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Review of The Black Jewels: Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood / Heir to the Shadows / Queen of the Darkness

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Comments for The Black Jewels: Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood / Heir to the Shadows / Queen of the Darkness

• Posted on 2008-06-16
  Wonderful series!
  
  I loved this series and in its convenient all-in-one format. You wanted to laugh with the hilarious parts, cry with the sad, etc. You've got to read this book. My only complaint is that the book is not in hardback.
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2008-06-06
  Brutal
  
  Page three of this book made me physically ill, and seriously wondering if I was going to read further. As others have said the prose of often quite beautiful, and I expected it to draw me in at any minute, but it never quite did. There was at least one other point in the story where the brutality actually had me gagging, and I put the book down for at least a week to recover.
  There is a fair amount of only slightly less nauseating, senseless brutality, sort of masquerading as sensuality.
  Reading the first book, I found myself wondering if the author hated men and/or was into sado-masochism.
  All of the second book and most of the third made me feel like I was reading a "Harlequin Romance" rather than the "critically acclaimed" books that these claimed to be.
  I mean, really, the waiflike, emaciated, often injured or ill heroine that big strong men will give their lives for her... the hero who has to come back from the "twisted kingdom" (insanity) to be with her... it's just a little too too, don't you think?
  I do realize that this is fantasy, however for anyone with a religious background (most of whom probably wouldn't read this anyway) the not-even thinly veiled attempt at make Saetan a warm and fuzzy being, as well as his sons "Lucivar", and "Daemon" being heros of the story... and that the "Demon dead" and Hell itself being okay places... well... some could easily find this offensive (and I will admit I had a hard time with it.)For me this was far from the "imaginative" set of characters that one reviewer called them. For me it was more like someone trying to sell demonism. Your milage may vary there, but I felt like it had to be said.
  It's a LONG read, and often not an "easy" read.
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2008-06-03
  Well crafted, highly entertaining triology!
  
  When I first started reading this trilogy, I felt as though I had been dropped into the middle of a strange world without a map. Anne Bishop doesn't waste a lot of time with introductions - as a consequence the first few chapters can feel a little challenging, but I promise that if you hang in and don't give up on the book, you become completely caught up in the story. By the end of the first book, I was running out the door to buy the second one. I couldn't put it down!
  
  I haven't read any books past the third, but I highly recommend this trilogy. It's really well crafted with amazing multi-layered imagery and witty, amusing dialog. Bravo to Anne Bishop for bringing us a great set of stories!
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2008-05-23
  An Enjoyable Read With Some Flaws
  
  Things I loved about the Black Jewels Trilogy:
  -Interesting new ideas and twists on old cliches
  -The characters
  -The way the plot built up and the story was told
  
  Flaws in the Black Jewels Trilogy:
  -Jaenelle was way too perfect, too powerful
  -I wasn't really sold on how Daemon fell in love with Jaenelle; no one just picks someone that they are going to love. I think he just fell in love with the idea of "Dreams Made Flesh," but not her.
  -The villains were not worthy adversaries, at all. They had poor motives and they were terribly unequally matched with our heroes, making them seem foolish and reading their empty schemes a waste of time.
  Score: 3
• Posted on 2008-04-23
  Mixed feelings
  
  I've read this book few months back, and still can't decide what to think of it.
  IMO, the first book Daughter of the Blood was the best, and after that I just started to feel annoyed with this trilogy.
  The characters, while very interesting, started to be overly melodramatic (this refers mostly to Daemon "oh, does she love me, will she love me after all I've done, been..." and similar).
  For me, the most interesting characters were Surreal and Lucivar, and I think that the story would be a lot better if it focused more on them and there story and not just on Jaenelle, whom I didn't find at all believable as a real person (maybe that would be different if we actually had some of hers POVs). She was just too powerful, with almost not a flaw, and everyone who met her liked her instantly...
  The main conflict between good and evil was also not that believable, almost all of the good guys had one of the three most powerful jewels, and the villains not even one, but still they were that major treat to all of them. The action scenes were just felt contrived, just to point out how really powerful Jaenelle really was and added nothing to the plot.
  Then there was that Ring of Obedience and other similar stuff.
  Still, writing style was pretty decent and the world is very interesting with all those interesting races (just wish it was fleshed out a bit more).
  IMO, this book would be suitable mostly for young teenage girls and everyone who feels like one ;).
  Score: 3