In March 2013, Anne Bishop published a novel about the Others called Written In Red. A young woman runs away from a terrible past to take up a new future in a town run by the terra indigene—the Others—while hiding a dark secret about herself. Synopsis: 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.
The novel opens with a young woman running for her life. Simon Wolfgard, in human form, prepares to close his shop for the night when Asia, a woman he hates, tries once more to get the job of Liaison; Simon again turns her down. The young woman enters; Simon hears her out, learns her name is Meg Corbyn—though he can tell she's not used to the name—and offers her the job. The next morning, Simon, impatient because Meg appears to not fully understand how things work, shows her the Liaison's office, which is where the post and deliveries are deposited; he storms off. Meanwhile, a police Lieutenant named Crisping James "Monty" Montgomery starts his new job at Lakeside—he's been transferred for wounding a human pedophile who had a Wolf-girl in his house and was threatening to kill her. He starts to learn his beat with his partner, officer Karl Kowalski and introduces himself to Simon and leaves his number in case Simon needs them. Meg, despite a backlog of mail, gets some sent out with the ponies Thunder, Lightning, Tornado, Earthshaker, and Fog; with a map she sends out the mail and packages correctly. Monty introduces himself to Meg; Asia, frustrated that she can't meet the new Liaison, notices that someone in a white, nondescript van is also watching Meg. Over the next few days, Meg settles in and Monty gets used to his beat. Simon tries to get his nephew Sam to leave his cage to go outside—Sam's mom was murdered in front of him and he won't talk or change form; Elliot complains to Simon about Meg backing up traffic, but Simon tells his sire that Meg was making deliveries in the Courtyard so Elliot drops the subject. Meg notices a strange man attempting to break into the apartments, assuming he's from her old controller and alerts Henry; Henry asks the Owls to keep an eye on things and tells Simon in the morning and lets him know that Meg slept in the Liaison's office, which Simon says is unacceptable. Monty is informed that there's an alert out for a woman that looks like Meg; Monty shows it to Simon, who suggests that since the wanted sign doesn't have a name, it looks more like a driver's license photo. Simon tells Monty that he'll ask the Business Association before giving him an answer. Simon tells Vlad to get the BA together; he confronts Meg and wants answers—she tells him that her name was cs-759 and that she stole herself and shows him her cuts. Simon, overwhelmed, knows that she's a blood prophet and learns from her that she was living in a cage, being used by her Controller to give prophecies to certain paying customers.
Meg gives the ponies a special Moonsday treat: sugar cubes. The BA members—Simon, Vlad, Nyx Sanguinati, Jester, Jenni, Tess, Julia Hawkgard, Henry Beargard—meet and Simon tells them about Meg, that she'd wanted for theft and is a cassandra sangue; Tess tells them that a blood prophet only has a thousand cuts before they die. Vlad alerts the BA to the fact that Grandfather Erebus likes her while Julia mentions that Meg met and talked to Winter; Simon says that Meg will stay and that the terra indigene consider her one of theirs. They move Meg into the Courtyard and Simon tells Monty that it's a case of mistaken identity and that there's a look-a-like out there, something Monty is keen to use as it keeps both sides happy. Monty alerts Captain Burke and they decide to ignore the warrant. Burke, being given no choice by the Governor and Mayor, tells the police to search for the woman, but he emphasizes that the woman looks like the Liaison. Monty asks Simon and Vlad to be alerted when Meg leaves the Courtyard so he can be there to avoid any misunderstandings; Vlad and Simon agree. Simon becomes aware of something in the meat that makes humans savagely aggressive toward everyone; Simon is asked to meet with several other Leaders and leaves Sam with Meg. Monty is informed of the same thing that Simon was and knows it has a name called "gone over wolf" but he doesn't have the faintest idea of what it does or who sells it. Meg takes Sam to work for the next couple of days on a leash--which angers the Wolfgard, but since Sam's playing and having fun, most let it go--and things go fine, except when she cuts herself and sees a vision of Sam howling in terror and men in black. Meg tells Henry what she saw; Henry tells Vlad, Blair Wolfgard, and Tess—Blair assigns some Wolves to watch over Meg and Sam. The rest of the week passes relatively fast, though the Wolfgard notice Meg using a leash on Sam and become extremely angry, but Blair lets his anger go when he notices that Sam is more active than he previously was; Asia notices as well, and spots a mysterious white van and its driver scoping out the Liaison's office. Elliot takes Sam away and then slaps Meg--since he's a terra indigene, this leaves a bruise on Meg's face. He threatens to have her killed. Vlad finds out and threatens Elliot. Blair tells Simon--who's just returned from his trip--about what Meg did to Sam to help him and how Sam's more active in his wolf form and how Elliot attacked her. Simon confronts Elliot and while they argue, Sam breaks out of his wolf-form and says that he wasn't put on a leash, but on a safety line for adventure buddies and that he's not sorry he bit Elliot.
