Written in Red

A Novel of the Others

By: Anne Bishop

Narrated by: Alexandra Harris

Length: 18 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

No one creates realms like New York Times best-selling author Anne Bishop. Now in a thrilling new fantasy series, enter a world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities - vampires and shape-shifters among them - who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans.

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut - a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg's Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard - a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she's keeping a secret, and second, she doesn't smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she's wanted by the government, he'll have to decide if she's worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

©2013 Anne Bishop (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Amazing...A compelling story set in a seamlessly crafted universe.” (Fresh Fiction)

“A stunningly original yarn, deeply imagined, beautifully articulated, and set forth in clean, limpid, sensual prose.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Bishop has a way of making your heart wrench with joy and pain within a breath.” (Fantasy Book Critic)

Worth the read

I love this book series. The author does a great job building the world and characters. It is a refreshing shifter book with so much more. The narrator does a fantastic job switch between which characters are talking and does a great job overall.

Interesting story

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this story, at first. It started out a bit slow, but started to pick up midway through to the end.
The characters are interesting and became more well rounded towards the end. They grew more interesting as the story went on, which was more entertaining & added to the story.
As for the narrator, she has a clear soothing voice which was enjoyable to listen to. She did sound a little monotoned at the beginning, but added more emphasis between the characters to distinguish them better.
Overall, the book has a unique story that was fun to listen to as well as entertaining. I look forward to listening to the next one.

Truly Original Story Line

This story held a unique perspective on Other beings who aren’t human, such as shape shifters and vampires and their dominant relationship with human beings. Meg is a young gifted woman who escapes imprisonment by greedy humans and takes refuge with a courtyard of Others. As she recovers her life the Others and humans around her are also greatly changed. Tolerance between the races increases from her presence. I enjoyed the concept and the story very much.

Original, emotion-driven alternative reality

I listened to the audiobook version of "Written In Red" in December 2013. I didn't write a review because I was so blown away all I'd have been able to say was: "Best fantasy novel I've read in a long, long time." I needed a bit of distance to get some perspective on what I enjoyed and why.

Last weekend, I was in "Forbidden Planet" in Liverpool and saw that the third book in the series, "Vision In Silver" had just been released in hardback. It was an instant and joyful buy. So I figured it was time to review the books that have brought me so much pleasure.

In my view "Written In Red" is closer to classic science fiction than it is to urban fantasy. Anne Bishop isn't writing about supernatural creatures roaming city streets. She's created an alternative reality, imagined the way good science fiction should be: starting with two small changes to our familiar reality - humans are not at the top of the food chain and shapeshifters are not only real but dominant - while keeping everything else the same and then working through the consequences. She then delivers complex, credible, I'm-hungry-to-know-more world-buidling in simple prose. But what makes this book unmissable is the way she made her world real to me by creating characters I cared about and putting them in peril.

The back story to Anne Bishop's alternative reality is that humans evolved and developed their civilization away from the wilderness that covers most of the planet. Then they came into contact with The Others - predatory shapeshifters and fierce elementals - who dominate the planet and to whom humans are "clever meat". The two cultures clashed. The humans lost, again and again, over centuries. Eventually the humans negotiated the right to specific pieces of land in exchange for services rendered.

At the time of the events of "Written In Red", humans are thriving on their "reservations" and are being supervised by Others living in Courtyards from which they observe what the clever meat is up to.

The Others in "Written In Red" can be described as werewolves or vampires or even werecrows but Anne Bishop only uses the familiar tropes to twist away from them. The Others are not humans who shift into wolves. They are wolves who occasionally choose to put on human skin. The Others are fundamentally alien. They literally eat humans that displease them. They are fiercely loyal to each other. They have a strong sense of pack or flock or hierarchy. They are civilized but they are not at all like us.

Into this world comes Meg Corbyn, a homeless waif with a secret. A Courtyard takes her in as their "Human Liaison" and the history of the world starts to pivot. Meg is engaging vulnerable, empathetic, curious, kind, and dutiful. Her innocence is explained by her sequestered life as a cassandra sangue, a woman who can see the future if her is skin is sliced. That she is kind and extremely likable is explained only by the fact that she is Meg.

The interaction between Meg and the Others is one of the most enjoyable things about the book. They laugh at her and puzzle over her but they also give her shelter. They declare her to "Our Meg" and protect her even though they are unaware of her background. She becomes, in effect, a valued pet human.

