recently, I realised that part of the appeal of these books is that they feed my inner misanthrope by seeing the kind of power-hungry, misogynistic, violent, narcissistic humans, who are doing so well in the real world at the moment, bump into something that can literally grind them into dust. I got a grim satisfaction from seeing them fail because they lack the imagination to see themselves as not being at the top of the food chain.



When, at the end of the fourth book, 'Marked in Flesh', the humans finally got what was coming to them, I took a break. I couldn't see where the story would go for the final book. I didn't want the story to scale into geopolitics. I wanted it to stay personal. I wanted to know what happened to Meg Corbyn and I wanted it to be something good.

The break ran longer than I'd intended. In the meantime, Anne Bishop has published three more books in the world of The Others, so I decided it was time to find out what happened to Meg and then see if I was up for the next three books.

It turned out that 'Etched In Bone' was just what I was looking for. It was as if Anne Bishop knew exactly what I wanted from the final book. The focus was back on Meg and The Courtyard and this time we looked at the damage one bad human can do.

Anne Bishop draws this evil man with frightening accuracy. We see how he constantly generates and then comes to believe in, a false narrative that blames others for anything that isn't going the way he wants it to. He has a deeply embedded expectation that his actions will have no negative consequences for him. He sees compassion as weakness. Bullying is bred into his bones. He sees other people only as resources to be exploited or threats to be neutralised. He is completely unable to recognise that he'll eventually meet something more dangerous than he is. I found him and the damage he does, easy to believe in.

I was pleased that Anne Bishop didn't give in to the temptation to make everything right in the world after the humans lost their war. Life in The Courtyard has changed and will continue to change but most of the changes are not bad ones. And this book did show me what happened to Meg, the hunted, abused and vulnerable woman who had stumbled into The Courtyard in 'Written In Red' and changed the lives of everyone there, I won't share the details here but what happened was good (but not too good to be true) and Meg deserved it.

So, after having reminded myself of how much fun Anne Bishop's books are, I'm ready to read about other events in the world of The Others, starting with 'Lake Silence'. show less

It has been proven time and again how much trouble one bad person can cause for an entire community and just how easily that trouble can get out of hand if it's not caught in time. Etched in Bone, the final book in The Others series by Anne Bishop, uses this idea as its main plot line. Communities that survived the Namid's teeth and claws are starting to rebuild. Through the efforts of Simon and Meg Lakeside Courtyard weathered the storm better than most and has managed to keep the peace between humans and Others in their small town. That fragile balance is threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery's shady brother arrives in town looking for a free ride and the Elders are curious about the effect one seemingly insignificant predator can show more have on a pack.

This series has become one of my favorites. I never imagined paranormal slice of life stories where humans are in constant fear of getting eaten could feel so cozy. I absolutely love these characters and this world. Twyla and Skippy stole the show for me and pulled on my heartstrings with one of the best scenes written about a youngster with disabilities that I've ever read. Monty's brother Jimmy is absolutely horrid and I couldn't wait for his comeuppance. Each of the characters have grown so much over the course of five books that they all have a place in my heart. This series is going into my reread list.

Meg and Simon's love story was wonderful. It has been the longest slow burn, understated romance and I loved every minute of it. If you are someone who enjoys a hot and steamy romance, you're going to be disappointed. For me the slow burn felt right for these characters.

This was a solid ending to the series. I'm going to miss these characters. Hopefully Ms. Bishop returns to write more about our Lakeside Courtyard someday. Or at least a short story about Skippy. I need to know now Skippy is doing! show less

Apparently, some times I'm a little subtle, and the trolls have difficulty following my train of thought. So I'll be direct: I feel kind of sick about reading this book. I mean, the whole series has been one long sugar high, but this is like the regret after eating a thousand calories beyond reasonable, or the vaguely ill feeling when my bloodstream has more sugar than red blood cells.

But I confess: I started reading and didn't stop until the last page. There's something in Bishop's writing that carries one along; granted, I was post-night shift, so my brain was a little sleep-deprived, fuzzy, and in need of distraction. And sure, I might have spaced out a little when the plot became 'manly-man protect speshul woman,' and 'manly-mens show more protect other womans,' but that's just letting myself be carried along with the enjoyment of the moment, right? Chocolatey goodness melting in the mouth (not the hands). It's only later one thinks, 'wait, what did I just do?'

