Enter the world of the Others in the first novel in New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s thrilling fantasy series: a place where unearthly entities—vampires and shape-shifters among them—rule the Earth and prey on the human race.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 … 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.
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This book was such a delightful surprise! The cover didn’t appeal to me, so I’d steered clear of it despite various recommendations. But the interior is one of those stories that sucks you in, makes you dream about it, then leaves you living in its world long after turning the last page.
The werewolf thread, of course, appealed to me, pushing all of my buttons while still managing to be different and fresh. But there was also a kind of sci-fi first-contact feel to the book. Plus a vivid, snowy world that could have been one of the characters (and kinda was).
All of that said, my favorite part was the heroine, innocent and not strong in any conventional way while still wielding a resilient power. She reminded me a lot of Anna from the Alpha & Omega series.
Overall — highly recommended!!
Original review (2013): My goodness, there is something about this book! After finishing it (the first time) I rated this book four stars and was still a bit on the fence about how I felt about it. This book is brutal, most characters view humans as “smart meat” and yet, I sympathized with them.
But then…I just couldn’t get past this book, I kept coming back to it, reading it over and over, every time loving it a little more. The world building is so fantastic and original, I’d say that it’s a cross genre of urban fantasy and high-fantasy (contemporary fantasy?).
The world is an alternate modern day society where “The Others” (a race of various supernatural monsters) control all natural resources, and therefore humans are subservient to them in most ways. “The Others” live in compounds separate from humans and only choose to interact with humans because they like the inventions and products humans create. “The Others” hire a bedraggled runaway named Meg Corbyn to be a liaison between them and humans (because they hate interacting with humans.) Meg Corbyn has her own problems these inevitably become The Other’s problems as well.
Quite a bit of this book is centered on Meg Corbyn’s job as a liaison, or basically a mail woman. This is actually one of my favorite parts of this book. Meg is a strange woman and has quite a lot of misadventures trying to work with the fierce and very odd supernatural community.
My other favorite part of this book was Meg’s awkward bonding with the human-hating supernatural creatures she is surrounded in. (Especially her maybe-hopefully-love-interest with Simon Wolfgard!!!)
Okay, so I’m making this book sound light-hearted, which it is at times but it is also very dark at other times, graphic and a little bit gory.
The world building and feeling of this book is so original I’ve spent a good portion of my reading time (after I read Written in Red several times) questing to find books like it, and failing.
Anne Bishop scores again with another world with its own rules.
This tells the beginning of the story of Meg Corbyn, a girl that can see the future when she cuts herself. In this world, the Others are shape-shifters and creatures of legend that have control of most of the Earth, other than an area around the Mediterranean. The rest is controlled by the Others.
Meg escapes from a privately controlled “camp” and runs straight into the “arms” of the Others and the shape-shifter, Simon Wolfgard, the liason between the Others and humans in Lakeside.
The characters are well-written and fully fleshed out. I do like that this series, which Written in Red is the first, continues the story but doesn’t leave you with a cliffhanger that you then have to wait for the next book to be resolved.
My only caveat is the price. This one is $7.99 USD and the one coming out in March is now up to $13.99 for an electronic book that requires no shipping or printing and that has to be in electronic format for it to published in the first place. I know the author needs to make a living but, since I am on a fixed income, it’s starting to get to the point I have to think about it to buy it.
I LOVED this. There was something really great in the story about how the Others, supernatural beings of various types, were NOT humans in any way, were not depicted as humans who just happened to turn furry (or whatever) but actually had their own way of seeing the world completely differently than humans did. They were dangerous, and depicted as such, and it was great to see them struggle to understand humans once Meg came into their midst. It was both amusing, and somehow more realistic, and just fun to read. I couldn’t put this down; and when I was forced to (gotta go to work), I couldn’t wait to get back to reading it again. It was also refreshing to see Other-human interaction that wasn’t steamy romance (again), but actually kind of sweet (or, if the human was prey, not so sweet).
What is a book that takes a while to get going but is totally worth the wait?
This one started slow and redeemed itself in the second half or so. I don’t fully know why I stuck with it because it really was SLOW. Normally I would have given up way before halfway but something about the world and the characters made me stick with it and I’m so very glad I did. I ended up loving the book and went on to gobble up the following book.
