The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murders of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard—Lakeside's shape-shifting leader—wonders whether their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or of a future threat.
As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet—and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all.
~~
Despite what the looong silence here on the ol' blog might lead you to believe, I haven't stopped reviewing. I just got a new job that suddenly requires me to actually do work during the day (can you imagine?!) and I haven't found my groove in the evenings/weekends yet to balance that out. I love the people I work with but honestly, I'd forgotten what it was like to not know everything about what I was doing.
But anyway...
As a re-introductory of sorts I decided that there was not a better thing to talk about then the book I saved for Puerto Rico (and have read a billion times since then), Anne Bishop's Murder of Crows. The second book in her Others series, Murder of Crows focuses even more on the mystery of the cassandra sangue, and what their existence means to the Others. It's a phenomenal balancing act of mystery, action, and a tiny bit of romance. The relationships between the somewhat large cast of characters are layered and changing all the time - human, Other, what have you. Politics and self-preservation even come into play as some of the human employees of the Courtyard have defend their feelings (or loyalty) to the Others to other humans.
Nothing is as simple as it seems on the surface and Bishop is a master as making you think; what could happen if these people do this? If these two people feel this? They're tough questions with sometimes deadly consequences, but unlike some of her past work (Black Jewel Trilogy anyone?) nothing's terribly heartbreaking. At least not yet.
Overall Feeling - A+
Series - 1) Written in Red 2) Murder of Crows
