Etched in Bone (A Novel of the Others Book 5)

As usual with this series (which I recommend reading in order for the best experience), this book is well-written, with spectacular world building, a plot with plenty of suspense, and humor both dark and light. As I’ve noted in previous reviews for this series, if you can’t handle the idea of humans not being the top of the food chain, this is not the series for you.This is an author that really pulls you in and makes you care about her characters, whether that’s cheering on your favorites, or booing the bad. There are some very dark moments here, both implied and on the page, with the worst behavior, imo, coming from human villains. It’s that human behavior, the casual violence and disregard towards other humans, including family members, that makes parts of this book hard for me to read, Almost too much realism, I guess, but it also means what the author has created here really got to me. Which brings me back to well-written, lol.I did enjoy the character growth exhibited by some of my favorites, as well as several scenes I found moving, particularly the scene with Skippy at the turkey dinner. And I found the ending satisfying on several levels.So I still consider this to be an excellent book, in spite of, or perhaps because of, my reaction to certain sections.

I read this series once and liked it. Gave the books away and than months later thought about them again. I could not remember the author or book titles. I did an internet search over and over. Typed it in six ways from anything. I could write the books myself with what I remembered about them It took almost a year to find the name of the author. I now own them all and will never lose them again.Oh and Meg and Simon and Sam along with their friends will have you laughing, crying and howling in ever chapter.

NOTE: I have tried to limit my superlatives but I am probably writing a review that sounds more like some gushing fan instead of a top level reviewer, so be it ....... to quote a previous review "It was so good I needed a cigarette when I was done" (and I don't smoke LOL)-------------------------------------------There are books you read that you hate, there are some you read that you love but there is that very rare group of books that just leave you awestruck that such a book can be written, some author's imagination could be so amazing and at the same time have the skill to make it into a true work of art. That is where this series has taken me each time but this one just lifted me into that place where only a small handful of books can even be considered in the same class. Many authors can paint a picture with their words on the page but most do it by giving us pages of descriptions that just burn off pages, only those talented few can do the same thing with so few words as Anne Bishop has painted for us in this series and this book was no exception, you can "see" the story playing out without mind numbing pages telling us the color of grass or the hardness of rocks, instead you get to look inside a whole community of characters.Those of us that have been following this story since the inception when Meg stumbled into Simon's store rain soaked and looking for a job, to this pinnacle of their story, hate to even think about an ending but I understand this will be the last book that revolves around Simon and Meg but i hope we don't leave Lakeside Courtyard behind completely since we have a whole family of characters to love.It is SO hard to write a review for this book since like others I just want to scream "IT WAS SO AWESOME, BUY IT NOW!!!" but I am guessing that is not a professional review. This book as pretty much all the others just weaves itself into a story that is addicting, stressful, while a touch of humor is slipped in randomly along with a touch of romance and warmth.In addition to everything else the Elders want to observe the Lakeside community to help decide if they should "remove" more humans from the world so almost everything becomes important. One of the things that make this series so endearing is that in the middle of this "test" Meg schools the Elders in the proper way to ask for cookies (which they obey), it was one of a few LOL moments that breaks up the stress of this story but shows that in this class of exceptional books humor can be used to raise the bar (Ilona Andrews does this exceptionally well also).These books are filled with secondary characters who all have a story and become more than just another faceless character to fill up pages, you care about these people, you love the interaction of how everyone grows to care about those who they once saw as an enemy, this book is the culmination of those stories.Meg is no longer cutting herself, Simon can't decide what his relationship is with Meg but before the book ends he has to make some decisions and events will force him to see that she is more than just "a friend".I won't be providing any spoilers but this was just such a great book to bring us to the point where the series can move on to other characters while hopefully not leaving us without at least an occasional glimpse at Meg and Simon as the series moves along since we hate to even think of there being no more bits of their story.The big thing here is that the main plot about Meg and Simon is only a part of what makes these books exceptional beyond description, the interaction of the whole cast of characters and their desire to help each other is what this is all about and just leaves you breathless and almost depressed that the book ended and you have to wait another year for more.Bottom Line: I will save all the mountains of superlatives since they still would not be able to convey how much this series is in an elite class that is outside of normal reading entertainment. I rate this book only because they don't have a rating for a separate Elite Class of books so all I can do is give it 5 Stars and an acknowledgment that some books are just so far outside of a normal rating that it becomes almost meaningless