Simon tells Meg that she can stay. At a BA meeting, Simon tells everyone that something is causing humans and terra indigene to go rampant; he then demands to know what's been happening at Lakeside and both Erebus Sanguinati and Winter show up and it's revealed to Elliot that Meg is a cassandra sangue and that Erebus looked them up and was surprised to find that the Sanguinati once knew of them and what they were. Tess, Vlad, Jester, and Blair tell Simon and Elliot about Meg's vision of men in black kidnapping Sam. Simon visits Meg in his wolf-form and she immediately identifies him; a strange delivery man accosts Meg and Simon jumps out from behind the counter; Henry chases and kills the intruder. Meg believes the package the man brought in was a bomb; Monty shows up and, after examining it, discovers that it was only stuffed with torn bits of paper and rags. Asia breaks into the man's apartment and finds the number of Meg's Controller and alerts him that his agent failed and that she will succeed. It's revealed that someone was helping the man but he didn't know who. A couple of days later, after delivery runs are finished and with Sam waiting outside her bathroom door, Meg takes another cut and sees herself and Sam driving past the Chambers in a blizzard, Sam howling in terror. Simon is angry, but Henry talks him down, saying that if Simon pushed, he'd be no better than Meg's Controller. Asia screws Darrell--a human working for Elliot--and poisons him with "gone over wolf" then steals his clothes and puts poisoned sugar cubes with the ones Meg gives the ponies and takes a photo of the courtyard map in Elliot's office. She delivers this to one of the Controller's men and he develops the photos, then Asia asks him to beat her so she can frame Darrell. Vlad tells Simon that Darrell broke into the courtyard and he (Simon) alerts Elliot who fires Darrell. Meg, uneasy in the Liaison's Office, asks Tess to come over and take notes on what she (Meg) says; Meg cuts herself and reveals the death of ponies via poison, a man beating a woman, a familiar blue color. Tess, after calming down herself and the others, tells them what Meg saw. Simon escorts Meg home and Jester tells the ponies that they'll deliver their rounds without a treat. Simon gives the poisoned cubes to Monty for lab testing, but is blocked by the mayor. Tess, infuriated, tests the cubes on Darrell; Darrell dies. Winter demands answers from Simon but Simon points out that the only way to know who tried to kill the Elemental's ponies would be to ask Meg to cut herself again, but Winter doesn't want that.
Winter asks her sister Spring to rise for a couple of days so that Meg can get around easier on her injured leg; Meg meets Spring who points out to Meg that the ice on the lake will be unstable for the next few weeks. More of the Controller's men show up and tell Asia that they'll be causing mayhem around the city and plan to make their move in a couple of days. A couple days later, the worst storm in a while covers Thaisia and Monty's trying to make his way into town. Meg closes shop and Simon lets Merri Lee, Heather, and Ruth Kolwalski--Karl's wife--stay in the efficiency apartments with Marie Hawkgard, Julia Hawkgard, and John Wolfgard keeping watch. At home, and without cutting herself, Meg pieces the puzzles together and realizes this is the night she dies saving Sam. The messenger and Asia start their plans; Asia steals a blue BOW. Simon notices one's missing and alerts Tess. The intruders enter the Other's Courtyard and torch the pony barn; Hurricane--the oldest pony, is killed by them and the other ponies use their elemental powers to kill those near them; Jester prepares a sled for Winter and Air. Simon leaves Sam with Meg; he goes off to help Blair and the other Others. Meg tells Sam that if anyone tries to take him or put a leash on him to bite and run; Asia shows up and warns Meg that the Controller's men are after her. Meg sees the BOW and accuses Asia of trying to kill the ponies; Asia states that she wants Sam. Meg tells Sam to run; they get in the BOW and Meg drives off, leaving Asia behind. The messenger is pissed and tells her to go back to her car; he continues pursuit of Meg with some of his men. Meg stops at Erebus Sanguinati's house and leaves Sam with him, telling him to protect Sam; Meg flees to keep the men away from Sam. Monty and Louis, another police officer, respond to the violence and head out to try and stop the intruders. Two of the intruders break into Erebus' home and demand the pup; Erebus orders Vlad and the rest of the Sanguinati to "take the them away and punish them", something that takes days and breaks the mind before it destroys the body and is only for the most hated enemies. Vlad leaves to find Meg and make sure she's safe; he alerts Simon as to what happened and that the intruders are still chasing Meg and he (Vlad) is right behind them. The BOW dies and Meg calls for Winter; both Air and Winter show up and kill the intruders, but one escapes. Meg slips and crashes through the ice and begins to drown. Simon pulls Meg from the icy water--there's a piece of ice jabbed in her chin, leaking blood.
