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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
So I just finished reading the entire series in one go. 1204 pages in two days. That should tell you how interesting the concept is. The world Bishop has created is very familiar with the edges honed. What is great is that the framework is there but it isn't obtrusive (well, I didn't think so). It is a very cool framework. The jewels concept is interesting though the naming scheme got old quick.
There are a few buts: If you have any problem reading about various types of rape, don't read this. The depths that the bad guys sink to is horrible. It is fascinating and intense while showing the emotional scars that are left behind, but it isn't easy. This one thing will drive many people away from this book and I guess that is okay. Don't worry, the bad guys get what is coming to them (fantasy is like that - one of the many reasons we love it. Black and white is so much easier to deal with. [/rant]).
Another but: The intensity and character development comes and goes. The third book was especially bad as bits and pieces mentioned early on about characters seem to have completely disappeared. Those bits and pieces really made everything, the good and the bad alike, very real even in the black and white world of fantasy. However, those bits were thrown away quickly to make the story easier to write. Typical for fantasy but with such a cool wind up, I wanted a bit more.
Also, some of the story seemed to drag. Maybe it was just me but the social parts in book two and three didn't have enough detail to seem as real and were a bit boring because of that.
Overall, the first book was the best (4 stars, maybe 4.5), and the second two pulled it down to a three. Specifically the last book. The last book was a cool round up but seemed almost superfluous, as if there just really needed to be another _huge_ confrontation. But that's okay.
tl:dr - Good story. Worth reading if you can stomach the harsh parts. Typical fantasy writing with some good detail work at the beginning.
There are a few buts: If you have any problem reading about various types of rape, don't read this. The depths that the bad guys sink to is horrible. It is fascinating and intense while showing the emotional scars that are left behind, but it isn't easy. This one thing will drive many people away from this book and I guess that is okay. Don't worry, the bad guys get what is coming to them (fantasy is like that - one of the many reasons we love it. Black and white is so much easier to deal with. [/rant]).
Another but: The intensity and character development comes and goes. The third book was especially bad as bits and pieces mentioned early on about characters seem to have completely disappeared. Those bits and pieces really made everything, the good and the bad alike, very real even in the black and white world of fantasy. However, those bits were thrown away quickly to make the story easier to write. Typical for fantasy but with such a cool wind up, I wanted a bit more.
Also, some of the story seemed to drag. Maybe it was just me but the social parts in book two and three didn't have enough detail to seem as real and were a bit boring because of that.
Overall, the first book was the best (4 stars, maybe 4.5), and the second two pulled it down to a three. Specifically the last book. The last book was a cool round up but seemed almost superfluous, as if there just really needed to be another _huge_ confrontation. But that's okay.
tl:dr - Good story. Worth reading if you can stomach the harsh parts. Typical fantasy writing with some good detail work at the beginning.
This trilogy (or I should say book since the edition I own is the collected books in one binding) is one of my stand-bys for rereading. I adore Lucivar and Daemon along with Cat and Saetan. The magic is defined as internal and finite along with a born caste system from which everyone learns protocol. Highly recommended for all fantasy lovers.
I have had this book on my actual to-read shelf for a few years, I don't remember how I came to buy it or who suggested it to me. I finally decided I had enough time to devote to this massive 3 volume ominous piece.
I'll begin with, I didn't get far into the book before realizing this isn't my style and moving on to another book. RIght off the bat, I don't know what's going on with the opening scene and there is no setting to help you visualize. All I could come up with was some medieval court feast/celebration of...something, i don't know. I understood the plot but new characters are thrown in every few pages and you don't know what's going on.
I know one thing for sure, the "Bad" characters are really horrid. The author reminds you constantly incase you have become lost in the horde of new characters, BAD ones...see how bad they are...GOOD ones...still kinda suck but they're the "good" ones. She throws in these perversions to prove how nasty they are but the actual strong feelings you get from them that I recognized in EVERY character is whiney, sniveling, perverted, brats. Not one comes off strong and powerful, these women are suppose to rule and have these male sex slaves but they are weak to the slave. They just sound like twits whining that he hasn't slept with them when they wanted and in turn he reduces them to sniveling, weeping rich brats in a heap on the floor. I got the feeling the author wanted to have strong female leads and woman power! But actually she likes male dominance and weak women. There is a prostitute that opens with how strong she is, has all these men wanting her and she'll do as she pleases...the first man the next morning kisses her on the forehead I believe and takes off...that had a very different tone than the character seemed to be boosting.
Some men are controlled with magical cock rings...I had to reread it to make sure I got it right...she's talking about magical cock rings...are you serious?! I'm not against sexual, erotic themes but there are some that just sound ridiculous. It's sounds like an effort to be shocking, standing out on the page as it's own statement. The sexual scenes are increasingly gross like she got her confidence as she wrote.
I'm sure other readers understood this trilogy much better. I don't normally read fantasy, magical realm books so it was lost on me. All I can say is that if you read the description and his sounds interesting but it's not your normal read..beware...lol beware.
I'll begin with, I didn't get far into the book before realizing this isn't my style and moving on to another book. RIght off the bat, I don't know what's going on with the opening scene and there is no setting to help you visualize. All I could come up with was some medieval court feast/celebration of...something, i don't know. I understood the plot but new characters are thrown in every few pages and you don't know what's going on.
I know one thing for sure, the "Bad" characters are really horrid. The author reminds you constantly incase you have become lost in the horde of new characters, BAD ones...see how bad they are...GOOD ones...still kinda suck but they're the "good" ones. She throws in these perversions to prove how nasty they are but the actual strong feelings you get from them that I recognized in EVERY character is whiney, sniveling, perverted, brats. Not one comes off strong and powerful, these women are suppose to rule and have these male sex slaves but they are weak to the slave. They just sound like twits whining that he hasn't slept with them when they wanted and in turn he reduces them to sniveling, weeping rich brats in a heap on the floor. I got the feeling the author wanted to have strong female leads and woman power! But actually she likes male dominance and weak women. There is a prostitute that opens with how strong she is, has all these men wanting her and she'll do as she pleases...the first man the next morning kisses her on the forehead I believe and takes off...that had a very different tone than the character seemed to be boosting.
Some men are controlled with magical cock rings...I had to reread it to make sure I got it right...she's talking about magical cock rings...are you serious?! I'm not against sexual, erotic themes but there are some that just sound ridiculous. It's sounds like an effort to be shocking, standing out on the page as it's own statement. The sexual scenes are increasingly gross like she got her confidence as she wrote.
I'm sure other readers understood this trilogy much better. I don't normally read fantasy, magical realm books so it was lost on me. All I can say is that if you read the description and his sounds interesting but it's not your normal read..beware...lol beware.
There are no words to describe how amazing this trilogy is! Up there with Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones for me!!
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood
Trigger warnings for rape (male and female), pedophilia, incest, cannibalism and graphic/on page violence (including organ and limb removal).
There are three distinctly separate books in the black Jewels trilogy. The first book is the most problematic and the cause of most of the spoiler warnings. This book is very pre-me-too movement. It's examining the pain and suffering caused by sexual violence but it's disturbing and only somewhat successful because it's almost trying to titillate - it's interspersed with graphic bondage and S&M sex scenes and there's themes of bondage and S&M throughout the magic system. Combining sexual mores with horrific rape and abuse and conflating them muddies the waters. It would be a more successful reflection on abuse and more able to condemn it (which I think the book is trying to do) without these aspects. Also, the "men are really feral beasts barely able to restrain themselves" toxic masculinity perpetuated here can just die now.
I'm really bothered by Daemon's creepy grooming. Even in 1998 it was unacceptable that this grown man was "in love" with a 12 year old and giving her her first kiss. Especially in a book concerned with a world system supporting pedophile rings and grooming young girls, it doesn't add up that the very male character grooming this girl was a victim of abuse and is adamantly against grooming. The book sets him up to be a hero for not abusing her although he's thinking about her sexually (which alone is unacceptable).
Book 2 features one of the worst tropes in literature, movies or TV: conveniently placed amnesia! Heketah is a weak villain who has stereotypical evil plans that are easily foiled. At the same time, Jaenelle and Saetan, who are allegedly the most powerful people alive or dead, spend the book just reacting, which is frustrating.
