Vision in Silver: A Novel of the Others

Have you ever read a book, and the world the author created was so mesmerizing that you wish you could visit? A few books have sparked my imagination like no other, and made me wish I could visit the world’s the authors’s C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowlings, JRR Tolkien and Ann Bishop have created. Bishop’s world in ‘The Others’ Series is enthralling, unique as it is riveting in it’s uniqueness; but also easy for the reader to understand, so that the story flows naturally; despite the foreign land the reader is thrust into. Bishop’s writing is brilliant and her urban fantasy world building is imaginative and fascinates me. Her world construct is multifaceted and the characters that inhabit the world are prismatic, with so many layers and nuances. It is easy to set down with one of her ‘Others’ books and get lost in time and space. As I swore I would only read one more chapter, and found myself hours later still lost in Vision in Silver. (Yes I have recommended it to readers and in the middle of the night they have texted me saying they are still awake reading Bishop)Her third book in the series is Vision in Silver, and the plot picks up right where book two A Murder of Crows leaves off. War is on the horizon. The question that is up in the air is can the inhabitants of the Lakeside Courtyard change the tide that is coming. The fate of the humans of Thasia could very well depend on how the Lakeside Courtyard, handles it’s community. For those of you who haven’t read the prior books below is a simple primer.Easiest way to explain the world that Bishop has created is to use points that the readers are familiar with in our collective history. So Thasia is the land of Bishop’s world, humans crossed the Atlantik to a new world, they had already spread out in Cel-Romano (kinda Europe) and had learned that earth natives (indigenes inhabitants) pretty much owned the world and the humans were the ‘new kids’ on the block. Upon arrival in Thasia humans were eventually allowed to stay, after some humans unfortunately became snacks to the earth natives. The earth natives let them stay and lease land and human settlements grew. The earth natives who deal with humans are called terra indigene; they can take on human shape; but they are not human. It is made clear in these books that they have never been human, they can wear the skin of a human; but they will always be earth natives. They are at heart animals, wolves, bears, crows, owls, etc. But even these are not their original shapes as they have learned to adapt, to what is around them. So humans aren’t the dominate predator in the world. Makes for a very interesting novel and series.The world of the ‘Others’ is represented by the Courtyard in Lakeside, in the Eastern part of Thasia. I won’t tell the reader where this is, because the fun of these books is the world building, and spoiling would be wrong. Meg Corbyn is still struggling to learn how to live, as a blood prophet, outside of the confines of the institutionalized prison where she was raised. She is no longer the only blood prophet in the outside world. Meg and the other blood prophets struggle in the world that is too loud, too busy and with too much stimulation; which only make the girls want to cut. Their struggles are not easy to read, and what humans have done to these girls was horrendous. How the ‘Others’ who are seen by many as animals react is what makes the divide between humans and ‘others’ so stark. As an other would never ever hurt or not care for their young; their very future. The events in this book are at sometimes hard to read, as mans inhumanity of man is great; and seeing humans through the ‘Others’ eyes is frightening. As I read the book, I got a sense of those characters that really do see the ‘Others’ as uniqued and valued and those humans who are just giving lip service to what the ‘Others’ want. The ‘Others’ aren’t used to people talking out both sides of their mouths, or stabbing someone in the back. It is not the nature of the ‘Others’ to speak falsely. They are straight forward being. The humans of Thasia, who want more and more, without the ‘Others’ interference are making themselves known.No one can write a story like Ms. Bishop or encompass a reader’s imagination in such a uniquely structured world. The depth in the characters relationships with each other is powerful, as every character in and about the courtyard is fleshed out and complete, no characters background story is lacking. Meg one of the main, is experiencing more stressors in this book, which makes her want to cut to escape. She is going to have to learn to live in the bigger world or she will end up making one cut too many. It demonstrated that Meg was not that far removed from the other cassandra sangue ‘blood prophets’, that she was still struggling. Simon Wolfgard is coming to terms with what Meg means to him and the other inhabitants in the courtyard. Meg’s influence on the Lakeside Courtyard residence and some of the humans who work there has been profound. The ‘Others’ and Simon in particular, are struggling with their instincts versus human social mores; when interacting with humans, and in Simon’s case be with Meg? Simon even wonders if he can become human enough for Meg? As these are creatures that have adapted throughout time, it isn’t a jump for their next adaptation to be to human. Can what is happening in the Lakeside Courtyard, influence the rest of Thasia. Yes, war is coming; and the Lakeside Courtyard and Meg Corbyn along with Simon Wolfgard are at ground zero.This book and serious is phenomenal and is book a like crowing about.

