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Liked It2 of 3 members found this review helpful “The Blood of Terrielle were once the guardians of the land. The Warlord Princes and the lesser blood protected their Witch, and in turn the witch cherished them and the land. But after hundreds of years of treachery and deception by one powerful and ambitious witch, Dorotea, hatred and distrust...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “It's a bit weird, cruel, and quite graphic. I read the whole series but overall I didn't like it as well as the author's other books.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“Beautiful story. You really love or really hate the characters. ”
Amanda F wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Moving on in the realm of my ever so sophisticated literary taste, I recently reread Daughter of the Blood, by Anne Bishop. Something that is very clearly not children's literature. I would certainly not recommend it for anyone under sixteen (though I'm sure a select few precocious and gruesome thirteen year old girls would get a kick out of it). The plot is nothing new - the chosen one is born and must be helped to achieve HER destiny by a supporting cast including aged (50,000 years, give or take) mentor, snarky friends and gorgeous love interest. What makes this book so special, at least in my eyes, is a combination of two things. Firstly, it is a very well handled reversal of the fantasy norms. And secondly, it is unpretentious.
Liz S wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Daughter of the Blood is the first book in the Black Jewels Trilogy, which already sets the tone for the rest of the series. Bishop has created a world with the usual roles of light and dark are reversed, where darkness implies more power and, as we all know, with great power comes great responsibility. The magic users, called "The Blood" have been misusing their power and unbalancing the semi-precarious relationship between the genders; using men to dis-empower women and women to keep men on a tight leash.
Into this world is born "Witch", the most powerful of all the Blood. It is up to her to save the realms, assuming she lives long enough. This first book is our introduction to the ways of the blood and to some of the main characters, including Daemon Sadi, who is destined to be witch's lover; Lucivar Yaslana, Daemon's half brother and Saetan SaDiablo, the High Lord of Hell. I'm sure you're groaning by now, but don't be fooled by the names. These men are deadly, but follow a code of honor as strict as any knight. And they are, without a doubt, drop dead gorgeous.
Bishop is not trying to create a realistic cast of characters and, if that is something that bothers you. don't read the book. However, if you're willing to acknowledge her characters as some sort of (specifically male) ideal, then you're good to go. And the story itself is quite creative and fun to follow, especially for those of us who enjoy a good fantasy, but have had our fill and then some of the Richard Rahls, Rand al Thors, Aragorns and even Harry Potters that populate the literature. The Black Jewels trilogy is high fantasy geared towards women, with the goal of providing enjoyment. As a professor of mine once said, Romance Novels are pornography for women. We'll call this softcore for geek girls, then.
Part of the appeal of this book is how Bishop deliberately twists her Universe to make women the dominant sex. This is another lovely genre reversal and much of the book seems to be based on the premise of men deferring to women. Women have a higher caste and queens rule the territory, not kings. However, it is made clear that men, being the physically stronger sex, are there to protect and serve the women. So these blood males are bred to have all the qualities that females instinctively look for in a mate: good genes, commitment, protection, etc. Bishop might not have originally had this in mind, but she created the perfect male...from an evolutionary perspective. And, while that certainly goes a long way in explaining Lucivar and Daemon's appeal, the complex world she creates from the simple reversal of one gender role and the rule of light and dark is astounding.
Daughter of the Blood is only the first book and much of it is really focused on building this universe and examining how things can go terribly wrong with the system, in a manner reminiscent of some of the gender problems in our own. The next two focus on how "Witch" needs to set things right. This book receives such a high recommendation from me because I do find myself going back to it and rereading it. Is it great literature? No. But it sets out to accomplish a certain task and it does so masterfully, if in a little bit more gory detail that I could write with a straight face. Oh, and once again, rated R for the amount of sex, violence and combination of the two.”“It's a bit weird, cruel, and quite graphic. I read the whole series but overall I didn't like it as well as the author's other books.”
Laura O wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This series is my favorite. It's dark and exciting.”
Danna L wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Really dark, really twisted but very immersive fantasy story. I don't know that I could read it more than once - as there were parts that were very disturbing, but the world building is really incredible and the story is a gripping one.
Lydia P wrote this review Wednesday, November 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
A few other issues I had were:
No map. It's very hard to get used to a new world, especially one as detailed as this one, without some point of reference.
The people are introduced too quickly. It took me half the book to finally get who was who straightened out and by then the foundations in politics had already been set. Hoping that now that I've figured out who people are I can read the next books a little more clearly.”
“I loved it - although it took me a couple of days to keep track of everyone and really get into it. Amazing read.”
Dizzie wrote this review Wednesday, October 28 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Something I picked up at a free book fair because the cover looked interesting.
tealeaves wrote this review Saturday, October 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
A wonderful novel with magic and maddness. Dark undertones of the living death and travelling between those worlds. A delicious hint of romance and very real characters.
A fantastic fantasy novel!”
“Loved this book. You just get caught up in the charactors, the realms, the heirachy of the blood. To start with I didn't actually think I would get in to this but after the first couple of chapters you're hooked. When I read this, it was part of a promotion of 5 'cosmic books' from a book club my boyfriend was with, so I had no idea it was part of a trilogy - I got to the end and was like, OH NO! and had to quiclkly find the rest of the set. This is really good!”
Sarah L wrote this review Thursday, October 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Vibrant female hero. Dark, delicious fantasy”
Kelly D wrote this review Tuesday, September 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
