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149 reviews for:
The Black Jewels Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness
Anne Bishop
4.2 AVERAGE
149 reviews for:
The Black Jewels Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness
Anne Bishop
4.2 AVERAGE
I have read the full series (this trilogy, and the 5 other books after it) twice. I love the series, and think it'll be time to read again, soon.
I read this as a teen, after a friend gushed about the series and insisted I should read it. The premise is interesting: there's a matriarchy; the colour black is good; Hell is a good place; magic rank/ability is based on jewels; periods exist... However, the execution fell a bit flat for me.
Example: I was underwhelmed by the Daddy-figure Saetan, who is meant to a formidable character. I think the author was going for a Worf Effect -- by showing a great-and-powerful character getting stressed out about this seems-harmless girl, this is a signal to the reader that this girl is a big deal. But this happens near the start of the series. I hadn't really seen much of Saetan at that point, certainly not enough to establish him as a badass in my mind. So I knew what I was meant to feel about this girl, but I wasn't feeling it.
Please note that there's a lot of Rape As Drama in this series, and a lot of unpleasant things occur to good(ish) people. I would not recommend this series to any friends unless they were looking for something specific, like how to incorporate periods into the plot (no, really).
That said, I did manage to finish the whole trilogy AND I still remember this series many years later, which is a bit of a feat. For that and the interesting premise, I give this book two stars.
... Oh dear, there are more books in this series. Not for me, sorry.
Example: I was underwhelmed by the Daddy-figure Saetan, who is meant to a formidable character. I think the author was going for a Worf Effect -- by showing a great-and-powerful character getting stressed out about this seems-harmless girl, this is a signal to the reader that this girl is a big deal. But this happens near the start of the series. I hadn't really seen much of Saetan at that point, certainly not enough to establish him as a badass in my mind. So I knew what I was meant to feel about this girl, but I wasn't feeling it.
Please note that there's a lot of Rape As Drama in this series, and a lot of unpleasant things occur to good(ish) people. I would not recommend this series to any friends unless they were looking for something specific, like how to incorporate periods into the plot (no, really).
That said, I did manage to finish the whole trilogy AND I still remember this series many years later, which is a bit of a feat. For that and the interesting premise, I give this book two stars.
... Oh dear, there are more books in this series. Not for me, sorry.
It was amazing! Very different from the typical fantasy novels out there, but absolutely wonderful!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the best series ever! I read it at least twice a year and am consumed each time I do.
Daughter of the Blood: A fantastic introduction to the world of the Blood. Bishop provides a guide for jewels and ranks in the beginning of the book to make it easier to follow. When I first bought this book I was hesitant to read it b/c it focused on a child. If I'd know that child was Jaenelle I would've read it a whole lot sooner.
Jaenelle is an incredible character- the shifts between 12 yr old child and Witch are fascinating to watch, for the reader and the characters in the book. Daemon, Saetan and, to a lesser extent, Lucivar are dimensional people yu just want more of. A lot of the secondary characters are fun- Surreal has always been a favorite.
Bishop isn't afraid to take this book to horrifying places. I still get slightly sick reading about the children of Briarwood. When Dark Dancer kills himself it just breaks my heart and you know it's the beginning of the end. Before the end: Jaenelle is shattered, but repairable; Daemon is also torn apart and broken; Witch is revealed (love her tail!) and then it all just ends. Surreal has spirited Daemon away, but it just ends after that. Fates hanging in the balance.
Heir to the Shadows: This one suffers a little bit by being the typical in the middle story. Daemon for the most part is seperated from almost all the other characters. While there is the humor of Jaenelle and the Coven/Boyos growing up and interacting with each other and Saetan there is also Lucivar in the mines, Jaenelle still uber damages and Daemon stuck in the Twisted Kingdom.
The kindred make their appearance in this book- love, love, love Ladvarian! He is just awesome. And who doesn't love unicorns?
Queen of the Darkness: I just finished this series again for the 5th or 6th time. Still not getting old. The more I read it though the more I wished you would've delved into Jaenelle and Daemon's inner most thoughts- especially about each other. They are such a wonderful couple and so well matched.
