Daughter Of The Blood by Anne Bishop Series: Black Jewels #1
Published by Penguin on 1998
Genres: Epic, Fantasy, Fiction
Pages: 412
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
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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 the Darkness. And now, three sworn enemies begin a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic and betrayal...and the destiny of an entire world is at stake....
Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop is the first book of the Black Jewels trilogy. Honestly, I sort of have a love/hate relationship with Daughter of the Blood. I felt certain aspects of the book were fascinating, i.e. the whole Jewels ranking, Saetan, Jaenelle’s powers, the island of dead kids. Other parts of this book were kind of yuck for me, such as how women would basically use males for sex and control the males via cock-rings. Yeah, I know Daughter of The Blood is supposed to show a society which is the opposite of patriarchy, but oh em gee, Anne Bishop did you need to be so hateful towards the females in power.
Okay, let me just put this out there right now, Daughter Of The Blood is chock full of sex. I’m pretty sure every other chapter had sex in it. And here’s the thing, I’m not anti-sex in books by any means at all, just I think some of the sex was uncomfortable to read. I know not all that goes on between the sheets is supposed to be awesome, but come on now, at least let someone have one good experience.
Also, there’s this creepy attraction of all the males in Daughter Of The Blood towards the underage female, Jaenelle. Seriously, I know Daughter Of The Blood is a fantasy book, but still children are not “sexy.” Not by a long shot.
With that out of the way, I did enjoy the imagination Daughter Of The Blood obviously exuded. I think the idea of a female-centered society is intriguing, however I’d like to think females wouldn’t need to bind male parts to control society. Also, I liked that Daughter Of The Blood by Anne Bishop made me feel really sad as something incredibly depressing happened to one of the characters, and I didn’t really think I would care, but turns out I did care.
I’m not sure when exactly I am going to pick the Black Jewels series up again. It’s alright, but not the greatest book I’ve ever read, nor even the greatest fantasy book. While reading this book, make yourself a sex on the beach drink, seeing as how this book has so much sex in it. FYI the link takes you to recipe for the drink, not a bad picture site.
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I read this series a few years ago and can definitely relate to your feelings! I have the short story set related to the series, too, but haven't read it. I really enjoyed the series at the time, but now I don't know… I think I liked Satan. But I found some of the words pretentious in the fantasy setting. Like w'itch or whatever. SO aggravating.
I know! The world, the whole jewels things very clever. Even the mythology was well thought out and complex. I just..I don't know…felt dirty or something after reading it. It does get better once Janelle gets older, but heck, they all go through a rough time before it ends.
This book grossed me right out, for a lot of the same issues mentioned. I'd heard over and over and over again about how awesome this series was and personally I agree with you, I don't get the appeal. I don't know that I'll be reading any more of the series. Great review!
Hmmm. This one sounds like one that I can safely miss.