I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Wild Country by Anne Bishop Series: The World of the Others #2
Published by Ace Books on March 5 2019
Genres: Adult, Urban fantasy
Pages: 480
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Another winner from Anne Bishop, Wild Country is an absorbing adventure story, full of danger, humor and heart in equal measure.
Wow, what fun this book was! I am loving this series so much, and after reading a few reviews from people who have read Anne Bishop’s first series about the Others, I’m more determined than ever to catch up at some point, especially since some of the characters from those books make an appearance in Wild Country. And I certainly hope that Ms. Bishop is hard at work on the next The World of the Others book, because I’m already missing these characters and I can’t wait to jump back into this dangerous and fascinating world.
Wild Country is the second book in the series, and technically the seventh book overall. And to put this review in perspective, I have only read Lake Silence, which comes right before this book. It’s my opinion that this second series can be read without having first read The Others series, although I did miss some references to events from some of those books, which might have made this an even better read for me. This story takes place mere weeks after the Elders, the supernatural creatures who rule this world, wiped out the human population of the town of Bennett, retaliation for slaughtering the terra indigene in the area. Now Tolya Sanguinati, one of the vampire terra indigene, has agreed that they should try to resettle the town by allowing a select number of humans back in to run things. The terra indigene will still control the town, but the humans who agree to be subservient and follow their rules can expect protection, food, shelter, and a job.
Lots of hard working and enterprising humans show up to help get Bennett back on its feet, including Jana Paniccia, who is hoping to become the town’s Deputy, and a couple named Kenneth and Evan who have four adopted terra indigene children. But alongside the honest humans are those hiding secrets, who just want somewhere to disappear, like Abigail Birch, a young woman who has the ability to sense the energy in precious stones, and who is clearly hiding something. Then there’s a shifty gambler named Parlan Blackstone, a con artist who is looking for a town where he can take advantage of innocent people.
Bennett might be a melting pot where humans and terra indigene can coexist peacefully, but not all humans are willing to follow the rules of the Elders. And trouble is brewing. When it shows up, the humans are going to have to know what side they’re on, because the survival of everyone in Bennett could depend on it.
For some reason, Wild Country took me quite a long time to read—and in fact it was the inspiration for a Tweet I wrote yesterday about people who read books in “one sitting” and bemoaning the fact that I’m a slow reader. (And by the way, I want to thank everyone who joined in the conversation! It was quite lively and I made a bunch of new friends.) The first half of the book is mostly set-up, and you would think I’d get bored and impatient for the action to start. But quite the contrary, I was riveted by all the normal, mundane moments in this story, the way Bishop describes the rebirth of a frontier town, hiring people to run the businesses, cleaning out all the abandoned houses and figuring out what to do with the furniture and food, I swear I could read about those details for hours!
The other reason I loved this set-up is that we get to meet and know the very large cast of characters. By the time the bad shit starts happening, you’re already invested in these characters and their relationships with each other. And boy do we have a lot of great characters to love! In addition to the humans, there are plenty of terrifying terra indigene in Bennett. There’s Scythe, a Harvester whose hair turns pitch black when she’s about to kill you with her glance, who decides she wants to run the local Saloon; then there’s my favorite character of all, Virgil Wolfgard, the town Sheriff and Jana’s boss. I absolutely LOVED Virgil. He’s extremely mean to Jana when they first meet, because he doesn’t want a human Deputy to work with, but eventually she grows on him, and they develop a wonderful relationship. Virgil is a pack animal (and he can turn into a wolf) so he sees Jana as part of his pack. He’s sworn to protect her, but he also never lets her forget that he is the pack Alpha and she has to obey him! Except she doesn’t, and therein lies the beauty of these two characters. Virgil acts mean and scary—he’s always threatening to bite people—but honestly, his bark was worse than his bite. Plus, he’s really sweet to all the dogs and children in the story.
The only issue I had with Wild Country—and I think this might have been a 5-star read for me otherwise—was the way dogs are treated in this story. I know a couple of dog lovers who will probably have issues with these sections, so unfortunately, as much as I loved this book, I’ll have to warn them away from reading this. Spoiler: a bunch of dogs are shot and killed. Granted, they are a feral pack of abandoned dogs who have come together for survival, but they do start attacking the humans, and Tolya and the other terra indigene agree that they are too dangerous and need to be killed. The other thing that bothered me was that some of the stray dogs and puppies find new homes with the humans, but I HATED the way Jana treated her puppy Rusty. First of all, she’s reluctant to take on a dog in the first place, and then she leaves him in a crate except to let him out to “piddle” (yeah, I got tired of that word REALLY fast) or eat. That poor thing was always locked up in his crate. Now, she isn’t abusing him, but it felt like she often neglected him. I’m one of those people who would never crate my dog. I get that there are good reasons for it, and maybe the crate was protecting Rusty, but it just didn’t sit well with me.
But aside from that, I can’t think of any other negatives. When the action starts, get ready for a lot to happen all at once. The last quarter of the book is tension-filled, violent and bloody, but Bishop never loses the wonderful small, frontier town feel that makes her story so special. Yes, there are plenty of horrible people in this book, but it’s also filled with kind and caring humans and terra indigene who will do anything to get along.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
Wonderful review, Tammy! After reading your review, I’m already sucked into the world that Ms. Bishop has created in this book. She must be a talented writer if even the mundane details in the first half can engross a reader.
