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Daughter of the Blood (Black Jewels, Book 1) by [Anne Bishop]

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Anne Bishop

Daughter of the Blood (Black Jewels, Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Anne Bishop (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

949 ratings

Book 1 of 11: Black Jewels

In the first novel in New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s beloved Black Jewels Trilogy, a race of witches and warlocks whose power is channeled through magical jewels will meet their once and future queen…

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 Kingdom 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 influence—and corruption.

Whoever controls the Queen controls the darkness. Three men—sworn enemies—know this. And they know the power that hides behind the blue eyes of an innocent young girl. And so begins a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic and betrayal, where the weapons are hate and love—and the prize could be terrible beyond imagining...

Print length

388 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Roc
Publication date

March 1, 1998
Reading age

18 years and up
File size

3776 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Daughter of the Blood

“A terrific writer...the more I read, the more excited I became because of the freshness of [her] take on the usual high fantasy setting, the assurance of [her] language, all the lovely touches of characterization that [she slips] in so effortlessly.”—Charles de Lint

“Darkly mesmerizing...[a] fascinating, dark world.”—Locus

“Lavishly sensual...a richly detailed world based on a reversal of standard genre cliches.”—Library Journal

“Vividly painted...dramatic, erotic, hope-filled.”—Lynn Flewelling

“Intense...erotic, violent, and imaginative. This one is white-hot.”—Nancy Kress

“A uniquely realized fantasy filled with vibrant colors and rich textures. A wonderful new voice, Ms. Bishop holds us spellbound from the very first page.”—RT Book Reviews

“Mystical, sensual, glittering with dark magic.”—Terri Windling, coeditor of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror

“Dark, morbid, sinister, and yet it holds you completely fascinated and spellbound by its beauty...One of the most original and readable books in the fantasy genre.”—The 11th Hour

About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop is a winner of the William L. Crawford Memorial Fantasy Award, presented by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, for The Black Jewels Trilogy. She is also the author of the Ephemera series, the Tir Alainn trilogy, and the Novels of the Others—including Etched in Bone, Marked in Flesh, Vision in Silver, Murder of Crows, and Written in Red. She lives in upstate New York.

Amazon.com Review

Anne Bishop's debut novel, Daughter of the Blood, is like black coffee--strong, dark, and hard on delicate stomachs. Within the Blood (a race of magic-users), women rule and men serve, but tradition has been corrupted so that women enslave men, who seek to destroy their oppressors. Female children are violated before they can reach maturity; men are tortured and forced to satisfy witches' sexual appetites.

Bishop's child heroine, Jaenelle, is destined to rule the Blood, if she can reach adulthood. Her power is hidden; her family believes her mad. Saetan, High Lord of Hell and most powerful of the Blood males, becomes Jaenelle's surrogate father and teacher. He cannot protect her outside Hell, where he rules. She refuses to leave Terreille, risking herself to protect or heal other victims of violence. Can Daemon, Saetan's estranged son, keep her safe from the machinations of the evil High Priestess? Or will he lose his battle to control his destructive urges and endanger her?

Readers may find some aspects of Bishop's world confusing; not least that most of the good guys live in Hell. But her protagonists are compelling, sympathetic characters who overcome terrible adversity. If you like Anne Rice or Laurell K. Hamilton, try this one. --Nona Vero --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Library Journal

The prophecy of a coming Queen destined to shake the foundations of the Dark Kingdom heralds a war of intrigue and Machiavellian politics as three rivals seek control over the innocent young girl fated to ascend to greatness. Lavishly sensual and overtly erotic, Bishop's fantasy debut features a richly detailed world based on a reversal of standard genre cliches of light and darkness. Fans of Tanith Lee's Flat Earth series may appreciate this adults-only series opener. Large libraries may want to consider for their fantasy collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN : B000Q9EXYE
Publisher : Roc (March 1, 1998)
Publication date : March 1, 1998
Language : English
File size : 3776 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 388 pages
Lending : Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #27,968 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #518 in Dark Fantasy Horror
- #554 in Dark Fantasy
- #558 in Coming of Age Fantasy

Customer Reviews:
949 ratings

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3 star		7%
2 star		3%
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Kellie

