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Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. HTML:In the astonishing conclusion of Anne Bishop�??s Black Jewels Trilogy, the Dark Court has been formed and the end�??for some�??draws exceedingly near... Jaenelle Angelline now reigns as Queen�??protector of the Shadow Realm. No longer will the corrupt Blood slaughter her people and defile her lands. But where one chapter ends, a final, unseen battle remains to be written, and Jaenelle must unleash the terrible power that is Witch to destroy her enemies once and for all. Even so, she cannot stand alone. Somewhere, long lost in madness, is Daemon, her promised Consort. Only his unyielding love can complete her Court and secure her reign. Yet, even together, their strength may not be enough to hold back the most malevolent of forces. And in the end, under the emergent shadow of evil and unforeseen betrayal, only Jaenelle�??s greatest sacrifice will save those she loves�??and the realm she�??… (more)
User reviews
Dark. Very dark. Middling as fantasy goes but with a wonderfully witty touch that kept me happily in there until I ran out of pages.
If you
The ending I think was right for the story. The final conflict was a bit rushed though and it would have been more interesting to get more of Jaenelle’s POV, she is Witch after all. And like most stories when you get so invovled with the characters, you are left wondering what happens next. I would have enjoyed an epilogue with the aftermath.
Don’t miss reading the first two books so you get a better understanding of the world and the people. If you enjoy stories which are more male driven then this trilogy I would highly recommend.
There were some bad parts I wish were different, but I can overlook them for the fantastic parts with Daemon and all the action. I’ll be putting her other books of my buy list.
I love this book, a superb conclusion to this trilogy. The powers stuggles make them alive and human.
Is it perfect? No. I could pick some holes in plot; I have style issues (particularly some pet phrases that I could wish she'd use more sparingly like "midnight voice") and I think Daemon's arc isn't as strong as Saetan's or Lucifar's, I think because for him it's too much all about Jaenelle. But I do give this novel and the overall trilogy five stars because for me this is a standout among the fantasy novels I've read in terms of a unique and intriguing world, characters I care about, and the ability to move me to laughter or near tears.
Witch has formed her court, but even Witch is not powerful enough to stand alone. Janelle has a plan to purge the corruption from the Blood, but it's a desperate one and it means her own destruction... The
Fantastic conclusion, and I'm glad Bishop decided not to end the story with the end of the trilogy!
I just can't find the words to describe that emotional surge and hopeless dreaming Anne Bishop has inspired in me.
This dark fantasy has taken over my life during the time I was reading it. Even knowing that the fantasy would end sooner, I couldn't help but feverishly
Anne Bishop knows how to pull all your heart strings, making you laugh, love, live in the world she has created. Even with the story ended, I have a hopeless longing to continue living in its pages. The characters are so real you can't help but fall in love with them. Innocent Jaenelle, with all her dark power. Ravishing Daemon, fierce and sadistic, with a noble heart beneath his fearsome reputation. I've gone to sleep mooning over these characters, and dreaming of the tantalising dark world.
Bishop doesn't waste time explaining. She plunges you right into the middle of the Dark Kingdom, with its three Realms, races and magic abounding everywhere. As a result, the world, so different from ours, can seem a little confusing at first, but you quickly catch on, and soon it's like you've always lived in those pages.
You flow with all the moments. Your heart breaks for the characters, and you emerge triumphant with them. I've had to restrain myself from laughing aloud during the witty bits, littered throughout the series. I've flexed my fingers, so fired by the way Bishop portrays the antagonists that I've wanted to rip through something.
The first few blatant uses of magic, such as vanishing an object, annoyed me, but I quickly accepted that it was the Blood's way of life. Magic ran so deep in them. Another thing didn't sit well with me was, if the protagonists were the most powerful people in all three Realms, why couldn't they just blow up the antagonists and have done with? They were clearly capable of doing it, and had even considered it during the course of the story.
Nevertheless, it was such a beautiful story, its splendour overshadowed whatever tiny flaws there were. I'm still hungry for more, and Anne Bishop does satisfy her readers' cravings. There are other novels outside of the series that feature the dark Realms and the beloved characters. I myself have scurried down to my bookstore and procured a copy of Tangled Webs. A brief flick through has already set my heart beating, and I've fallen in love with the characters all over again.
I look forward to exploring the dreamscape with Jaenelle, Daemon, Luciver, Surreal and other characters again. Anne Bishop and her Black Jewels Trilogy has easily risen to the top of my favourites list, closely followed by George R.R Martin and his Song of Ice and Fire.
***
It doesn't stop at Heir to the Shadows. The excitement continues in Queen of the Darkness. The masterful writing and splendid characters are still there, but a few things detracted from it, pulling it down half a star. For one, Dorothea's and Hekatah's scheming and the reappearance of Alexandra grated on my nerves. Perhaps that was intended, but I was so tempted to skip the scenes which featured Alexandra and her stupidity. Another thing, towards the end, Daemon's act as The Sadist to buy Jaenelle time seemed a little flat. Not flat as in it's not interesting, but there was a lack of peaks and falls in climaxes. It just seemed to rush along at a fast pace with constant intensity.
