Review: Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop

Etched in Bone ( The Others #5) by Anne Bishop
Publisher: Roc
Publication date: March 7th 2017
My rating: 5 stars 
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New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop returns to her world of the Others, as humans struggle to survive in the shadow of shapeshifters and vampires far more powerful than themselves…

After a human uprising was brutally put down by the Elders—a primitive and lethal form of the Others—the few cities left under human control are far-flung. And the people within them now know to fear the no-man’s-land beyond their borders—and the darkness…

As some communities struggle to rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard has emerged relatively unscathed, though Simon Wolfgard, its wolf shifter leader, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn must work with the human pack to maintain the fragile peace. But all their efforts are threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery’s shady brother arrives, looking for a free ride and easy pickings.

With the humans on guard against one of their own, tensions rise, drawing the attention of the Elders, who are curious about the effect such an insignificant predator can have on a pack. But Meg knows the dangers, for she has seen in the cards how it will all end—with her standing beside a grave.

My Thoughts:

Etched in Bone, the conclusion of The Others was bittersweet to me.  I was happy to get another installment of this amazing series and sad because I knew it was the end of Simon and Meg’s story! 

Meg’s presence in the Lakeside Courtyard changed so much between the humans and the terra indigene, opening them up and weaving them together as no one would’ve thought possible.  The changes have come to the attention of the Elders, a fierce type of terra indigene rarely seen, powerful and deadly when they want to be. The Elders have stepped into the conflict between human and terra indigene when the Humans First and Last group made a concerted effort to wipe out them out. It didn’t go well for the humans, at all.

This is where the story takes off.  Lieutenant Montgomery’s brother, Jimmy, comes to the Lakeside Courtyard when he hears he might have something to gain.  This guy is a real piece of work; Simon, Henry, Vlad, and Tess know it, and are ready to toss him out before he becomes trouble, but the Elders want Jimmy to stay while they observe his actions as a kind of experiment on just what type of humans they should guard against.  This was the perfect example of how one person can cause so much trouble, even with a tight knit community such as the Lakeside Courtyard, and it had my insides in knots at time. I have to say, Lieutenant Montgomery’s siblings were pretty awful, especially in contrast to his mother, Twyla and him.  Twyla has become sort of a den mother to the Lakeside Community and I loved her to bits!   The scene with Skippy and the dinner brought a few tears on!

The Others is one my all-time favorite fantasy series! The plots are engrossing and will put you on edge, but the real draw for me has been the relationships between all these varied characters.  Of course, the most important to me were Meg and Simon. As the series has gone on, they’ve become each other’s “constant” and anchor in life.  Even when Meg and Simon didn’t understand their relationship and feelings that bubbled up between them, it was so plain to everyone else!  I relished every interaction, and oh, that ending scene!

I love that the typical animosities between humans and terra indigene fell by the wayside for the few who decided to work together in the Lakeside Courtyard, and their extensions.  Their cooperation was fueled by Meg’s uniting influence.   Like I said, I’m so very sad to say goodbye, and I’d kill for a Simon and Meg epilogue/novella/short story! (Pretty please, Ms. Bishop?!!!)  But I was so thrilled to hear that Etched in Bone isn’t the complete end of this world. Even though the next book, Lake Silence, won’t be focused on the Lakeside Courtyard, there is a continuation.  Click HERE for more info.