Debjani recently posted…Author Q&A – Sacha T. Y. Fortuné
She’s fantastic, highly recommended if you enjoy urban fantasy:-)
Oh, all those “one-sit-readers” are a mystery to me as well. I’ve never read anything in one sitting in my life. Not even a 100 page novella. I mean, that takes me like 3 hours, and i need to get up and eat or drink or just pet the cat 😀
This sounds like an interesting series but the whole dog business… well, i don’t think it would sit ok with me. I mean, i get it, not everyone likes animals and is nice to them, and it’s ok to write about people like that, but when nobody is nice to them is just meh…
Yeah, it’s not that they are mean to the dogs, but they just seem annoyed by them at times. I’m a real dog person and my fur babies are like children to me, so I don’t understand the whole crating thing, or treating you pet like he has to be subservient because you’re the pack leader.
Great review and thanks so much for the dog warnings. Poor puppy in a crate all the time and the pack of dogs. At least I’m aware. I do love this series and have read the first 4 books but hated to see them end and have never read the 5th. I know there is a spin-off series to get to now and that will make reading the 5th easier if I can just find the time. You really do need to go back to the first 5. It has such awesome characters and Meg and Simon are great and there is a little wolf cub human named Sam that will steal your heart. BTW, are their weather ponies in this one? I really wanted one after the first part of the series. And about reading, I’m lucky to get 6-8 things read each month and to do that, I pretty much have to get “lazy” and do very little but read on Sundays. That is my “lazy” day – IE not much planned. I think you manage to read a lot and yep, reading, blogging and social media is HARD when you work full-time (like us).
I think there’s a weather pony, although I’m not sure they call it that. But there is an Elemental called Air and he rides a horse. I’m definitely going to go back and read the first 5 books.
You really should read the main series. The ponies and horses will make so much more sense. It’s one of the best modern fantasy series I know — I think I’ve read the first one at least three times. Wildly, wildly, wildly weird and creative. Filled with small feel-good moments.
OK I’m sold! I’ve got to find out about the ponies and horses!
For some reason, THE OTHERS books always take me VASTLY longer to read than I anticipate. Which makes no sense because I love this series and am ready to devour it! Must just be more densely packed than I realize. Glad you enjoyed WILD COUNTRY and I look forward to your thoughts on the other books when you have the chance!
Caitlin G. recently posted…First Impression: WAR GIRLS by Tochi Onyebuchi
Yes, I think there’s a lot of detail to absorb, and I find myself really slowing down to catch everything. Which is a good sign, I think.
Yet another author I haven’t yet had a chance to catch up with… this one sounds an awesome read – thank you for such a cracking review, Tammy:))
I think you’d enjoy her, Sarah. You know, when you have free time and can squeeze in another book;-)
This is an intriguing background and an even more intriguing story: I like the angle about the supernatural inhabitants of the area allowing “normal” humans to come live there – usually it’s the other way around… Still, I actually cringed reading about the puppy in a crate: once I start reading this book I will need to keep some cute puppy videos handy, just to balance out the cruelty…
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@Spaceandsorcery recently posted…Review: TIAMAT’S WRATH (The Expanse #8), by James S.A. Corey (spoiler free)
Yes, I’m pretty good about letting upsetting things slide over me when I’m reading, but the good outweighs the bad, in my opinion:-)
I haven’t read any of this series yet, but I’ve heard such great things about it! I’ll have to get to it soon.
Ash recently posted…It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?
It’s so much fun, and her writing makes you feel like you’re a good friend. I’m not sure I’m explaining that right, but I always feel so good when I read her stories.
This is a series that I would like to start – I missed this first series by this author but would like to jump on board with these. Thanks for the doggy warnings.
Lynn 😀
Maybe someday we’ll do a buddy read of the first book:-)
Sounds like a plan 😀
I appreciate the warning about the dogs, Tammy. This book sounds great otherwise, and I’m definitely intrigued by your wonderful review.
And I’m overly sensitive to dogs in stories, so other readers might think the crating part is completely normal. (Not the shooting though!!:-()
Oh no, the poor pups! 🙁 Otherwise, this sounds like a fantastic sequel to a series that I still need to try. And I feel you re: slow reading pace! It took me FOREVER to finish Black Leopard, Red Wolf even though it’s one of my favourites of the year so far. I guess sometimes my brain likes to slow down and savour a book to its fullest. 🙂
Kathy @ Pages Below the Vaulted Sky recently posted…Review: Do You Dream of Terra-Two? – In Space, Everyone Can Hear You Dream
I think some books are just more dense and you really need to focus and read more slowly. At least that’s my excuse:-)
It’s funny, because I thought the same thing about the dogs! But yeah, when it comes to the community’s safety the terra indigene can be practical to the point of brutality, I thought the ones here in Bennett were even more ruthless than the ones in the original series.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t like the dog treatment. And I’m determined to start the original series!
I’m getting ready to start her series The Others. I think I’m going to have some fun!
Laura Thomas recently posted…The Next To Last Mistake by Amalie Jahn ~ Excerpt and Giveaway
Ooh can’t wait to hear what you think, it’s definitely my plan to pick up the original series at some point:-)
Great review! I am completely stoked for this book. Her other novels have been fantastic, especially The Others. I can’t wait.
I can’t wait to go back and read the books I’ve missed!
Oh no the dogs! I know for a while in my book club like 3 books in a row somehow had dogs being mistreated and we were finally like ‘idc what we read next as long as the dogs are ok’…
Anywho, great review. I keep saying that I want to read these books because I know I’ll love them, I really need to make an effort to at least put them in my tbr pile.
I’ve been hearing so many great things about the first series, I’m definitely making it a goal this year to at least start it:-)
Great review! I absolutely love Anne’s (World of) The Others series, and I loved this book as well.