spoilers below...I love the main characters in this story - the are well-crafted and well-developed and the way they grow and change with the series is fantastic. Meg Corbyn, the main character, has grown up so much over the series. She's still skittish (as would you be, had you been a virtual slave pimped out so people could cut you up and get prophecies), but is developing into a strong young woman who is getting much better at asking for help and channeling her gift through her prophecy cards instead of through cuts in her skin.Twyla Montgomery is my favorite human character and this book really showcased her strength. Having to watch her three adult children screw things up so badly (at least 2/3 of them) and to stand firm so that they have to stand on their own two feet (or not) had to have been painful (especially since there are grandchildren involved).Simon and Tess are my favorite non-humans, and I kinda want to be Tess when I grow up. (Mostly for the hair, but a little bit for the "harvesting of human lives with her brain" thing she's got going on.)The bad guy - Cyrus James (Jimmy, or "that Cyrus") - is bad. He is lazy, petty, manipulative, and cruel. The way he treats his younger sister (who was adopted, as we are reminded frequently by him) is abhorrent. He is physically, mentally, and verbally abusive to her, to his own wife, and to his children. There is no doubt what-so-ever that he is a bad, bad man. Also not in doubt? That his son Clarence is fixing to grow up just like daddy.This is well-established by the way they treat people they perceive as weaker and less-powerful. Their lack of perception is showcased by who they perceive to be weaker and less-powerful (small doesn't mean weak, especially when you're dealing with Others).At no point did I say to myself, "Hey, self! That Cyrus seems kinda bad, but I'm conflicted as to whether or not he deserves the kind of punishment that the Others mete out."Nor did I say, "I wonder if that shoplifting kid who is mean to his sister and who wears child-sized brass knuckles before beating up (or at least attempting to) smaller children is growing up just like daddy?"The characters of both Cyrus and Clarence were carefully built and they both made me very uncomfortable with their slimy, greedy, stupid cruelty. (Anne Bishop's character crafting is amazing. It's a testament to her skills as a writer that she can cause me to have a visceral reaction to Cyrus with just a few strokes of her pen...errr...keyboard. Which is why what follows is even more upsetting and unnecessary.)And then it was revealed that Clarence was offering his younger sister money to kiss his friend's bums and had been offered money for young Frances to do more than that. As if the exposition that Clarence was considering "trying to pimp his younger sister" (direct quote from the book) wasn't enough, later, in an effort to provide a distraction for his father, Clarence pulled down the pants of another little girl (Sarah), held her, and yelled out "Show 'em your bald [pejorative for the female external anatomy], [female dog/common insult for women]!"Neither of the items mentioned in the previous paragraph were necessary. Clarence was already well on the road to Reprehensible Town, and making the child a sexual predator (which is never really addressed, other than Monty asking his sister-in-law - the mother of Clarence and Frances - if she knew Clarence was starting to pimp his sister and finding out that she was) is not only unnecessary, but lazy and gross. The fact that Sarah's public assault is mentioned again only in passing (therapy was recommended, but Clarence wasn't sent to sex-offender juvie, just "boys ranch in the woods" juvie) is even worse. If you're going to make a child a sex offender, then it needs to be addressed because that is some serious stuff and not just a kid going down a dark path.To me, that was almost worse than the way That Cyrus behaved. It is well-established that he seems everyone, but particularly women, as objects to be used. He steals or coerces food from his sister and leaves barely enough for his children and wife. His mother's purpose is to be manipulated by either him or his children so that she can also be a source of food and money (Twyla is not having it, though. I love me some Twyla). He helps some guy sneak into Lakeside for money without caring what exactly that man wants (answer: to either retrieve or render useless something that's his and is beyond his reach). (Further answer: that "thing" is his ex-, a person, and I'm pretty sure we all know what's meant by "...if I can't take it with me, I'm going to make sure it's of no use to anyone.")That Cyrus facilitates other crimes as well, and then uses his own son as a distraction when he (that Cyrus) actually does his own crime. (Such initiative!)This crime (SPOILER) is the kidnapping, physical assault, and sexual assault of Meg. (Forced sexual contact is still assault, even if the penis doesn't go in the vagina.)I've always been a little uncomfortable with the correlation between the cutting visions and sexual arousal, because it equates pain and pleasure in a non-consensual way, ensures that sexual pleasure for the blood prophets is morally questionable, and takes sexual agency away from the cassandra sangues.There was absolutely no reason for that Cyrus to sexually violate Meg. He was already bad. That was established. She was already in a world of hurt - kidnapped, locked in a trunk where she received various bumps, bruises, and accidental cuts, and then cut and forced to prophesy against her will by someone who was unskilled and didn't know how to properly administer the cuts.Sexual assault wasn't necessary to establish either her dire straights or his reprehensible character.This was a very good story marred by laziness. The story-line was well crafted, the characters well developed, the world is still fascinating, and the overall series moved forward with this character-heavy novel.