Book 3 features another one of the worst tropes: misunderstandings easily solved in a two sentence conversation with the person in front of you. Jaenelle is so OP that the conclusion feels foregone.
What shines in these books:
Saetan is a great character and I really love his paternal concern for this 12 year old girl and how it evolved to support her as she grows and becomes a leader. I love his complexity - he is powerful, strong, occasionally angry but always compassionate and loving.
The Kindred are adorable and I want one for my BFF. I read a lot of fantasy but this is the first one in a long time it actually has a unicorn (which made me happy).
The sense of found family is strong and very sweet. There are many layers of family and the complexities and overlaps are consistently charming.
I love that this doesn't turn into a stupid, forced love triangle (which was my fear in the beginning).
The jewel based magic system is very well defined and interesting and I like how they explain the backstory of magic in the world very much. Lorn FTW.
This 1200 page tome is a page turner which did not bore me at any point, which is both unusual and impressive.
I have conflicting feelings about this in many ways but overall I enjoyed the experience and I'm glad I read this trilogy.
There are three distinctly separate books in the black Jewels trilogy. The first book is the most problematic and the cause of most of the spoiler warnings. This book is very pre-me-too movement. It's examining the pain and suffering caused by sexual violence but it's disturbing and only somewhat successful because it's almost trying to titillate - it's interspersed with graphic bondage and S&M sex scenes and there's themes of bondage and S&M throughout the magic system. Combining sexual mores with horrific rape and abuse and conflating them muddies the waters. It would be a more successful reflection on abuse and more able to condemn it (which I think the book is trying to do) without these aspects. Also, the "men are really feral beasts barely able to restrain themselves" toxic masculinity perpetuated here can just die now.
I'm really bothered by Daemon's creepy grooming. Even in 1998 it was unacceptable that this grown man was "in love" with a 12 year old and giving her her first kiss. Especially in a book concerned with a world system supporting pedophile rings and grooming young girls, it doesn't add up that the very male character grooming this girl was a victim of abuse and is adamantly against grooming. The book sets him up to be a hero for not abusing her although he's thinking about her sexually (which alone is unacceptable).
Book 2 features one of the worst tropes in literature, movies or TV: conveniently placed amnesia! Heketah is a weak villain who has stereotypical evil plans that are easily foiled. At the same time, Jaenelle and Saetan, who are allegedly the most powerful people alive or dead, spend the book just reacting, which is frustrating.
Book 3 features another one of the worst tropes: misunderstandings easily solved in a two sentence conversation with the person in front of you. Jaenelle is so OP that the conclusion feels foregone.
What shines in these books:
Saetan is a great character and I really love his paternal concern for this 12 year old girl and how it evolved to support her as she grows and becomes a leader. I love his complexity - he is powerful, strong, occasionally angry but always compassionate and loving.
The Kindred are adorable and I want one for my BFF. I read a lot of fantasy but this is the first one in a long time it actually has a unicorn (which made me happy).
The sense of found family is strong and very sweet. There are many layers of family and the complexities and overlaps are consistently charming.
I love that this doesn't turn into a stupid, forced love triangle (which was my fear in the beginning).
The jewel based magic system is very well defined and interesting and I like how they explain the backstory of magic in the world very much. Lorn FTW.
This 1200 page tome is a page turner which did not bore me at any point, which is both unusual and impressive.
I have conflicting feelings about this in many ways but overall I enjoyed the experience and I'm glad I read this trilogy.
This is a book about a rape. The victim is a twelve year old girl. There are two rapists. One is a villain while the other is the main hero of the book.
Ms. Bishop's prose is sludgy. Her favourite enunciative verb is 'snarl'. She uses it excessively. Whenever someone speaks quietly, it is always 'too quietly'.
When people are not raping twelve-year-olds - sadistic paedophilia is a constant theme - they interact like characters in a third-rate domestic comedy. It's as if someone had contracted the marquis de Sade to write a full season of 'Bewitched.' Except that de Sade wrote better.