So I have to admit, Etched in Bone is probably enjoyable in distraction-eating kind of way. This might be the day for confessions, because I have another one--I suspect half the enjoyment of this series comes from revenge fantasies. In every book, the bad guys--who are truly selfish, greedy, without empathy and such horrible people that absolutely no one will find them sympathetic--will meet an ugly end. The last book gave us virtually world-wide destruction of racist governments and subsequent reassertion of the 'natural' world. In this one, however, even the revenge feels old, as Bishop recycles the tired plotting of Written in Red (book one) while attempting to regain the threat of world-wide destruction that drove books three and four.

However, Bishop couldn't really be bothered to deal with more character creation, so she resurrected least three or four of the villainous personalities to provide some of the meat for this book. Ha-ha: that's a pun for those in the know. Speaking of meat, in this book, Girly-Girl decides she has an Issue about eating meat, because she's troubled by images about it. Me too, Girly; me too. But I'm not not-dating a top-level predator whose Manly-Man friends tease him about bringing spinach to a potluck. You should probably figure that shit out.

Damn, did I mention how gross this books make me feel? It's like Sexism 101, all wrapped up in a sexy werewolf bow to make girly-girls kind of enjoy it.

Will you like it? Idk, I guess it depends on how altered your level of consciousness is at the moment, and how you want to feel when it's all over. As a modern feminist, I felt more than a little dirty being wrapped in the Super-Chivalry of Bishop's world (ooh, a woman wants to be a cop! Shocking! Let's let her try after she's vetted by all the Mens), where women write pen pals and have pizza parties, and the men work out on bicycles and go around having Meetings Deciding Things. As a modern person, I also felt kind of dirty with the elderly black woman (only one older person in the community) being A Force to Reckon With as well as the Mother-Figure for all the new community members, and her daughter being the Weak and Easily Manipulated by Men character. The rest of the community of wives are white, normal and pretty homogeneous. There's no way about it: this series is seriously sexist, and only reinforces ethnic stereotypes in any attempts to be inclusive.

Then there's the writing: the villain is completely ridiculous, a caricature of selfishness, sexism and manipulation, and is accompanied by equivalently ridiculous henchmen.

As a further kick in the funny parts for those who are looking for Hawt Schmexy Times, the ending will almost certainly piss off those hoping for a particular romantic angle. Honestly, I thought the ending was the one consistent note through the series, but then, almost everything here was recycled, and Hawt times would have required some new material.

Overall, I read, finished and felt gross about doing both. Your mileage may vary. show less

Every book in this series have been marathon reads for me, and Etched in Bone was no exception. I picked it up yesterday morning and pretty much did absolutely nothing else until I read the last page about midnight last night (although I did stop, in the name of marital harmony, to shovel some dinner down; luckily, there was a footy game on last night, so the shovelling went largely unnoticed).

I have loved every moment of this series; been sucked into this world so thoroughly that interruptions leave me hazy about reality and I have been as attached to these characters as much as, or more, than any others. Possibly more than real people I know.

But... this one; this final book concerning Meg and Simon, was not as great as the first 4. show more Because this book deviated from the rules the author created for The Others. In any of the other books, Jimmy would have been a stain on the sidewalk before chapter 3. I get what she was trying to do here, I get what she wanted to explore, but it was not done as gracefully, and the effect felt forced; its execution more heavy handed. In short, Jimmy got on my nerves; I stopped being horrified and started getting irritated and mumbling 'why isn't this man dead yet???'.

Still, I'd recommend this to anyone who likes urban fantasy and/or parables. Because this whole series is one giant parable about the human race: our capacity for grace, our capacity for vice, and our wholesale destruction of everything in our path as long as we remain unchecked. As horrifying as The Others are, I can't look around at what's going on today and not sort of wish our Earth had Naimid's teeth and claws to protect her.

I'm attached so thoroughly to these characters in the Courtyard, I'm not sure I'll read the next book; which is apparently in the same universe but with a different setting and characters. I want more Tess! But I'll definitely be re-reading these. show less

I absolutely loved this conclusion to the Simon and Meg series. It had the usual Anne Bishop flair and mix of homey stories mixed in with larger conflict between the Others and the rest of the human community. A large part of this one centered on Montgomery's family, a human character who has been an integral part of the series since the beginning. I love the way that Anne Bishop develops her villains and deals out justice with a feral sense of flair. The ramping up of tensions in the Courtyard in this one, the final suspense and conclusion.... everything was written and executed perfectly.

And especially loved the romance finally heating up between Simon and Meg. That's been sort of a back-burner thing all along, and it is here, too, show more but we finally see more of an acknowledgement on the surface. Will miss this series. show less

(Originally reviewed at thelibraryladies.com.)