Near the beginning, it was hinted that Jaenelle would survive her sacrifice. Although references to the attempt to save her were written through the story, I feel it would have been better if it had been left to readers to worry anxiously over her fate till the end.
An excellent novel, one that I will be eager to reread again. I wish the story never had to end. But alas I am left to my own imagination to continue dreaming about the Dark Realms.
It's less "stressful" than books one and two because it's more about the characters finding themselves and their places than about defeating the evil in the world (though there is that
The webs are all tied off in the end and the story is wrapped up in a satisfactory manner. I see that there are other books in the series now, but I assume that they're mostly filler books, or following new characters because this trilogy is complete within itself.
Overall a very satisfying dark fantasy with very little sex but some very mature themes.
Queen of the Darkness is the third in the Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop. The final installment picks up 5 years where the second book leaves off. War is brewing. Hekatah and Dorothea's scheming knows no bounds and won't stop until all the Realms are brought under their rule or are left in ruins.
All of the main characters arcs are nearly done. Jeanelle has transitioned from a young, shy, unsure girl into a confident and powerful young woman. She rules in Kaeleer with her court full of powerful Queens, Warlords and Kindred. Jeanelle feels keenly the responsibility she has shouldered, that she never wanted, to take care of the Blood and the land. Saetan has settled into his role as family patriarch and court Steward. Luciver, freed from the corruption and slavery he was trapped in, has found peace in his life. He has become a loving husband, doting father and his joy comes through on the page. He has also accepted his role as the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih and takes his duties very serious. And then there's Daemon. Lost in the Twisted Kingdom he has finally started to find his way out and is faced with the challenge of finding out exactly what happened that night seven years ago. He still has a long way to go and I don't want to say too much more for fear of major plot spoilers.
This was the most emotional of the three books for me. To see the characters fight so hard for happiness, get to taste it for a moment and then have it ripped away was heartbreaking. It is a dark fantasy series so there is some collateral damage expected. Bishop doesn't pull any punches.
The action is fast paced and the gore factor is higher in this book than the last. The final 100 pages of the book were hard to put down.
The only draw back in this series in general, and why I can't give any of the books five stars, is the repetitive descriptors that Bishop uses. You get "sapphire voice" and characters "snarling" at each other constantly. It was particularly bad in the second book and still there, but less glaring, in the third.
I thoroughly enjoyed my return to the Black Jewels trilogy. Bishop has gone on to write other stories in the Black Jewels world, but the trilogy is where it's at for me. I know I will return again some day when I need that dark fantasy fix that is unique to Bishop's writing.
This is such a wonderful
Jaenelle is a Black Widow. She has seen that war will bring a total destruction of the Blood. She will do anything to keep her kingdom and her people safe. And "anything" includes giving her own life to keep her people safe. Of course, none of her Sisters or Blood Princes want this. None of her court want to do anything to endanger her. They don't see why Jaenelle is so opposed to war. Wars have been fought before and the Blood has survived.
Jaenelle and Daemon are also finally together but both are so worried about hurting the other that their courtship isn't going very well. Daemon's brother and the other warlords at the court find this much more amusing than Daemon does given that Daemon spend many years as a pleasure slave and should know what he is doing. The problem is that he has never been in love before. Jaenelle is coming from the same lack of experience. After being violently raped at twelve, normal teenage experimentation with romance wasn't part of her adolescence.
This is a story that has great relationships. With Lucivar and Daemon back together in the court, they have a chance to work as brothers if they can just forgive each other and themselves for the wrongs they did each other. And Saetan is glad to have his sons in the court though they, especially Daemon, have grown to be men he isn't at all sure he understands. Jaenelle's relationships with her fellow Queens and with the kindred add depth to the story.
Fans of Dark Fantasy will enjoy this story and this trilogy. The writing and storytelling were engaging and kept me reading late into the night.
This was a wonderful end to the trilogy. It's rather more plot-focused than the past two, but that's to be expected, given all
It's also hella readable. It's been a long time since I came across an author I could just whip on through. Bishop's prose is simple and straightforward and, most importantly, it never get in the way of the story. It's not flashy or intricate, and it's certainly not the sort of work that makes you stop and take notice. It's not the greatest writing out there, but the story is so wonderful that I really don't care.
I most definitely recommend this entire trilogy. I had a fantastic time with the lot of them. I ran out and acquired DREAMS MADE FLESH, TANGLED WEBS and THE INVISIBLE RING before I'd even finished this one. I'd advise you to have them on hand before you even start. You're gonna want more in the worst possible way.
(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina).