I like the Black Jewels Trilogy. its just.. VERY good.
The Black Jewels
* Daughter of the Blood, March 1998
* Heir to the Shadows, April 1999
* Queen of the Darkness, January 2000
* The Invisible Ring, October 2000
* Dreams Made Flesh, January 2005
* Tangled Webs, March 2008
* The Shadow Queen, March 2009
* Shalador's Lady, March 2010 (forthcoming) .
I've read, Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of Darkness, The Invisible Ring. I haven't read Dreams Made Flesh, Tangled webs, The Shadow Queen OR Shalador's Lady. though those three books sure sound good. The Invisible Ring is more of a side story and well before Daughter of the Blood.
Plot overview
The Invisible Ring
A powerful warlord named Jared, who has been a pleasure slave for nine years, goes up for sale at a slave auction. He expects to end up working in the salt mines, but instead is purchased by a mysterious, powerful and feared witch, the Gray Lady.
Dorthea SaDiablo, High Priestess of Hayll, is a member of a long-lived race who is working to rule or control the entirety of the world of Terreille. The Gray Lady has been fighting her and so Dorthea decides to have her assassinated as she travels to her home territory from the slave auction.
The Gray Lady receives a mysterious warning about the attempt to kill her so she buys a wagon and horses and sets off cross-country with her new slaves, hoping to elude her killers. During the trip, Jared discovers that they are traveling not with the Grey Lady but rather her granddaughter, Lady Arabella Ardelia. He also discovers that he is in love with her.
The chase leads them to Jared's boyhood home where he discovers that Dorthea's forces have already killed all of the witches in the area and most of his family, including his parents. With the help of the few who remain, they defeat Dorthea's army and escape into the Gray Lady's territory. Jared is encouraged by Daemon Sadi to follow his heart and to help Lady Ardelia in her fight against Dorthea to preserve as much as possible that is good for the eventual coming of a prophesied Witch will have the power defeat Dorthea.
Daughter of the Blood
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 Realm 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...
Jaenelle, is destined to rule the Blood, if she can reach adulthood. Saetan, High Lord of Hell and most powerful of the Blood males, becomes Jaenelle's surrogate father and teacher. He cannot protect her outside Hell, where he rules. She refuses to leave Terreille, risking herself to protect or heal other victims of violence. Can Daemon, Saetan's estranged son, keep her safe from the machinations of the evil High Priestess? ?[1]
Heir of the Shadows
Jaenelle's adoptive father, Saetan, and her foster-family of demons shelter her. To restore her memory and emotional balance, they move to Kaeleer, where Jaenelle gathers a circle of young Queens. She also heals Lucivar, Daemon's half-brother, who offers a brother's love and a warrior's fealty. As she recovers strength and memory, Jaenelle resolves to restore Daemon and cleanse Terreille. She claims her place as Queen of Ebon Askavi and secures Kaeleer from the growing threat of Tereille and the corruption that exists there. [2]
Queen of the Darkness
Jaenelle Angelline now reigns as Queen-protector of the Shadow Realm. No longer will the corrupt Blood slaughter her people and defile her lands. But where one chapter ends, a final, unseen battle remains to be written, and Jaenelle must unleash the terrible power that is Witch to destroy her enemies once and for all.
Even so, she cannot stand alone. Somewhere, long lost in madness, is Daemon, her promised Consort. Only his unyielding love can complete her Court and secure her reign. Yet, even together, their strength may not be enough to hold back the most malevolent of forces
The Rest of the Information, and the tibits i gave you, can be found on Wikipedia.. -
link leaves site -
Jewel Information
Jewel Colors
White
Yellow
Tiger Eye
Rose
Summer Sky
Purple Dusk
Opal
Green
Sapphire
Red
Gray
Ebon-gray
Black
Jewels in General
Jewels increase in strength from White down to Black. That means White is the weakest, Black is the strongest.
When a child is in their early childhood, they participate in the Birthright ceremony, which is where they are gifted with their first, 'Birthright' Jewel. There is nobody in existance, bar Witch, who has ever been gifted with a Birthright Jewel darker than Red.