After the world changing events in the last books things are beginning to settle down in the Lakeside courtyard. The others ( shifters, vampire, elementals etc) and the small human pack are getting along really well, each making allowances for cultural differences, even though some of what the humans do really confuses the others. Travel between cities is dangerous after the troubles as is communication, so it’s a surprise (and not a good one) when Lieutenant Montgomery’s brother turns up in the Lakeside Courtyard one day with his wife and children. Lieutenant Montgomery doesn’t want his brother near the Others, he wants him gone as does Simon Wolfguard ( who is in charge of the courtyard) but the Elders are back in the Courtyard and they have decided Montgomery’s brother should stay, that there is much to learn from watching how he interacts with the other humans, Simon has no choice but to allow Jimmy Montgomery to stay, one does not disagree with the Elders when they make their wishes known. But nothing can prepare the residents of the Courtyard exactly how disruptive and dangerous Jimmy is, especially to the most vulnerable resident, Meg.

As humans are struggling to comprehend the new world order since the Elders unleashed their fury on members of the HFL movement Simon and the rest of the members of the Lakeside Courtyard know this could just be the beginning. The Elders have seen first hand how much trouble humans can cause as a group, many cities and towns didn't survive the punishment they doled out after the attacks on the Wolfgard and the places that remain are under intense scrutiny. In the past the Elders kept to the wild country and left the rest of the terra indigene to monitor the humans but now they're paying attention and it wouldn't take much for them to decide extinction is the best course of action after all.The community around Lakeside is trying to pick up the pieces and Simon is having to deal with finding extra supplies for the ever increasing members of the human pack at the Courtyard. Things are going quite well until Lieutenant Montgomery's estranged brother turns up expecting a free ride. When Jimmy realises that his mother and brother aren't just going to keep giving him the handouts he thinks he's entitled to he puts plans in motion that could end up destroying what's left of humanity.I've loved every minute of this series so I was really sad to find out that this is the last book focusing on Meg, Simon and the Lakeside Courtyard. I still don't feel ready to say goodbye to this group so I'm glad there are more books in the world and I really hope we'll see more than minor cameo appearances from the people we already know and love. I've been rooting for a Meg and Simon romance from the beginning, it's been blindingly obvious to everyone but the two of them that they've been falling in love since they first met and I've been waiting for them to realise it for such a long time. I hate to say it but I was a bit disappointed that we didn't see more of their romance in this final book, yes they finally start to admit their feelings and the way things ended left me very hopeful about their future, but I wanted more. I wanted to see them take the next step in their relationship, wanted to see them try to figure out how to make things work, was looking forward to seeing how everyone around them would react to them as a couple and to seeing how many funny misunderstandings they would have because they both see the world so differently. There was just so much potential there that it seems like a wasted opportunity to end things where they did.Having said that there was still a lot I enjoyed about this book, including what we did see of Meg and Simon starting to admit their feelings, in fact if there was going to be another book staring the two of them then I'd have been over the moon with what we did get to see of them in Etched in Silence. I also really enjoyed seeing how the Others coped with having more humans around the Courtyard, there were some funny misunderstandings because they all see things in different ways, I'm particularly thinking of Kowalski on his bicycle here! Every single one of these books have had moments that made me laugh out loud so even though the series is quite dark in places there has been plenty of fun along the way too. The storyline with Monty's brother was extremely frustrating (mainly because I wanted Simon to just eat Jimmy and be done with it!) but it was interesting to see how much attention the Elders were paying to the courtyard and to Meg in particular.I'm sad our time in the courtyard is over but I'm glad we're not completely done with this world yet. I'm assuming the next book will be set in one of the smaller communities we've already seen glimpses of and there are lots of characters I'd like to know more about so it's going to be fun to see who we're spending time with next. I really hope we'll get to see Meg and Simon making cameo appearances though.

