Daughter of the Blood

Black Jewels, Book 1

By: Anne Bishop

Narrated by: John Sharian

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, in which the weapons are hate and love - and the prize could be terrible beyond imagining.

©2007 Anne Bishop (P)2010 Penguin

Critic reviews

"Darkly mesmerizing...[a] fascinating, dark world.” (Locus)

“Lavishly sensual...a richly detailed world based on a reversal of standard genre cliches.” (Library Journal)

“Vividly painted...dramatic, erotic, hope-filled.” (Lynn Flewelling)

My favorite series!

I have read this book more times than I can count and it is amazing every time.

The new version is better

The book started slow and built to the end with the same thing as always. Love it so much more at the end
I'm sure you will never get there if you don't keep reading lol

Best series ever

This is 1st time listening to these books but 3rd time reading them. They're wonderful. The narrator isn't bad either.

great story

If you like supernatural type stories, you'll love this. Be mindful that there are a lot of moving parts so make mental notes. I look forward to the next in the series.

Up and down like the stock market

this book has it's strong points but it also has it's weak points the names can be confusing but over all it's pretty good

Wonderful

I had read the book before. With Audible, I enjoyed hearing each distinct character come to life.

promising start to the series

I found this book so entertaining that I kept taking wrong turns while trying to listen to it while driving. I found the characters really interesting and sympathetic. The world that Bishop creates is *almost* too complicated for my liking (I can never get into books where the world-building is more prominent than the actual plot - for example, LOTR). But I was mostly able to keep track of where we were and who was who. For me, the gold standard of any book is that I care what happens to the characters, and that was definitely the case here - I haven't worked up the energy to listen to the other books set in this world, but I've listened to all of the ones about Jaenelle and company. They only get better from here.

Wonderful Story ... Average Narration

If you could sum up Daughter of the Blood in three words, what would they be?

Delightfully engrossing story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Daughter of the Blood?

Many Jaenelle's encounters with Satan left me chuckling.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The voices John Sharian attempts to give to the characters waver and change, shifting between characters. This had frustrated me enough to cause me to nearly step away from what really was an excellent book. Beyond that he is a decent narrator, reading at a good pace and is generally nice to listen to, but the shift in voices really annoyed me.

Any additional comments?

This whole series is incredible and definitely worth the read. There are moments when I found myself laughing hysterically and times when I was crying sadly. Bishop spins a wonderful story that is full of twists, turns and surprises.

amazing dark fantasy

I loved this book and went immediately into book two. What a delightful gem of a tale.

Challenges The Imagination

I love fantasy, but this is not my usual type. I like Leigh Bardstown, and Sarah Maas. I tried this because of reviews. This is unlike any fantasy I've ever read. Wow, I wonder what this author is like in person. One reviewer questioned if the author was on drugs. I strongly disagree, she spins a story that requires the ability to totally suspend reality. At the same time these characters have all the usual human failures and triumphs, just exaggerated. I'm on to book 2 now!