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)

one of my favorites

Mostly love it. Narrator could have captured the emotion of the dialog better. still good though

Seriously dark but delightful

This is amazingly dark and yet intriguing book and story. The characters are very engrossing and yet, delightful. They are horrific and wonderful. Satan is a joy Damon is amazing wow.

LOVE this series

I love the detail of the not just the characters but how you can truly visualize the scene and emotions and feel as if you are there. I love the strength of the woman and the struggles the men must endure. I've read and listened to the whole series multiple times, and it never gets old.

A Walk on the Dark Side of Fantasy

Three things you should know before getting this book. It's very dark and very mature, and if those things are okay with you, the author will take you on a wild ride through the world she created.

The darkness of the book comes from the world it's set in. Some of the characters have names we are familiar with... Saetan, Daemon, and Lucivar... however their names have nothing to do with their namesakes. This is a fantasy world that has nothing to do with ours. To be honest it could have been easier to just name them something else, yet since those names come with connotations, they impress upon us the dark/evil nature of these men... sortof. For instance, Saetan is the High Lord of Hell, yet he's an old man who walks with a cane and acts more like a grandfather. I'll admit it took me a good hour to become comfortable listening to the book because of the names and circumstances but it was worth it.

The mature content is pretty much everything under the sun, tho it could be worse. There's graphic violence and those who take pleasure at watching it, some not-so-graphic sex scenes, the bad guys of the book have a thing for young girls, and the women are uber-sexual females that use some males of their kind as pleasure slaves. However, all that said, the way the book is written, not all of it is smiled upon... it was almost as if the author was showing a world caught up in the worst part of itself. How it needs to be saved. And there's a promise of a young witch who just might.

The world is really well imagined and will definitely appeal to those who like the darker side of novels. There are some moments of revenge that you are hoping will happen, and there's even room for a bit of humor. Imagine two really tough brutal guys falling head over heels for a young girl, one becoming a father-type, the other a protector, both having no clue how to handle someone so powerful and so innocent.

If you're a fan of the dark side, it's a credit-worthy read.

Awesome!

Love all of the Black Jewel trilogy books. Bought all the books before buying audio. When I first got 'Daughter of the Blood', I wanted to read/hear more. Would recommend all the Black Jewel books. Didn't love Sebastian and Belladonna as much. And I absolutely love listening to John Sharian.

Daughter of the Blood

Fantastic story. The best. Looking forward to read more of this story.

Very stirring

This story was very moving., touching and cruel. It moved my heart and disgusted me.

ilI can't wait to read the next one.

Excellent High Fantasy

If you are inclined to be unable to separate the liberal use of biblical names in a fantasy created world, this book is not for you. However, if you can, this audio book is a delight. This story is not light hearted. It has real world themes of abuse both physical and emotional. However, there are also themes of forgiveness, healing, and love. I have both read and listened to these books. I have not been disappointed in either interpretation. The narration is not on the level of Jim Dale or Kate Reading but you can't have it all. For me, the story still makes the audio book.

Starts out slow but stick with it!

Very good book and excellent narration. Not for the faint of heart though. The first couple of chapters were for me, boring. But I stuck with it and am SO glad I did. For those of us who enjoy a darker novel. Am on my way to down load the next book!

Great story

This series is by far my absolute favorite of all time. I own both the original covers and the re-releases. The narrator is very good the only thing that threw me a little was the pronunciation of the High Lords name. Otherwise very very well done I will be buying the rest of the series