GAHHHHH!!!! What is it with the number of series that have failed to stick the landing recently?! (“Recently” being my own recent reading history, mind). I guess I really should be reading the writing on the wall a bit better. Just like the Gemma Doyle series, Bishop’s “The Others” series has slowly, steadily, agonizingly determinedly, been working its way down the sad decline into the land of boredom and “who cares.” That “Etched in Bone” finally lands this decline at the very bottom and adds a nice kick in the butt right at the end for your effort…maybe shouldn’t be surprising.

what-not-to-say-to-mixed-race-3
Me, about this series. If that’s harsh? I’m not sorry. show more (source)
There will be some spoilers in this review, because I’m definitely talking about the ending for this one!

It’s on the record that I didn’t love “Marked in Flesh,” either. But the one thing that it did deliver was the massive, destructive climax that had been building up between the Humans First and Last movement and the Others for the last several books. Shit went down. Cities were systematically wiped out. And because most of the human characters (other than all the special ones that seemed to live in Lakeside) were truly awful people, there was some sick joy in watching them go.

“Etched in Bone” opens shortly thereafter with the powers-that-be conferring together and still asking their one driving question: “How much Human do we keep?” To determine this, a select few travel to Lakeside to witness this hybrid example of Other/Human life being lived in harmony, all due to the changes brought about by Meg. With the massive damage dealt in the last book, this one had a problem right from the start: is it really credible that any humans would still be holding to these crazy views? Literally thousands of lives have been lost and the Others didn’t even blink an eye. It was hard to buy in the last several books that people could be willfully this stupid, but it got to a point of complete ridiculousness here.

And, as always, the villain character was the worst of it all. It seemed that he was evil purely for evil’s sake, and the fact that anyone would still buy his crazed philosophies after witnessing the prior destruction and knowing the thin knife’s edge that human life as a whole balanced upon was just too big an ask of my imagination.

On top of this all, the previous book also fully cracked the rose-colored lens through which I had been reading this series. It’s no surprise that I (and I believe many fans of these books) have been following the series primarily out of a love and interest in the two main characters, Simon and Meg. As their relationship has floundered (more on that) and more side characters have been introduced, the series’ flaws have begun to show more and more. Specifically, its very stereotypically gendered roles. References to the “female pack” that before were a funny little quirk, now read as supremely uncomfortable in light of the fact that all of the women, aside form a sassy elderly woman character, exist in very narrow confines. None of them are in leadership roles, and their friendships and lives are littered with pitfalls of silliness.

Beyond this, the series’ other main weakness has been a penchant for info-dumpy chapters full of mundane details. In my last review I complained about the pages devoted to stock piling toilet paper, and nothing has changed here. In the first few chapters, we’re already enduring pages and pages full of characters (not even the main ones!) discussing the ins and outs of Lakeside’s economy and trading. It’s just…dull.

And then. AND THEN! Simon and Meg. I knew I was going to be disappointed right from the beginning. In the end of the last book, it seemed that there were a few steps being taken in the right direction. Meg asked Simon to go skinny dipping, very PG skinny dipping of course, but still. But here, in the second chapter of the dang book, we have Simon recounting how that pretty much went nowhere and that, while he was potentially interested in Meg that way, he wasn’t willing to risk there friendship. And then Meg gets her own chapter and what do you know? She thinks the same! And so on and so on. Any progress that readers thought they saw in the last book was immediately walked back, and for the majority of this book, it was business as usual.

Until the end. And what do we get? What do we get for sticking through 5 damn books of packing lists and excruciating infodump conversations? We get one, very brief scene where Meg and Simon agree to try to make something work. And a kiss. IT’S ONE SCENE AT THE END OF THE BOOK!! There is no build up. There is no follow through. No relationship learning and stumbles. Nothing.

Not only do we get absolutely nothing out of this scene, but this same chapter could have been tacked on to the ending of any of the 3 books that came before it and you wouldn’t have noticed. We’ve all been going along trusting that this slow burn relationship was just that, a slow burn relationship. Instead, now, we realize we’ve been tricked the whole time. It wasn’t a slow burn, it was nothing. “Slow burn” implies we are building towards something. This book makes it very clear that either Bishop didn’t know what to do with these characters’ relationship (and hasn’t for the last several books) or never cared to begin with and just tacked it into a series where her main interest was writing about the minute details of the world itself, only to be dismayed by fan reaction and throw in this final scene as some attempt to quell readers.

At this point, anyone who is reading this book has read the ones that came before it. If you did enjoy those, maybe this one won’t be as frustrating for you, as much of the actual plot is lather, rinse, repeat with the conflict between dumb, evil people and the Others who are bizarrely still enamored by Meg (her special snowflake status has reached a peak, if you’re curious). But I have a hard time seeing many longtime fans being satisfied with this conclusion. I know I’m not. show less