Book 3 in the Others series, while I suspect it would be enjoyable as a standalone, with the amount of both character and world building in the first two books as setup, I’d recommend this series is best read in order.I love the alternate world the author has created here, and her take on various kinds of animal shifters and vampires, as well as other creatures that go bump in the night is fascinating. Like the rest of the series, this book has plenty of action and some dark moments that are lightened by humor. And, like the rest of the series, this is not a book for people who can’t handle the idea of humans not being the dominant predator in the world.While there are some huge questions hanging out there to continue to be addressed in the remaining books, I really enjoyed the progress made here for both characters and story, and it comes to a lovely happy-for-now conclusion. In fact, this may just be my favorite book in the series.

I love this World that Anne Bishop has created. Love the story of Simon and Meg and the rest of the human pack and Others. Great Story!

Number 3 not the place start this series! The residents of Lake side Courtyard keep growing and the friendships are strengthening. As the EVIL HFL Humans First and Last stir up more and more resentment for the Others. The adventures of the Blood prophet keep bringing people together and smoothing issues before things blow up. This time Lieutenant Monty has a family member who is saved by a Wolf serve story is about him and his connecting human people. Next book more of the Evil Humans I bet, can't wait to see where Ms Bishop takes us next.

I am intrigued and fascinated by the world Ms. Bishop has created. And the story lines drag you in with Wolf teeth and stir you up like Tess' hair. One word ... Awesome.

4 stars - It was really goodWell this was another book that i just couldn’t put down! This is such a fascinating and unique world that it is very hard to put the book down.This book picks up shortly after the previous one ended. The humans are trying to take control of Thasia by blaming food shortages and other issues on the Others. This book basically shows how greedy and self-absorbed humans can be, especially when trying to gain power. I am really enjoying this storyline a lot, even if it is a bit dark at times.Meg has changed so much since book one. She is continuing to figure out how her abilities work and is now crafting a guide to help others. She makes a lot of progress but also a few mistakes. I really am enjoying the progression of her character and how she is handling her urge to cut. She is building confidence in herself and learning to rely on her friends for help and support. All of the human pack members have become great side characters and I love how they take care of each other.Simon is changing too. He is becoming more human-like in some ways but also more ruthless at the same time, especially when it comes to Meg. Simon also is learning that not all humans are bad and has started to trust them more. He is seeing them more as part of the pack than as just meat which I really enjoy. Simon is also still struggling with his reactions to Meg and still hasn’t worked out yet that she is his, but then again Meg hasn’t figured it out yet either. I am really loving the slow burn on their relationship, which isn’t something I expected since I don’t usually like slow building relationships like this.Overall, this was another wonderful addition to this series. I cannot wait to jump into the next book, especially after the ultimatum given to the humans.Trigger Warnings: self harm, murder, death of side-characters, injuries,

Three books in and I'm still on about the same position on these series - there are elements, settings, and characters that appeal to me very strongly and pull me back in for more, but there are also a lot of elements I feel like I want to skip over or ignore to not spoil my experience.And I'm constantly afraid that in the every next one the things I love will be replaced and disappear entirely.If I was reading these series while they were still in the making I would chant 'Less angsty politics and more wolfy humor!"Alas, the further in we get the more large-scale the angsty politics are threatening to get.And the relationship between the main characters is not as much slow-burn as it is barely smoking. Not that I mind that it took them 3 books to hold hands, I'm not reading this for the possible romance much, but some kind of tangible progress would be nice. Personally, I find it disappointing when the focus of the book turns completely away from characters' interactions and into large-scale politics. It's boring and impersonal, and we have enough of large-scale human stupidity, prejudice, and intolerance in our everyday life for it to be interesting or pleasant to read about. The only plus is that in these series the intolerable humans are very likely to get dead or at least mercilessly punished with hardly any delay.

