Vision in Silver

More and more, I'm understanding why these books are so universally loved by urban fantasy readers. I suppose I'm a bit of a late convert; I certainly enjoyed the first two novels of The Others, but I don't think the addiction really started to creep up on me until this latest installment. I found it difficult to put down at times.

Part of it is the fact that all the seeds planted in the previous books are finally starting to come to fruition. No more messing around, things just got REAL with the Cassandra sangue and the Humans First and Last (HFL) movement. I'm so glad I decided to catch up withMurder of Crows before tackling this one, because my experience with Vision in Silver would not have been so enjoyable otherwise. So if you're thinking about picking up this series, definitely start from the beginning with Written in Red - and not least because you wouldn't want to spoil anything for yourself, not when it comes toThe Others.

This book continues two major plot threads that have been brewing for a while: 1) the fate of the blood prophets who were confined to compounds and then freed, and 2) the rise of the HFL and their increasingly aggressive resistance against the Others. Both have dire repercussions for the humans and terra indigene living across Thaisia.

With Meg Corbyn's help, the Others of Lakeside Courtyard are trying to put together a plan to integrate the freed blood prophets into their new communities, helping them deal with the drastic changes to their lives and the uncontrollable urge to cut themselves. The details about the girls' previous lives at the compound under the Controller just got even more terrible in this book. After what I read in Murder of Crows it's hard to imagine that things could get any worse, but there you go. Meg may have escaped on her own, but she's not immune from the effects either; now Simon Wolfgard is even more protective of her, making sure that her own efforts don't put her even more at risk.

It's the HFL storyline that wins, though. This whole ugly situation with anti-Others movement was a lit powder keg just waiting to blow, and the moment has finally come. It also makes you wonder, just who are the monsters here, really? Granted, the Others of the Lakeside Courtyard under the rule of Simon Wolfgard are more benevolent than your average terra indigene, but thus far this series has been painting them as the beasts that they are, the savage predators of humankind. But the depravity of the acts committed by some of the humans in this book are just despicable, not to mention the sheer stupidity of the HFL for even thinking about messing with the Others. THEY HAVE CONTROL OVER THE NATURAL WORLD, PEOPLE! If the elementals want to cause a huge storm or make the waves rise up to sink your ship to the bottom of a lake, they have their ways. For time eternal, humans and the terra indigene have existed side by side but only out of necessity; the former may have developed some useful and advanced technologies over the ages, but it is the latter who control the natural resources. By seeking to upset this precarious balance, HFL is going to open themselves up to a whole world of hurt, and there have already been casualties from both sides. Something tells me that there will be lot more craziness before this is over (*munches popcorn*).

That said though, I think the series also took a step backwards when it comes to certain things, mainly when it comes to the portrayal of Meg's character. I've always wondered why Meg is so special to everyone in Lakeside Courtyard. Yes, she's a Cassandra sangue, a human-but-not-quite-human-and-therefore-not-prey blood prophet who has stolen the hearts of the Others by helping them a few times, but that still doesn't really explain why they defer to her or bend over backwards to treat her like a queen - especially since that goes against everything we know about the Others' nature. Meg is an idealized character, an observation that has been sitting in the back of my mind since the beginning of the series, but it's a lot more noticeable in this book, enough to finally push me over the edge to question it. It says a lot too, that out of all the books, Meg's POV was the most limited in this one but I didn't really notice or even mind too much. It's a minor flaw, but it bothered me enough that I had to mention it.

Am I really pumped up for the next book, though? Yes, a thousand times yes. I enjoyed Vision in Silver as much as I did the previous two books, but something about it just took it to the next level. Despite my dissatisfaction with Meg's character, everything else was amazing. The story was superb, more engaging than ever before. The ending was also somewhat abrupt, which was torturous - I wanted more right away. I'm glad I'm all caught up with this series... but of course, that means I now join the waiting game for book four.