Anne Bishop

Reviewed by
Julie and Beth

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Anne Bishop won the William L. Crawford Memorial Fantasy Award for The Black Jewels Trilogy. Anne Bishop's novels will be produced in audio formats. Learn more at her website.

The Black Jewels — (1998– ) There will be at least one more Black Jewels novel and at least one more Black Jewels story collection published. Publisher: 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...

The first three are the original Black Jewels trilogy

The Black Jewels, Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness, The Invisible Ring, Dreams Made Flesh, Tangled Webs

Anne Bishop Black Jewels 6 7 The Shadow Queen

Daughter of the Blood

There was only one word for Anne Bishop's Daughter of the Blood (first volume of The Black Jewels series): Weird.

I was tempted to put it down several times simply on account of the grossness of several parts of it. Anne Bishop maybe doesn't care for the male gender all that much. If you ignore the grotesque scenes where men are brutally castrated or enslaved by having metal rings placed on their members which cause them intense pain, and can get through the extremely poorly written sex scenes, Daughter of the Blood was pretty good.

Through all of the negative points of Daughter, I really wanted to see how the end would turn out and was engaged by the main characters. Though confusing at first as the narrative jumps "worlds" or "realms," and after figuring out the links between characters and much of the terminology that is Bishop's style, the book does have a unique quality that, while gross and disturbing on many levels, was interesting to read nonetheless.

Overall, Daughter of the Blood was interesting, kept my attention, but definitely had a dark and sometimes disturbing or scary edge.
A fast read that is not fantasy meant for kids. —J.T.

Dreams Made Flesh: Won't win any new readers

I enjoyed Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy. I honestly did. And I liked the little stories in Dreams Made Flesh — especially the one about Lucivar. But if you haven't read Bishop's work before, I would not recommend picking this up. It's little more than relaxing, enjoyable fluff meant for folks who are already fans of The Black Jewels.

These are the stories that fans write fiction about because they desire so much to see them. Dreams Made Flesh isn't astounding literature...just good old, kick back, put your heels up, and munch on chocolate fluff stories. —B.J.

Anne Bishop, Tir Alainn, The Pillars of the World, Shadows and Light, The House of Gaian

Tir Alainn — (2001—2003) Publisher: The youngest in a long line of witches, Ari senses that things are changing—changing for the worse. For generations, her kin have tended the Old Places, keeping the land safe and fertile. But with the Summer Moon, the mood of her neighbors has soured. And Ari is no longer safe. The Fae have long ignored what occurs in the mortal world, passing through on their shadowy roads only long enough to amuse themselves. But the roads are slowly disappearing, leaving the Fae Clans isolated and alone. Where harmony between the spiritual and the natural has always reigned, a dissonant chord now rings in the ears of both Fae and mortal. And when murmurs of a witch-hunt hum through the town, some begin to wonder if the different omens are notes in the same tune. And all they have to guide them is a passing reference to something called the Pillars of the World...

The Pillars of the World

I loved Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy so much. But it took me a long time to pick up The Pillars of the World, because it just didn't sound terribly appealing.

And it wasn't appealing in the least. The one character I did like was portrayed as a cold, possessive jerk by the end of the book. The mysterious Lucien is shunted aside for the "sweet" Neall who has about as much depth as a puddle. And Ari, as a heroine, is a joke. There was nothing to like about her at all. The Fae storyline was tragically typical. They're arrogant and uncaring, so now their world is disappearing. Can't we have some Fae that aren't high and mighty? The only thing truly interesting about them was their positions which coincided with gods of ancient Greek and Roman myth, and their ability to turn into an animal representative of that.

Anne Bishop is a great writer, but you couldn't tell by reading The Pillars of the World. It had none of the dark, edgy feeling of her Black Jewels novels and feels like a cop out, as well as a whack over the head with strong feminist beliefs and the Wiccan religion. —B.J.

The Ephemera Duology — (2006-2007) Publisher: Long ago, Ephemera was split into a dizzying number of magical lands-connected only by bridges that may take you where you truly belong, rather than where you had intended to go. In one such land, where night reigns and demons dwell, the half-incubus Sebastian revels in dark delights. But in dreams she calls to him: a woman who wants only to be safe and loved-a woman he hungers for while knowing he may destroy her.And an even more devastating destiny awaits him, for an ancient evil is stirring-and Sebastian's realm may be the first to fall.

Sebastian

It always saddens me when an author I thought was good turns out to be...well, not so good. I was willing to forget about Anne Bishop's previous trilogy (Tir Alainn) and go into Sebastian with her original Black Jewels Trilogy in mind. This just was not a good book. It was not a fantasy novel, so much as a romance novel with some fantasy concepts. And they are interesting concepts, as Bishop's often are (although a bit confusing until you get far enough into the book to make the right connections). But she seems to have no idea how to truly utilize them. The balance between fantasy and romance is horribly off kilter, with romance winning out.

It's your typical soulmates-meet-each-other-and-fall-in-love-without-knowing-each-other type of romance. The kind that makes my head hurt. If the characters were better one might be able to root for the romance, but they're not. First is Sebastian, your typical dark, brooding bad boy with a bad past etc, etc. Now, I am as much a fan of this type as a number of other women, but Anne Bishop has too many of them in her stories and they used to be a whole lot better than this. While not entirely unlikable, Sebastian just isn't terribly interesting. Been there, done that. Making him a half-incubus really does nothing to add to his appeal, either.

Lynnea is irritating as hell. I'm not asking for every female lead to be headstrong and tough as nails, but she's SO sweet and SO innocent and SO naive that it made me want to puke. And then, somewhere in the middle of Bishop trying to balance her elements, Lynnea takes the time (largely “off screen”) to turn into this tough little sex kitten. Huh? That sure came out of left field.

Some of the other characters are mildly interesting. Glorianna Belladonna (a nominee for Most Ridiculous Name Ever in the Fantasy Genre) is just like Jaenelle from the Black Jewels Trilogy: powerful beyond all others like her, hated and feared by almost every other person, an outsider who takes the burden of the whole world on her shoulders. The only difference being that Bishop actually goes into Glorianna's mind, making her motivations a bit easier to understand. Teaser, Sebatian's incubus friend, has the potential to be a lot of fun but that potential isn't realized. Glorianna's brother Lee is a source of some amusement, because the two of them have a decent dynamic together.

Overall, though, it was simply a mess, plagued by A Strong Need to Use Pretty Words: ephemera, aurora, sanctuary, belladonna, etc. Too romancy and slightly ridiculous, too. I'd read Belladonna (though I wouldn't pay hardcover price; nor did I on Sebastian) out of curiosity. Which