Review: Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Title: Written in Red

Author:  Anne Bishop
Publisher: ROC

Publishing Date:  March 5th, 2013

Pages: 433
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

Series:  The Others #1
Source:  Audio

 

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.

This one I have had on my TBR for a little while… probably over a year. It was recommended by a Barnes and noble employee one day. So I picked it up and never started it. I then discovered it on audio and decided to give it a read. It still took me a while. It’s a longer book and for some reason that made me put it off over and over again. Well, I finally read it and thought it was a little slow in the beginning for me, it was well worth it to trudge through the slow parts. Once the world and characters were well developed, the story just took off and I was amazed. Everything in this book was just so well done. I loved the world building and the characters, the story, it was so well written. I was submerged in this world and I loved it.

This book is a little hard to summarize in just a short paragraph. There was so much going on in this book. To start with, the story starts with a girl running for her life. She has scars all over her body and she doesn’t know too much about the real world, only there are monsters among the humans… Which she is human. Sort of. When she is cut and bleeds, her blood shows prophecy. SO interesting right. Well sh,e ends up at the gates of a paranormal town. One ran but a wolf. She is let in on the premise she works as the towns human liaison. She has to work at the local post office and take care of the all the mail and delivery that comes in. She works and makes friends with the wolves and other shifters, vampires, and much more. Then trouble hits and the town and the humans are at war. Oh an,d there is also a human police detective in all the going ons too. And there is a sickness killing humans. All this is intertwined with the girl. To save the girl might mean starting the end of the war between the paranormal and the humans. Just maybe.

This is going to be a hard review for me. For one I loved it so much I might ramble as I do with books I love. Second, there is just so much in this book it is hard to sum it up without making the longest review ever. So I will review what I can about what I love and try not to leave anything important out and keeping this review from going on forever.

The world building is I think my favorite part. Everything felt so real and unique. The vampires, the shifters, the other paranormal creatures. They were so unique compared to all the other paranormal books I have read. I mean really how unique can you get with vampires in shifters in the world of fiction today. It’s all been done. Well, this one is definitely new and creative and something special. Not just the creatures were special but the world was so unique too. It’s like a dystopian where the paranormal has taken over. There are towns with the paranormal separated from the towns of human. The paranormal only allow the humans to live because they discovered they can be of use. Nice huh. Good to know we come to use. The blood prophets are kind of cool too. there are also elementals girls for the seasons and horses that can do what their names suggest. Thunder can make thunder and so on. The creatures were well thought out. I love how the crows even in human form spoke like one would think a crow though. All the shifters were this way. They were more animal than human and so when the wore the human skin their animal personalities still shown through. Loved all of them. So the world building was quite awesome.

The characters were very nicely developed too. I loved the main characters…. Meg, the blood prophet or formally called a cassandra Sangue was just so naïve and sweet. She was pretty clueless with people and the world. She was locked up pretty much all her life and used until she really didn’t have much in her. But she is strong and she escaped that world and brave enough to escape with nowhere to go and then to live in this world with all these creatures she has always known to be monsters. She was truly genuine and she cared about everyone.

Simon Wolfgard, the leader of the town, he was pretty rough on the outside. Even though he has never cared for humans, saw them as prey and only allowed them to live if he had a use for them, fell for Meg. He doesn’t know why she doesn’t smell like prey and for some reason feels the need to protect her. She is not prey just Meg. He is very protective of his town, his people, and those he cares about but is still truly an alpha. Rough around the edges and sometimes extremely irritating, but I still fell for him.

I could go on and on about all the secondary characters. There is a ton, but it would take forever. I loved the detective, the winter elemental, Tess, Sam, the wolf pup, and the elder vampire. But really there were many many grand characters. They all had a very important part to play and played them well. The story would not be complete without any of them.

The plot was good too. It was one main plot but there were little stories that bled within the main plot and they all came together at the end. I do love stories written like this. I loved every part of every story. I was so fully immersed in this world and just couldn’t get enough. It was beautifully written, even if the pacing was a little slow in the beginning. I understood the slow in the beginning as there was so much world to build and so much to set up for the story to be complete.

The only things I didn’t like but didn’t deter me, I didn’t like the narrator as much as I normally like narrators. I felt her voice for Meg was a little over the top and annoying. She sometimes sounded like a little girl. It was only Meg’s voice that I didn’t like. I did get used to it. Also listening on audio, it took a little while to get used the narratives changing so much. It was a bit confusing at first. I think though, reading it would be a little different. The narrative between characters did change rapidly but in time I did figure out who was who when it changed. It just took a bit to get familiar with.

The ending was just great and I can’t wait to read more from this series. I think it will be a favorite of mine.

A very well written fantastical world full of pretty kick-butt characters.

Anne Bishop lives in upstate New York where she enjoys gardening, music, and writing dark, romantic stories. She is the author of fourteen novels, including the award-winning Black Jewels Trilogy. Her most recent novel, Twilight’s Dawn, made the New York Times bestseller list. She is currently working on a new series, which is an urban dark fantasy with a bit of a twist.

Review: Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Title: Storm Front

Author:  Jim Butcher
Publisher: ROC

Publishing Date:  April 1st, 2000

Pages: 311
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

Series:  Dresden Files #1
Source:  Audio

 

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks.

So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get interesting.

Magic - it can get a guy killed.

This was a re-read for me. I never did get past the first book in the series and I read this so so many years ago. One of my goals this year was to re-read series I started and never finished. So This was on the list. I enjoyed it more this time around I think that the last time. I think I caught more of what was going on. Or maybe I just didn't remember much of it...I did love this book though. Its a great start to a series. Funny, a little dark, great mystery, awesome characters. 

Harry Dresden is a wizard and a private detective. He lives in the city where werewolves, vampires, faeries, wizards, witches, and so many other things that go bump in the night exist. He has his own clients but he also works side by side with the local police detectives. He gets pulled in to two different cases, one with the local police, one with a private client. Trying to solve both cases, he has to enlist the help of other humans and mythical beings and of course, he gets himself in loads of trouble 

There are so many good things to say about this book. First I love the old detective vibe I get from this book. I love urban fantasy but it's hard for me to find them that focuses more on mystery and magic than on romance and lust. So to find those that really focuses on the mystery and adds that old-style detective vibe- I love it. 

The mystery was good too. I had no clue what was truly going on. I couldn't even start to piece it together. I was just in it for the ride and held on. I loved the magic too. There were lots of mythical creatures good and bad in this story. I love all the beings and the more the better. 

Harry Dresden himself as a character, Love Love Love. He is so funny in a dry sense of humor kind of way. He is a little okay a lot sarcastic. He is also very smart.. streetwise and book-wise. He is also caring. He doesn't let it out much, but he has a good heart. He also isn't afraid to break the rules. Yup, I am in love with this character. The only thing I didn't get to see was a sexy side to him... but I am sure that will come in future installments. I hope. I do need a little romance. 

The bad guys aren't always bad and the good guys aren't always good.... and magic is always somewhere in between. This book was pretty awesome and I can't wait to read more.  

Enjoyed it very much. Great start to a series.

Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in his home town of Independence, Missouri.
Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990′s when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.
All the same, he refuses to change his nickname.