Ms. Bishop's prose is sludgy. Her favourite enunciative verb is 'snarl'. She uses it excessively. Whenever someone speaks quietly, it is always 'too quietly'.
When people are not raping twelve-year-olds - sadistic paedophilia is a constant theme - they interact like characters in a third-rate domestic comedy. It's as if someone had contracted the marquis de Sade to write a full season of 'Bewitched.' Except that de Sade wrote better.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i tried to stick it out, i really did, but after 200 pages of not a whole lot happening and very juvenile characterization i just can't find the motivation to finish. jaenelle is such a special snowflake, everything she does is so amazing...it got to the point where she was so exceptional that she stopped having the potential to be interesting. i wanted to like this book and was really intrigued by the premise but claiming to invert the traditional values of fantasy and actually engaging with them are two different things. i felt like i was watching a movie somehow simultaneously in slow motion and fast forward. there was too much time spent describing mundane moments and not enough in developing the world, characters or events. i'll be selling this book back to the store i purchased it from.
The first book in the Dark Jewels series, and a reread for me. I was in an odd mood in regards to reading going into this book. I’d just come off reading an incredible series of book (The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, btw) and I’d put down a couple of other books because they just weren’t really right for my mood.
As it turns out, a reread of this series was exactly right for my mood. It’s dark and decadent and cruel and hard and beautiful. This isn’t a light fluffy series. When it says darkness in the title, it means it.
The world that are characters live in is one that is under the control of some very bad women – and it is a matriarchal society, which is great. This is a strongly feminist series of books in a way, the empowerment of women is there all throughout the books and I love it. Because in a lot of ways, that’s how it should be. Of course, there are the women who take it too far and abuse their power and abuse the people below them, and that’s where the darkness comes into the story.
Daemon is intriguing, dark and dangerous. Lucivar, who we don’t get to see a lot of in this story, is an interesting counterpoint to Daemon in that he’s more on an emotional edge and temperamental, less in control than Daemon, but less dangerous because of that. And then there is Saetan, their father, who in a world where women are in control, he controls his own territory and is his own man, so is an interesting counterpoint to the Queen’s in the story.
Pretty rough situation all around for Daemon and Lucivar in that they are both slaves, in quite different ways. There is a strong, dark sexual element to these books, quite often running to the perverse, and there are some very awful things done to both good and bad people.
This book and series doesn’t pull any punches and will go there as far as the depravities of humanity go, and in the middle of it is the girl Jaenelle, something more than what they’ve ever seen before and hope in the darkness.
I love these books, but they are not going to be to the taste of everyone because they are so dark. But they are incredibly well written, with some wonderful characters and a story that carries you along very easily.
As it turns out, a reread of this series was exactly right for my mood. It’s dark and decadent and cruel and hard and beautiful. This isn’t a light fluffy series. When it says darkness in the title, it means it.
The world that are characters live in is one that is under the control of some very bad women – and it is a matriarchal society, which is great. This is a strongly feminist series of books in a way, the empowerment of women is there all throughout the books and I love it. Because in a lot of ways, that’s how it should be. Of course, there are the women who take it too far and abuse their power and abuse the people below them, and that’s where the darkness comes into the story.
Daemon is intriguing, dark and dangerous. Lucivar, who we don’t get to see a lot of in this story, is an interesting counterpoint to Daemon in that he’s more on an emotional edge and temperamental, less in control than Daemon, but less dangerous because of that. And then there is Saetan, their father, who in a world where women are in control, he controls his own territory and is his own man, so is an interesting counterpoint to the Queen’s in the story.
Pretty rough situation all around for Daemon and Lucivar in that they are both slaves, in quite different ways. There is a strong, dark sexual element to these books, quite often running to the perverse, and there are some very awful things done to both good and bad people.
This book and series doesn’t pull any punches and will go there as far as the depravities of humanity go, and in the middle of it is the girl Jaenelle, something more than what they’ve ever seen before and hope in the darkness.
I love these books, but they are not going to be to the taste of everyone because they are so dark. But they are incredibly well written, with some wonderful characters and a story that carries you along very easily.