Book Review: A Black Jewels book: Twilight's Dawn SPOILERS!

In March 2011, Anne Bishop returned to her New York Times bestselling and “darkly fascinating”[1] Black Jewels series. In Twilight's Dawn, Bishop returns to the Blood realm with four all-new captivating novellas.

Winsol Gifts synopsis: Daemon, the Black-Jeweled Warlord Prince of Dhemlan, is settling into his first year of married life with his Witch Queen, Jaenelle. But as the thirteen-day celebration of Winsol draws near, Daemon finds himself being pulled in too many directions as he plays host to his formidable family. A few weeks after the events of Tangled Webs, Daemon visits Tersa, his mother, to check if his gift for Lucivar was ready; likewise, after Daemon leaves, Lucivar arrives to do the same. Concerned that this may harm her children—despite the fact that Lucivar isn't biologically hers—Tersa asks Saetan to investigate his sons motives. He does and finds nothing wrong with the gifts. Beale and Jaenelle remind Daemon of a few things that he, as the head of Dhemlan and the SaDiablo family, has to help prepare for Winsol as he and Jaenelle are formally hosting the family. Surreal and Rainer show up, still hurt over the spooky house incident. Rainier is going to Dharo to spend time with his family who can't stand him because he wears Opal which is considered a dark jewel. Rainier still blames himself for what happened a the spooky house. So does Surreal, though she won't admit it. Daemon offers him work should his leg never fully heal. Rainier informs Daemon that he'll be spending a few weeks in Ebon Rih after Winsol. Lucivar wants to build Rainier and Surreal back up to their former strengths. Karla is called in by Jaenelle to take a look at Rainier; it is revealed that Karla adopted Della and KaeAskavi—the child that was the sole survivor in Queen of the Darkness—and Prince Hagen, Karla's Master of the Guard, has become Della's surrogate father. Rainier visits Surreal. Surreal cares for Rainier and wants him to stay and not go to his family. Lucivar wants another child and Daemon tries to talk him out of it. Saetan asks for solidarity for Winsol and Daemon obeys for the moment. Surreal goes to drop off a present to Rainier's place and finds he's still there. Angry, Surreal storms into his apartment and invites him to the SaDiablo family Winsol party. Jaenelle dresses in her black dress that she wore as Witch and dances with Saetan while Daemon and Lucivar visit Tersa; it's a new family tradition for Winsol Eve.

Shades of Honor synopsis: (broken into five parts) Still recovering from the ordeal that left her wounded and angry, Surrreal returns to Ebon Rih on the orders of Warlord Prince Lucivar. And when her former lover Falonar ruthlessly challenges the rule of her family, Surreal may finally succumb to the darkness burning inside her. Several months before the events of The Shadow Queen, the Eyrien Prince Falonar plots to remove Lucivar from his position as the Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih, intending to take control. Meanwhile, Surreal and Rainier settle into The Tavern that Merry and Briggs run. Surreal meets Lucivar at his mothers place and discuss her health. Saetan implants the memory of what Lucivar looked like when he arrived in Kaeleer in Heir to the Shadows into Rainiers mind and discovers that Lucivar's right ankle still gives him trouble. The next day at the communal eyrie, Lucivar admonishes Jillian for skipping school to train with the warriors, Surreal and Rainier. Falonar, who's sleeping with Jillian's sister Nurian, forbids Jillian from training. Surreal starts a verbal fight with Falonar. Lucivar breaks it up telling Surreal and Falonar off before finding out that Jillian fears someone and that's why she wants to train. Lucivar gives her an ultimatum: she goes to school and he'll train her in the afternoon. Jillian agrees and leaves while Falonar puts Rainier through his paces with Hallevar watching. Falonar forces his way into Rainier's mind, looking for something to use against Rainier and breaks the man's leg. 

