Written in Red cover art

Written in Red

A Novel of the Others

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Written in Red

By: Anne Bishop
Narrated by: Alexandra Harris
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About this listen

 Enter the world of the Others in the first novel in New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s thrilling fantasy series: a place where unearthly entities—vampires and shape-shifters among them—rule the Earth and prey on the human race.

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. Dark Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Classics Paranormal Feel-Good Shifter

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Critic reviews

Praise for Written in Red
Winner of the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice for Best Urban Fantasy Novel

“Amazing...A compelling story set in a seamlessly crafted universe.”—Fresh Fiction

“Near perfect...Written in Red isn’t just the best urban fantasy of the year—it may be one of the best ever.”—All Things Urban Fantasy

“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

“Fast-paced action, well defined characters and an imaginative storyline make for a fine paranormal read.”—Monsters and Critics

More Praise for Anne Bishop and the Novels of the Others

“Anne Bishop is so good at writing character development....I love this series and I NEED MORE!”—USAToday.com

“Without a doubt one of the best UF series on the market.”—RT Book Reviews

“The Queen of Fantasy...Teeming with intrigue, suspense, heartbreak, and hints of romance, Bishop’s literary skills continue to astound and enchant.”—Heroes and Heartbreakers
All stars
Most relevant
This is a YA book - that's not to say it isn't listenable to and enjoyable for a less than young adults, but it isn't a complex story, and can get a bit girly, with talk early on of "ponies tummies", and rather a lot of hot chocolate and cookie consumption, but these are minor complaints.
I was surprised to learn, a couple of hours or so in, that our heroine Meg is 25 (or maybe 24 - can't remember now) and not the 16 or 17 I'd assumed her to be. She is "read" very young by the narrator, and as the story progresses this apparent youth becomes understandable, but one of the "baddies" came over to me as about 18, while they were probably meant to be Meg's age or more, and they didn't have any reason to some across as a petulant teenager. So I grumbled my way through the first few hours of listening, feeling slightly misled over who the target audience for this book is, however... things got better!
This may be a straightforward and pretty predictable story, but it's also quite compelling once you get going. The world building is interesting and different, Meg is a good, kind, brave soul who grows on you - I was really rooting for her. The development of the relationship between her and the Others is allowed to progress slowly, showing the Others utter bewilderment at how to deal with humans, and Meg's complete lack of knowledge about human life in the real world. There's a host of supporting characters - decent human policemen, shifters of various species, vampires, elementals, the ponies (who have a darker side so aren't so cute after all) and Tess - and nobody knows what she is... The baddies are credible, and potentially quite nasty, although they stay mostly as shadowy background figures.
There are quite a few smile-out-loud moments, and I found myself impatient to get back to listening when I was otherwise engaged.
There's some swearing (the Others find swearing one of the few good things humans have thought up), some mention of sex, but nothing explicit and its all so vague you could easily miss it ("I'll let you do that thing you wanted to do last night" - if you have an adult take you fill in the gaps one way, if you don't ,you fill 'em another!), some violence and death - but again, nothing overt or nasty.
Well read, with the narrator managing to populate a wide cast. She gets a bit gruff when doing angry wolves, but what else could she do? There are a few jarring American pronunciations to my English ears, but not many.
The end leaves several (quite big) issues unresolved, so I imagine there's a sequel or two to come, and if the nasty, rather brutal Others become a tad nice and civilised rather quickly - responding to threats to withhold their cookies for heaven's sake - it doens't detract from what is a good, imaginative yarn about how plain honest-to-goodness decency wins through! I really enjoyed it and will look out for the sequel.

A YA book that works for older ones!

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What made the experience of listening to Written in Red the most enjoyable?

The narrator fits the personality of the main character really well.

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

When Meg stands her ground

What about Alexandra Harris’s performance did you like?

The narrator's voice is quite calming but it fits well with the main character and I got used to it.

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

I didn't find it massively emotional but I did enjoy it.

Any additional comments?

It was really nice to have a good urban fantasy where the romance takes a back seat.

I have also listened to the next in the series.

Loved it

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What made the experience of listening to Written in Red the most enjoyable?

This is a fascinating story with twists and turns that keep you interested all the way through. Strong characters for you to identify with, looking forward to listening to the next book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hard to pick a favourite as they are all unique.

Which character – as performed by Alexandra Harris – was your favourite?

All of them

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Lives entwined

Hooked already

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I thought I was sexist for a while as two of the previous book i bought didn't really clicked, the books were good but the female readers of the two previous books I bought were not.

This book however made me felt relieved that I am in fact not sexist and that it is the reader's reading skill as much as the content of the book that makes an audiobook interesting. I definitely recommend this book read by Alexandra Harris and I am genuinely looking forward to the next one.

Love it

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One of my favourite books/series. The story of Meg and the impact she has on everyone she meets. This book start a very unique series.

Unique

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