14. Anne Bishop - Vision in Silver (The Others #3)

The Others freed the cassandra sangue to protect the blood prophets from exploitation, not realizing their actions would have dire consequences. Now the fragile seers are in greater danger than ever before—both from their own weaknesses and from those who seek to control their divinations for wicked purposes. In desperate need of answers, Simon Wolfgard, a shape-shifter leader among the Others, has no choice but to enlist blood prophet Meg Corbyn’s help, regardless of the risks she faces by aiding him.

Meg is still deep in the throes of her addiction to the euphoria she feels when she cuts and speaks prophecy. She knows each slice of her blade tempts death. But Others and humans alike need answers, and her visions may be Simon’s only hope of ending the conflict.

For the shadows of war are deepening across the Atlantik, and the prejudice of a fanatic faction is threatening to bring the battle right to Meg and Simon’s doorstep…

I love, love, LOVE this series.  Bishop has been doing a wonderful job keeping the world and characters alive in my mind with each and every book.  The third installment in this series does not disappoint.

The newest threat to the delicate balance between the Others and the humans living in Thaisia is a group called Humans First and Last (HFL).  In spewing propaganda that pushes the concept that humans are "better" than the Others and thus "deserve" the land and resources, Nicolas Scratch motivates humans to work against the Others.  Anyone who works with the Others or has any dealings with them are referred to as Wolf-lovers.  Those who do not join the HFL or are at least sympathetic to its cause start to lose their jobs and their homes.  This group reminds me quite a bit of the Nazi Party in Germany back in the 1930s and it promises to get worse for the characters in this series.

Unfortunately, this activity has sparked the interest of the Elders, the most frightening Others that humans do not know about.  They are the old-school enforcers of the Others who have the ability to destroy towns and cities if they so desire.  What the humans did with the cassandra sangue sparked their anger, but they are watching the Lakeside Courtyard very closely as the humans and the Others appear to co-exist in relative peace and cooperation.  If the residents of Lakeside want to prevent mass extinction of the human race, they have to work to maintain that peace.

Our protagonist Meg is working hard on her continued adjustment to life outside the compound.  However, the other cassandra sangue freed in the previous installment are not having an easy time.  A few have killed themselves as they are not able to adjust to this new and overwhelming life outside of their cells in their compounds and Meg is trying to find ways to help them, but also find more effective ways for her to adjust as well.

Simon Wolfgard is trying to balance all of this: he is the leader of the Lakeside Courtyard and understands the threat the Elders pose.  At the same time, he is still trying to understand Meg and is constantly confused by her actions.  In this book, Bishop brings out more of the Wolf in him.  In the previous installment, he appeared too human but she made up for it this time by having him make bizarre comments about Meg's behavior.  I was a bit taken aback at first as it seemed out of character but then I remembered he IS a Wolf.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and this series yet again.  Four stars.