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Strong women and strong men  2009-09-09 12:38:55

By Belkira

I first picked this book up by chance at a local bookstore. I was looking for something long that I could engage myself in. I hate reading short books, especially if they're really really good, because I'm always a little sad when they're over, so I wanted a story that would last. This book taught me that even long books can be too short.

In Anne Bishop's world, you'll find strong men, strong women, and the intricate dance that hold them all together. The extrodinary characters are known as "the Blood," and they are born with certain powers and a birthright Jewel. As they reach maturity they "make the offering to the Darkness" and are gifted with even stronger jewels. The strongest jewel is the Black, and there are only a few people gifted with Black Jewels, one of which is the High Lord of Hell, Saetan. The other is Hayll's whore, a sadistic bastard named Daemon SaDiablo who was forced into sexual slavery at a young age, but who remains impotent. Sounds like a bit much, no? Yeah, I thought so, too, at first. But Bishop does such a wonderful job of fleshing her characters out and making you care about them, I couldn't put the books down.

This trilogy is the story of a very young witch named Jaenelle. Jaenelle isn't just any old witch. She is Witch (notice the capital?). Her birthright jewel is the Black, which is completely unheard of. She is the strongest Witch ever dreamed of, and wouldn't you know it, her familily is afraid of her and doesn't know her true potential. But that's ok, because she finds a friend in Saetan and a while slew of other colorful characters, including the Kindred: anmials gifted with Jewels and able to cast limited spells and speak with humans.

Ok, so I don't think I'm doing a great job with this review. But if you love strong characters, magic, sexual tension, and talking animals, these books are extremely good. I have read this trilogy no less than a dozen times, and I fall in love with the characters all over again, every single time.

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