TW: THIS BOOK IS VERY, VERY DARK

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2017

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READ WITH CAUTION. THERE IS QUITE A BIT OF RAPE, CHILD RAPE (AND OTHER BLATANT PEDOPHILIA), INCEST, AND GRAPHIC VIOLENCE IN THIS BOOK. I think the premise is interesting, and I definitely enjoy dark subject matter, but the author seems to hit you over and over with rape because apparently it is extremely prevalent in this world. This is not a book to read if you are sensitive or a trauma survivor.
Also, several people have said that if you're a fan of Jacqueline Carey you'll be a fan of this series, but I personally think that the two authors aren't all that similar. I have read Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy and Naamah Trilogy more times than I can count and though the subject matter between that series and this one are loosely matched, I believe that Jacqueline's books have MUCH more world and character building, along with politics, intrigue, and adventure. If that's what draws you to Jacqueline's books (like me) then this series may not do it for you. If you're familiar with the Kushiel's Legacy series, then the level of intensity of this book is around the level of Daršanga, but for the whole book. I haven't decided if I'm going to continue on with this series or stop after this first book because all the pedophilia is really squicking me out, but I am curious about how the plot will turn out.
So, in conclusion, just read with caution.

63 people found this helpful

Helpful

MrsLeif

There is violence

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2020

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The Others is one of my favorite fantasy series. I've been meaning to read the Black Jewels but for lack of time, I couldn't do it until now.

The one thing I love about the Daughter of the Blood is the 4 main characters.

We have a young girl, Jaenelle who has magical powers who can become the most powerful Witch. She is innocent and has been able to make many friends in different realms. She is not aware of how much power she has, so she does things her own way. Jumping from region to another one using magic without her family being aware. She's so powerful that little things magically speaking don't come easy for her, to the point that her family in Terreille thinks she's without much of a gift.

Second, we have Daemon Sadi SaDiablo, one of the two princes, sons of Saetan. He is terrifying in his "coldness". For centuries, he has been forced to live as a pleasure slave. A pleasure slave that hates being used this way but who sometimes uses it to his advantage when it's necessary. He has a Ring of Obedience which is used to hurt him by Queen Dorothea.

Third, we have Lucivar, the other son. Also a slave in another region. He's less dangerous than Daemon but has a bad temper. Sometimes, he wants to stop the pain but he hopes that someday, he could serve a Queen who deserves it.

Last, we have Saetan Daemon SaDiablo, the High Lord of Hell. He was forced to leave his two sons in the hands of an evil woman who wanted nothing else than to cause him pain and destroy his kids' will in the process.

Jaenelle, a young girl will be the catalyst for these 3 powerful men to dedicate their lives to love her and protect her.

I enjoyed the storyline but I do have to mention, there were plenty of scenes that were hard to read. Most of them involved rape, sexual abuse, and torture. If you can't stomach it, please skip this book.

I'm intrigued enough by the story, to continue reading the next book in this series.

Cliffhanger: Yes

3/5 Fangs

18 people found this helpful

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A. Ludwig

Amazing stories and writing with some seriously dark subjects

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2017

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I put in Explicit Sexual Content not because there are sex scenes but because there are some really touchy sex-related subjects in these books. Be aware--these are NOT erotica or even romantica. Incredibly well-written, but touching on child abuse, rape, slavery, and a WHOLE slew of other landmines. This is true of most, if not all, of her writing. If you aren't mature enough (or you don't think your child is), don't read this series until you are.

And because I am me, the editing is pretty awesome. If you look hard enough, you can always find mistakes as everyone involved in a book is human, but these were minor and rarely if ever knocked me out of the story enough to notice them.

42 people found this helpful

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NinthAtPine

Not what I was expecting...

Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2017

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I was introduced to Anne Bishop through her Others series and loved it, so I started looking for other books by her. I found the black jewels series and saw all the high reviews and jumped right in.
I'm not overly squeamish and usually don't mind dark or violent books. But I couldn't finish this book... I didn't even manage to get very far into it and I have an almost obsessive need to know what happens next, even with books I don't really care for. I kept thinking I'll just get past this part so I can enjoy the rest of the book, but I gave up when I realized sex and violence (usually at the same time) was going to be a pretty prevalent theme throughout the book.
Since I didn't finish the book, I didn't feel it was completely fair to give it a low review so I gave it 3 stars. I'm sure it has some redeeming qualities and may very well be the great book the majority of the readers say it is, but I couldn't force myself to continue reading past the non-stop, explicit sexual abuse to find out.

