Last night, instead of sleeping, I finished Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop, the fifth book in The Others series.
My friend April first turned me on to it–it’s urban fantasy (fantastical creatures, but in our time instead of a medieval time).
This is an alternate version of our world, one in which the great spirits and creatures (vampires, werewolves, etc.) and humans exist, knowing about each other. The landmass that we call America was “discovered” by humans, and the humans made pacts with the powers that were there–sometimes trading goods for permission to live and to expand.
Except now the humans have forgotten how powerful the Others are and think they can break the compacts that have kept them from being prey.
Many fantasy stories have naive protagonists so that we can discover how the world works the same time they do.
Our protagonist is Meg–not quite human, not quite other. She is a prophet–like others of her kind, she has been caged and abused.
The first book opens with her running away and finding shelter at Lakeside–a unique community wherein Others and Humans try to coexist in the same space (the Others want to study us).
There’s a lot going on in this series–The Humans First and Last Movement sound and act a lot like our alt-right. And while the Others might both be read as Native Americans (with the power and inclination for revenge for what we stole), there are communities of intuits who resemble our idea of the spiritual Native American. There are issues of equality, power, community vs. the individual, the problems of mating, etc. The book also doesn’t shy away from the reality that human men abuse others (especially women) all the time. Reading the “savage” “animal” others judge us for our sins is necessary and sometimes difficult.
One of the things I appreciate about this series is something others might not–it’s a lot about how we make things work–how do we distribute resources equally? How many chances should a trouble maker give? When do you take a child away from a parent for its own good? How can you make a sad coworker feel better. There are a lot of conversations, misunderstandings, meetings–the things that usually don’t make for good fiction, but that add a wonderful layer of realism here.
