Murder of Crows

January 13, 2014
Bishop’s solid but unspectacular sequel to Written in Red has all the strengths and weaknesses of its predecessor. Meg Corbyn, a prophet who has visions when she bleeds, sees danger approaching the compound where she’s protected by the supernatural creatures of this alternate present-day America. Humans on the outside have gotten hold of a pair of drugs—“feel-good” and “gone over wolf”—that are wreaking havoc on both populations. The plot is adequate, but the worldbuilding that underpins Bishop’s story remains both illogical and premised on the blithe erasure of Native Americans; the continent is instead populated by brutal paranormals who reluctantly allow human incursion but maintain ruthless control. This only draws attention to the ludicrous development of contemporary technologies and social concepts. Readers willing to overlook the flaws of the opener will likely have no problem doing so again, while anyone who put down the first installment has no reason to pick up the sequel.

January 1, 2014
Second in the series (Written in Red, 2013) set on an Earth-like world, Namid, populated by a panoply of supernatural Others--and the humans who are their natural prey. On the continent of Thaisia, in the city of Lakeside, a delicate balance has been struck between humans and the terra indigene--shape-shifting wolves, raptors, bears, vampires and worse--thanks to Meg Corbyn, a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, who sees the future when her skin is cut. The Sanguinati, or vampires, have declared that no harm shall come to the "sweet blood," but for werewolf Simon Wolfgard, she is more of a problem, since he is developing deeper feelings for Meg than any wolf should have. Meg has escaped the Controller, a slave master who owns a stable of young cassandra sangue women; he's still trying to re-acquire Meg, his best prophet, since his other slaves are all foreseeing nothing but fire and destruction, and his rich clients are not pleased. But his real ambition is to put humans in charge by releasing two addictive drugs, contaminating meat supplies with ground-up bits of cassandra sangue, trapping vampires while in immaterial form and other acts of extreme provocation. Enraged, the terra indigene threaten to destroy entire cities; meanwhile, Meg's urge to cut herself and see the future grows all but irresistible, knowing that she is the key to determining whether humans and terra indigene can learn to work together in mutual trust. This one is less exquisitely controlled than the previous book, with a plot that functions only intermittently; despite this, it delves more deeply into characters' motivations, interactions and emotions, with the outcome even more compelling and wrenching. Technically less accomplished but nonetheless fully satisfying.

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February 15, 2014

Living among the shifters, vampires, and earth elementals known as the Others is a dangerous proposition for humans, but Meg Corbyn is no ordinary mortal. As a cassandra sangue Meg can see the future when her skin is cut. In 2013's Written in Red, Meg had just escaped from the compound where young women with her abilities are held captive and cut for the benefit of rich and powerful men. In this sequel, Meg has earned her place in the Others' Courtyard but still struggles with the urge to cut herself. Everything points to a violent confrontation between the Others, who control most of the world, and the smaller human population, who must never forget that they will always be prey to the powerful natives. VERDICT Bishop excels at creating irresistible dark worlds, but this series avoids some of the baroque excesses of her popular "Black Jewels" universe while still having that startling otherness and a touch of sensuality. Her alternate America in which the natural world belongs to the Others and humans are interlopers is fascinating.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2014
The second book in the Others series continues to tell of the struggles of humans and the terra indigene, commonly referred to as Others. Building on the story told in the initial book, Written in Red (2013), Meg Corbyn is finding that life as a blood prophet, away from the man who had owned her, is anything but simple. In this fascinating tale, the Others, including vampires and shape-shifters, are the dominant species of the continent, and humans are the interlopers, barely tolerated. Meg does her best to keep the peace, but when she starts having more and more violent prophecies involving the deaths of Others, she struggles to get the dreams interpreted. It becomes clearer over time that what she sees is a foretelling of war between the Others and humans. Questions of who is instigating the growing clashes and why they are doing it linger throughout the book. The world is described in fluid detail, set in an alternate reality of Earth, with characters that are complex and intriguing. A fantastic sequel to the first book in the series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)