Tersa really comes into play more in this book, while Sylvia takes more of a back seat. Two really great secondary characters who added that extra something to Saetan's life.
Karla...wish wish wish we'd get a book devoted to her. Kiss Kiss is one of my favorite sayings.
The vision Saetan has at the end of all the demon dead saying good bye and fading just gets me every time. And why didn't we get more Mephis?!
Still one of the best series out there and I still enjoy her world which has focused more on the Lighter Jeweled of the Blood.
Daughter of the Blood: A fantastic introduction to the world of the Blood. Bishop provides a guide for jewels and ranks in the beginning of the book to make it easier to follow. When I first bought this book I was hesitant to read it b/c it focused on a child. If I'd know that child was Jaenelle I would've read it a whole lot sooner.
Jaenelle is an incredible character- the shifts between 12 yr old child and Witch are fascinating to watch, for the reader and the characters in the book. Daemon, Saetan and, to a lesser extent, Lucivar are dimensional people yu just want more of. A lot of the secondary characters are fun- Surreal has always been a favorite.
Bishop isn't afraid to take this book to horrifying places. I still get slightly sick reading about the children of Briarwood. When Dark Dancer kills himself it just breaks my heart and you know it's the beginning of the end. Before the end: Jaenelle is shattered, but repairable; Daemon is also torn apart and broken; Witch is revealed (love her tail!) and then it all just ends. Surreal has spirited Daemon away, but it just ends after that. Fates hanging in the balance.
Heir to the Shadows: This one suffers a little bit by being the typical in the middle story. Daemon for the most part is seperated from almost all the other characters. While there is the humor of Jaenelle and the Coven/Boyos growing up and interacting with each other and Saetan there is also Lucivar in the mines, Jaenelle still uber damages and Daemon stuck in the Twisted Kingdom.
The kindred make their appearance in this book- love, love, love Ladvarian! He is just awesome. And who doesn't love unicorns?
Queen of the Darkness: I just finished this series again for the 5th or 6th time. Still not getting old. The more I read it though the more I wished you would've delved into Jaenelle and Daemon's inner most thoughts- especially about each other. They are such a wonderful couple and so well matched.
Tersa really comes into play more in this book, while Sylvia takes more of a back seat. Two really great secondary characters who added that extra something to Saetan's life.
Karla...wish wish wish we'd get a book devoted to her. Kiss Kiss is one of my favorite sayings.
The vision Saetan has at the end of all the demon dead saying good bye and fading just gets me every time. And why didn't we get more Mephis?!
Still one of the best series out there and I still enjoy her world which has focused more on the Lighter Jeweled of the Blood.
First, let's just establish that this is not a series for everyone. It does not have super wide appeal. But the audience she did write to, she nailed. Those of us who have survived trauma, darkness, and come out the other side can feel something in this that other readers will not. I also acknowledge that this is a blanket statement, but it's been true so far of my friends who have read this and share experiences.
Second, and related: there is a fair amount of acts of a graphic nature in various forms. For this reason, it is also not a book for everyone. There were definitely times I had some trouble with what was being described.
Third: this is a trilogy, and really, the most interesting stories of this world are contained in it. Yes, there's The Invisible Ring and Twilight's Dawn, but they aren't as good (and Twilight's Dawn in many ways is terrible). Don't expect more from the world, because basically the most epic story that could occur in it happens within the trilogy.
Now, some of my criticisms. I wish the jewel system had been explained in more detail. I know this is a minor thing, but I wish she had either truly linked actual gemstones to the jewels or had used non-gemstone names, because it throws me off that there's Red and Sapphire, especially since they don't really follow a color order either. I would like to know more about what divides the light and dark jewels, really, aside from the dark are just stronger. There's always hints of something more than that, but we never get what that is. I would also have liked a little more depth out of our villains, though considering they're tens of thousands of years old their personalities are kind of set at this point and giving us background information would require significantly more time away from the current story without enough payout to make that worth the time. Hekatah survived all this time on her extreme ambition and interest in manipulation, which can only last so long, which is where we meet her-at the end of her rope. One last criticism: I'm not a huge fan of the naming conventions. I got used to it, and I know she was purposefully making Biblical references with them, but it bothers me to have Saetan (Satan) next to Jaenelle next to Surreal. It pulls me out of the world and some of them are just puzzling (like Titian-is that actually a reference to the painter? Or to the shade of red he made famous?).