The Offering to the Darkness is the second and final Jewel gifting ceremony. This takes place in the late teenage years. For girls, this is after their Virgin Night (see below for more details). This ceremony takes from sunrise to sunset, after which the teenager is gifted with their second Jewel. They can descend a maximum of 3 Jewels from their Birthright. For example, Birthright White could descend to Rose. After this ceremony, you have two Jewels.
The Virgin Night. Perhaps one of the most important nights in a female of the Blood's life. It is on this night that she either loses her virginity or her mind. Okay, so it's her virginity or her mind&virginity, but which sounded more ominous? At any rate, it is generally the task of a male whom the female trusts to see her through the Virgin Night. They are able to safely ensure that the woman is not broken, and still retains her Jeweled status, and her craft. However, there are many that break witches, Queens and Black Widows for their own pleasure, by raping them and shattering their inner webs. A witch who is broken may not be able to use even basic Craft.
Jewels have many handy functions. You can lock doors/chests/windows etc with them, for example. That way, if you're Gray Jeweled, and you Gray-lock a door, no one with a weaker Jewel rank will be able to get in.
You can also create shields of energy with them, protecting you from those with weaker Jewels. You can also release bursts of power with your Jewel. These can kill, maim etc. Good fun. This is also draining on you and your Jewel.
It is also possible to communicate with someone on what are called “psychic spear threads”. These allow you to speak to someone without actually speaking, from your mind to their mind, without others overhearing. If you are Red Jeweled, this means you can speak to another Blood on every spear thread from White to Red, but keep in mind that the person you are talking to also needs to be strong enough to hear you. If they're Sapphire Jeweled for example, and you use a Red thread, they won't hear you. These threads can be very handy if you want to keep a conversation private. You can also use these spear threads to target a group of people, for example, all the men in the room you're in.
The darker your Jewel, the further your thread can travel. This means that a Black Jeweled Blood could send a thread to someone in another Territory, but a White Jeweled person is limited to people close to them.
Jewels belonging to Witch
Ebony
Twilight's Dawn
Ebony and Twilight's Dawn are the Jewels that are gifted to Janelle aka Witch, at various parts of the story. Ebony is the Jewel she receives after she makes her offering to the darkness, which takes her three days and nights to complete. She descends to the Ebony, as her Birthright Jewel is the Black.
Twilight's Dawn is the Jewel that Janelle receives after she had been healed by the kindred, after her purge of the tainted Blood of the Realms. It is a mixture of all the Jewels but Black; this is because during her descent into the Abyss, she is unable to break through the Black web, due to Saetan, Lucivar and Daemon holding her back in order to save her.
Blood Hierarchy/Castes
Males
slave- Blood or non-Blood of any race who is a slave.
landen- Non-Blood of any race.
Blood male- A general term for all males of the Blood; also refers to any Blood male who doesn't wear Jewels.
Warlord- A Jeweled male equal in status to a witch.
Prince- A Jeweled male equal in status to a Priestess or a Healer.
Warlord Prince- A dangerous, extremely aggressive Jeweled male; in status, slightly lower than a Queen.
Females
slave- Blood or non-Blood of any race who is a slave.
landen- Non-Blood of any race.
Blood Female- A general term for all females of the Blood; also refers to any Blood female who doesn't wear Jewels.
witch- A Blood female who wears Jewels but isn't one of the other hierarchical levels; also refers to any Jeweled female.
Healer- A witch who heals physical wounds and illnesses; equal in status to a Priestess or a Prince.
Priestess- A witch who cares for the altars, Sanctuaries and Dark Altars; witnesses handfasts and marriages; performs offerings; equal in status to a Healer and a Prince.
Black Widow- a witch who heals the mind; weaves the tangled webs of dreams and visions; is trained in illusions and poisons. Only women can be Black Widows, with the exception of Daemon and Saetan. No other expections. Black Widows have a small, venomous snake tooth beneath their right ring fingernail.
Queen- A witch who rules the Blood; is considered to be the land's heart and the Blood's moral centre; as such, she is the focal point of their society. You can however, be a Queen without actually ruling anything.
COVERS
[limg]http://www.annebishop.com/covers/c.new.daughter.TN.jpg[/limg]
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