Synopsis
Enter the dark and sensual realms of the Black Jewels, a world where power always has a price, in this sweeping story in the New York Times bestselling fantasy saga.
They are Warlord Princes, men born to serve and protect. They are the Queen’s Weapons, men born to destroy the Queen’s enemies–no matter what face that enemy wears.
Daemonar Yaslana knows how to be bossy yet supportive–traits he shares with his father, the Demon Prince, and his uncle, the High Lord of Hell. Within his generation of the family, he assumes the role of protector, supporting his sister Titian’s artistic efforts and curbing his cousin Jaenelle Saetien’s more adventurous ideas. But when a young Eyrien Queen, someone Titian thought was a friend, inflicts an emotional wound, Daemonar’s counterattack brings him under the tutelage of Witch, the Queen whose continued existence is known only to a select few.
As Daemonar is confronted by troubling changes within and around the family, he sees warnings that a taint in the Blood might be reappearing. Daemonar, along with his father and uncle, must uncover the source of a familiar evil–and Daemon Sadi, the High Lord of Hell, may be forced into making a terrible choice.
Review
Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series is a long-standing favorite of mine. Each of these now 11 books are long, deep dives into a world that is fantastically detailed and deliciously satisfying in every respect. And every one is, at its core, the familiar story of good versus evil–but turned on its head. For instance, characters like the Demon Prince and the High Lord of Hell are the heroes, wielding staggering power but paying a high price for it throughout their millennia-long lives. The ultimate power that rules them all, Witch, resides in the Darkness, the abyss.
What makes these books feel like falling into a familiar world is that as powerful as these characters are, they also juggle every-day concerns we can instantly relate to. Along with the attendant politics of ruling territories and following the strict protocols required when living in a society full of volatile passions and magical abilities, there are also business interests to mind, family drama to manage, young love to contend with, adolescent temper tantrums to weather, and puppies to coral. And, oh yeah. The puppies? They too have magical powers…just like the horses.
Most of all there is humor. Lots and lots of humor to counter-balance the sometimes flesh-crawling implications of the action which shies away from nothing (but is, blessedly, never rendered in graphic detail). Especially the High Lord of Hell, Daemon Sadi, who could destroy a world if he loses his mind (which he is frequently on the verge of doing), often shifts between being so threatening he fills rooms with arctic cold to being just another father wrapped around his daughter’s little finger and getting bossed around by his (magical) dog.
“Everything has a price” is the none-too-subtle theme of this series. And so it is. There is the price of power and the price of choices, and the new generation coming into its own in this book is learning this the hard way. The horrific battles their elders had to wage are now only centuries-old tales in dusty history books, easily pushed aside in favor of the safe and comfortable lives they lead. Very easy for some to romanticize the ways of old when power was readily abused for personal gains and to set about resurrecting said ways. And easy, too, for the naïve and innocent, such as the High Lord of Hell’s own daughter, to get caught in these schemes. Treachery and manipulation abounds and many have been destroyed or killed outright before the evil is unmasked. It is the familiar drama of high school cliques and bullies taken to a deadly, rampantly evil level.
Bishop is a master at spinning not suspense, but anticipation. There is no question that the heroes will triumph, that Witch will rise again, that awesome power of brutal justice will be unleashed upon the land, and that the High Lord of Hell’s clueless and obstinate daughter will learn just what papa and her uncle are truly capable of. These heroes are, after all, without equal. However, because the battle lines are so clearly drawn and the characters are so vividly rendered, the anticipation of it all coming to a head and the question of just what price they have to pay for that victory is breathtaking. With this book, as always, Bishop delivers with an emotional satisfaction quotient that is off the charts.