27 people found this helpful

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booksy

I'm torn over this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2019

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On the one hand, the world-building in this book is very good; maybe a bit too complex, too early on. The first part of the novel was a bit of a struggle, trying to work out what the different territories were without context (a map would have helped) and also how the Jewel hierarchy worked. Even though there was a list of Jewels, in order, at the front of the book, it wasn't that clear immediately how people used them/moved beyond their birthright Jewel and suchlike. However, the writing is very good and I persevered, and it does click into place. For some reason, though, I didn't find myself particularly engaging with any of the characters. Many are extremely unlikable and obvious 'baddies', but even the characters who are meant to be good aren't that likeable and felt somehow one-dimensional. Janelle, the 'special' child at the centre of the plot is just that - a child, and not one who seems to have much to her, apart from her ability to perform next-level magic without any training.

The world the author has created is complex enough that it should have felt like a fulfilling read but compared, say, to Sarah J Maas, the plot didn't feel that it was moving forward very well. When I'm in the middle of a book I love, I find myself thinking about it even when I'm not reading it, and I can't wait to pick it up. At times, I felt that I was forcing myself to read on. I should also say, as others have, that this will definitely not be the book for you if material concerning rape, abuse, paedophilia and torture are likely to be triggering. Now to qualify that because, really, who loves reading about these topics, they are handled well within the context of the book, and aren't gratuitous; a lot is hinted at. The whole system of control and rule the author has built means that both men and women have become very distrustful of each other. Powerful women - the witches and Queens - attempt to control powerful men by using 'rings of obedience' which are attached to the genitals, and send bolts of pain to the region if the men step out of line. At the same time, men of the Blood attempt to break young girls before they come into their birthright power by 'spearing' them in a way that causes distress (and the fracturing of their minds) on their virgin nights. Bit of a spoiler ahead now, so stop reading if you don't want to find out more ....

While I could handle the system of power and control the writer had set up, the one thing I found very distasteful was Daemon's relationship/feelings towards Janelle. At the time when Daemon (a powerful, ringed male) meets Janelle properly, she is twelve years old. Although Daemon is a 'pleasure slave' to powerful queens and witches, he is unable to have full sex, due to the ring which, it appears, keeps him in a flaccid state (this was something I didn't entirely 'get' - if they're going to have pleasure slaves, why limit what they can do!) However, even though Janelle is just a child, Daemon believes she is the lover he's been waiting for, as she is Witch (a powerful Queen/Witch whose coming was prophesied 700 years earlier). Daemon begins to have 'stirrings' if Janelle brushes against him and, clearly, he feels a sexual draw to her, even though he reins this in. Personally, I found this distasteful, as it was a main character having these feelings. It's even worse bearing in mind Daemon is one of the long-lived peoples (I'm not sure how old he is supposed to be, but he's clearly been knocking around for a thousand years plus!) It's one thing that the 'baddies' are engaging in such behaviour, but when you hear one character say to the other, re Daemon, than he's unlikely to be able to 'resist her twelve year old body', that's a big no-no for me. I would have far preferred the relationship between Daemon and Janelle - and the hint of potential future romance - if she'd been, say, seventeen or eighteen. I know that's not the way the Black Jewels world has been set up to work (and virgin nights are had younger), but I feel there could have been a way for Witch to come into the novel with a bit more maturity on her side, while still retaining her naivety.

In conclusion, I'm not really sure how I feel about this series. I can't say I'm chomping at the bit to go onto book two - and, as a heads-up, this is definitely not a stand-alone book. You'll need to read the rest to find out what happens. I'm hoping that everything is tied up within the first three books; it's described as a 'trilogy' but I see there are a LOT more than just three books in the Black Jewel series. I probably will give the second book a try at some point, but this world definitely hasn't grabbed me in the way a lot of other fantasy settings have. It's well-written, hugely imaginative but, for some reason, fell a little flat for me.

2 people found this helpful

Emma Ansell

WARNING FOR RAPE AND PAEDOPHILIA. Good book but not excellent.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 22, 2017

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I bought Daughter of the Blood because it is so often recommended in the same breath as Sharon Shinn and Jaqueline Carey, both of whom leave me breathless.

This is a good book, but it is not an excellent book. The world building is interesting and the system of power (based on the “jewel” that a person receives at birth, and then the “jewel” that they later receive at a later date) is fascinating – really this is one of this book’s great strengths.

The premise is solid, if somewhat cliché (but who doesn’t enjoy a bit of cliché in their fantasy? Clichés are often popular for a reason). This is a matriarchal land, in which a system that used to function as a meritocracy has been sabotaged and corrupted by a power-mongering Queen who has systematically eradicated any who might stand against her and continues to purge herself of potential rivals through destroying any young girls born to powerful jewels. The true Queen (or Witch, as she’s called) is prophesised to appear and set things to right.