The treatment of the cassandra sangue by humans is far more monstrous than anything the Others do. When the Others sell human flesh as "Special Meat" it is an honest, malice-free act. When humans exploit the cassandra sangue, their actions are both fundamentaly inhumane and realistically human.

Anne Bishop's alternative reality is as dark and threatening as an ancient forest. Immediately after reading the book, I might have said that the darkness came from the constant threat the Others pose to humans, but the darkest image lingering in my imagination is Meg's razor: the one with her number on it, the one that was used to slice her skin to force her visions, the only thing she carried with her to her new freedom. The razor is a source pain and pleasure, a sign of slavery and a badge of honour, a bone-deep fear and a heart-felt desire. The razor and all it means, makes Meg Corbyn much darker than she first appears to be. In many ways it brings her closer to being one of the Others and makes her disturbing as well as engaging.

In "Written in Red", most humans who have power or are seeking it, are not mentally equipped to accept a status quo in which they are not at the top of the food chain. They are constantly plotting, looking for an edge that will enable them to become the apex predators. This seemed realistic to me, although I think the human evil-doers would have been more interesting if they had been a little less irredeemably venal.

Alexandra Harris does an excellent job as the narrator, particularly with the voice she uses for Meg.

"Written In Red" is original, rigorously thought through, passionate and written in deceptively simple prose. I believe it is the start of an outstanding series.

A fresh unique take on urban fantasy

In a world dominated by the Others (Terra Indigine), humans are the minority existing under a truce of sorts in select areas allowed by the Others. The Others are wary of Humans and vice versa.

Meg Corbyn is a Cassandra sangue (Blood Prophet) and has run away from her keepers. Half-frozen, Meg stumbles into Lakeside Courtyard an Others compound in a human city which is beyond human law.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard and head of the Others' compound in Lakeside, agrees to let her take the job of Human Liaison; who accepts human deliveries for the compound and sorts mail, even knowing she's hiding from something.

The Others are not softened or even humanized in any way and make no apologies for the way they live.

Thus begins a fresh unique take of an urban fantasy book with a compelling series of suspenseful plots to keep you listening well into the night

I love this book, Anne Bishop makes you live in her characters skins, laugh with them, cry with them and die with them.

Written in Red's characters are interesting and relatable and Anne has created an amazingly detailed world that's intelligently written, incredibly creative, and will have you forcing yourself to put it down.

if you like alternate worlds, urbane fantasy, or fantasy you will love this book

If you like the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, or a story that has a new, totally fascinating take on Shapeshifters, Vampires and Elementals, get this book

If you grown tired of most Paranormal books, because they mostly use the same overused elements over and over again get this book.

You won’t be disappointed.

The narration is excellent

A very nice surprise

Not my normal genre , but I found I really really liked it! A story of a young girl who is a blood profit who escapes her bonds to find a home among the others. Very good writing and great narration.

Sub Par Narration

I loved the book itself - could barely stop the audio from playing because I was so riveted. The only problem I had was that the narrator didn't have good changes of tone for the characters. Her impressions of the main male and female were a little too contradictory to their development within the book, as well as their circumstances at different points within the story. Other than that, however, it was extremely enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in werewolves, vampires and other such creatures.

An Intensely exciting story

So many books today rarely built into a good story with relations and growth in the characters. Many stories today are all about sex or forgets to pull in the reader. The book was a wonderfully told story the captures both the imagination and provides intrigue. This was a nail biter that has me hooked.

Made love the book all over again

I'm not a big fan of audio books but with this narrator, I not only thoroughly enjoyed this book, I bought the rest if the books in the series because she narrators the others. I love this series and have it in all formats: hardback, digital, and now audio. Ms. Harris is an outstanding voice artist who truly brought Ms. Bishop's characters to life.

Great plot you will be intranced

Where does Written in Red rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's up there I love SCI and Paranormal so I liked this. This was good enough that before I finished this book I had already purchased the next.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Written in Red?

When Sam came out of wolf form for the first time. Even though you kind of expect him to do this Mrs. Bishop still makes the experience worth listening to.

What does Alexandra Harris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I don't know if I can say this, but the way that she sounds is comforting

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No not extreme I just loved it

Any additional comments?

Can't wait to hear Murder of Crows