Okay so on to the meat of the matter. I love the world built in this series. When the court system is working, it's a beautiful system that allows for great flexibility of its members' identities. You could have a lesbian queen who has no official consort (as that is an optional role), but a wife. The male members of her court need not be sexually attracted to her to be loyal; she only needs to be a queen good at her role. In fact, wouldn't it be fun to have a court that was an LGBTQ safe haven? Anyway, the story. I love it. It's beautiful and sad and strange, dark and sweet. It's an unusual piece in the overblown fantasy genre of almost cookie-cutter stories. Yes, you could argue that in some ways Jaenelle is the stereotypical special girl who's blonde and everyone loves her, but it's explained well within the story. I'm fine with tropes if they're well done; it's when you have no reason or a pathetic one (the typical 'I'm not like other girls' of YA) that gets under my skin. Yes, the good guys win and the bad guys lose, but there's losses on both sides. Yes, some of the main males are very similar, but they're RELATED. They would be at least somewhat similar. The way that fate plays into the story is well done, and I love the use of webs and spiders as related to that. In general, I have a lot of feels about this trilogy that I have trouble quite putting into words, so I may edit this review over time as I crystallize that.
Second, and related: there is a fair amount of acts of a graphic nature in various forms. For this reason, it is also not a book for everyone. There were definitely times I had some trouble with what was being described.
Third: this is a trilogy, and really, the most interesting stories of this world are contained in it. Yes, there's The Invisible Ring and Twilight's Dawn, but they aren't as good (and Twilight's Dawn in many ways is terrible). Don't expect more from the world, because basically the most epic story that could occur in it happens within the trilogy.
Now, some of my criticisms. I wish the jewel system had been explained in more detail. I know this is a minor thing, but I wish she had either truly linked actual gemstones to the jewels or had used non-gemstone names, because it throws me off that there's Red and Sapphire, especially since they don't really follow a color order either. I would like to know more about what divides the light and dark jewels, really, aside from the dark are just stronger. There's always hints of something more than that, but we never get what that is. I would also have liked a little more depth out of our villains, though considering they're tens of thousands of years old their personalities are kind of set at this point and giving us background information would require significantly more time away from the current story without enough payout to make that worth the time. Hekatah survived all this time on her extreme ambition and interest in manipulation, which can only last so long, which is where we meet her-at the end of her rope. One last criticism: I'm not a huge fan of the naming conventions. I got used to it, and I know she was purposefully making Biblical references with them, but it bothers me to have Saetan (Satan) next to Jaenelle next to Surreal. It pulls me out of the world and some of them are just puzzling (like Titian-is that actually a reference to the painter? Or to the shade of red he made famous?).
Okay so on to the meat of the matter. I love the world built in this series. When the court system is working, it's a beautiful system that allows for great flexibility of its members' identities. You could have a lesbian queen who has no official consort (as that is an optional role), but a wife. The male members of her court need not be sexually attracted to her to be loyal; she only needs to be a queen good at her role. In fact, wouldn't it be fun to have a court that was an LGBTQ safe haven? Anyway, the story. I love it. It's beautiful and sad and strange, dark and sweet. It's an unusual piece in the overblown fantasy genre of almost cookie-cutter stories. Yes, you could argue that in some ways Jaenelle is the stereotypical special girl who's blonde and everyone loves her, but it's explained well within the story. I'm fine with tropes if they're well done; it's when you have no reason or a pathetic one (the typical 'I'm not like other girls' of YA) that gets under my skin. Yes, the good guys win and the bad guys lose, but there's losses on both sides. Yes, some of the main males are very similar, but they're RELATED. They would be at least somewhat similar. The way that fate plays into the story is well done, and I love the use of webs and spiders as related to that. In general, I have a lot of feels about this trilogy that I have trouble quite putting into words, so I may edit this review over time as I crystallize that.