Totally new world immerses you into the narrative from the first page to the last! An array of amazing and fascinating characters keeps you glued to their adventures,relationships and endings. For all its terrors I wouldn't mind living in their world...in the Lakeside Courtyard..It's not a cosy world or a cosy read ...it's grim and often vicious but full of care,compassion,excitement and hope..and such humour I found myself laughing out loud!I can't believe the series has anded...I'm going to miss Meg, Simon ,Sam and the rest of the Pack ..Human,Wolf and others.

Four and a half stars.If you haven't read the preceding books - what's wrong with you? - this is not the place to start. The world is still reeling from the devastating retribution that the Elders exacted on Cel-Romano and the humans of Lakeside are treading on eggshells.In the Courtyard the Others are also making adjustments to living with so many human pack members, and having to consider how to rebuild/ start afresh in the areas where the humans had been wiped out. They also have to deal with two of the Elders who have come to visit to understand how they can identify 'good' humans from 'bad', because the Elders are sure that another cleansing of the humans is coming.Into this tense atmosphere comes Lieutenant Montgomery's ne'er do well brother Jimmy, his slatternly wife and two children, Montgomery's sister Sissy has been in contact with him and told that there is accommodation available in the Courtyard. Jimmy's poisonous, criminal and self-serving behaviour puts him at odds with nearly everyone in the Courtyard from day one but the Elders stop Simon from expelling him, saying they want to observe the impact of a bad penny on the rest of the community. In the background the slow, careful romance between Meg (the blood prophet or <i>cassandra sangue</i>) and Simon Wolfguard the leader of the Lakeside Courtyard continues as Simon ponders the differences between the human female pack and female wolves.After the story-arc climax at the end of the last book this book was pleasingly self-contained (although I'm sure there are plenty of story-lines being gently laid down which will unfold in future novels). There was less jumping from the Courtyard to Bennett and Ferryman's Landing and Hubbney which (I'll be honest) sometimes confused me in previous novels.I just love this series, the world-building, the tensions, the struggling to understand something which is 'other', the politics and the contrasts between city and hamlet, human and <i>terra indigene</i>, wolf and Sanguinati, criminals and police, Elders and <i>terra indigene</i>.I loved everything about this, this series just keeps getting better and my fascination for the Crows and Tess and Vlad and Meg and Skippy et al has not waned.When's the next one?

The human uprising has been brutally squashed, and the few cities left tentatively attempt to survive, now knowing to fear the darkness, and frightening silence. As people and communities continue to struggle and rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard, relatively unharmed work to maintain the tentative peace that exists, knowing the annihilation of humankind could be a breath away.A threat in human form arrives at the doorstep of the Courtyard, yet Simon’s instinct to remove this threat is squashed by The Elders, who wish to observe this particular human meat to see what he will do, a decision that could have terrible consequences for all.The plot line was not bad, but for the fifth book I was expecting something more, this book was overall enjoyable and I was engaged. However when I realised I was reaching the end I was thinking no this can't be it!, things with Simon and Meg did not manifest as I would have liked, and what Bishop shows when it comes to the progression of their relationship wasn't enough, more layers and depth was needed.Also, the depiction of some of the humans such as Jesse and Monty's mother as alpha females and the responses of The Others to them for me didn't always feel right, especially at the onset. The strength and fierceness of The Others in some of these interactions weirdly diminished, and made me shake my head in bemusement.I was expecting more than I received with this book. Still I will be reading more by the author.