Simon Wolfgard leader of the Lakeside compound found out the hard way that you don’t ask a human female (Meg) if it’s that time of the month, not if you value your fur. Human females are so confusing if Meg were another wolf he would just give her the best bit of a bunny and all would be well. Meg had been doing so well adjusting to life in the courtyard after being imprisioned all her life so she could be used for her visions. Unfortunately she relaxed prematurely, she has started to suffer panic attacks, her brain unable to cope with all the stimulus, maybe the controller was right and blood prophets cannot survive in the outside world. But that’s only the start of the problems, the Humans first and last group is gaining ground, people who interact with others are being ostracised, some even getting beaten up, and when Simon takes the crows on an outing to a market they are attacked by a large group of humans. The others who live in the compounds are not the worst of the Terre Indigine and if thing get much worse the ones who live in the Wild Places may decide the humans have to go. Simon started something when he took Meg in along with her human tribe, now the fate of all the humans may depend on what they do next.

The terra indigene may have saved the blood prophets and destroyed the compounds where they had been held captive and exploited but it turns out that was the easy part. The hard part is going to be finding a way to help the girls survive life on the outside, away from their strictly regimented routines and experienced handlers. The Others and the intuits are doing their best to make them comfortable in their new homes but they're finding so many changes hard to cope with and the only person who has a chance of helping them survive is Meg.Meanwhile the animosity between humans and the Others is increasing thanks to the HFL (Humans First and Last) movement. Nicholas Scratch is the perfect spokesperson for the group, full of charm and playing on people's fears and prejudices to stir up hatred and bigotry. Not all humans agree with the HFL but unless Simon can figure out a way to reduce tensions between the two groups all humans will pay the price. They have no idea what kind of trouble they are stirring but they're about to get a few reminders.I'm still totally hooked on this series and haven't really come up for air since I started Written in Red a few days ago. I'm fascinated by this world that Anne Bishop has created and I love so many of these characters. It's been really interesting to see the changes that have come over the Lakeside Courtyard since Meg walked into their lives, the small human pack they've accepted for her is gradually growing and the Others who live there are starting to see how interesting life can be with cooperative humans around. Of course the more trouble that HFL stir up around the whole of Thaisia the greater the danger is but Simon is still trying to find a way forward that allows both groups to live side by side.I've loved seeing Meg start to make friends and build a life for herself but now she's facing her biggest challenge yet and struggling to find answers that could help the rest of the blood prophets. She has friends around her now though and I really like the camaraderie between the human pack but also the Others who have taken her under their wings. One of my favourite things is the friendship between Meg and Simon though, it's so easy for everyone else to see that they're falling in love but Meg has no experience and doesn't understand while Simon isn't willing to admit his feelings because Others mating with humans just isn't the done thing. I really want to see some payoff between these two soon but so far I'm enjoying the slowburn. We're starting to see more of police officers like Monty and Burke and how the way they act is having a huge impact on relationships between humans and the Others too. Monty has a lot going on in this book and honestly it was something I was really hoping would happen so I did cheer a little when a certain new character showed up.I finished this book at 6am this morning so that should give you an idea of how much I was enjoying it, especially if I add that I managed to grab three hours of sleep before I was awake again and making a start on Marked in Flesh. I honestly can't remember the last time a series grabbed me this hard but right now I'm loving every minute of it.

I love these books and this one was great! I love Simon. I wish there was a little more Meg and a little less Monty but for the story to work we needed Monty so its purely that I love Meg :) I really like Hope and really hope theres a cat here soon! Just read them, all of them!

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series but I was left a little disappointed with Vision in Silver. It was a bit lacklustre compared to her previous offerings. There wasn't much in depth character development and the storyline dragged a bit throughout. The developing relationship or friendship between Meg and Simon is nicely done and it doesn't take away from the main story. The whole way through this story I felt like it was very slowly building towards the next book. That being said I'll probably still get the next book in this series as there has been a lot of groundwork done for a good storyline but I felt a bit cheated with this. Still I give it three stars as the writing is lovely and I enjoy all the characters and the concept of the series.