Marked in Flesh: A Review

At the beginning of March, I was awaiting the publication of Marked In Flesh by Anne Bishop. Marked in Flesh is the fourth installment in The Others series.

A short summary of the series: Humans are not the dominant species on earth, the Others are… and the Others have been known to eat a human or two when annoyed. When the Others meet human Blood Prophet, Meg Corbyn, who is on the run from the humans keeping her in Benevolent Ownership (i.e. legalized slavery) everything changes.

When the first Others book, Written in Red, came out in 2013, I loved, loved, loved it and gave it my first five star rating. Books two and three were good, but not as good as book one. So, while I anticipated that Marked in Flesh would be a good read, I wasn’t foaming at the mouth for it.

But, once Marked in Flesh was released, I devoured the book. After I finished, I thought, “Well, that was really good. I think I should go back and read the first one again.” So, I did… and book two… and book three.

OMG. The entire series is better when it is reread. The plotting behind the action is so well thought out; it flows over all four books. Lines that I thought were simple flavor are actually foreshadowing to books and events in the rest of the series. Anne Bishop must have a massive plan and outline plotting the storyline for the entirety of this series.

Added to that, each book in the series is just plain well written. The characters are engaging. The reader actually begins to root for the Others – who eat humans and are considering wiping human civilization from the continent. The slow-burning romance is sweet and is masterfully done. And each book is entertaining (although I will say that one and four are better than two and three).

I love this series.

So, now I AM foaming at the mouth in anticipation of book five… which should be coming out sometime next year… and all I can say is “Write faster, Anne Bishop. Write faster.”

~Mary P.