Anne Bishop's first anthology for her Black Jewels saga was published in 2006 and features four new tales set in Anne's vivid fantasy world. Synopsis: Jaenelle is the most powerful Witch ever known, centuries of hopes and dreams made flesh at last. She has forged ties with three of the realm's mightiest Blood warriors: Saetan, the High Lord of Hell, who trains Jaenelle in magic and adopts her as his daughter; Lucivar, the winged Eyrien Warlord who becomes her Protector; and the near-immortal Daemon, born to be Witch's lover. Jaenelle has assumed her rightful place as Queen of the Darkness and restored order and peace to the realms... but at a terrible cost. Collected here are the beguiling stories about the origins of the mystical Jewels, the forbidden passion between Lucivar and a simple hearth withc, the clash between Saetan and a Priestess, and the choice Jaenelle must make between her magic and happiness with Daemon...
The first story is called Weaver of Dreams. It's about an Arachnid spider who finds the dying remains of Draca's original dragon body. Draca gave her life to spread her Gift to all of the females in the realms of Terrielle and Kaeleer. The Arachnid earns the Gift and becomes the first Weaver of Dreams.
The second story (more like novella) is called The Prince of Ebon Rih. It's about Lucivar and a hearth witch called Marion. Jaenelle finds Marion about to be raped by twisted Eyrien males and rescues her. Luthivan, Lucivar's mother, demeans Marion and Jaenelle over hears this and gets fed up with her. She takes Marion to Lucivar, who everyone agrees needs a hearth witch to keep the place clean, and over the next few months, Marion and Lucivar start ot fall in love, despite ploys from Luthivan. The ploys remind Saetan of Heketah's scheming to break apart Peyton SaDiablo from his lover and separate him from his father. Saetan threatens Luthivan but she continues anyway. Lucivar teaches Marion how to fight like an Eyrienwarrior. Throughout the novella, an aristo witch named Roxi tries to seduce Lucivar . He threatens to kill her if she breaks into his house one more time. She gets angry when Marion starts to become the focus of Lucivar's life and threatens Marion that, after she and Lucivar get married, she'll have Marion disposed of. Marion asks how he'll do anything for her and Roxi replies that she'll tell the Queen of Ebon Rih that Lucivar tried to rape her and, as punishment, he should serve her for a year. Marion attacks her and, after Lucivar breaks it up and Jaenelle says she'll tear Marion and Roxi up if either one is lying, Lucivar has Roxi exiled. Luthivan, unhappy that Lucivar is paying Marion so much attention, casts a spell on her and tries to break them up. Saetan, furious, descends on Marion but learns about the spell and breaks it. Marion and Lucivar get married while Luthivan storms off.
The third story is called Zuulaman. Saetan and Heketah are expecting another child and the islands of the Zuulaman nation are badgering Saetan for more control in Dhemlan, Terreille. Heketah, who wants the trade to go through, goes to Zuulaman and has the Zuulaman ambassador say that until Saetan signs the papers, they're going to kepp Heketah. Saetan holds his ground, but he walks the Twisted Kingdom when, under Heketah's orders, the Zuulaman kill the newly born child. Saetan, mad and insane, uses his entire power and wipes out the Zuulamn islands, including their art, history, culture, everything. Andulvar Yaslana hears about this and asks Geoffry and Draca how it's possible and they tell him that the former Zuulamans shouldn't have provoked Saetan, as he is the High Lord of Hell. Heketah is scared of Saetan and Andulvar needs some time to consider all of this. (This is of note because Lucivar asks Andulvar about Zuulaman in The Prince of Ebon Rih when Saetan refuses to tell him why Dorothea and Pruul's twisted queen wouldn't kill Luciavar or Daemon and, if Saetan should find out that his children were killed, he'd wipe out Hayll and Askavi in Terreille).
The fourth and final story (again, more like novella) is called Kaeleer's Heart. Daemon struggles to grasp that Jaenelle, for all that she was, chose to give up her ebony power. A scheming aristo witch known as Lektra (who want's Daemon as her lover) tries to kill Jaenelle to free Daemon from her. Lektra is revealed to be working with Roxi, who wants revenge on the SaDiablo family for her exile. Surreal and Lucivar get involved when things take a turn for the worse. After a few weeks of rumors, secretly stared by Lektra, the town of Dhelman talks about it. Daemon is angry, but doesn't care what others think. Lektra is the lone voice, or so she thinks, that these rumors are false and that everyone knows how much he loves Jaenelle. She's doing this in a vain attempt to win his love. Daemon and Jaenelle secretly get married in the unicorn's territory, and spend a day or so at Khary and Morghann's place. When Lektra tries again to attack Jaenelle, Daemon becomes enraged. He and Jaenelle stage their anger at a ballroom dance where the two of them are pretending to be angry at each other in an attempt to draw the would-be killer out. Daemon learns about Lektra being behind the attacks from Lektra's cousin and Daemon kills him. He pays Lektra and Roxi a visit and kills Roxi. He slowly poisons Lektra in an orgasm and then burns her house. Daemon learns that Jaenelle still is Witch and that she herself dreamed of having a normal life and was granted Twilight's Dawn, a Jewel with the powers of all the Jewels. At the end, Daemon and Jaenelle get married before everyone in a big celebration, days after the Dhemlan queens beg Daemon to be the ruling Warlord Prince of Dhelman, a title Saetan had previously had.
