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Title: Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop ISBN: 0-451-45673-4 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: January, 2000 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.51 (103 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: An excellent conclusion to a wonderful trilogy
Comment: Anne Bishop brings her Black Jewels trilogy to its exciting conclusion in "Queen of the Darkness." Jaenelle has established her court, and Daemon has escaped the Twisted Kingdom, but Dorothea and Heketah continue to scheme at spreading Hayll's corrupting influence into Kaeleer, inciting a war that threatens to destroy all the Blood in both realms.
The story finishes as strongly as it began in "Daughter of the Blood." Bishop has created a fascinating, immersive world with these books, filled with characters that I've really grown attached to. The world's social structure is also quite interesting, and a welcome departure from many other fantasies I've read. If anyone finds anything to complain about here, it's that the ending, while very well done, leaves some questions unanswered. But Bishop has stated on her website that there are a number of stories she'd still like to tell about the Blood, including the events that follow those of the Black Jewels trilogy. I certainly look forward to reading them.
Bishop has written one other book which takes place in the realms of the Blood, "The Invisible Ring." It's not as compelling as the main trilogy, but fans of the trilogy will still enjoy it, and I recommend taking a look.
Rating: 5
Summary: WOW!!
Comment: Wow again, having just finished reading this 3rd (hopefully NOT the last) book in the Black Jewels trilogy I am left breathless, usually I space my serial reading out by reading other books in between but with this series I couldn't wait to read the next book and now like a true artist Ms Bishop has left me wanting more! Please, please let there be more books in this series or related to this series. I have also read the Invisible Ring.....in fact that book led me to purchase the first book of this series! Again, please let there be more books in this series!
I found the peripheral characters to be as interesting as the 4 main characters and am half way in love with both Daemon and Lucivar. Janelle as a child was delightful as an adult intriguing... I want to know how she recovers and where do they all go from here. The Kindred characters are also fascinating and their interaction with the ?human? characters is at times very funny.....just what I'd imagined how animals would view us if we could see inside their minds.
Rating: 4
Summary: The thrilling conclusion to The Black Jewels Trilogy
Comment: With Queen of the Darkness, Anne Bishop closes out one of the best dark fantasy trilogies ever written. The depth and richness of the worlds she created in this series must be experienced to be believed, especially with "good guys" including the likes of Saetan, High Lord of Hell, and his sons Daemon Sadi and Lucivar. Of course, Jaenelle Angelline is the center of attention as always; the young girl we first met in Daughter of the Blood, struggling to find friendship, acceptance, and guidance from those who - unlike her awful family - could recognize her for what she was, has grown up and now sits upon the Dark Throne of Ebon Askavi. She is surrounded by a coven of friends from neighboring realms and their males, protected by the most powerful warlords of the Blood, yet despite her own power as Witch - the almost mythological manifestation of true Blood power, dreams made flesh - sorrow continues to number all of her days. Daemon Sadi, her chosen Consort, has yet to return from the Twisted Kingdom of madness, many Kindred lives have been lost at the hands of the evildoers ruling the kingdom of Terreille, and a cataclysmic war looms on the horizon, a war Jaenelle knows will kill everyone she cares about.
I think the beginning of this novel threw me off stride a little bit, and I was never able to completely recover. As Queen of the Darkness opens, several years have passed since Daemon emerged from the Twisted Kingdom, yet he is nowhere to be found. When he is located, largely by luck or fate, and brought to the Hall alongside the likes of Wilhelmina, Jaenelle's sister, he remembers nothing of the cataclysmic events that closed out the first book in the trilogy. When Jaenelle returns, a definite rift exists between her and Daemon, and Jaenelle has little to do with a sister she once loved. The situation with Daemon becomes clear as the book nears its end (culminating in a very touching scene), yet I felt there was a strong disconnect between the characters. Later, when the evil plots of Hekatah the dark priestess and her hateful ally witch Dorothea must finally be dealt with once and for all, I didn't completely buy into the way things happened. Certainly, there were some surprises, and I could barely stand to see some of the things that took place actually happen, but things just didn't seem 100% right. The pivotal subterfuge around which Jaenelle's secret plans are put into motion seemed especially contrived - it was as if everyone just decided one morning that they should look at a central character differently, and I never saw any justification for the types of doubts that arose.
Fans of the series will be thrilled to know that justice is finally done, and those who have hurt Jaenelle and the members of her Dark Court over the years get exactly what is due them. Sadly, however, some dear characters are also lost or maimed through acts of villainy and the vindictive lust for power. The Kindred, non-human creatures of the Blood whom we encountered in Heir to the Shadows, are woven into this concluding novel in a beautifully intricate fashion, making for a more complex but at the same time enriching reading experience. At the same time, secondary players in the drama, many of whom I had struggled to truly understand, also emerge in grand fashion as the trilogy approaches its climax.
Even if I wasn't 100% satisfied with this third and final novel, I have nothing but the highest of praise for Anne Bishop's literary genius and for The Black Jewels Trilogy as a whole. No fictional kingdom of dark fantasy has ever seemed so vivid and original, nor have characters as complex as the main actors in this story ever been seen before - not by my eyes, anyway. The subject matter makes these books unsuited for young readers, but mature readers who appreciate originality and the word-weaving of literary magic will very likely find themselves deeply immersed in this world and come away echoing my final comment here: Anne Bishop is the Queen of Dark Fantasy.
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Title: Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop ISBN: 0451456718 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: March, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Invisible Ring by Anne Bishop ISBN: 0451458028 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: 10 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Pillars of the World by Anne Bishop ISBN: 0451458508 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: 10 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Shadows and Light by Anne Bishop ISBN: 0451458990 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The House of Gaian by Anne Bishop ISBN: 0451459423 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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