Early Review – Etched in Bone (The Others, Book 5) by Anne Bishop (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 416 pages
Publisher: Roc
Release Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0451474490
Stand Alone or Series: 5th book in The Others series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

“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.”

This is the fifth and final book in The Others series by Bishop. Bishop said in her blog that there are plans for future books set in this world, but that this book ties up the storyline involving Meg and the Lakeside Courtyard. Although the story takes a bit to get going; this book did a wonderful job of tying up the series. It ended up being an amazing conclusion to all the elemental events that started happening in the last book.

As I mentioned it took me a bit to get back into the story. In the last couple books the story has gotten so broad, spanned so many areas, and added so many characters that it took me some time to get my head around it all when I started reading this book. However, once the story started focusing a bit more on the Courtyard and the people there I got sucked right back into it.

This book does jump around quite a bit and there are multiple storylines going on. There is the broad storyline about the Elders and their decision on which humans should live and which shouldn’t. Then there is the more localized storyline about Montgomery’s brother coming to Lakeside and causing a boatload of trouble. Of course in between all of this is the story about the blood prophets and how those girls are recovering. The storylines end up coming together well in the end; but much of the book feels a bit scattered.

We meet some new characters in this book which was fun. We also get to see a lot more of the Elders and the Elementals; these creatures are fascinating. Meg goes through a lot in this book, as do all the residents of Lakeside Courtyard.

I love how detailed, unique, and filled out the world in this series is. That is one of the main reasons I kept reading this series; because I loved the world-building so much.

Things are tied up very nicely in the end. I would have liked to see a bit more happen between Simon and Meg; maybe we can get a novella or something about their life after all these events and how it progresses.

Overall this was a wonderful conclusion to this series and was very well done. The story does start out a bit slow and at times seems a bit scattered because it jumps around so much. However, once I got back into the story (after the first 25% or so) I was completely sucked in and engaged in this world again. I would recommend this series to those who enjoy fantasy written in an urban fantasy tone that has intricate world-building and engaging characters. I look forward to seeing what future stories Bishop sets in this world!

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– Paranormal Reading Challenge