I started a new series! I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself, we all know I have the hardest time finishing series, no matter how many times i tell myself this time will be different. But anyway, I’m really enjoying this adult urban fantasy so I thought I’d share my thoughts.
Written in Red is the first book in an adult urban fantasy series called The Others by Anne Bishop. The book starts off with Meg Corbyn stumbling into a Courtyard full of non-human characters, such as Wolves, Vampires, Bears, Crows and Elementals. Needing some place to hide after being on the run she takes a job as their “human” liaison. What these Others don’t know is that she is a Blood Prophet, which means that when her skin is cut, she is able to tell prophecies, this also means that her skin is very valuable to a lot of people.
The thing that I love about Urban Fantasy as someone who doesn’t read a lot of Fantasy is that the genre allows itselff to give enough of a fantastical story to satisfy the need for speculation but not too much to force my brain to memories and confuse my brain, and lose track on character and story. Having that said, the world that Anne Bishop has created is one of the most unique worlds that I’ve read in this genre. It is so rich, detailed and atmospheric, while still keeping it close enough to the familiar world around us, to bring it alive in our minds. She has also managed to create her own versions of the supernatural creatures we know and love from fiction, by making them a lot more vicious, dark and in tune with their natural animal instincts. In this world these creatures are in a higher position in the food-chain compared to humans and factor lingers on everyones minds through the novel and it’s something that effects every decision made by the characters, both humans and Others.
Meg Corbyn goes through a character growth throughout this novel, she started off as someone who was weak and scared, which at first made me roll my eyes, but as you become to understand what her life was like that encouraged her to run away from it, you understand why she is so unfamiliar with the outside world. The head of the Courtyard is a Wolf named Simon who shifts into human during the day in order to run his business in the bookshop as well as interact with the police to keep both of their lands safe, he is definitely your typical alpha-male character that you meet in every urban fantasy series and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. The story also involves a couple of human characters, that end up playing a big role in the story and maybe even in the series, but what I will say about the characters in this book is that they are all unique in their own conflict with the world and I absolutely love the underlying sense of coming together as a “pack” in order to deal with things.
When it came to the writing style, i wasn’t blown away, I usually go into these kinds of books for the entertainment and that’s what I got, I did however find it hard to get into in the beginning because it was so detailed, not just in the world but in the character thoughts and actions, which I felt got better as we are familiarised with the world and characters throughout the book.
If you’re looking for a fun urban fantasy to read, or if you are looking to get into more adult urban fantasy, I definitely recommend this unique series!
8/10 sugar cubes
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