Tangled Web - Anne Bishop
July 27th 2010 02:44
Tangled Web Cover
Returning to a world recovering from the dramatic climax of the Black Jewel Trilogy Anne Bishop reintroduces us to many faces familiar from her ground breaking trilogy.
After hearing how the landen children believe the Blood live, Janelle Angelline comes up with the idea to create a "spooky" house as an entertainment during the Autumn harvest festivals. Talking her sister-in-law Marian into assisting her, Janelle sets about using the landens believes - mice and rats in the walls, cobwebs hanging over the staircases - to create the entertainment, much to Hearth Witch Marians horror.
Recovering from the climax of Queen of Darkness, Janelle has married Damon Sadi, and is settling into a much quieter life than she led as Witch.
Much to her families horror Janelle moves forwards with her plans to create the spooky house, ignoring both Husband and Father's plea's to find a better alternative.
A formally written invitation, reminiscent of Dorothea Sa Diablo arrives at the home of both Lucivar and Damon, as well as Surreal demanding their presence at a special viewing of the spooky house. When only Surreal and her escort turn up, they invite a group of landen children to accompany them. It is not until they are inside the house that the trap slips shut and they soon discover they can't use their powers inside the house without closing an exit permanently.
Chased by the demon dead and the tangled webs of Black Widows who are also trapped within the house, Surreal and her escort try to find a way out of the spooky house, and to safely deliever the children out of harms way.
Janelle notices the invitation to Damon and promptly descends into depths of power that no one expected her to still have. As Damon realises he faces Witch and not his wife, he also realises something is terribly wrong with the invitation.
Janelle and Damon descend on the house and try to plan a way to go in and get everyone out alive. Lucivar, who has been instructed by Damon to "stay home" arrives riding the Killing Edge of an Eyrian Warlord Prince and smashes his way into the house, and it's then the fun really begins for those who would set themselves against Damon and his family.
After the success of the Black Jewel trilogy it must be extremely tempting for a writer to stay with a known formula. I bought this book in an airport news agents and was slightly hesitant to read it, having loved the original trilogy so much. But Anne Bishop triumphs where many other authors fail.
This is a fresh story, with familiar characters. Reading Tangled Web is like slipping into a warm bath. It's comforting, familiar and leaves the reader completely satisfied.
Tangled Web is not part of The Black Jewel Trilogy but is a true cousin to the first three books.
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