Etched in Bone

  • Author Anne Bishop
  • Release Date March 7, 2017
  • Publisher Roc
  • ISBN/ASIN 978-0451474490
  • Our Rating
  • Reviewed by SJ

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Our Review

ETCHED IN BONE by Anne Bishop is the fifth book in her A Novel of the Others series. Oh. My. God. This series is phenomenal, and Bishop continues to take the characters to deeper, darker places while giving them hope and growth in a world constantly changing. Kudos to Anne Bishop for making this a 5 Heart book top her 5 Heart series! If I could, I’d rate this book an 11!

The story continues where MARKED IN FLESH, book 4, stopped. The humans are still encroaching and testing the Others, so much so that the Elders are not sure how many more humans to keep around. As in, keep alive. The Others rule the world, and the humans live on their lands only because the Others have granted them permission. After the war in the previous books, it’s not a sure thing that humanity will survive their own stupidity. So the Others send out a pair of Elders to study the Lakeside Courtyard, where a small “pack” of humans lives in harmony with the Others there.

Led by Simon Wolfgard, the terra indigene (Others) in the Courtyard have not only embraced their small human pack, but they’ve definitely added Meg Corbyn, a blood prophet, to their enlarged family. Meg is integral to those who live in Lakeside. From the wolves to the Elementals to the Sanguinati. She protects them through her visions, and they in turn protect her innocence from those who would try to take her away. 

But a human arrives who manages to stir up everything, and if they’re not careful, the Courtyard in Lakeside might have to give up their humans. Permanently.

Bishop manages to draw the tension to a tight snap as events unfold. One nasty human being does so much damage, even though Simon and the terra indigene know he’s bad, they can do nothing because the Elders want to watch how a small, seemingly insignificant human can upset the peace.

The author does a fantastic job of continuing to show how those in the Courtyard interact and enrich each other’s lives. The relationship between Meg and Simon deepens, and I was over-the-moon thrilled at how the story ended.

I so hope she pens many, many more stories of the Others in the Lakeside Courtyard. The world Bishop has created resonates long after the story ends. Now I’m going to go back and reread the series (thus far) from beginning to end. ETCHED IN BONE is a fabulous book not to be missed. Urban fantasy at its finest!

A RECOMMENDED READ! 

A Novels of the Others series in order:

WRITTEN IN RED
MURDER OF CROWS
VISION IN SILVER
MARKED IN FLESH
ETCHED IN BONE

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