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.