Lucivar demands to know why Falonar pulled that stunt; Falonar says it's because “a cripple doesn't have any place among Eyrien warriors.” Surreal, in anger, throws herself at Falonar. Lucivar tries to stop her, but she rips through Falonar's Sapphire shields and rips his arm with a sight shielded stiletto. Lucivar tells Surreal to go to the Keep. Surreal points out that Falonar may have harmed a cripple but he wouldn't have survived a demon-dead Eyrien Warlord any better than Rainier. Lucivar's shocked that Surreal is riding the killing edge. Lucivar dismisses Falonar, promising to see him later. Lucivar calls Jaenelle over via Daemon to heal Rainier. Lucivar discusses his worry with Daemon and Jaenelle threatens to strip Falonar's legs muscle by muscle if he gets near Rainier again. Rainier, delusional, tells Daemon what Falonar did. Falonar tells (snarls more like) Lucivar that the Eyriens in Ebon Rih have no honor, no soul. Falonar tries to convince him to give up the title of ruler of Ebon Rih and walk away; Lucivar says no. Saetan tells Lucivar what Andulvar would've done and Lucivar takes the hint. Endar visits Rainier in The Tavern and they talk and play an Eyrien kids card game. After Endar, hallevar and several other Eyriens leave, Lucivar asks Rainier what that was all about. Rainier says hat Endar is looking for other work as he's not cut out to be a warrior. Lucivar notes that Surrreal, while polishing all her knives with a terrifyingly erotic smile, might be slipping into the Twisted Kingdom. Merry and Briggs have come down with sickness and Surreal decides she and Rainier should run The Tavern. Daemon hires Rainier as a secretary. 

Lucivar calls all the Eyriens living in Ebon Rih to a meeting. He tells them that the majority of them have fulfilled their contracts and are free to look elsewhere for work. Some start degrading Lucivar and he orders them out of Ebon Rih. Falonar talks to Nurian and they get into a fight. He slaps her and she orders him out of her house after she finds out that he beat Jillian “for her own good.” Nurian goes to Lucivar and she tells him she wants to stay and help the Riada Healers and Lucivar learns that the women want to keep learning the Eyrien warrior drills because Marion looks graceful with her walk. Endar goes to Rainier and he tells him about Lucivar cutting them loose; Rainier mentions that Lucivar is looking for a teacher and Endar jumps at the chance. Surreal tells an angry Falonar that the Eyriens aren't the ones the people in Kaeleer fear, it's the Dea al Mon who hold that title. She also mentions what she and Titian did to Kartane and Falanor flees. Lucivar has been summoned by Falonar and leaves Surreal to watch Daemonar. Surreal freaks out and, when Daemonar sight-shields himself, she recalls the kids dying in the spooky house and panics, tearing the house upside down before passing out. Falonar tries to use a compulsion spell to force Lucivar to relinquish his hold on Ebon Rih. It doesn't work and Lucivar returns home to find Daemonar and the wolf-pups saying sorry because Daemonar believes he “broke Auntie Srell.” 

Lucivar asks Marion to get Nurian and Saetan. Saetan and Nurian say that Surreal is alive and not in the Twisted Kingdom. Daemon goes to look something up for Surreal and accidently stumbles into Hell. According to Draca, Hell chooses its ruler and from the way Daemon ended up, it seems he'll take over after Saetan has become a whisper in the Darkness. Randahl tells Rainier that the Eyriens in the northern camp are rebelling against Lucivar and following orders from Falonar. Geoffrey shows Daemon the map of Hell. Witch helps Surreal cleanse herself of all the guilt of the children she couldn't save. Witch finishes her healing and Surreal comes back better than she was before. Chaosti has come to Surreals aid as she is family and demonstrates to Falonar when he's foolish enough to challenge him just why the Dea al Mon are the most feared people in Kaeleer. Lucivar spars with Surreal and allows Surreal to strike a blow against him and when she finds out he left himself open on purpose, she gets angry and storms out. Falonar's Eyrien allies trick Lucivar to entering the killing field and he slaughters them all. Falonar took Hallevar, Rothvar, Zaranar, Tamnar, Endar, and Kohlvar for a “security patrol” and arrive to see Lucivar cut down the last Eyrien traitor. Lucivar tells Falonar of the death of Zuulaman. 

Daemon and Lucivar talk and Lucivar mentions that he thought it was strange that the other Eyriens with crossbows were trying to attack his left ankle and Daemon tells him that Rainier lied when Falonar broke Rainiers barriers. Lucivar put Falonar in Queen Perzha's court so he can finish his contract and it'd put Falonar in his place because Perzha doesn't give a damn if someone is aristo or not. Daemon takes Falonar to Hell and leaves him there as punishment for hurting one of his employees and the demon-dead think Daemon is The High Lord of Hell. The novella ends with Surreal going to Dea al Mon.