I’m not sure just what inspired me to read Written in Red, but boy I am glad I did! Okay, there are Werewolves, werebears, werecrows, vampires (and a lot more strange characters). Anne Bishop threw all rules out and wrote something so new and different that it is like a breath of fresh air. There are several books in the series. Another one is coming in March. I can’t wait!
Most readers have had a book or books that they’ve wanted to move into.
Who doesn’t want to buy a house in Harry Potter world? Personally, I want to be neighbors with the Weasley’s.
I finished book 1 in The Other’s series Written in Red by Anne Bishop and I’ve already signed a lease on a very nice apartment near the courtyard.
I want to live in the world created by Anne Bishop for The Other’s series. It’s interesting. It’s funny. It’s thrilling.
If you like shapeshifting fantasy, especially with wolves you should try and lease out the apartment next to mine. You won’t have to worry about me bugging you, I’ll be hanging out in the Chambers with Grandpa Albus if I survive the walk up to the front door.
p.s. I bought book 2 before I finished book 1.
I enjoyed this book. This has to be one of the best starts to a series that I’ve read in a long time. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it exceeded everything I hoped for. The characters are delightful. I found myself constantly cracking up at their antics and fell in love with them. If it weren’t for silly things like needing food and sleep, I would have read the whole thing in one sitting. As is, I stayed up way too late because I couldn’t put it down. There are a few issues with the world-building, but even with those tiny things, I enjoyed this book. I can’t wait to read the next one.
This series is slow-burning, and there are definitely times when it could have been trimmed down to move faster, but I really enjoyed it. It’s not deep or though-provoking, but it’s full of pure entertainment, which is exactly what I needed.
CONTENT WARNING: There’s a handful of f-bombs (around a dozen), so if that bothers you, this probably isn’t the book for you.
Currently on sale (09.24.19) and I can’t recommend this one enough!
This book came along at exactly the right moment. Sometimes that’s all it takes to make a good book great. But “Written In Red” is more than just a filler book for when finding decent reads has become too hard. It’s an utterly enthralling, completely addictive, so well written world of vampires and shapeshifters and elementals and all sorts of nasty boogie-man things.
I’d seen this one advertised on Amazon’s “Also Boughts” list many times. I’m not sure why I didn’t pick it up: could have been the cover’s font, maybe? But for whatever reason, I knew it existed and I ignored it.
Bad mistake.
Anne Bishop does a fantastic job of drawing you in with mystery, intrigue and emotion. And a world quite complex but conversely simple to understand. Rule one: The Others are all animals and can kill. Rule two: Humans are meat to be eaten. Rule three: Neither side plays nice.
Meg is a nice mix between vulnerable, naive, headstrong and self-sacrificing. I liked her. But I loved Simon. What does that say about me? Simon is a Wolf. He threatens to eat Meg on more than one occasion, and on more than one occasion he means it. But the wonderful way Bishop develops these characters, slowing bringing them to a place where they are more than they were before, is thoughtful, beautiful, and subtle in its endeavours.
This book simply works.
Timing might play a part in the 5-stars I’ve given this one (I was desperate for a decent read). But I don’t think so. I just think “The Others” is that good.
I’ve read all of Anne Bishop’s series, and her “Others” series is my favorite. Her alternate world resembles the one we live in, but highlights aspects that often are ignored, such as how unconscious people are about things they don’t want to think about which can impact their lives, and how outcomes (even apocalyptic ones) often hinge on the actions of a few enlightened and/or courageous people. I recommend this series as a great summer binge read for those who love escapist fiction.
I enjoyed this story so much I went right out to buy the next one when I finished reading it.
The characters are well-rounded, compelling, and easy to relate to. I connected with Meg from the very beginning, and that sense of empathy grew with every scene. Even Asia, who I took an instant dislike to, had clear and reasonable motivation. Simon was a pretty standard “rough around the edges but good at heart” werewolf.
The world-building was believable, it’s not that different from our world after all, and Bishop did a wonderful job showing the “otherness” of the Others. That is, she was really able to make them feel not human.
I would highly recommend this book for any fan of urban fantasy.
Anne Bishop is one of the best storytellers out there, and this first book of the Others series is no exception. She knows just how to boil characters and circumstances down to a lean, gripping story, and always takes her own worldbuilding path.
One of my absolute favourite series. The mythology is so fresh and the relationship between Simon and “the Meg” is incredibly sweet. An amazing start to a wonderful journey for these characters.
