Daughter of the Blood

Black Jewels, Book 1

By: Anne Bishop

Narrated by: John Sharian

Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

Great listen

Great book. Good performance. I didn't care for the ending but I still give it 5 stars.

I love it

this author is like the best ...you guys should listen to it :) :) :)

So good!

Really enjoy this books. The characters and world building is absolutely amazing. Tough topics are handled really tastefully and the story is SO good. I laughed several times and definitely felt a lump in my throat at least once. I couldn’t put this book down. Starting the next book in series right now!

Love this series

I absolutely love this series. The character’s are great , the narrator brings them to life so easily you can close your eyes and they are right in front of you. The stories and characters are fantastic they all weave in and out of each other’s lives without any confusion.

Emotional Rollercoaster

Love this story ❤ great story telling and narration. Awesome characters that are powerful

Best fantasy books in the world!

I listen to this one and the other black jewels over and over. Anne Bishop and John Sharian are fantastic. I wish there were more books like this in the world. Even better, I wish Shelties could really talk!

best fantasy series

this is by far the best fantasy series ever. Anne bishop has a way of drawing you into her world and you feel like you really know it.
the characters are written with such care and feeling that they almost jump off the page. you feel in your soul for everything that happens to them.

Beyond worth it!

The first time I read the Black Jewels trilogy I was in my teens and it was borrowed from a friend of mine. After I moved away I couldn't remember the title of the books or the author for the life of me. I was 15! After years of checking every scifi fantasy section or every bookstore I saw I finally found the omnibus of the first 3 books. Since then it has been read so many times that I had to contact paper the cover!

Anne Bishop is an amazing author. The world she has created is so real that whether I am reading the book or listening to it I can escape, even if just for a while. Her books have become a series that I find myself reading and/or listening to at least once a year.

I struggle with getting chores and daily tasks completed and am disabled so having the audio books really helps me with that. since I don't have time to read normally I have made it so I only get to listen to my books when I am accomplishing my daily tasks. It gives me the motivation I need to keep going throughout the day so I can continue with the story!

Wicked Web of Entertainment

I hesitated on Daughter of the Blood because it sounded like a fantasy romance which I really don't enjoy. A love story as one of the plot lines can be great, but I tend to get bored with books when sex/romance are major plot drivers. However, Anne Bishop has been compared to one of my favorites, Anne Rice, so I decided to check it out. I have now listened all of the Black Jewels trilogy and this review is applicable to all three books.

Happily, I found that although there are sexual components and a sort of romantic thread through the books, this trilogy is really all about POWER - the ultimate plot driver for human nature and most good fantasy novels. The comparison of Bishop to Rice works only on a superficial level, but Bishop's trilogy does have some of the flavor of Rice's fantasy work and definitely treads some of the same dark perversions with heavy sadistic tones. If you are looking for the truly lush, almost poetic style of Anne Rice, you won't find it here; Bishop is a much more prosaic writer. But like Rice, these characters are emotionally over the top, but quite engaging - you can't really identify with the characters because they are not like people you know, but then they aren't totally human and they are fascinating. Bishop is truly talented at world building (always a huge asset in fantasy) and I think she far exceeds Rice and many authors at creating an intricate, internally consistent magical system that she primarily brings the listener into by showing rather than just telling. This complex magical system, the engaging characters, and the grand world building keep the whole trilogy really entertaining in spite of some rather lame dialog and a few elementary writing flaws (constant reminders of Daemon's cold, cruel smile and Jaenelle's sapphire eyes, etc. that elicit the "yeah, yeah, I got it already" feeling as you listen).

I got used to John Sharian and he's not bad as a narrator, but he gets a bit too melodramatic in his reading than I like.

Overall, I recommend the trilogy if you are looking for a good entertainment value since these books just don't have boring sections, but they are definitely for mature audiences. There is a great deal of graphic violence, some graphic sexual content, and hardest for me, some sections that deal with child molestation so go in prepared!

Most excellent!

This is a terrific book and excellent beginning to a series. I have waited impatiently for it to come out on audio for the longest time. John Sharian does a phenomenal job on all the books by Anne Bishop. Listen to this one! It's GREAT!