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Review: Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop
Mar. 20th, 2014 06:43 pmMurder of Crows is the second of Anne Bishop's The Others books. It is set on an alternate Earth where the supernatural Others--vampires, werewolves, Elementals, etc--are the dominant species. Humankind live in small villages or occasional cities that are surrounded by the Others' territory. Each city is also obliged to have a Courtyard at its heart--a place of residence for Others who wish to live in the city and where human law does not apply. The series focuses on Lakeside Courtyard who are harbouring blood prophet Meg Corbyn. Although human, Meg's status as a blood prophet places her somewhere between the predatory Others and their human prey. However the master of the institution Meg escaped from--a man known only as the Controller--will stop at nothing to get her back.
I loved Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy but I have found her subsequent books increasingly shallow. This shows up across the board--in her characters, her worldbuilding and her plot.
Her alternate Earth has an interesting premise but I don't think it has been thought through well enough. For example, resources are tightly controlled by the Others with just enough doled out for humanity to survive and to make the inventions that the Others approve of. Under these circumstances, would humanity really have the same level of technology as it does currently--as seems to be the case? Also, the Others are at least as intelligent as humans so why aren't they the ones inventing things? They could probably find a way to do it more environmentally sustainable fashion, especially since that is one of their key concerns.
The characters lack distinctive voices, even repeating the same phrases. For example, the Controller is known as the Controller no matter who is referring to him. To compound matters, many of the characters are simply carbon copies of those in her other novels. Like Daemon in the Black Jewels Trilogy and Sebastian in the Landscapes of Ephemera series, Simon is the bad boy with the heart of gold looking to protect his powerful yet fragile love interest.
The Others are so overpowered in comparison to the humans that there isn't a whole lot of tension to the plot.
If you're looking for a bit of light romantic fluff (and we all need some fluff from time to time), this might be your book--especially if you're looking for a side order of urban fantasy and environmental crusading. However, if you expect any depth it may be best to look elsewhere.
I loved Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy but I have found her subsequent books increasingly shallow. This shows up across the board--in her characters, her worldbuilding and her plot.
Her alternate Earth has an interesting premise but I don't think it has been thought through well enough. For example, resources are tightly controlled by the Others with just enough doled out for humanity to survive and to make the inventions that the Others approve of. Under these circumstances, would humanity really have the same level of technology as it does currently--as seems to be the case? Also, the Others are at least as intelligent as humans so why aren't they the ones inventing things? They could probably find a way to do it more environmentally sustainable fashion, especially since that is one of their key concerns.
The characters lack distinctive voices, even repeating the same phrases. For example, the Controller is known as the Controller no matter who is referring to him. To compound matters, many of the characters are simply carbon copies of those in her other novels. Like Daemon in the Black Jewels Trilogy and Sebastian in the Landscapes of Ephemera series, Simon is the bad boy with the heart of gold looking to protect his powerful yet fragile love interest.
The Others are so overpowered in comparison to the humans that there isn't a whole lot of tension to the plot.
If you're looking for a bit of light romantic fluff (and we all need some fluff from time to time), this might be your book--especially if you're looking for a side order of urban fantasy and environmental crusading. However, if you expect any depth it may be best to look elsewhere.