A whole new way to look at the paranormal. You immediately fall in love or hate with the characters. Fantastic writer!
Awesome.
Anne Bishop has been on my list of authors for a long time. The Black Jewels Series was haunting, sad, tragic, action packed and yet finally had a happily ever after. I was invested and so have many others has the story continue to grow book after book.
With the Other’s series, it is less ethereal, very urban fantasy and just the right amount of elements to keep you interested in the paranormal, shifters, young coming of age despite adversity, and fantasy with a allegory of what if nature was that much more entwined in our lives?
The Others series is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I met Meg Corybn through another series that intersects this one. The world is frontier, urban fantasy and mystery all swirled together in a tasty and unique frappe of genres. I have to wait for next March for the next book in the World of the Others (CrowBones)… sigh… in the meantime, I am investigating other Anne Bishop stories in the Ephemera series.
Great world building with more humor than expected
This has been on my list as a potential TBR for a while now, as I’ve seen quite a few recommendations for this author. I kept putting it off though, because it seemed from the blurb and reader comments that it was maybe a little dark for my taste, but I finally decided now was the time, and I’m so glad I did.
It IS pretty dark at times—the Others consider humans to be “clever meat”, after all—and there are plenty of humans committing their own atrocities, but it’s mostly off screen or implied. There is a graphic scene early on though, so if you can’t handle the idea of humans not being the top of the food chain, this probably isn’t the series for you.
As for me, well, while I don’t particularly consider myself a violent person, I do figure some people deserve to get eaten, and this particular group of Others seems fair, if possibly harsh. There was also a lot more humor than I expected (Meg and the ponies gave me more than one laugh), which helped a lot to lighten the tone.
Interesting world building, engaging characters, plenty of suspense to keep the plot moving, all in addition to the humor, made this exactly the kind of story I look for. At least waiting so long to read this means there are plenty of books in the series already out and waiting to be read, lol.
Wow! 2019 and I just discovered this Author. This author really knows how to tell a compelling story that keeps you reading. I couldn’t put this book down. She could write a grocery list and I’d read it.
Many others have already recapped the story, so I won’t do that. I will say that I’ve cried and laughed; I’ve been on the edge of my seat and I’ve cheered.
Sam is my favorite character. Sam is a boy. Is a puppy. Is a boy. But he was stuck in his puppy body because of trauma. And it talked about him wagging and thumping his tail because he was happy and eating his kibble. And I’m like, but why are they feeding a boy kibble? Sam also REALLY LOVES puppy cookies.
I do have a few small criticisms, though. The relationships with Meg were just too easy. Everyone fell in love with her far too fast. There were only a few characters who didn’t, but they mostly came around, all except the main villain (which is to be expected) and another wolf (but he died).
Another problem is that names of things/places were kind of generic, not that creative. For example, the original inhabitants, the “others” are terra indigene. And there’s Afrikah, Australis, and Zelande. This doesn’t really bother me per se, it’s just that it gives it a little feeling of silliness (which is fine, when done well).
As for the villain, I didn’t like how she was handled. Her character just wasn’t built up, too shallow. In the end, I kind of felt like she didn’t really deserve what she got because she seemed more misguided than evil. There were several times that I thought, “Okay, this character is redeemable and something is going to happen to turn her around.” I think that I felt that way because her main motivations were pretty shallow–money and fame. And boy, was she focused on it; her motivations were mentioned repeatedly.
I thought that the cutting was . . . weird; and a bad message. Okay, on the one hand, I guess it was unique to cut yourself and get a prophesy (she’s a cassandra sangue, that’s what they do). On the other hand, it made it sound like cutting is glamorous. Sure, the “others” were bothered by it and worried by it, didn’t want her to do it. But you know, she really needed to do it because it was for a good cause. And hey, prophesies are cool, right? What’s a little self-harm and pain (euphoria if you do it right) when you’re doing it for the greater good? Personally, I think that self-harm is bad would’ve been a better message than self-harm can produce cool results.
For some parts, I felt like the build up took too long. I think that this book could’ve been cut in half, to about 300 pages, and it would’ve been a nice, tight story.
Overall I really liked the book and plan to read the next in series. Often times, the first book of a planned series ends up being just the set up for the real story, so I’m kind of hoping that’s the case with this.
Even so, Anne Bishop’s writing style is just beautiful, so I would like to read more from her.
Wonderful book in a terrific series