Book Review: A Black Jewels novel: Tangled Webs SPOILERS!

In 2009, Anne Bishop published the next installment in the Black Jewels series, Tangled Webs. It's a story about Surreal, mostly. About her and how she survived a death trap set for her and the SaDiablo family. Synopsis: The invitation was signed Jaenelle Angelline, she who had been both Witch and Queen. Surreal SaDiablo, former courtesan and assassin, is the first to arrive--only to find herself trapped in a nightmare created by the tangled webs of Black Widow witches. And if she uses Craft to defend herself, she risks being sealed in the house forever. But Jaenelle did not send the invitation. Now Jaenelle and her family must rescue Surreal and the others inside without becoming trapped themselves--and they also must discover who designed such an evil place as a way to kill members of the SaDiablo family. Only one of the Blood could have created the trap...

The novel opens with a prologue from the villain. He's an author who's constantly being made fun of by the Blood for his errors about their kind in his books. He's also recently discovered he is one of the Blood. He hatches a plan to study the Blood, in particular, the SaDiablo family. Jaenelle wants to open a spooky house for the children and landen. Daemon, Lucivar, and Saetan don't want anything to do with it, but help them because Jaenelle promises that one room in the house will show the landen what it truly means to be Blood. She and Marion have picked the place and are designing it. A few weeks later, Surreal gets an invitation written by Jaenelle to tour the spooky house. She goes with her friend Rainier. At the house, they encounter a group of children and all of them enter. As they explore, the children start dying and the "ghosts" and creatures are actually demon dead Black Widow witches and other deadly traps laced around the house. As they enter the basement to try and exit, they find themselves in the same house, but in another replica with even more deadly surprises. Daemon and Jaenelle arrive and study the place.

 A young boy hadn't gone in with Surreal and tells them everything that he knew, even that a half-blood girl had been kidnapped and disappeared. Daemon and Jaenelle suspect the house is spelled once they arrive and it's confirmed by Yuli, the boy. Yuli says a half-sane woman was helping the man who built the place. Daemon suspects his mother and asks her. She says it was a surprise for the boys, an entertainment. Since Tersa walks the Twisted Kingdom, Daemon knows she thought that he was helping Jaenelle. Surreal and Rainier being to suspect the same thing, but must protect the remaining children. Daemon learns from Khary that Jarvis Jenkell found out her was a Blood member when he mimicked going through the Offering. He came away with a Jewel. Khary also tells him that Jenkell built the house that Surreal is trapped in. After Daemon talks to Tersa, Tersa becomes angry at Jarvis for he tried to hurt her boy. Another child dies in the spooky house. Apparently, Jarvis is watching them and finds their hatred for his work to be insulting. Daemon tells Jaenelle that Jarvis is Blood and Witch becomes angry.

Rainier and Surreal are injured and losing blood. Lucivar finds out about the spook house death trap and demands that Daemon and Jaenelle stand aside and let him handle this. He enters and hacks and carves up anything in his path. He meets a young cildru dyathe. The boy, unlike the rest of the dead, is pleasant and tells Lucivar everything. Lucivar threatens Jarvis, promising to "make him pay" for his crimes. Jarvis, watching the whole thing, begins to understand why people fear Lucivar. Tersa heads for Jarvis' spooky house, to make him pay. Jarvis sends everything to kill Surreal and Rainier and the kids. Lucivar arrives and cuts everything up. He uses his Ebon Gray power and blasts a hole in the house and gets the kids and Surreal and Rainier to Daemon and Jaenelle. Lucivar reenters the hole and finds Jarvis and drags him out. Tersa arrives, demanding to kill Jarvis, but Daemon asks her to let him deal with this. Surreal realizes that everything that Daemon is didn't all come from Saetan. Daemon and Jaenelle open the door to the spooky house and toss Jarvis inside, but not before making sure there are only two exits left. Daemon and Jaenelle take Yuli back to SaDiablo Hall and one of the kindred Sceltie claims Yuli is his. Yuli goes back to the orphanage but this time with Lord Socks, the kindred Sceltie, and the owners learn that they'll have regular visits from the rest of the kindred and not all of them canine. Days later, Daemon reenters the spooky house and kills Jenkell, who has been panicking and is now bleeding. Daemon takes the young cildru dyathe to Hell where Saetan welcomes him. Surreal and Rainer, along with several other people visit Jaenelle's spooky house and see everything, including the subtle message she and Daemon leave the landens.