Jester helps Simon keep Meg warm while Winter and Air drive to the human hospital; Simon licks Meg's wound to clean the blood. Henry tells Tess that Asia helped the intruders and to not let her escape. The messenger is found and Fire burns him alive and leaves him to the Others to feed. Tess corners Asia and turns Asia's bones into rain; it's revealed that Tess is a "harvester of life". Monty and Lois escort the sled to the hospital and clear the way; Dr. Lorenzo agrees to patch Meg up with bandages--he knows she's a cassandra sangue and won't use stitches. She lives and Simon starts to calm down. She awakens the next day and asks about Sam; she's told he's fine and that Asia's dead. Captain Corbyn tells Monty that both the governor and the mayor are dead and that the acting mayor regrets this unfortunate action and vows to maintain a more cordial relationship with the terra indigene. Simon asks to see Simon and wants to know what caused Simon's enhanced aggression at the hospital; Simon says he doesn't know, but suspects--and reveals only to himself--that it was because he licked cassandra sangue blood off Meg, and threatens to kill Jester if he reveals this to anyone. Simon, unable to get work done, decides to bug Meg.
All in all, a well crafted novel that cleverly blends world-building in with character dynamics that really make you feel for the characters and their situations. For instance, one of the characters has great ambitions but is constantly getting in her own way because of how she's going about things. Wonderful descriptions really hammer home just how different things would be if this were our world. Thankfully, it's not like most of today's brutalism-fantasy in which characters are beaten up and using only half their limbs for LOLs, like Troy Denning does in all his works for no reason. I'd recommend this novel to any fan of fantasy. Props to Anne Bishop for another stellar delivery. Can't wait for the next one in this series.
The novel opens with a young woman running for her life. Simon Wolfgard, in human form, prepares to close his shop for the night when Asia, a woman he hates, tries once more to get the job of Liaison; Simon again turns her down. The young woman enters; Simon hears her out, learns her name is Meg Corbyn—though he can tell she's not used to the name—and offers her the job. The next morning, Simon, impatient because Meg appears to not fully understand how things work, shows her the Liaison's office, which is where the post and deliveries are deposited; he storms off. Meanwhile, a police Lieutenant named Crisping James "Monty" Montgomery starts his new job at Lakeside—he's been transferred for wounding a human pedophile who had a Wolf-girl in his house and was threatening to kill her. He starts to learn his beat with his partner, officer Karl Kowalski and introduces himself to Simon and leaves his number in case Simon needs them. Meg, despite a backlog of mail, gets some sent out with the ponies Thunder, Lightning, Tornado, Earthshaker, and Fog; with a map she sends out the mail and packages correctly. Monty introduces himself to Meg; Asia, frustrated that she can't meet the new Liaison, notices that someone in a white, nondescript van is also watching Meg. Over the next few days, Meg settles in and Monty gets used to his beat. Simon tries to get his nephew Sam to leave his cage to go outside—Sam's mom was murdered in front of him and he won't talk or change form; Elliot complains to Simon about Meg backing up traffic, but Simon tells his sire that Meg was making deliveries in the Courtyard so Elliot drops the subject. Meg notices a strange man attempting to break into the apartments, assuming he's from her old controller and alerts Henry; Henry asks the Owls to keep an eye on things and tells Simon in the morning and lets him know that Meg slept in the Liaison's office, which Simon says is unacceptable. Monty is informed that there's an alert out for a woman that looks like Meg; Monty shows it to Simon, who suggests that since the wanted sign doesn't have a name, it looks more like a driver's license photo. Simon tells Monty that he'll ask the Business Association before giving him an answer. Simon tells Vlad to get the BA together; he confronts Meg and wants answers—she tells him that her name was cs-759 and that she stole herself and shows him her cuts. Simon, overwhelmed, knows that she's a blood prophet and learns from her that she was living in a cage, being used by her Controller to give prophecies to certain paying customers.
