Written in Red: A Novel of the Others

(I don’t do book reports so please read the synopsis to find out what the book is about. This review is only about what I did or did not like. The review also covers the first 3 books in the series.)The 1st book of the series, Written in Red, starts out with a real bang that kept me reading from the 1st page to the last and then immediately buying and downloading the 2nd book in the series.The Great:Unique outlook on what makes up a supernatural creature and it’s ability and interaction with humans.Unique concept of an alternate world where humans are not the dominate group of beings.Great world building that helps the reader “mentally see” this alternative world.Characters are well developed creating the ability for the reader to understand and easily picture the character in their mind. I found myself drawn to the characters, wanting to know more about them, picturing them in my mind, and not being able to stop reading because I had to see what happened next to them.Enough actions to keep me engrossed in the story from the 1st page to the last.Creative concepts abound with a fresh look at supernatural creatures and their viewpoints about Humans. Humans are considered to be “meat” and the author does a great job of portraying that attitude by the supernatural beings characters in the book. The author used this characterization to create some dark or sly humor. It was also used as device to introduce misunderstandings between the two species.Great bargain – for $2.99 this was a great deal. I had hours of entertainment and it kept my interest for every second.Warnings:The main female character is a prophet – but in order to prophesize she must cut herself or be cut by someone in order to obtain the vision of the future. This may be a trigger for someone who was a cutter or suffered with having a love one that was or is a cutter.The 2nd book in the series, Murder of Crows, starts off where the 1st book ended and continues with more world building, further development of the characters and the relationships between the various characters with a steady pace of actions that kept me totally engrossed in the story. A little more expensive at $5.99, I still felt that it was a good deal for the entertainment that I received. It had all the qualities of the 1st book and so much more that after finishing – I downloaded the next in the series.The 3rd book in the series, Vision in Silver, is where I stop having interest in reading any more of the series.Reasons why:At $8.99, just a penny more than what I paid for both of the first two ebooks together, I would expect it to be at least as good as the first two or even better. Instead, the ebook was just okay. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great.While the book had some very good points, the pacing was slower of just off. It’s hard to describe but I found myself easily putting my IPad down rather than reading and swiping through pages as I did the first two. I was not as engrossed in this novel – parts of it – but too many times I felt like I was reading “filler” just for the author to be able to get the word count. There were no “mental” pictures evoked when reading this novel – more just like words on page after page – nothing to pull me into the story.At times I had to go back in this novel or the other two novels to figure out how a character related to the other characters.I was dissatisfied with this novel enough that instead of spending another $8.99 for the next novel, I decided to read the reviews instead. After a little research, I found that this author has a problem with consistency within a series. That the 4th book in this series was a serious disappointment for a lot of the readers but needed to be read before spending $13.99 for supposedly the last book in the series. At this point, I am not invested enough in the series to invest another $22.98 for the next two ebooks. Especially if the next one is much worse than this one but has to read because just enough information and set up for the next book was included in order to understand the 5th one.I have crossed a lot of authors off my buy list because of inconsistency. I don’t just throw money at people or away – I expect value for my money. Not perfection – I have bought books that had editing problems but enjoyed them anyway and was quite satisfied with my purchase. But, if an author is going to ask for the big bucks for an ebook – they should deliver their best – not string readers along for the ride.11/29/2018I'm having to eat crow for a previous 4 star review ending with negative comments on this series. So to be honest, after a long dry spell of very few good books - I went back and reread the first 3 novels in this series out of desperation for something, anything to read. I now understand my disappointment after the 1st novel. The 1st novel is the "blockbuster" of the series because it is the introduction of the world that the story takes place in, the introduction of the strange and different characters that live in this world and the different rules that govern it. It's intense, violent, breathtaking and so imaginative that anything coming after would seem pale compared to the introduction. I made the mistake of comparing the next novels to that 1st one. If I had rated the novels in this series to books written by other authors - all the novels should have been rated a 5 star with the first being a 7 star. The other novels in this series, while not as intense as the 1st one, are well written with showing the actions, the personal growth of the characters and how the imaginary world and everything in it is evolving. All the novels are both action and character driven.Further, I now own all 5 books in this series and have started the next related series. I also went back and added the audio version so that I can listen to these novels while I do chores or while driving.

