So I’m starting Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels trilogy and so far I am hooked. The first novel, Daughter of the Blood begins developing all of the characters and they are fantastic. We have the classic good vs. evil characters, but their individual personalities are so different, yet share some common traits. The villains are naturally dark and twisted; and the heroes are dark and twisted through circumstance. We’re given the beginnings of a love triangle that has four sides, an epic battle that will pit darkness against light, and a heroine who starts out being only seven years old, but so powerful that no one knows it.
I won’t go into too much detail as it’s the beginning of a trilogy, but my first impressions are pretty good. While reading this novel, whenever I had to set it down, I was still able to see the scenery, hear the characters, and wonder about what might come later. I know that we’ll be continuing the story with the second novel, Heir to the Shadows, but the novel’s plot is lost to me, yet I can’t wait to read it and see where we are taken. The direction of the novel could pick up within minutes of leaving Daughter of the Blood or it could be years later.
Bishop is a new author for me and I’ve been hesitating trying her, but after all the rave reviews I kept hearing from various people, I had to pick it up. Now I’m glad I did. I will say, her storytelling does remind me a little of the Weiss & Hickman dragonlance novels, yet still completely in her own world with her own imagery. If you’re looking for something new, then take a look at this series. I can’t say how the rest of the books are, but if they area anything like this one, then they won’t be a disappointment.
Also Reviewed by:
Things Mean Alot
Reading Adventures
Saving My Sanity
I LOVED this series and am waiting impatiently for Tangled Webs to come out in paperback (probably not for another year grr) to continue with my fix. I hope you enjoy the rest of the series and it lives up to your expectations. If you like it I recently read Lucinda Darkly by Sunny which had a similar feel to it. Be warned though there are some very graphic sex scenes (one right at the start too).
I really liked this trilogy as well. My favorite thing is that the world is just so fully developed; it’s rich and nuanced and there was never a point where I had to stop and wonder if she had said this or that, or was this inconsistent with something else… I will second rhinoa’s warning about the graphic-ness, though the horror/violence was the hardest for me to stomach.