Meg gives the ponies a special Moonsday treat: sugar cubes. The BA members—Simon, Vlad, Nyx Sanguinati, Jester, Jenni, Tess, Julia Hawkgard, Henry Beargard—meet and Simon tells them about Meg, that she'd wanted for theft and is a cassandra sangue; Tess tells them that a blood prophet only has a thousand cuts before they die. Vlad alerts the BA to the fact that Grandfather Erebus likes her while Julia mentions that Meg met and talked to Winter; Simon says that Meg will stay and that the terra indigene consider her one of theirs. They move Meg into the Courtyard and Simon tells Monty that it's a case of mistaken identity and that there's a look-a-like out there, something Monty is keen to use as it keeps both sides happy. Monty alerts Captain Burke and they decide to ignore the warrant. Burke, being given no choice by the Governor and Mayor, tells the police to search for the woman, but he emphasizes that the woman looks like the Liaison. Monty asks Simon and Vlad to be alerted when Meg leaves the Courtyard so he can be there to avoid any misunderstandings; Vlad and Simon agree. Simon becomes aware of something in the meat that makes humans savagely aggressive toward everyone; Simon is asked to meet with several other Leaders and leaves Sam with Meg. Monty is informed of the same thing that Simon was and knows it has a name called "gone over wolf" but he doesn't have the faintest idea of what it does or who sells it. Meg takes Sam to work for the next couple of days on a leash--which angers the Wolfgard, but since Sam's playing and having fun, most let it go--and things go fine, except when she cuts herself and sees a vision of Sam howling in terror and men in black. Meg tells Henry what she saw; Henry tells Vlad, Blair Wolfgard, and Tess—Blair assigns some Wolves to watch over Meg and Sam. The rest of the week passes relatively fast, though the Wolfgard notice Meg using a leash on Sam and become extremely angry, but Blair lets his anger go when he notices that Sam is more active than he previously was; Asia notices as well, and spots a mysterious white van and its driver scoping out the Liaison's office. Elliot takes Sam away and then slaps Meg--since he's a terra indigene, this leaves a bruise on Meg's face. He threatens to have her killed. Vlad finds out and threatens Elliot. Blair tells Simon--who's just returned from his trip--about what Meg did to Sam to help him and how Sam's more active in his wolf form and how Elliot attacked her. Simon confronts Elliot and while they argue, Sam breaks out of his wolf-form and says that he wasn't put on a leash, but on a safety line for adventure buddies and that he's not sorry he bit Elliot.
Simon tells Meg that she can stay. At a BA meeting, Simon tells everyone that something is causing humans and terra indigene to go rampant; he then demands to know what's been happening at Lakeside and both Erebus Sanguinati and Winter show up and it's revealed to Elliot that Meg is a cassandra sangue and that Erebus looked them up and was surprised to find that the Sanguinati once knew of them and what they were. Tess, Vlad, Jester, and Blair tell Simon and Elliot about Meg's vision of men in black kidnapping Sam. Simon visits Meg in his wolf-form and she immediately identifies him; a strange delivery man accosts Meg and Simon jumps out from behind the counter; Henry chases and kills the intruder. Meg believes the package the man brought in was a bomb; Monty shows up and, after examining it, discovers that it was only stuffed with torn bits of paper and rags. Asia breaks into the man's apartment and finds the number of Meg's Controller and alerts him that his agent failed and that she will succeed. It's revealed that someone was helping the man but he didn't know who. A couple of days later, after delivery runs are finished and with Sam waiting outside her bathroom door, Meg takes another cut and sees herself and Sam driving past the Chambers in a blizzard, Sam howling in terror. Simon is angry, but Henry talks him down, saying that if Simon pushed, he'd be no better than Meg's Controller. Asia screws Darrell--a human working for Elliot--and poisons him with "gone over wolf" then steals his clothes and puts poisoned sugar cubes with the ones Meg gives the ponies and takes a photo of the courtyard map in Elliot's office. She delivers this to one of the Controller's men and he develops the photos, then Asia asks him to beat her so she can frame Darrell. Vlad tells Simon that Darrell broke into the courtyard and he (Simon) alerts Elliot who fires Darrell. Meg, uneasy in the Liaison's Office, asks Tess to come over and take notes on what she (Meg) says; Meg cuts herself and reveals the death of ponies via poison, a man beating a woman, a familiar blue color. Tess, after calming down herself and the others, tells them what Meg saw. Simon escorts Meg home and Jester tells the ponies that they'll deliver their rounds without a treat. Simon gives the poisoned cubes to Monty for lab testing, but is blocked by the mayor. Tess, infuriated, tests the cubes on Darrell; Darrell dies. Winter demands answers from Simon but Simon points out that the only way to know who tried to kill the Elemental's ponies would be to ask Meg to cut herself again, but Winter doesn't want that.
