Wild Country

The World of the Others, Book 2

By: Anne Bishop

Narrated by: Alexandra Harris

Length: 17 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

In this powerful and exciting fantasy set in the world of the New York Times best-selling Others series, humans and the shape-shifting Others will see whether they can live side by side...without destroying one another.

There are ghost towns in the world - places where the humans were annihilated in retaliation for the slaughter of the shape-shifting Others.

One of those places is Bennett, a town at the Northern end of the Elder Hills - a town surrounded by the wild country. Now, efforts are being made to resettle Bennett as a community where humans and Others live and work together. A young female police officer has been hired as the deputy to a Wolfgard sheriff. A deadly type of Other wants to run a human-style saloon. And a couple with four foster children - one of whom is a blood prophet - hopes to find acceptance.

But as they reopen the stores and the professional offices and start to make lives for themselves, the town of Bennett attracts the attention of other humans looking for profit. The arrival of the outlaw Blackstone Clan will either unite Others and humans...or bury them all.

©2019 Anne Bishop (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Captivating characters and rich detail... a satisfying urban fantasy." (Library Journal)

Love this series!

I love this series! I was so glad when I saw this one come out that I had to get it!

So much is going on in this exciting world!

This was another wonderful installment in a fantastic series. I have devoured each book in the series and eagerly look forward to each new installment. I had a digital review copy of this book but decided to go with the audiobook this time around and I think that it was a good choice. I was hooked by the story right away and had a hard time putting the book aside. I really enjoyed the experience of reading this book.

This book takes place at the same time as some of the events are happening in Etched in Bone. There are some mentions of familiar characters but for the most part, this book tells the story of a new group. This book is set in the small town of Bennett where the town is led by the Others but humans are settling in and living alongside them. It is a big adjustment for everyone, especially the town's Wolfguard sheriff and human officer.

I liked the characters in this book and really enjoyed the variety of the cast. Really, there is a little bit of everything in this book. There are regular humans, just about every kind of shifter that you could imagine, the vampire-like Sanguinati, blood prophets, and even a few close encounters with the Elders. There are even a couple of puppies worked into the mix which was a big plus for me.

I thought that this book was pretty exciting I was eager to learn how everything would come together. There are some scenes that are pretty action packed but I also liked the quieter scenes that illustrated how everyone was working together to make the community work. The only complaints that I really had would be the stupidity of some of the humans and the fact the pack of wild dogs had to be dealt with as they were.

This was the first time that I have had the chance to listen to the narration of Alexandra Harris. I thought that she did a great job with all of the different characters and their voices. She had a very pleasant speaking voice and was able to add some emotion into her reading. I really enjoyed listening to her narration of this book.

I would recommend this book to others. This book does touch on a lot of things that occur in the first five books of The Others series so I would recommend that the series be read in order. I cannot wait to read more stories set in this wonderful world created by Anne Bishop!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group - Ace via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.

Ugh

The worst part of this series is waiting for the next book to come out. 😥

LOVE

I can't enough of her books. I love all the worlds she creates and this one like all the others does not disappoint. I also enjoy the narration of the books and feel that Harris does a great job giving each character their own personality.

Wow. Brilliant.

Each character perfectly nuanced and consistent. Great narration too.
Anne Bishop is a masterful storyteller.

I love slipping into this world

I loved the previous book, but this story reminded me of the Lakeside community. The timeline for this tale overlaps with Etched in Bone from the Others series and there will be scenes and moments you recognize.

Virgil Wolfguard is Sheriff of Bennett and will bite anyone who misbehaves. He has a chip on his shoulder and collects orphans. He doesn’t know how to react to Jana and I loved the snarls, barbs, and friendship that developed. We meet different residences of the town, including an LGBT couple, a blood prophet, intuits, elementals and more.

Bishop’s world building is fantastic from settings to characters. Combined with Harris’ narration I could settle into this world for a long spell.

I tried to savior Wild Country, but suspense, lies, darkness and more kept me listening into the wee hours. The sleep deprivation and extra cups of coffee was worth it!

Delivered from multiple POVs we really get a sense of all sides from the terra indigene to the criminal elements that work their way towards the town. The climactic scenes had me holding my breath and feeling a mix of emotions. The climatic scene at the end was hard, and I played the scene, reactions and actions out in my head changing the scenario each time. While, I hated the losses I think Bishop stayed true to the series.

Still An Enjoyable Series

I enjoyed Wild Country - even more so than several of the previous books. It felt like Bishop was taking a bit of a stretch here by making sure that the ending wasn't as pat as in previous books. Yes, the good is still very good and the evil is about as starkly defined as you can imagine. And yes, this still feels very much like a book about women by a woman - with all that would engender. But there was plenty of action and one can't help but root for the main characters (others and humans) while booing the bad guys before they get ripped apart.

Story: Bennett's population (including all but a few Others) was wiped out with the apocalypse wrought by the actions of the HFL movement [see Marked in Flesh #4]. But it is located in an important place in the midwest (as well as being the gatekeeper to the Wild Country where the Elders reside). Tolya Sanguinati is asked to rebuild the town with a few chosen humans in order to keep the systems the humans created operating. He does so carefully, with help from the neighboring intuit farmers. But as he will soon discover, it is difficult to bring in the good without also allowing the bad to come in. And once again, pure greed will be the root cause of so much evil in Bennett.

The book follows several main characters: Jana (a female policeman who is fighting discrimination and misogyny and could only find work way out near the Wilds), Abigail Blackstone (an intuit who is on the run from her gambler/crooks family, who use their ability to fleece others), Tolya Sanguinati (who is trying to keep the peace and re-establish the town thoughtfully), and Jesse (an Intuit farmer with a strong ability to sense when danger is imminent). Along with those POVs, they interact with: two Wolfguards (one of whom is the sheriff - and they are the only ones who survive the HFL massacres from Etched in Bone), two Pantherguards (one of whom is a human, likely son of a Cassandra Sangue, and adopted by the Pantherguard), and Jesse's son Tobias (who is a love interest for Jana).

Because this story runs concurrent with the events in Etched In Bone #5, there is a crossover, though no characters from the other book appear in Wild Country. But it was a nice touch to show that the events in Marked in Flesh and Etched in Bone had a marked ripple effect outside of the Lakeside Courtyard. I was at first skeptical that it would be interesting to see those events rehashed -but they are a catalyst for a lot of bad in Bennett.

There focus of the plot is Abigail Blackstone fearing the appearance of her avaricious family. And we are going to have to believe that greed will always overrule common sense - and having whole cities and nearly a continent 'culled' is apparently not enough of a deterrent for this human nature. But then, it wouldn't be an Anne Bishop story, either.

In all, I did enjoy Wild Country and will continue to read the series. And I'll hold out hope that some day the series actually gets a decent cover, that reflects the story inside. Until then, it's a guilty pleasure that I look forward to every year. Note: I listened to the Audible version and the reader did her usual style.

Love Love Love

This series has the most unique world building I have read in over a decade!

World of the Others

Anne Bishop’s series in my opinion is one of my favorite reads or listen. I recommend it to those who enjoy the world from a different perspective. Awesome stories.

great book!

I waited for this book to come out for a very long time and it did not disappoint! It's story line kept me guessing until the end! I wish, there would be another book with these characters to follow up their lives and adventures. but anyways, as it is this book worse every penny spent and I would recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy and adventure.