Heir to the Shadows: Black Jewels, Book 2

It took me a full year to build up the courage to listen to HEIR TO THE SHADOWS after being thoroughly traumatized by book 1. I really love Anne Bishop’s THE OTHERS series, and I’m a firm believer in second chances when it comes to authors, so after twelve months of mental preparation, here we go again. It’s with a massive sigh of relief that I write this review because A) no nightmares & B) this installment was a vast improvement upon the previous one. It was slow paced, and was more about the dialogue than the action, but we’re definitely getting somewhere.

This novel concentrated on Jaenelle’s road to recovery; after two years in a coma, she must battle her way back to sanity, and then take the necessary steps in order to become the Queen she was meant to be. The story followed Angelline from the age of twelve to twenty, so it’s best to minimize the number of sessions spent reading this book in order to avoid confusing the timeline. Lots of character development takes place, both where the protagonist was concerned as well as the secondaries, and all of the chess pieces were brought to the fore, including the kindred—wolves, unicorns & dragons!

Even though THE BLACK JEWELS series now has nine volumes under its wing, it was originally a trilogy, so this installment felt like it was the limbo between books 1 & 3 which explains its lack of major intrigue. By the end of this novel everything was in place for an earth-shaking payoff, except the love interest. Daemon Sadi was off in cuckoo land, but other than that I was able to better appreciate Bishop’s Dark Fantasy because this story was minus the truly heinous tidbits; however that doesn’t mean that the author dons kid gloves. Every character is still fair game.

John Sharian’s narration didn’t creep me out nearly as much as it did in DAUGHTER OF THE BLOOD. I still question the producer’s decision to go with a male voice for this series, but Angelline’s entourage is a sausage fest, so with the more disturbing aspects behind us, he’s growing on me. Sharian’s ominous tone actually worked to his advantage when he mimicked Jaenelle’s ‘midnight voice’, and I thought that he was reasonably adept at keeping the plethora of personas separate, although he does goof on occasion, and slips into his staple timbre when he shouldn’t.

HEIR TO THE SHADOWS was almost good. I’m eager for Anne Bishop to bring it home with QUEEN OF THE DARKNESS. ~3.5 stars

The continuation of the Dark Jewel series. Just as good, just as suspenseful and wonderfully entertaining. Sit back and enjoy...

The basic story is great and very entertaining, but I'm not a fan of many author's excessive use of sexual depravity and abuse these days. By the end of this series you'll be very tired of hearing "he said too softly". Not sure what that means either.

This dark work with a light overtone is a work of art that I truly can't wait to continue...

I loved Damon in the first book, but he is MIA in this one. So disappointing! First five hours were a torment because the story was stalled for years. Many new characters were introduced that I didn't care for. The second half is more tolerable but falls short compared to the first book. Let's see what the third and final book has to offer!

I would gladly listen to it again. I love rereading my favorite books, and as a busy college student this allows me to immerse my self in the world more often. I started listening when I commute or have downtime instead of playing stupid games on my phone, or Facebook. A much more enjoyable use of my time.

I love Anne Bishops world but John Sharian's narration is what really makes me like the audio book version. He adds another level to depth to some of my favorite parts that makes me enjoy it even more.

I have to pick? Ah, any of the craft lessons with Saetan, the tone he adds to the aftermath of discovering exactly what she can do is amazing.

Oops, I did it again.

Janelle and Damian's storyline continues, some things will be rrsolved and others will be Stull dangling at the end. Great saga

Loved this series so far. Such an enthralling story. Absolutely loved the narrator as well. He really brought the story to life.

so it's not a literary masterpiece, but it's sooo good. have lost count of how many times I've read this series.

This is a great series! However, there are times that it gets bogged down in details and I feel like I don't have a clue as to what's going on. I just have to take in what I can until I get back on solid ground again :)

I'm really looking forward to the next one. I can't wait to see Witch serve Justice!