The Dark Jewels Trilogy (and it's many spinoffs) is probably a lot darker than many of my friends would probably prefer. It does deal with a lot of sexual topics so I found myself skimming a fair bit of pages, but I found it on the BYU library bookshelves, so it can't be too bad, right?
Anne Bishop does a fantastic job at building the complex social structure in these books. There's not as much detail on how the magic of this world works, which I would have found interesting, but she is wonderfully detailed about the social interactions of the characters--and it's these social interactions that drive the story. One of the things I found really strange (yet fascinating) is that the story is never told from the perspective of Jaenelle, the woman who is, in the classic sense of the word, the hero of the story. Instead you see her through the eyes of the people who matter most to her: her adoptive father, her adoptive brother, and her lover. I really loved this aspect of the story, although it meant that some parts of the story, which would have been interesting to read, were left out. Jaenelle is the one who knows the details about certain key events, but you are never quite privy to this knowledge. At the same time, some of my favorite scenes (the ones that make you smile and giggle a little to yourself for various reasons) are ones that probably would have been cut had Jaenelle been the main veiw point character.
Anne Bishop does a fantastic job at building the complex social structure in these books. There's not as much detail on how the magic of this world works, which I would have found interesting, but she is wonderfully detailed about the social interactions of the characters--and it's these social interactions that drive the story. One of the things I found really strange (yet fascinating) is that the story is never told from the perspective of Jaenelle, the woman who is, in the classic sense of the word, the hero of the story. Instead you see her through the eyes of the people who matter most to her: her adoptive father, her adoptive brother, and her lover. I really loved this aspect of the story, although it meant that some parts of the story, which would have been interesting to read, were left out. Jaenelle is the one who knows the details about certain key events, but you are never quite privy to this knowledge. At the same time, some of my favorite scenes (the ones that make you smile and giggle a little to yourself for various reasons) are ones that probably would have been cut had Jaenelle been the main veiw point character.
This series has so much going for it. First of all, the magic system and society are very interesting. It is a matriarchal society (based on the fact that the women are more magically powerful) and the women own their men. The jewels are basically tiers of power. The darker the jewel, the more powerful the person with black being the most powerful tier.
I gotta say, I tripped and fell hard for the main male characters. Saetan, Daemon, and Lucivar (what names, am I right?) all grew on me. The boys are sarcastic SOBs and Saetan is the long-suffering ringleader of all the craziness that comes with having two powerful black jeweled males and Jaenelle to deal with. It was great.
Jaenelle goes through so much, and I am so happy that her trauma was not resolved quickly. It took years and another book for her to recover from what happened in her childhood. Good on you for not trivializing trauma, Bishop.
I also liked her writing style in general. It was very engaging and considering this book was 1200 pages, keeping me glued to the end was no mean feat. Part of it is that this series does not drag itself out. As a matter of fact, there are many time skips to keep the action moving. Sometimes this can be jarring, but it worked well here.
This book is very vaginal fantasy though, and sex scenes abound. There is also quite a lot of abuse, especially sexually. Sex is a major source of power here. Tread carefully if this is not your cup of tea.
This series gave me a big hangover! I would definitely recommend.
Review also available on my blog.
I gotta say, I tripped and fell hard for the main male characters. Saetan, Daemon, and Lucivar (what names, am I right?) all grew on me. The boys are sarcastic SOBs and Saetan is the long-suffering ringleader of all the craziness that comes with having two powerful black jeweled males and Jaenelle to deal with. It was great.
Jaenelle goes through so much, and I am so happy that her trauma was not resolved quickly. It took years and another book for her to recover from what happened in her childhood. Good on you for not trivializing trauma, Bishop.
I also liked her writing style in general. It was very engaging and considering this book was 1200 pages, keeping me glued to the end was no mean feat. Part of it is that this series does not drag itself out. As a matter of fact, there are many time skips to keep the action moving. Sometimes this can be jarring, but it worked well here.
This book is very vaginal fantasy though, and sex scenes abound. There is also quite a lot of abuse, especially sexually. Sex is a major source of power here. Tread carefully if this is not your cup of tea.
This series gave me a big hangover! I would definitely recommend.
Review also available on my blog.