In this powerful and exciting fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, humans and the shape-shifting Others will see whether they can live side by side – without destroying one another.

There are ghost towns in the world – places where the humans were annihilated in retaliation for the slaughter of the Others.

One of these places is Bennett, a town at the nothern end of the Elder Hills – a town surrounded by the wild country. Now efforts are being made to resettle Bennett as a community where humans and Others live and work together. A young female police officer has been hired as the deputy to a Wolfguard sheriff. A deadly type of Other wants to run a human-style saloon. And a couple with four foster children – one of whom is a blood prophet – hope to find acceptance.

But as they reopen the stores and the professional offices and start to make lives for themselves, the growing community attracts the attention of humans looking to profit. And the arrival of the outlaw Blackstone Clan will either unite Others and humans – or bury them all.

Series: The World of the Others, 2
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: ACE (7 March 2019)
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars)

Wild Country is a very interesting book. It’s the second book in The World of The Others, a spin-off from Bishop’s The Others. I’m not totally sure when it is set in relation to Lake Silence, but the storyline runs parallel with Etched in Bone. It introduces a new settlement, that we get to see almost from the beginning which I found really interesting. As always there are multiple narrative lines with a lot of interwoven threads and the fun is trying to work out what is going on. There are also a lot of new characters to get to know.

Fans of the series, and of The Others will enjoy this newest addition. It has everything I have come to expect from a boy set in this world. Tensions are very high between the different groups, which is to be expected considering what else is going on in the world at the same time. Jana, Jesse, Tobais, Tolya and Virgil are all interesting characters, and I enjoyed following them through the story. I enjoyed the fact that this story focuses on trying to find a balance between humans and the terra indigene, and that this co-operation was very much the focus of the narrative.

Wild Country is a little slow to start, but this is typical for books in this series as long time readers will know. I think that this works to the story’s advantage as it helps to build tension, but also allows us as readers to get to know the new characters and place them within the world. Once things get going, they really get going though. This is helped by the alternating narrators, each giving us a little piece of the overall story. Bishop has definitely created a very interesting and complex and dangerous world, which this novel definitely emphasises but is also shows that even within the darkness and horror there can be moments of hope and light.

If you’ve enjoyed the other books in The Others and The World of The Others then I think this story will suck you in, and straight back into the world. If you’re new to the series then I don’t think that this is the book to start with, as there are spoilers. That being said, this book is one heck of a ride and I found it quite difficult to stop as I just wanted to devour it.