Family synopsis: When someone lays a vicious trap for Queen Sylvia and her sons, the fallout completely disrupts the lives of the ruling family of Dhemlan. Now they have to uncover the identity of the warlord known only as No Face before he returns to finish what he started. A decade after the events of Shalador's Lady, Sylvia is attacked by a faceless killer and killed. She goes to the Keep and finds Saetan who helps her transition to demon-dead. Jaenelle, Daemon, Surreal, and Rainier arrive at the place where she was staying and rescue Sylvia's son, Beron while the Sceltie Tildee took Mikal to Tersa's. Saetan needs to talk to Daemon about some children who've recently become cildru dyathe. Beron is in a deep sleep and Jaenelle wakes him in a dream when he shows her No Face's face. They set a trap for him by using Daemon as a decoy. When No Face arrives and demands that Tersa hand over the boy, Tersa forgets her role and rips his bones from his body, an act that causes Daemon to vomit. Saetan and Sylvia (finally) get married with her promising to help take care of the cildru dyathe and to let him know the second she can't/doesn't want to continue to live as a demon-dead and he'll return her to the Darkness. Jaenelle has decided to take up the mantle of being a Queen again and rule Halaway, but Rainier will serve as the First Escort since Daemon, as the Warlord Prince of Dhemlan, can't be the consort, but he is still her husband.

The High Lord's Daughter synopsis: (broken into five parts) After losing the two most important people in his life, Daemon has assumed his father, Saetan's, role as High Lord of Hell and built a wall around his heart. But when he inadvertently forges a new connection, will it be enough to break him free from his loveless life? One year to the day after Jaenelle's death, Daemon's been in mourning and, as he promised to Jaenelle, now that a year has passed, he has to move on. At breakfast, Daemon becomes angry when Surreal tries to keep her promise to remove Jaenelle's effects—it was Jaenelle's last command for her. Daemon relents. The Weaver of Dreams is looking over a web spun by Witch and notices that the dormant web holds longings and whispers of wishes and are bound to specific dreamers. Lucivar and Marion have had a girl who've they've named Titian and, while walking back to the Keep, Daemon notes that Saetan is preparing to go back to the Darkness. Saetan tells Daemon that he never wanted him to become the next High Lord of Hell and that the reason he didn't tell Daemon was because he hasn't fully taken up his life since Jaenelle died seventeen years ago. Surreal is upset because Daemon ends up sleeping with a woman—Surreal calls her Dorothea because she seems like her—and Surreal tried to keep her away since before Jaenelle passed away. 

Daemon absorbs Saetan's power when the time is right and the former High Lord of Hell becomes a whisper in the Darkness. After Saetan's funeral, Surreal and Daemon end up reminiscing about Saetan and have sex in Daemon's bedroom. Surreal realizes later that Jaenelle had been preparing her for this over the last few years of her life. She and Daemon continue to have sex for the next few hours. Four days later, when Surreal catches the Gray Wind and goes to the family town house in Amdarh, and after using her Birthright Green, she vomits on the rug and the staff and two Healers converge on her and tell her she's pregnant. A couple of days later, she tells Daemon who says he wants marriage. Surreal doesn't want anything from him, but he's insistent and tells her that she won't just be marrying the Warlord Prince of Dhemlan but also the High Lord of Hell. She's slightly nervous about the whole thing but agrees. During the reception (Bishop skips the wedding) Daemon has the Scelties Morghann and Khary guard her—Surreal would say that Daemon sicced the Scelties on her. Hours before the birth, Surreal snaps at Daemon saying this is all his fault. Surreal panics during the childbirth and stabs Daemon with an open metalwork glove with the talons honed to a killing edge (it was a gift from Rainier who is long dead) when the baby girl is removed from her womb. Surreal names her Jaenelle Saetien in honor of two people who meant a great deal to her. Jaenelle Saetien has the pointed ears of the Dea al Mon and her mother. Daemon calls her witch-child. Lucivar notes that Daemon is loosing tons of blood from the wound and orders Nurian to heal him. Marion notes to Lucivar that Jaenelle Saetien has the same birthday as Jaenelle Angelline and wonders if anyone else has noticed. A few years later, Jaenelle Saetien is galloping on a black kindred horse who is an Opal-Jewled Warlord Prince named Nightwind from the Isle of Scelt (Sh-ellt). Daemon notes that Nightwind looks like Dark Dancer. 

