Heir To The Shadows by Anne Bishop
March 21st 2010 06:13
Heir To The Shadows Book 2 The Black Jewel Trilogy Cover
"The blood have waited centuries for the coming of Witch, the living embodiment of magic. But Janelle, the young girl prophecy spoke of, is haunted by cruel battles fought over her future power. For not all the Blood await her as saviour. Some dismiss her as myth. Some refuse to believe. And some would use her, making her a puppet to their whims."
Book Two of the Black Jewel trilogy opens with a comatose Janelle, watched over by Cassandra, the last Black Jewel Queen and Saetan, High Lord of Hell, Cassandra's past consort and the most powerful male the Blood have produced.
Heir to the Shadows moves into the realms of darker magic and political intrigue, as the girl, so badly damaged by those who want her power for their own use, struggles to recover from the attack that concluded Daughter of the Blood.
Sadi, the pleasure slave is also haunted by the night at Cassandras Altar, his memory fragmented from following Witch deep into her own power. Surreal, assasin and whore has taken Sadi away from those who are trying to hunt the rogue down, struggling against the tide as Sadi edges closer and closer to the Twisted Kingdom.
With the spilling of Janelles blood, the streets of Challiott are in a state of confusion as the backlash of her dark, powerful magic has either broken back or destroyed most of the blood who live on the Island Kiingdom. All that remains of Janelle at Cassandra's Altar is a blood soaked rag. The blood of a dark witch pulsing with fear, pain and anger.
Prince Alexander, consort to Janelle's Grandmother delivers the rag to Lucivar and when Sadi escapes from Surreal's protections a clash between the two half brothers leaves one swearing revenge and the other fighting for his sanity amongst the twisted world of the Crystal Kingdom.
Heir to the Shadows shows both a softer and more violent side to the story. The colt-like girl child, recovering from her own journey into the Twisted Kingdom, tentatively reaching out to long-lost friends, wanting to belong but already knowing her power far outstrips anything the Blood has witnessed before. Saetan, who has become Janelles Guardian fights to give the Daughter of his Soul the opportunity to be young and to enjoy friendship and innocence for as long as he can.
And all the while, the missing side of the blood Triangle, The Lover, destroys himself in guilt and fear as he tries to remember a night none of them will ever forget.
When the cloaks fall from Janelles mind, Lucivar sends a warning to Saetan, it is simply and poignant. "She remembers Damian, and she's pissed." It is this warning that brings the memories of the night at Cassandras Altar to a head and creates an opportunity not only for Janelle, but for all who love her to heal, to acknowledge the sacrifices they've all made over the thousands of years they've waited, and most of all to accept and embrace the pull of the darkness that sings through her blood.
Fantasy series invariably have a weak "chapter" and invariably it is the second book. The first setting the story, the third bringing it to a conclusion and the second laying down further groundwork. This, the second book in the Black Jewel Trilogy is not the weak chapter. This series does not have a weak chapter.
The promise held in the words and pages of the first book, flowers into a terrifyingly innocent and erotic beauty in Book Two. This series barrells along at a crack neck pace, never letting the reader down. Anne Bishop in her second Black Jewel Book leaves the audience desperate to reach for Book Three and the terrifying conclusions only hinted at in Book Two.
Anne Bishops Black Jewel Trilogy is available in bookstores and also at Amazon.com. For more reviews check out Heir To The Shadows page at Amazon.
Heir To The Shadows.
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