Queen of the Darkness

Anne Bishop 2000 Buy from Amazon.com

Jaenelle Angelline rules as the Queen of Ebon Askavi. Only one thing is missing from her life now, which is her Consort, Daemon Sadi. When he finally arrives, he is still fragile from his time in the twisted kingdom, and she is still wounded from her childhood. It is touching to see their tentative relationship grow and begin to heal them both.

Of course there are problems, and one of them is the Priestess Dorothea, who believes she has found a way to defeat Jaenelle and her protector Saetan. She and her allies attack Jaenelle’s friends and steal away her loved ones. There is a way to cleanse the Blood of the taint that has caused those like Dorothea to become cruel and corrupt, but there is a terrible price.

This completes the Black Jewels Trilogy that describes the rise and coming of age of Jaenelle. There are some parts that are difficult to read, not least Jaenelle’s confrontation with her grandmother Alexandra and her former family. The parts of Jaenelle that make her Witch are those that separate her from others, and while they have given her a new family, she has lost the chance of having her old family accept her.

There are some very enjoyable moments in this novel too, and some well placed humour. The court has many interesting characters and they are quite individual. This court is very different to the ones that most of them grew up in, and there are standards of honor that they were never taught. Even the assassin Surreal finds herself becoming relaxed and comfortable in an environment of safety and warmth.

I enjoyed finding out the conclusion to the original black jewels trilogy, and I’d recommend it anyone who has enjoyed Anne Bishop’s other Black Jewels novels.

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