Written in Red was bloody brilliant. It is the type of book where you finish and want everyone you know to immediately read it. You question why it isn’t on the news. Why doesn’t this novel have a crazy cult of followers flooding Facebook with images and quotes? Not since Potter and his magical world have I been this excited about a place and its characters. You must visit Thasia. That is all.Bishop introduces us to the Others (terra indigene) and humans who live in Thasia. The terra indigenes live separately from the humans and govern themselves. I imagined a compound similar to a military base allowing limited access to humans. Here human law does not apply, and their laws are pretty straight forward. Humans referred to by the others as “monkeys” only have access to the restaurants and a few stores. The compound is filled with others which include Wolves, Sanguinati (vampires), shifters, Elementals and so much more. While in the public area of the compound, they take human form to interact with the monkeys. To make interaction easier especially for trade they hire a human liaison. Keeping one is difficult that is until Megan Corbyn comes into the main store, half-frozen and smelling of fear and determination. She asks Simon Wolfgaurd for the job of liaison. This liaison intrigues him. He knows she is running, and she doesn’t smell like food. Megan is hiding a secret. She is human, but a rare type called; Cassandra Sangue or blood prophet. She fears being found, but human law doesn’t apply in the compound and here she might be safe. The tale that unfolds left me breathless as I slipped into the world of Thasia and watched Meg change the world.In Written in Red, Anne Bishop spun a tale that unfolded before my eyes, and I quickly became immersed in this world, with its brilliantly fleshed out characters, suspenseful plot, humor, and tender moments. The residents within the compound are all supernatural characters we are familiar with, but Bishop portrays them in a refreshing way. She gave me a small-town story that quite frankly I never wanted to end. Each character was fleshed out from the humans to the elements. There were moments of discovery, laughter, fear and magic. We had villains to loathe and the overall danger that was a threaded throughout the tale was slowly revealed to us. The more I learned, the harder it was to stop listening. These characters especially the terra indigene became my friends. I cared for them, felt their emotions and wanted to bop them on the head occasionally.Alexandria Harris is the narrator, and once I settled in with her voice I began to appreciate how she gave each character their own unique tone, the subtle way her tone changed as the tension built. Her ability to capture and convey the characters emotions was effortless. Written in Blood is the kind of story that is almost impossible to put down. Be wary of just one more chapter, as you will soon find yourself lost within this world, unable to pull yourself back to reality.

Written in Red is a must-read for those who love paranormal urban fantasy with an alternate version of Earth. This is a well-written novel with a different take on shifters, vampires and elemental beings.This is a great start to a 5 book series! Enjoy!

This book and this series is brilliant! I think this is the sixth time I'm rereading it and it's just as unputdownable as the first time I read it. I love the characters, the plot, the politics, the worldbuilding, everything.

Anne Bishop hat eine ganz neue Welt für uns geschaffen! Spannend und sehr gut geschrieben. Ich habe in einem Zug durch gelesen und freue mich schon auf das nächste!

The Others are so different from every other urban fantasy I have read. The usual book has the dangerous Alpha male (Vampire Dragon or other supernatural) who meets the human female and is immediately enraptured, so much so that she softens him somewhat. Not Anne Bishops Others, they are the top predators, humans live in their world under sufferance. They call us Monkeys and eat our meat. The humans are in no way equal with the supernaturals and we never will be. Their world is comprised of dangerous predators, there’s the Shifters (whose natural form is that of their animal), the Vampires, (who are vastly different and more dangerous), the Elementals ( who control the elements, fire, air, water and the seasons spring, summer etc), the Elementals are so dangerous even the shifters and vampires fear them. Then there are the few others, who have no modern name ( that dare be spoken) but are so dangerous everyone trembles when they get angry. The humans are barely tolerated and only for so long as they continue to provide goods and services which the Others find beneficial. Into this world stumbles Meg, she has been kept enslaved her whole life but somehow has managed to escape. A blood prophet, she sees the future when her skin is cut, her prophecies are worth a lot of money and the controller who owns her will not rest until he gets her back, but human law does not apply to the Others and they have decided they like Meg, she does not smell like prey or fear, (which is unheard of in a human) and the job she has been given as human liaison means that finally goods and deliveries are arriving efficiently. Simon Wolfguard who leads the Laketown compound finds Meg intriguing but can’t understand why, she’s an irritant to him but he also finds her fascinating———————- that won’t stop him killing her though if it turns out she is a threat to his people. I have come late to this series which is so original it keeps you reading long after you should be asleep, I am now off to get book two.

I came across this book by luck on Amazon a year ago and finally decided to give it a go while I wait for other series to release their sequels.I find the whole concept fascinating. And the characters? Amazing.I'm sure this series is going to become one of my new favourites. Can't wait to start book two! Fingers crossed we'll get some romance.