Tersa tells Surreal that her Jaenelle is the child of her heart, that of the golden-haired child she knew without the pain and the exact child that Daemon needs in order for his heart to heal. Surreal asks her how she can be sure and Tersa replies that Witch told her. In the Misty Place, Daemon talks to Jaenelle Angelline who tells him that he's taking back his heart slowly and that when he has all of it back, he should start sharing it again. In the morning, Jaenelle Saetien has something to show her father. He tells her to wait outside so he can get dressed and she brushes it off because she's seen boy parts before and that Uncle Lucivar showed her. Daemon, in rage, barges into Lucivar's eyrie and demands an explanation. Lucivar tells him that it happened on a weekend. Lucivar was relaxing in a hot spring pool when Daemonar screamed. Lucivar, without bothering to put on a towel, burst onto the scene and saw Titian and Jaenelle trying to see what it was that Daemonar had between his legs because older girls were talking about it and acting silly. Lucivar calls in a towel and tells her that now she knows and sets some rules. Meanwhile, during this, Marion is taking care of baby Andulvar. Daemon apologizes, saying that the nightmares about Jaenelle Angelline's past and they became foremost in his mind. Lucivar mentions that he still has those nightmares as well and he would've done the same had Titian told Lucivar the same thing. Daemon comes back to the Hall and sees Surreal sitting on a couch reading a book with her corssbow aimed at the door. Surreal tells him to apologize to their daughter. 

He does and learns that Jaenelle's new friends are a half-grown Warlord Prince Arcerian cat named Kaele wearing a Green Birthright Jewel—who tells Daemon that the Weaver of Dreams says it's time—and the other is a unicorn Warlord Prince named Moondancer and can trace his bloodline back to a Warlord Prince named Kaetien. Surreal mentions that Jaenelle Saetien has another friend—special, secret, someone she's known forever and that she meets in dreams. She also notes that Kaele is descended from Kaelas, Moondancer from Kaetien, the Scelties are called Morghann and Khary and wonders if a tiger and a dragon are going to show up next. Daemon wonders what the kindred know that they don't. The Birthright Ceremony has arrived. A dozen aristo families are gathered at a Sanctuary in a central Dhemlan Province including Daemon and Surreal with Lucivar and Marion. It's Jaenelle's day. Surreal is worried about Jaenelle receiving her Birthright Jewels as she can't get a basic sense of what they'll be for her daughter. Tersa takes Jaenelle Saetien—calling her a Sister—to receive the Jewel. Jaenelle Saetien's jewel hasn't arrived yet and Tersa says that Daemon won't have answers until the last is done. 

Surreal takes her daughter and says before the rest of the aristos that she acknowledges Daemon as the father and grants him all paternal rights from this day forward. Jaenelle Saetien walks the distance to Daemon. Tersa declares that “She has come” and Jaenelle Saetien goes to collect her jewel. Daemon goes after her and sees his daughter holding Twilight's Dawn—not the full version Jaenelle Angelline had, but it contains the powers of Rose, Summer-sky, Purple Dusk, Opal and Green—and says she knew about this. Daemon asks her how and she tells him about the Lady in the Misty Place, the one called the Song in the Darkness: Jaenelle Angelline. According to Jaenelle Saetien: “'She said, when you were ready, you would tell me stories about her. About when she lived in the Realms. She said Uncle Lucivar and Mama could tell me stories too.'” Daemon talks to Witch and learns that his daughter is Dreams Made Flesh: his dreams and Surreals dreams and her dreams for the both of them. She also tells him to move on and says that she'll be with him because no one should stand that deep in the abyss. Later that night, as Daemon made love to Surreal, he says her name and to her “it sounded like a promise, like a lovely caress.”

A great finale to the whole series and should this be the final set of stories told, it will hold the title as the best in the series since Queen of the Darkness. Wonderful cast of old and new characters, great prose, and excellent character arcs. I've heard wonderful things about Anne Bishops The Ephemera series and The Tir Alainn trilogy. I think I'll give them a go.

[1] SF Site