Urban Fantasy Goes Small Town in Etched in Bone

Instead, I founf Etched in Bone to be a fascinating combination of urban fantasy/dystopian fiction and the prototypical small-town story, which is told through the eyes of the various denizens of the Lakeside Courtyard. Except, instead of neighbors of different religions, races, or upbringings trying to forge a collective identity, Lakeside’s denizens are a mix of humans, shapeshifters, elementals, and vampires, alongside the powerful, mysterious Elders, who have the final say over the fate of humanity.
Instead of massive supernatural confrontations with world-ending potential (common in many urban fantasies), I discovered characters living everyday lives, worrying over how to take care of their children, fixing meals, deciding where to work, and even sorting out rooming assignments. It’s not every urban fantasy novel that forefronts a discussion about art supplies, school books, and work schedules.
These are part of the fabric of this story world, the part that makes it come alive.
But the heart of this tale is Meg, the protagonist of the series, a human “sweet blood” wolfpack member who prophesies the future, a power that’s especially potent she’s cut and sheds blood; and Simon, the leader of the Wolfguard, and the one ultimately in charge of Lakeside. They are in love with each other, though neither can quite articulate those feelings, and their relationship is anything but conventional.

Because she was raised and abused by those who wanted to use her power for their gain, never even given a name, Meg prefers Simon in his wolf form. He’s more comforting that way. Simon is not human; he thinks like a member of a magical species, and his idea of interaction is far different from ours.
Everything revolves around their bond, part of a larger family connection that draws all the peoples in the Courtyard together, despite being different species. Simon and the other shifters read very much as alien, as is clear from the beginning of the book, when the wolf shifters assume from the body language of a human friend, a police officer who works in the Compound, that he has agreed to be “pretend” prey. They chase him on his bicycle. The officer doesn’t quite understand what’s happening, but hides his panic.
And he has good reason to panic, because, as we find out (and as people who read the earlier novels know), the Others literally eat people. The shifters, because they’ve always viewed humans as possible prey, and it’s a good way to enforce order, though they have agreed to leave humans be as long as they keep to certain admittedly reasonable rules. Still, this fact that permeates every human/Other interaction. It’s hard to get comfortable with people who see you as potential food. And since the humans exist in this community by the grace of the others, they tread carefully.

On the other hand, the Others are confused by how humans deal with each other. They’re curious, but confused. Simon and the other shifters want to learn more, for Meg’s sake, and because they’ve come to care about the humans in Lakeside.
Which brings us to the main conflict in this novel, the last in the series: a stranger comes to town.
Jimmy is a con man, an obvious user, and smart enough to never get caught. He arrives in Lakeside at the invitation of a sister who lives under his thumb, only to run into Monty, his cop brother, and Simon’s crew of enforcers. Simon wants to toss Jimmy out right away, but the Elders, the ancient beings responsible for nearly exterminating humanity, want to observe how someone like Jimmy—who has little obvious strength—could be a danger to the humans and the evolving pack of mixed species in Lakeside.

This story plays out in small conflicts: over food, over housing, over jobs; no big supernatural power grabs are in play. That’s what makes this feel like a small town story, one that would not be out of place among the cozy mystery novels its characters favor. I became fascinated by all the Lakesiders, from Meg and Simon, to Monty and the police force, to the older woman that the Wolfguard view as the true leader of the humans, to young Sam, Simon’s nephew, who is growing up playing with humans as part of his “pack.” Not to mention the ponies that can cause snowstorms. (As if I needed another reason to read the earlier books.)
But it is young Skippy, a neurologically damaged Wolfguard, who won my heart—with his obvious need for love and acceptance from Meg, with his innocent devotion to her, with his efforts to belong with his human friends despite his disadvantages.

Jimmy, the con man, eventually discovers that Meg is valuable for her ability to foretell the future, and the finale is a tense kidnapping/chase. Without spoiling how it all works out, those who’ve been following Meg and Simon’s story for all the books will have their resolution.
Though I greatly enjoyed this first encounter with the Others, I’d definitely recommend starting with the first book, Written in Red. I’ll be going back to the start myself, and soon.
Etched in Bone is available now.