Vision in Silver --by Anne Bishop

Fiction / Urban Fantasy 

407 pages / 1954 KB

5 Stars

Oh my goodness gracious! While Murder of Crows was a slightly slower read, which for me at the time was perfect, Vision in Silver jerked me back onto the roller coaster from which I could not get off!

Foolish lady that I am, thinking it would be more like Murder of Crows, I started it at night, and read until I couldn't read any more. Then had a hard time going to sleep because I really, really wanted to know what came next! After I finished doing what had to be done the next day, I found out what came next! Unfortunately, too soon, it was The End.

I don't want to tell too much of what happens, because I don't want to spoil anything for you, but Simon blows a gasket, the Cassandra sangue are freed, but to what? They have been bred and trained to do one thing and one thing only. They are ill equipped to handle freedom and the information overload that comes with it. The Humans First, Last, and Always people want them returned to benevolent ownership. The Others want them to learn to be free.

The vampires have a larger role in this book, and humans are making inroads into The Courtyard, which has the Others somewhat confused as humans are 'clever meat' and prey, except when they're not and are friends and allies and to be protected.

Once again, the humans prove they have short memories—and large egos. They wish to make demands of their landlords, the Others, who own the land on which they live, the raw materials used in manufacturing, and, quite literally, the air they breathe. In fact, those short sighted, ego maniacs, wish to exterminate the Others. Not a war I'd choose to fight!

The Others are shifters, but unlike most stories they do not go from human to Other, they go from Other to human, and mostly they don't like it. They only do it in order to communicate and work with humans, and to maintain control. While in human form they still think like their primary self, whether Crow or Wolf or Vampire. But, with the help of the human pack that has formed in the Courtyard, they are beginning to learn how humans think, and all the strange terms we use, such as that kids are small humans (not prey) and not small goats (prey). While there is tension galore in this book, there is also humor.

The book has a satisfactory ending even if it came too soon; however, there are a couple of 'loose' ends that I hope will be resolved in book four. The only problem with this book is, I've read it, and now I shall have to wait forever (it will seem like it) for the next in the series.

Note to Ms. Bishop: Please add one more page at the very beginning, giving us the correct spelling of the various forms of the Others. Thank you.