One of the main problems that stopped me from enjoying this book as much as I might have is that the Witch is not a character that the reader can really empathise with at all. I hesitate to say it, but she is at times reminiscent of a Mary Sue: exceedingly powerful, infinitely wise whilst still a child, and just immediately able to complete feats of great power with little to no instruction.

I would also warn any potential readers that this is a book that has instance upon instance of rape and of paedophilia. In fact, much of the plot is based upon these two things as it is the means by which the evil Queen breaks the “jewels” of potential characters. Please do bear that in mind. It also includes torture of male genitalia.

Overall, it’s the sort of book that pulls you through whilst reading it, but once finished I was undecided as to whether I wanted to buy the sequel.

8 people found this helpful

Chrissy’s Book Shelf

Captivating and Dark Fantasy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2021

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This isn’t the first time I’ve read this book and it certainly won’t be the last. It’s enthralling and deep, with many layers to explore with each reading. However, it is a dark tale, and there are scenes of torture and sexual assault.

Set in a world with many layers of realms bound together by webs of magic, powered by jewels held by the Blood, is a story of tortured and desperate members of the long lived races bound together by the hope of a better world.

Daemon is bound to service to the priestess Dorothea and has been for the last 1,700 years. Forced to service her fellow priestesses or face her wrath and the binding that wraps him in torment if he disobeys. Still he would retaliate if it wasn’t for his brother, Lucivar, a man similarly bound and controlled by another priestess. Lucivar isn’t as powerful as his brother but he has a strength of will that matches. Together they could destroy all around them so they are always kept apart.

After their very long lives they start to feel despair of never being free when they catch glimpses of a boundless power, that of Witch, emerging into the world. All their hopes are bound up in the ideal of Witch, the unparalleled force of dreams made flesh. In order to gain freedom for themselves and their world from the darkness that has infected it for centuries they need to find and protect her mortal form.

This tale weaves around multiple points of view, mainly between Daemon and his father, Saeten, the High Lord of Hell, who has been waiting for 50,000 years for Witch, the foretold daughter of his soul. Saeten was forbidden from raising his son so they cannot support each other in their search for, and support of Witch. There is a delicate dance between them and a longing for the familial love long denied them.

The other character who tells her story is Surreal, a woman who was the product of rape and raised herself up from the years on the streets selling her teenaged body to survive. Now she is a sought after courtesan and master assassin. Tied to Daemon with bonds of gratitude and past friendship wrapped in guilt for the pain she unwittingly inflicted on him decades ago. She too, longs to cleanse the world of the darkness Dorothea has spread throughout the Blood, the magic users who should protect and nurture and instead hurt and maim.

All these characters are wonderfully detailed and captivating. The story crafted around them is enticing and delicately draws you into the web the author weaves. They are gently placed in a wonderfully constructed world and each page reveals more detail to enrapture.

This is a wonderfully dark world that draws you in until you reach the end of the book and emerge with eyes blinking into the light.

Buglebead

Too dark for me.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

I came to this having read Bishop's series about 'The Others' which I thoroughly enjoyed. This is much darker. Her ability to build worlds is still excellent, but I found the grisly content too much. Whereas in the 'Others' Bishop places a childlike innocence into some of the adults, here it is the children who are the victims. The plot kept me turning pages, but the last chapter was so awful I do not feel able to continue with the series.

2 people found this helpful

Smileygirl

Amazing series - dark and heart wrenching put unputdownable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

This series is something else, I have since gone on to read just about all of the related spin offs. It is very dark for what I took to be a young adult series, none of the lead characters have easy lives, living under the vicious and sadistic regime of magic users who have perverted the intended use for their gifts. Really you have to read these books yourself, I would put them on a level with Anne Bishop's Written in Red for world building, character building and the way they just pull you in. These books feel real and even when you're horrified by what's happening you're desperate to read more. In this book Jaenelle who is Witch, Dreams made Flesh, and who it is prophesied will bring about a regime change and restore the rightful order when (and if) she comes into power is only a girl. In spite of the part of her that is WItch and ancient, she has incredible powers but little understanding of them, she is the hope of many people and many races in all the realms but the book focuses particularly on three men who have been waiting her prophesied arrival and the regime change she will bring about with a desperate hope. They will do anything to keep her alive until she can mature into her powers, but one man in particular is afraid that the greatest danger to her may be himself.

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