Humans and Others have long held an uneasy truce. Most of the wild places are Other controlled, but humans have persevered and cities have grown. As part of the truce, and to stay close to the human innovations they have come to appreciate, the Others are given a “courtyard” in most cities, where they live by their laws and unwanted trespassers are usually listed as “special meat” the next morning at the butcher shop.
On a stormy winter night, Meg arrives freezing and scared, and applies for the job of human liaison to the courtyard.
She has her secrets and they have theirs, will she become a friend, or dinner? And why are the human inhabitants of the city (if not the world) looking so desperately to find her?
I loved this book. I don’t normally dip into the urban fantasy genre these days as I’ve been burned too many times by simplistic characters there to frame a supernatural romance. This novel rose far beyond that. The characters are complex and engaging and even sometimes scary. The world is strongly constructed and truly different enough from ours to be a character in its own right.
I’m definitely going to be reading more Anne Bishop.
I’m stalled out halfway through this having picked it up based on another strong review here. Like you I had walked away from urban fantasy for the reasons you mention. But honestly I’m finding it almost comically dull. I told my husband they should have named it “Office Depot for Supernaturals.” I’m wading through chapters of the details of how she manages her office supplies, orders from catalogs for the nice vampires down the road, and befriends wolves by helping out the unhelpable puppy. She has no personality because of her years in the asylum and yet is unflinchingly kind and thoughtful to the degree that she’s immediately beloved by all the normally ruthless supernaturals that surround her.
Which brings me to the biggest issue – the protagonist must be in peril! She’s totally not in peril. The closest thing to a villain (at least in where I’ve gotten) is the “evil actress” who pretends to be her friend but is secretly plotting against her. This might make for a good villain in Melrose Place but UGH. Where is the peril?
I may try to go back and finish it but after 250 pages of Staples for Supernatural I’m struggling to find the motivation.
I think the main character spoke to my mild OCD tendencies, I didn’t mind the organization and such. There were two reasons I didn’t give it five stars: the rapidity that the “vicious” creatures accepted her as one of their own (some may argue that its the because of their connection to her scent and blood, but still, immediately beloved indeed), and that she wasn’t as fully realized as any of the Others.
There is peril eventually, but the tone never changes from what you already dislike!