x dismiss this message
Did you know you can edit this page?
-
Sign Into Shelfari
-
Choose something to edit
-
Save your contributions
see page history
Description edit
The Dark Kingdom is preparing itself for the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy—the arrival of a new Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But this new ruler is young, and very susceptible to influence and corruption; whoever controls her controls... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
Seven hundred years ago, a Black Widow witch saw an ancient prophecy come to life in her web of dreams and visions. Now the Dark Realm readies itself for the arrival of its Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But she is still young, still open to... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Jaenelle Angelline: The embodiment of magic (called Witch), Jaenelle is born out of the dreams of a race called the Blood: Dreams Made Flesh - destined to free them from corruption and servitude at the hands of those two have tainted the entire world. She is young in the first book, only seven when first introduced, but she is witty, sweet and charming - with something deeper lurking in midnight sapphire eyes. There are tainted and corrupt ones who wish to hurt her or who see her only as a 'sick little girl'.
- Daemon Sadi: Daemon Sadi (known better as "The Sadist") is the strongest blood male to have ever lived, one of only two Black Widow males to have ever existed. He's been used as a pleasure slave all his life by the corrupt Dorothea. Wears the Black Jewel, one of two males with that jewel.
- Saetan Daemon SaDiablo (aka High Lord of Hell, SaDiablo): The High Lord of Hell, Was the only male Black Widow. Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince. Adoptive "father" to Jaenelle. Formely Married to Hekatah. Consort to Cassandra. Only male to ever rule without answering to a Queen and except for Witch, the only memeber of the Blood to rule Territories in two Realms: Dhemlan Territory in the Realm of Terreille and her sister Territory in Kaeleer, the Shadow Realm.
- Lucivar Yaslana (aka Yasi): A half-Eyrien (a type of winged race) slave kept prisoner in the salt mines of Pruul. He's one of the first characters we meet.
- Surreal SaDiablo: A prostitute and assassin by trade, daughter of Titian. She and Daemon go back a long way.
- Alexandra Angelline: Opal Jeweled Queen of Chaillot. Mother to Leland Benedict. Grandmother to the 'disturbed' Jaenelle Angelline.
- Dorothea Sadiablo: One of the main villains in the book - she has exerted much time and energy to wipe out any and all powerful witches who could try and take the throne from her, and now faces the problem of how weak she's made the Blood become. Dororthea's plan was to make a Prietess be the center of the bloods society not a Queen.
- Tersa: A broken Black Widow witch and the one who originally prophesied Jaenelle's coming. Because she is broken she is literally mad and not always there in her head. She has the habit of losing days.
- Wilhelmina Benedict: Purple Dusk witch. Jaenelle's sister.
- Andulvar Yaslana: Ebon-gray-Jeweled Eyrien Warlord Prince. Former Warlord Prince of Askavi, Demon-dead
- Leland Benedict: Jaenelle's mother
- Kartane SaDiablo: Red-Jeweled Warlord. Dorothea SaDiablo's only child. Daemon Sadi's cousin (of sorts)
- Cassandra: Black-Jeweled, Black Widow Queen, the last Witch to walk the Realms.
- Philip Alexander: Gray Jeweled Prince. Consort/Steward to Alexander Angelline. Robert Benedict is his bastard half brother.
- Andrew: Stable boy. One of the few people who work in the stables who can ride Dark Dancer.
- Greer: Dorothea's number one assassin. Hired to find & kill Jaenelle.
- Hekatah: Prietess of the Hour Class Coven & Black Widow; formely married to Saetan Daemon SaDiablo.
- Robert Benedict: Yellow Jeweled Warlord. Jaenelle's Uncle. Married to Leland Benedict. Bastard half brother to Philip Alexander.
- Manny: Daemon Sadi's nursemaid when he was a child and former housekeeper at SaDiablo Manor (the place ruled by Dorothea).
- Geoffrey: Librarian/Guardian at Ebon Askavi.
- Draca: Seneschal at the Ebon Askavi. Very repitilian like features.
- Mephis: Gray-Jeweled Warlord Prince. Demon-dead; Saetan's oldest son.
- Cornelia: A witch that Daemon Sadi killed despite having the Ring of Obediance on.
- Prothvar: Red-Jewled Eyrien Warlord Prince. Demon-dead. Grandson of Andulvar.
- Helene: Housekeeper at SaDiablo Hall in the Realm of Kaeleer.
- Dr. Carvay: Alleged doctor at Briarwood. The one treating Jaenelle for her illness.
- Lucy: Cook's granddaughter
- Hepsabah: Dorothea SaDiablo's cousin & Daemon Sadi's mother.
- Rose: Patient at Briarwood. Demon-dead.
- Maris: Woman who Dorothea had lent Deamon to as a pleasure slave.
- Deje: Owner of a Red Moon House in Beldon Mor, Challiot.
- Gabrielle: Opal Birthright Jeweled Queen. Friend of Jaenelle's in Kaeleer.
- Jo: Former handyman at SaDiablo Hall. Manny's husband.
- Titian: The Harpy Queen. Surreal's mother.
- Marjong the Executioner: Executioner of the Blood.
Quotes edit
-
“"Are you always this prickly?""Most people think I am a prick, yes."”
Jaenelle Angelline, Lucivar Yaslana
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
-
If you want to bed a woman, do it in the bedroom. If you want to seduce her, do it in the dance.
Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers -
He wanted to touch her, feel the texture of her skin, taste the warmth of her. He wanted to caress her until they both burned. He wanted to weave his life into hers until there was no telling where one began and the other ended. He wanted to put his arms around her, strong and protecting, and find himself protected; possess her and be possessed; dominate her and be dominated.
Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers -
Better to be broken and sane than broken and mad. Better to see the world and know a tree for a tree, a flower for a flower rather than to look through gauze at gray and ghostly shapes and see clearly only the shards of one’s self.
Highlighted by 12 Kindle customers -
Ancient eyes. Maelstrom eyes. Haunted, knowing, seeing eyes.
Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers -
“Morghann. A Queen who wears Birthright Purple Dusk. Almost seven years old. Lives in the village of Maghre on the Isle of Scelt in the Realm of Kaeleer.”
Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers -
A Black Widow who stood on the edge of the Twisted Kingdom could see the true face behind whatever mask a person wore; she could draw memories from wood and stone to know what happened in a place; she could see warnings about things to come.
Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers -
Lucivar Yaslana, the Eyrien half-breed from the Territory called Askavi.
Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers -
“Gabrielle. A Queen who wears Birthright Opal. Seven years old. Strong possibility she’s a natural Black Widow. Lives in the Realm of Kaeleer in the Territory of the Dea al Mon.”
Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers -
“Briarwood is the pretty poison,” Jaenelle said softly. “There is no cure for Briarwood. Beware the golden spider who spins a tangled web.”
Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers -
Among the Blood, there were two kinds of anger. Hot anger was the anger of emotion, superficial even in its fury—the anger between friends, lovers, family, the anger of everyday life. Cold anger was the Jewel’s anger—deep, untouchable, icy rage that began at a person’s core. Implacable, almost always unstoppable until the fury was spent, cold anger wasn’t blunted by pain or hunger or weariness. Rising from so deep within, it made the body that housed it insignificant.
Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- Briarwood: A hospital of sorts where troubled children are sent to help them tell the difference between fantasy & reality. Mostly occupied by females.
- SaDiablo Hall: This Hall exists in all three Realms; Saetan had them built.
- Beldon Mor: Capital city of Chaillot.
- Dark Altar: One of the ways for the Blood to travel between Realms.
- Pruul: A desert kingdom famous for their salt mines. Ruled by Queen Zuultah
- Hell: The Dark Realm; one of three Realms the Blood live in. Mostly occupied by the demon-dead & the cildru-dyathe, demon-dead children, who were murdered early in the lives in a violent fashion. Seatan is the Ruler here.
- Twisted Kingdom: The Twisted Kingdom exists in the mind of the one who is "shattered". The land of insanity where the Blood remember who & what they used to be before their mind was shattered & they slipped into the Twisted Kingdom.
- Terrielle: The Light Realm; one of three Realms the Blood live in.
- Kaeleer: The Shadow Realm; one of three Realms the Blood live in.
First Sentence edit
I am Tersa the Weaver, Tersa the Liar, Tersa the Fool.
Table of Contents edit
Glossary edit
- landen males/females: non-Blood of any race
- Blood Male: a general term for all males of the Blood; also refers to any Blood male who doesn't wear any jewels
- Warlord: a Jeweled male equal in status to a witch
- Prince: a Jeweled male equal in status to a Priestess or a Healer
- Warlord Prince: a dangerous, extremely aggressive Jeweled male; in status, slightly lower than a Queen
- witch: a Blood female who wears Jewels but isn't one of the other hierarchial levels; also refers to any Jeweled female
- Black Widow: a witch who who heals the mind; weaves the tangled webs of dreams and visionsl is trained in illusions and poisons
- Queen: a witch who rules the Blood; is considered to be the land's heart and the Blood's moral center; as such she is the focal point of their society
Themes & Symbolism edit
- Webs: These are the psychic pathways the Blood use to travel through out a given Realm that they're in. All Webs originate at the Keep in Ebon Askavi. Ebon Askavi exits in all three Realms, as does SaDiablo Hall. Although at the time of the story, the Hall in Terreille is in ruins.
- Blood: The heart and center of the land. They are the caretakers of the Realms and some, not all bear Jewels. The women rule and the men serve. There is a check and balance to their power system controlled by Protocol and Honor. To be Blood is to Serve whether it be to a Queen of a Territory or Queen of a Province.
- Chalice: The mind of the Blood. When the Chalice that is the mind shatters, a Jeweled Blood will slip into the Twisted Kingdom, trying to desperately to fix the shattered remains.
- Witchblood: A plant that grows marking where a witch met with a violent death. If sung to properly, the flowers will give up the name of the witch they are a reminder for. They are black floweres, that bloom from the first thaw of spring until the last warm breath of autumn.
Series & Lists edit
This is book 1 of 9 in Black Jewels. (standard series)
Followed by Heir to the Shadows.
This is book 2 of 9 in The Realms of the Blood. (standard series)
Preceded by The Invisible Ring, and followed by Heir to the Shadows.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Anne Bishop (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Roc
Country: USA
Publication Date: March 1, 1998
ISBN: 978-0451456717
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Roc
Country: USA
Publication Date: March 1, 1998
ISBN: 978-0451456717
Page Count: 416
Awards edit
- IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (March 2000)
- Sapphire Award for the Best Science Fiction Romance of the Year (Finalist, 1998)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 813.54
Subjects edit
Popular Tags
See all 50 tags
More Books Like This edit
We’re hiding the errata, movie connections, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.
