Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #169514 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From the Publisher
Praise for DAUGHTER OF THE BLOOD by Anne Bishop
"Mysterical, sensual, glittering with dark magic, Anne Bishop's debut novel brings a strong new voice to the fantasy field."
-- Terri Windling, co-editor of YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR

"Vividly painted...dramatic, erotic, hope-filled. A promising debut."
--Lynn Flewelling, author of STALKING DARKNESS

"Anne Bishop is a terrific writer. I loved this book!"
-- Charles deLint

Customer Reviews

an enthralling read
make no mistake, this is a very dark book that doesn't flinch from the cruelties, inhumanities and sheer wickedness that might exist in the world (any world, including our own), but at its heart it is a story of love, trust and the hope of redemption. Bishop delineates an amazing universe without ever getting bogged down in unecessary details so that it is the setting rather than the story itself. In a world out of control and spiralling to destruction because of the greed, lust and ambition of its ruling castes, a hope is born in the child Jaenelle. Born to wear the most powerful black jewels she is both child and woman, human and other, innocence and power. Her mentors are Saetan, the high lord of Hell, and his violent and beautiful son Daemon, seductive and dangerous, who finds his own saviour in his tender love for Jaenelle.

I completely understand how some people have hated this book because it does deal with uncomfortable subjects (rape, paedophilia, torture) but I think this is essential to the story which is one which deals with both good and evil where the stakes are high. The end is both incredibly tense and yet also heartbreaking and leaves you desperate to read the next volume (of the trilogy).

The characters are both familiar and yet new and the nuances between the three dangerous males and their relationship with Jaenelle (father, brother, lover) both subtle and telling. Daemon might be a kind of replay of the tortured, dark hero of gothic and romantic fiction, but pushed to the exremes that lesser writers wouldn't dare go to.

This might not be to everyone's taste, but it is a brave and brilliant read, completely captivating and written in jewelled prose that will seduce you if you allow it to.

Do buy the one-book trilogy though both because it's far cheaper and also because you really won't want to wait before reading the next two volumes. Dreams made Flesh, short stories that fill out some of the back story and gaps is also available but to me lacks the sheer emotional power of the original trilogy.

"Black Jewels Trilogy" book 1
I reviewed the three books in the Black Jewels series as a trilogy when I first read it over three years ago; and since rereading it for the fifth time or so I'll try a little harder to explain why this book (and its two sequels) is so wonderful.

"Daughter of the Blood" begins with a prophecy that "Witch" will come to the realms, a prophecy that keeps alive the dreams and survival instincts of three strong males for over seven hundred years before she makes her appearances to each. To Saetan, the High Lord of Hell she will be the beloved daughter of his soul, to his son Lucivar she will become a cherished sister and to his other (living) son Daemon Sadi, she will become the lover he has dreamed he was born for.

AB has created a world of three realms; Terreille (the land of the living), Kaeleer (the isolated Shadow Realm now believed to be nothing more than myth) and Hell (the Dark Realm in which the demon dead dwell). In each of these lands different species reside; normal humans (Ladens), several long lived races such as the winged Eyrians and various ranks of the Blood, which include humans and long lived races able to wield the powers of a jewel; the darker the jewel the greater their power. The Blood are the caretakers of the Realms, created to protect the land and people by using the powers available to them through a coloured jewel which denotes their psychic strength. At the top of the hierarchy is the Queen, to whom all serve; normally a witch who wears a dark jewel; however only two males have ever worn the most powerful jewel of all; the black (Saetan and Daemon). Yet the delicate laws of the Blood, those protocols which allow strong Warlords to lovingly serve a Queen, and the Queen to accept and use the strength of her volatile Warlords rather than fear what they are capable of has become warped. This taint to the Blood is spreading throughout Terreille and soon enters both the Shadow and Dark Realms as two evil women (Heketah and Dorothea) seek power throughout all the territories. Now young witches (any female able to wear a jewel) are abused on their virgin nights (severing them from their power) and in turn frightened females control powerful Blood males with the "ring of obedience" placed on a certain part of a male's anatomy which channels pain to control. Lucivar and Saetan have spent the majority of their long lives ringed; abused mentally and physically and exploited sexually in the various courts they have served in; however their spirits have not been broken. Yet beaten and in pain Lucivar cries to the night, begging for a friend and a Queen he can willingly serve and is finally answered by his long awaited prophesised Queen; not just a witch with dark jewels, but Witch; the physical embodiment of dreams made flesh. He just never expected her to be only seven years old.

Jaenelle is pretty much ignored by her family and left emotionally battered by their disbelief when she talks of the people she has met in mythical lands. So adamant are they that this is just her imagination at work, a result of her inability to wear a jewel, Jaenelle too begins to doubt her own mind. Sent to Briarwood, an institute catering to those aristocratic young women who are highly strung and deemed emotionally unstable; almost all of Jaenelle's family remain unaware of the "treatments" available at Briarwood; a place where a man could glut himself on young virgin flesh with no repercussion.

Connected by their love for a young child and her potential to heal the Blood, Saetan, Daemon, Lucivar and other unique friends of Jaenelle strive to protect their burgeoning Queen, a girl already powerful enough to pose a significant threat to Heketah and Dorothea. With their deadly reputations Saetan and Daemon view each other as the possible greatest threats against Jaenelle; amid the political battles and acts of treachery taking place to either secure the powers of a black jewelled Queen or else destroy them by the simplest method available; brutal rape. As Jaenelle battles for the lives of those trapped in Briarwood; Saetan and Daemon find themselves fighting for the life of their Queen.

Richly drawn characters; the deadly and magical feats these individuals are capable of and the subtle humour found as Jaenelle remains oblivious to the chaos she has brought into the lives of the three most powerful men alive run heavily throughout "Daughter of the Blood" and create a beautiful reading experience despite the brutality of the end. I can only hope my review has done some justice to the darkly complex storyline and urge you to throw yourself into AB's twisted world; continuing with "Heir to the Shadows" and "Queen of the Darkness".

Simon Brooke is right
This is a truly horrifying book, and it is a truly amazing read.
This is my first review and i am writing it because i feel it is not only neccesary to warn readers but also to encourage them.
My main warning is do not read if you think a book of this kind may trigger you!
This is the darkest fantasy novel i have ever read and the first that made me feel sick and want to put it down constantly - not through disgust but through tension.
The world that these characters inhabit is very well weaved they have a solid beautiful society based upon darkness that is balanced upon a knifes edge. This book is about that word put in a spin.
Janelle is a child and not a child. She is learning her place in her world. Unfortuatly her world is corrupt and she is sent for 'treatment' as she is supposedly emosionaly unstable. The fact that she is probably the only person who can help is absolutly missed by her family. So she finds her own who do understand her. Saetan, Daemon and Lucivar,who give her love and affection and teach her the craft that she needs to know. These people guide her and love her but in the end the question comes down to whether they can protect her?