Anne Bishop's "The Dark Jewels" trilogy

[Microwave0ven]

Has anyone read this series? It's a trilogy, consisting of "Daughter of the Blood", "Heir to the Shadows" and "Queen of the Darkness". There's also a prequel to the trilogy called "The Invisible Ring".

Essentially it's femdom in a fantasy sort of world, where males have a compulsion to serve females. Without giving all the spoilers, the basic idea is that there is a long-lived Queen who has started to corrupt the bond between males serving females. There is a promised woman who will come and she will be the Queen of Queens, and the characters are centered around her.

I personally highly recommend this series. I've seen on Amazon, and other book vendors, that this series is compared to the Kushiel series, which I haven't read yet. If anyone's interested, you can also pm me, because I have these four books (trilogy and prequel) as e-books, and I'd be happy to email them to you.

[sarijak02]

I second the recommendation for the series. I've only read the base trilogy and not the prequel, but it's very good, very dark in places and with some wonderful scenes and characters.

Mmm... Daemon

[Ruby]

I personally highly recommend this series. I've seen on Amazon, and other book vendors, that this series is compared to the Kushiel series, which I haven't read yet. If anyone's interested, you can also pm me, because I have these four books (trilogy and prequel) as e-books, and I'd be happy to email them to you.

* Ruby steps up to the soapbox and makes a request. *

MO and Others,

Please honor the copyrights of authors. Just because an e-book has been downloaded, doesn't mean that you have the right to e-mail it or share it with others.

Think of it as a paperback book. You bought one and can't copy it. If you give it to a friend, then it's no longer in your library.

If you receive an e-book like this, read and enjoy it, then do the author a favor and purchase a legitimate copy. Show them you like their work by sponsoring their efforts and don't think that they are getting rich off you, because they are not. In the paperback world, the author gets between 6-8% of the net take. In the e-book world, they get about 25-40%. You buy the book for $3.00, they might get 75 cents.

Here is the ownership clause on one of the books MO has mentioned.

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REG1STRADA

Printed in the United States of America

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Questions about the publishing industry? You know where to find me.

Thanks for taking the time to read and think about this issue.

Ruby

* steps off soabox and shakes hands with MO *

"MO, many thanks for letting me use this as an example."

Now back to comments and wonderful things to say about this series...

[jaeangel]

I've read them, have them, love them (I'm on my second copy of all three, might soon have to replace them again because they've gotten really worn. It's also why my pen name is Jaenelle Angelline.
I didn't think the Kushiel's Legacy trilogy is like the Dark Jewels trilogy. Kushiel's is a realistic fantasy world, and the main character is somewhat of a paid submissive (At least in the first book.) The stuff described in the books could easily be set in our own history, though the supernatural aspect (the gods and stuff mentioned) doesn't have a comparable equivalency in our history.
Now, in contrast, the Black Jewels definitely has a lot more of the supernatural element. I actually recommended these books to a female dominant Christian friend once, and she said thanks but no thanks when she found out about the whole Saetan, High Lord Of Hell thing. It didn't sit well with her fundamental Christian beliefs, so I've been careful who I recommended it to afterwards. And in my opinion, while the society is a matriarchal one, there's just as much responsibility on the males side as the female side.I've always thought that the book was a bit more of a realistic portrayal of what the Dominant/submissive relationship is like; there's responsibility on both sides. The Queen is responsible for the males in her court; the males, especially the Steward, First Escort, and Consort, have a responsibility to her as well, especially when she's vulnerable during her moontime.
That being said, yes, Daemon is a huge turnon. A Sadist at heart, but also someone who needs the control and discipline Jaenelle extends. And there's Lucivar: arrogant Eyrien prick that he is, he also needs the control Jaenelle extends; needs to serve as well as lead. Which is why he's a Warlord Prince. And Saetan. He rules Hell, for pity's sake; also rules a Territory in Kaeleer...and still he needs that close bond with a Queen; hence the failed marriages with Hekatah and Cassandra. Serve and be served; lead and be led. It's a delicate D/s dance, and I've never seen it portrayed better than in both trilogies of books. I love them both, though I don't have all the Kushiel's Legacy trilogy yet. I've read all three books, though. And I think I heard that the author has a book coming out about Imriel; I'll most definitely be looking for that one.
And oh, as a hopefully soon-to-be published ebook author, let me second Ruby's words; please don't pay to download the book and then pass it around freely. I'm hoping to start my writing career with the publication of my book 'Hell To Heaven'. The more people who buy my book and like it, the better my chances are for getting something else published later on and hopefully breaking into my chosen genre of mainstream adult fantasy/fiction eventually. I'd feel personally offended if someone did that for me; If Anne Bishop found out, she'd likely be just as upset...and she has more money to go and sue you for unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material!

[Microwave0ven]

Yes, I suppose I forgot to mention that in my original post... I personally think of it as lending the book out to friends, but I hope it's not a permanent lending. If you like 'em, buy 'em yourself. I bought my own copy of all of these books (and a few more) because I really enjoyed Anne Bishop's series [and will continue to support when i get an income of my own]. The books themselves don't cost much, especially if you buy them used online, or something. I got a set of 7 of Anne Bishop's books, almost in perfect condition, for around $30, which is pretty good.


While the story's characters are somewhat "skewed", having the bad guys of today (satan & co.) portrayed as good guys, as JaeAngel said, the relationship between the Queen and her Consort/Steward/subjects is an honorable one, and that's what I really like about the story. They all depend on each other, and are a part of each other.

Though I still don't quite get how a triangle has four sides..can someone explain that to me?...

[truckinnhorsin]

ahhhhhhhh love these books. i desperately need to go find them so i have all four in a solid form i can take with me when i go places :-D

she's definitely one of the best authors i've ever read.. .the only thing i would fault her for, is she doesnt develop enough of her characters very well.. but ah well. with everything else so ..... enrapturing.. i think i can handle that. lol

Teni

[jaeangel]

Though I still don't quite get how a triangle has four sides..can someone explain that to me?...

Hmm. Are you referring to a Blood triangle, the trangle of Queen/Consort Steward/Escort? or in the non-story context? In any case...pryamids are triangles, but they have four sides; four faces. Even in a two dimensional drawing, a triangle has four sides. The three you normally consider, and the space in the middle. Remember what they tell you in school when you get to the negative numbers? Even 0 is a number. So even empty space in the center of a triangle is a number.

[Microwave0ven]

Hmm. Are you referring to a Blood triangle, the trangle of Queen/Consort Steward/Escort? or in the non-story context? In any case...pryamids are triangles, but they have four sides; four faces. Even in a two dimensional drawing, a triangle has four sides. The three you normally consider, and the space in the middle. Remember what they tell you in school when you get to the negative numbers? Even 0 is a number. So even empty space in the center of a triangle is a number.

I see the linkage between the Blood Triangle, queen/consort/steward/escort. But in one of the books, forget which one, Tersa was drawing the triangle in Daemon's hand, so I was wondering how that worked..

So you're saying in a triangle, the 3 lines on the outside is 3 sides, and the fourth side is the space enclosed by the three sides is the fourth side?