All in all, a great collection of stories by Anne Bishop. She's clearly shown how rich and exotic her world is and how much the story can continue for her main cast. Very rich character development and a rich use of dark seductive scenes that make you want to root for the main characters.
The first story is called Weaver of Dreams. It's about an Arachnid spider who finds the dying remains of Draca's original dragon body. Draca gave her life to spread her Gift to all of the females in the realms of Terrielle and Kaeleer. The Arachnid earns the Gift and becomes the first Weaver of Dreams.
The second story (more like novella) is called The Prince of Ebon Rih. It's about Lucivar and a hearth witch called Marion. Jaenelle finds Marion about to be raped by twisted Eyrien males and rescues her. Luthivan, Lucivar's mother, demeans Marion and Jaenelle over hears this and gets fed up with her. She takes Marion to Lucivar, who everyone agrees needs a hearth witch to keep the place clean, and over the next few months, Marion and Lucivar start ot fall in love, despite ploys from Luthivan. The ploys remind Saetan of Heketah's scheming to break apart Peyton SaDiablo from his lover and separate him from his father. Saetan threatens Luthivan but she continues anyway. Lucivar teaches Marion how to fight like an Eyrienwarrior. Throughout the novella, an aristo witch named Roxi tries to seduce Lucivar . He threatens to kill her if she breaks into his house one more time. She gets angry when Marion starts to become the focus of Lucivar's life and threatens Marion that, after she and Lucivar get married, she'll have Marion disposed of. Marion asks how he'll do anything for her and Roxi replies that she'll tell the Queen of Ebon Rih that Lucivar tried to rape her and, as punishment, he should serve her for a year. Marion attacks her and, after Lucivar breaks it up and Jaenelle says she'll tear Marion and Roxi up if either one is lying, Lucivar has Roxi exiled. Luthivan, unhappy that Lucivar is paying Marion so much attention, casts a spell on her and tries to break them up. Saetan, furious, descends on Marion but learns about the spell and breaks it. Marion and Lucivar get married while Luthivan storms off.
The third story is called Zuulaman. Saetan and Heketah are expecting another child and the islands of the Zuulaman nation are badgering Saetan for more control in Dhemlan, Terreille. Heketah, who wants the trade to go through, goes to Zuulaman and has the Zuulaman ambassador say that until Saetan signs the papers, they're going to kepp Heketah. Saetan holds his ground, but he walks the Twisted Kingdom when, under Heketah's orders, the Zuulaman kill the newly born child. Saetan, mad and insane, uses his entire power and wipes out the Zuulamn islands, including their art, history, culture, everything. Andulvar Yaslana hears about this and asks Geoffry and Draca how it's possible and they tell him that the former Zuulamans shouldn't have provoked Saetan, as he is the High Lord of Hell. Heketah is scared of Saetan and Andulvar needs some time to consider all of this. (This is of note because Lucivar asks Andulvar about Zuulaman in The Prince of Ebon Rih when Saetan refuses to tell him why Dorothea and Pruul's twisted queen wouldn't kill Luciavar or Daemon and, if Saetan should find out that his children were killed, he'd wipe out Hayll and Askavi in Terreille).
The fourth and final story (again, more like novella) is called Kaeleer's Heart. Daemon struggles to grasp that Jaenelle, for all that she was, chose to give up her ebony power. A scheming aristo witch known as Lektra (who want's Daemon as her lover) tries to kill Jaenelle to free Daemon from her. Lektra is revealed to be working with Roxi, who wants revenge on the SaDiablo family for her exile. Surreal and Lucivar get involved when things take a turn for the worse. After a few weeks of rumors, secretly stared by Lektra, the town of Dhelman talks about it. Daemon is angry, but doesn't care what others think. Lektra is the lone voice, or so she thinks, that these rumors are false and that everyone knows how much he loves Jaenelle. She's doing this in a vain attempt to win his love. Daemon and Jaenelle secretly get married in the unicorn's territory, and spend a day or so at Khary and Morghann's place. When Lektra tries again to attack Jaenelle, Daemon becomes enraged. He and Jaenelle stage their anger at a ballroom dance where the two of them are pretending to be angry at each other in an attempt to draw the would-be killer out. Daemon learns about Lektra being behind the attacks from Lektra's cousin and Daemon kills him. He pays Lektra and Roxi a visit and kills Roxi. He slowly poisons Lektra in an orgasm and then burns her house. Daemon learns that Jaenelle still is Witch and that she herself dreamed of having a normal life and was granted Twilight's Dawn, a Jewel with the powers of all the Jewels. At the end, Daemon and Jaenelle get married before everyone in a big celebration, days after the Dhemlan queens beg Daemon to be the ruling Warlord Prince of Dhelman, a title Saetan had previously had.
All in all, a great collection of stories by Anne Bishop. She's clearly shown how rich and exotic her world is and how much the story can continue for her main cast. Very rich character development and a rich use of dark seductive scenes that make you want to root for the main characters.