Winter asks her sister Spring to rise for a couple of days so that Meg can get around easier on her injured leg; Meg meets Spring who points out to Meg that the ice on the lake will be unstable for the next few weeks. More of the Controller's men show up and tell Asia that they'll be causing mayhem around the city and plan to make their move in a couple of days. A couple days later, the worst storm in a while covers Thaisia and Monty's trying to make his way into town. Meg closes shop and Simon lets Merri Lee, Heather, and Ruth Kolwalski--Karl's wife--stay in the efficiency apartments with Marie Hawkgard, Julia Hawkgard, and John Wolfgard keeping watch. At home, and without cutting herself, Meg pieces the puzzles together and realizes this is the night she dies saving Sam. The messenger and Asia start their plans; Asia steals a blue BOW. Simon notices one's missing and alerts Tess. The intruders enter the Other's Courtyard and torch the pony barn; Hurricane--the oldest pony, is killed by them and the other ponies use their elemental powers to kill those near them; Jester prepares a sled for Winter and Air. Simon leaves Sam with Meg; he goes off to help Blair and the other Others. Meg tells Sam that if anyone tries to take him or put a leash on him to bite and run; Asia shows up and warns Meg that the Controller's men are after her. Meg sees the BOW and accuses Asia of trying to kill the ponies; Asia states that she wants Sam. Meg tells Sam to run; they get in the BOW and Meg drives off, leaving Asia behind. The messenger is pissed and tells her to go back to her car; he continues pursuit of Meg with some of his men. Meg stops at Erebus Sanguinati's house and leaves Sam with him, telling him to protect Sam; Meg flees to keep the men away from Sam. Monty and Louis, another police officer, respond to the violence and head out to try and stop the intruders. Two of the intruders break into Erebus' home and demand the pup; Erebus orders Vlad and the rest of the Sanguinati to "take the them away and punish them", something that takes days and breaks the mind before it destroys the body and is only for the most hated enemies. Vlad leaves to find Meg and make sure she's safe; he alerts Simon as to what happened and that the intruders are still chasing Meg and he (Vlad) is right behind them. The BOW dies and Meg calls for Winter; both Air and Winter show up and kill the intruders, but one escapes. Meg slips and crashes through the ice and begins to drown. Simon pulls Meg from the icy water--there's a piece of ice jabbed in her chin, leaking blood.
Jester helps Simon keep Meg warm while Winter and Air drive to the human hospital; Simon licks Meg's wound to clean the blood. Henry tells Tess that Asia helped the intruders and to not let her escape. The messenger is found and Fire burns him alive and leaves him to the Others to feed. Tess corners Asia and turns Asia's bones into rain; it's revealed that Tess is a "harvester of life". Monty and Lois escort the sled to the hospital and clear the way; Dr. Lorenzo agrees to patch Meg up with bandages--he knows she's a cassandra sangue and won't use stitches. She lives and Simon starts to calm down. She awakens the next day and asks about Sam; she's told he's fine and that Asia's dead. Captain Corbyn tells Monty that both the governor and the mayor are dead and that the acting mayor regrets this unfortunate action and vows to maintain a more cordial relationship with the terra indigene. Simon asks to see Simon and wants to know what caused Simon's enhanced aggression at the hospital; Simon says he doesn't know, but suspects--and reveals only to himself--that it was because he licked cassandra sangue blood off Meg, and threatens to kill Jester if he reveals this to anyone. Simon, unable to get work done, decides to bug Meg.
All in all, a well crafted novel that cleverly blends world-building in with character dynamics that really make you feel for the characters and their situations. For instance, one of the characters has great ambitions but is constantly getting in her own way because of how she's going about things. Wonderful descriptions really hammer home just how different things would be if this were our world. Thankfully, it's not like most of today's brutalism-fantasy in which characters are beaten up and using only half their limbs for LOLs, like Troy Denning does in all his works for no reason. I'd recommend this novel to any fan of fantasy. Props to Anne Bishop for another stellar delivery. Can't wait for the next one in this series.
