Review: Turns of Fate (Isle of Wyrd Book 1) by Anne Bishop
A young detective investigating crimes of the uncanny will learn that bargains can change your fate—for good or ill—in this darkly enthralling fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of the Others and the Black Jewels series.
Words have power. Intentions matter.
Most people come to Destiny Park for entertainment. They come to have their cards read to tell them a bit about their future. They come to walk through a beautiful park and to eat at the hotel’s restaurant. They come in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Arcana, the paranormal beings who rule the Isle of Wyrd.
But some people come to make a bargain with the Arcana—to change their fate. And some people come for dark purposes.
When Detective Beth Fahey is sent to Destiny Park to inquire about a “ghost gun,” she will begin a strange journey on which she must learn to navigate the Arcana’s unforgiving laws and dangerous attractions. Her search will draw her into seemingly impossible cases and the secrets of her own past as tensions rise between the Arcana and their human neighbors across the river.
For the Isle of Wyrd is a place where the dead ride trains to their final destinations, predators literally become prey, and seekers’ true natures are revealed in the ripples of destiny unknowingly stirred in their wakes.
Who will live? Who will die? And who will be lost in between?
I GOT THE BOOK FROM THE LIBRARY.
Dear Anne Bishop,
I read this book for my book discussion group. I enjoyed it a lot, but I am not sure if I will read the second book when it comes out. I thought that the world building was incredibly well done, but I have to mention something – the only other book I have read by this writer was the first book in the “Others” series. I mention it because I glanced at the reviews after I finished this book and some reviews claimed that the world is recognizable and at least somewhat based on her other works. I would not know if it is correct. I do think that main character’s interactions with Arcana people do resemble a little the interactions the main character in the Others had with the paranormal folks there, but I certainly do not think it is anything more than resemblance in passing.
I thought that the blurb gave a nice set up, but almost everything feels like a spoiler to me, so I am going to tread carefully. When Beth Fahey starts working as a police Officer in the small town of Penwych she is assigned to a thirteenth police precinct and she learns that these folks are the only people who can communicate with Arcana, cross the river and get to the Isle of Wyrd. They can ask the Arcana their questions, there is however no guarantee that they will get all their questions answered or that they will like the answers.
Surprisingly though when Beth is going to Wyrd and gets to ask questions about a case involving something paranormal she gets further than her fellow police officers usually get and the Arcana folks clearly take interest in her.
There is a lot of mythology in the book – some very recognizable, like Ladies of Three, some less so. There is also a lot of dealing with the dead and dying people. This is actually a main reason why I am not sure if I will be reading the next book – it is not the book, it is my tastes – ghosts and dying people are not usually my favorite topic in fantasy, but again it was very well done here.
I thought that even though the book was clearly a fantasy, at the heart of it were stories about the Arcana helping vulnerable humans to change their fate in many different ways. It was satisfying to read about (just as about the villains getting their just deserts), but it felt like the stories that should have happened in the real life, instead of paranormal having to interfere, and that was kind of depressing to me as well, even if the paranormal folks do a much better job with helping the vulnerable humans.
The first book to me ended in a very satisfying place, no cliffhanger of any kind, but one can see that plenty of interesting things are still left unknown to the reader.
Grade: B+
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I’ve skimmed part of The Black Jewels series, but there was too much sexual torture and violence, much of it perpetrated by women, for my tastes. I associate that series in my mind with Anne Rice’s books which I’ve only heard about.
I mostly enjoyed The Others series. In one of the books, there’s an island where some of the Intuits live in a self-isolated settlement which sounds a little like what’s happening in this book.
I was mightily offended by Wild Country, one of The Others spinoffs, and decided to stop reading her books. Around the time WC came out, her editor announced a new book in The Black Jewels world, and I remember thinking that her mind must’ve been partly in that world when she wrote WC. The good guys in WC were stupid, and one thing they aren’t in the original series is stupid. The ending was depressing, and there was a sexually charged, gratuitous murder lovingly detailed.
All that to say, I no longer trust the author and won’t be reading this new series.
I liked the book and like you, feel that it’s satisfying to read about the bad people getting what they deserve. That’s partly why I liked the Others. I’ve only read this book and The Others series and this one felt similar in tone, but not exactly the same. I plan on reading the next book as long as my library gets it.
I also read and enjoyed this book, Sirius, and intend to read on when the next book arrives. I do find this book to be more like The Others than Bishop’s other books.
@MaryK ~ I read the first of The Black Jewels series. It was compelling, but I disliked it due to the sexual torture and violence that you mentioned. I’ve enjoyed The Others boojs, but Wild Country was my least favorite.
I loved this one. I liked the world-building and the various stories of many of the characters. I was intrigued about the theme of transformation as a road toward your destiny. So many characters went through a transformation, both literal and figurative, to come out on the other side to meet their fate.
I could not get through the Black Jewels series. Too dark for me. I think I made it through two books. And that was, gah — back in the late 90s early 2000s. I don’t think I picked up another Anne Bishop book until, WRITTEN IN RED (the first book of the Others). I was a little hesitant because of the whole cutting aspect of that book, but I think she wove that aspect well into the overall mythology of the series. And I ended up loving that series. I do think this book feels like a kissing cousin to The Others in tone and some themes, but still wholly different.
And I agree that WILD COUNTRY was very exasperating is tied with being my least favorite in the series. That one and ETCHED IN BONE were both skips when I did a re-read of the series. But the book after that LAKE SILENCE was really good. Also quite lighter in tone.
@MaryK: Cannot talk about other books, as I mentioned have not read anything else by her except “Written in Red”, but yes, living in self – isolated settlement is a part of what happens in this book ( sort of , for some people).@Misti: Me too, that’s all I read.@Kareni: I hope the next book works for you. I may check it out if I can get it from the library..@TinaNoir: The reason I was hesitant about “Written in Red” ( and to be honest the main reason I did not continue even if I enjoyed it overall, is because of eating people thing :)). Small as it is, it was a turn off for me.
@Sirius: Re; the eating people thing: Fair. In retrospect, I did end up appreciating how committed she was to crafting this series and characters to continually convey that this was not a paranormal shifter romance in the typical way we were used to consuming (ha!) them.
At first, yeah, I was a little ‘eep’ about it too because I was expecting a nice little romance trajectory for Meg and Simon. But as I got deeper in the book, a light-bulb went on for me and I began to get how intentional she was being to move me away from that expectation, especially with Simon shelving the paranormal romance novels in with the cookbooks. LOL. She made the Others really ‘other’. They were not just humans with a second self, but were these really these predators just wearing human skin.
But, otoh, she nicely made space for us to still ship because after making her point, she then turned around and very neatly (imo) made Meg inedible and a not-quite-totally-human. So I got over it and really leaned into it. It helps that at least the eaten people were really bad people. LOL
@TinaNoir: Oh I totally understand why she did it, it is just not something I enjoy – romance or no romance you know? I was amused that in this book there was a branch of Arcana who liked a tasty snack sometimes too ( we are what you eat lol), but I am REALLY glad that she did not make all of them liking to chew some human eh cheeks.
The eating of people was a huge turnoff to me too, and I also picked up on all the things Tina mentioned. I just couldn’t look past it. I don’t even eat animal products, so to me it was horrifying. It is an absolute lack of conscience or humanity (in the figurative sense) to eat a sentient being.
Beyond that I also felt that Meg was a Mary Sue if ever there was one and I was annoyed by how everyone loved her. I didn’t continue past Written in Red, and given that this is widely considered her best series, I’m not sure if the author is for me.