Written in Red (The Others, #1) in Some Like It Hot!

Jan 20, 2015 Jane Stewart rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-fiction

3 ½ stars. Enjoyable story, but I had a major problem with the audiobook narrator. Do the physical book.

The ideas are creative and different – like vampires traveling as smoke, seasons and weather as beings. When humans arrived on Thaisia (similar to the North American continent) they had to be submissive to the Others – natives already there. The Others have power over the humans – a nice change from the American Indians’ history. The Others include animal shifters, elementals, and weather crea ...more

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Jan 09, 2014 Silver James rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reread, audio-books, auto-buy-series, 2015-books-read, keeper, paranormal, 2017-books-read, 2014-books-read, 2016-books-read, fantasy

Written in Red (The Others, #1) by Anne Bishop

Currently listening to audio version leading up to the release of book 4 in this series.

WRITTEN IN RED by Anne Bishop is one of those books that makes me wonder how I missed it when it first came out. Luckily, I discovered it right before the next in The Others series comes out (March, 2014). I won't have to wait long to get my fix. I read quite a few of Ms. Bishop's Black Jewel series years ago and enjoyed them but moved on to other things. I have not read her intervening series/trilogies

Currently listening to audio version leading up to the release of book 4 in this series.

WRITTEN IN RED by Anne Bishop is one of those books that makes me wonder how I missed it when it first came out. Luckily, I discovered it right before the next in The Others series comes out (March, 2014). I won't have to wait long to get my fix. I read quite a few of Ms. Bishop's Black Jewel series years ago and enjoyed them but moved on to other things. I have not read her intervening series/trilogies, but I may have to rethink that. But I'm not here to consider other of her works. This is about WRITTEN IN RED.

Ms. Bishop is a consummate world-builder. And her characters are as finely crafted as a literary Geppetto could create them. They live and breathe. They are scary and funny. They are jealous and loving. After reading this book, I feel like I know them--the Others and humans alike. Her plotting is tight, compelling, but at the same time, it's almost leisurely, as if she puts a teakettle on a low flame so the reader can watch the steam build, holding their breath until the water begins to bubble before she turns up the heat so that the water boils and splashes, furiously contained within the vessel that holds it.

This book is gently brutal. Or brutally gentle. I'm not sure which, or perhaps both by turns. The Others eat humans. Humans are "special meat." But at the same time, they need humans for things so there is an uneasy truce. Until Meg Corbyn is tossed like a handful of salt into a simmering pot of water.

This book may not be for every reader of fantasy. If you have not read fantasy, this might be the book to try. I found it delightful and horrifying, funny and clever yet suspenseful and heart-breaking. The threads of this story are tightly-woven and present surprises along that way. Yes, I obviously loved the book. So much so that I'll be adding the hardback version to my already crowded library shelves and the digital version (my preference for reading) to my ereader. Written in Red ...more

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Dec 12, 2015 Silver James rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, 2015-books-read, auto-buy-series, paranormal, reread, 2017-books-read, keeper, my-go-to-authors, alternative-history, 2016-books-read

2020: LOVE this book. Love the world, love the characters, hate the villains. Always good to know that it still hits the spot when I'm in a book slump.

2019: I'm not a huge fan of audio books but with this narrator and this story by Ms. Bishop, I am becoming a fan. 🤣🤣🤣 Amazing what a difference a couple of years make! I almost exclusively "read" audio books these days, for a variety of reasons. After starting and stopping several books because they just weren't "hitting the spot," I realized

2020: LOVE this book. Love the world, love the characters, hate the villains. Always good to know that it still hits the spot when I'm in a book slump.

2019: I'm not a huge fan of audio books but with this narrator and this story by Ms. Bishop, I am becoming a fan. 🤣🤣🤣 Amazing what a difference a couple of years make! I almost exclusively "read" audio books these days, for a variety of reasons. After starting and stopping several books because they just weren't "hitting the spot," I realized that I was continuously thinking about this series in general, and this book specifically. I was surprised to discover that I hadn't read/listened to it since 2017. Considering this series is a favorite and I'm known to binge listen to favorite series on a yearly basis, I downloaded it from my Audible library immediately. Nothing's changed from my previous reviews. And yes, this book was perfect for my headspace and listening appetite. On to the next one!

2016 review: When I received a coupon for a free Audible download, I went looking for favorite books. I sampled several but the narrator's voice didn't sound like the voice(s) in my head, the voices my imagination supplies when I read a book. Something drew me to this book (and series). I've "read" this book twice before. After trying the sample, I grabbed the audio version and was entranced. This book has always been a five-start read for me. Now it's a five-star listen. The narrator, Alexandra Harris, does a marvelous job with the characterizations and the narration. I was captivated all over again by the story and immediately got the next two books in the series. I know own hardback copies, digital on my Fire, and the audio.

I'm not a huge fan of audio books but with this narrator and this story by Ms. Bishop, I am becoming a fan.

Original review of Kindle edition: WRITTEN IN RED by Anne Bishop is one of those books that makes me wonder how I missed it when it first came out. Luckily, I discovered it right before the next in The Others series comes out (March, 2014). I won't have to wait long to get my fix. I read quite a few of Ms. Bishop's Black Jewel series years ago and enjoyed them but moved on to other things. I have not read her intervening series/trilogies, but I may have to rethink that. But I'm not here to consider other of her works. This is about WRITTEN IN RED.

Ms. Bishop is a consummate world-builder. And her characters are as finely crafted as a literary Geppetto could create them. They live and breathe. They are scary and funny. They are jealous and loving. After reading this book, I feel like I know them--the Others and humans alike. Her plotting is tight, compelling, but at the same time, it's almost leisurely, as if she puts a teakettle on a low flame so the reader can watch the steam build, holding their breath until the water begins to bubble before she turns up the heat so that the water boils and splashes, furiously contained within the vessel that holds it.

This book is gently brutal. Or brutally gentle. I'm not sure which, or perhaps both by turns. The Others eat humans. Humans are "special meat." But at the same time, they need humans for things so there is an uneasy truce. Until Meg Corbyn is tossed like a handful of salt into a simmering pot of water.

This book may not be for every reader of fantasy. If you have not read fantasy, this might be the book to try. I found it delightful and horrifying, funny and clever yet suspenseful and heart-breaking. The threads of this story are tightly-woven and present surprises along that way. Yes, I obviously loved the book. So much so that I'll be adding the hardback version to my already crowded library shelves and the digital version (my preference for reading) to my ereader. ...more

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Dec 15, 2016 Andrea (mrsaubergine) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Loved this! Really great world-building, fantastic characters, some quite dark elements, and just that little bit of UST. Oh, yes, I will be reading the rest of this series pronto!

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