All in all, a very fast-paced novel and a great read on Halloween. Anne Bishop still has it when t comes to magic and fantasy. Recommended for any fan of fantasy and the series.

Book Review: Star Wars: Republic Commando: Triple Zero SPOILERS!

Okay, a lot of you are probably wondering why I keep using the word "spoilers" in my title. The answer is that perhaps none of you have read the novel and, even if you have, there might be dozens more that haven't. In 2006, author Karen Traviss wrote her second Star Wars novel called Republic Commando: Triple Zero, and it continued the story of Omega Squad and Etain Tur-Mukan and introduced Delta Squad into the novels. Synopsis: Following the eruption of the bloody Clone Wars at the battle of Geonosis, both sides remain deadlocked in a stalemate that can be broken only by elite warrior teams like Omega Squad, clone commandos with terrifying combat skills and a lethal arsenal... For Omega Squad, deployed deep behind enemy lines, it's the same old special ops grind: sabotage, espionage, ambush, and assassination. But when Omega Squad is rushed to Coruscant, the war's most dangerous new hotspot, the commandos discover they're not the only ones penetrating the heart of the enemy. A surge in Separatist attacks has been traced to a network of Sep terror cells in the Republic's capital, masterminded by a mole in Command Headquarters. To identify and destroy a Separatist spy and terror network in a city full of civilians will require special talents and skills. Not even the Jedi generals, along with the assistance of Delta Squad and a certain notorious ARC trooper, can even the odds against the Republic Commandos. And while success may not bring victory in the Clone Wars, failure means certain defeat.

the prologue starts with Fi and Omega preparing for an insertion to capture some Sep agents that helped with a bombing on Coruscant. Meanwhile, Jedi Knight and General Etain Tur-Mukan takes the 41st Elite into battle of Dinlo while Ordo, on Coruscant, gets Jedi Knight and General Bardan Jusik to investigate a bomb site with Sgt Kal Skirata, a True Mandalorian. Omega calls for extraction and Delta Squad (fresh from the Prosecutor mission), Etain on RAS Fearless and RAS Majestic respond. Fearless and Majestic hold off Sep forces off while Delta extracts the prisoners and Omega. Back on Coruscant, Skirata wants to borrow Delta and Omega, as well as, Etain and Jusik for an ops hunt for the terrorists. Sgt Walon Vau, another True Mandalorian, also joins. Vau and Etain interrogate the prisoners while Skirata gets the rest situated. Etain gets some intel that leads them to a Jabiimi black market dealer who helped in the Coruscant bombings. After days of tracking the terrorists and teaming up with CSF and a treasury agent, Skirata and gang take them down. Throughout the novel, Etain and Darman fall in love and Etain later tells Skirata that she's pregnant with Darman's child. Skirata threatens her and says that the child will be raised in the True Mandalorian tradition and that Darman mustn't know about his kid lest it distracts him from the fight. SKirata makes plans to ahve Etain sent back to Qiilura to help the human population leave the planet. The novel ends with Skirata finding the last known location of the former scientist Ko Sai, a Kaminoan that fled during the battle of Kamino. Skirata plans to use her to create a cure for the clones' rapid aging process.

All in all, a great read for fans of the Republic Commando game. Not what you'd expect considering the majority of the 393 page novel takes place on Coruscant and spent tracking the Sep terrorists. Action oriented, character development, and good human and military tactics are mixed extremely well with the Star Wars vibe.

Book Review: Black Jewels: Dreams Made Flesh SPOILERS!

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.