This next review is written about one of my all time favorite book series...

The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop - this is an older trilogy (almost 11 years old), but one of my absolute favorites. The setting is another world entirely, one that consists of three realms - Terreille (the terrestrial realm), Hell (the underworld), and Kaleer (the higher realm, not exactly heaven but quasi-celestial in terms of some its more mythical inhabitants). Bear with me as a I try to give a decent synopsis, it's a very complex story that's difficult to describe briefly, and I'm first going to give you an idea of how society is structured. Society constitutes of the 'Blood', humans born with a jewel of power, and landens, non-jeweled humans with no magic abilities whatsoever. The jewels rank from lightest to darkest, white to black, with white being the weakest magically, and black being the most powerful. During adolescence, one makes an offering to the ubiquitious 'darkness,' the almost divine source of their power, and can descend up to three jewel ranks (i.e. if you're born with a red jewel, an already powerful stone, you have the potential to descend to the Black). On top of jewel ranking, there is also social class ranking, and a combination of the two determines your place and influence in society. When reading these books keep this in mind, but there are explanations and definitions at the start of each novel so you should be fine. Ok! Here comes the real meat....the world of the Blood is a matriarchal society, so women have the power and men serve, but in the capacity advisors and companions with the right to disobey the female Blood if it's in their best interest (not slave like at all). However, when the story opens up in Terreille, we learn that society has been completely corrupted by a group of semi-powerful Blood females, led by the malicious Dorothea, a red-jeweled priestess bent on ruling all of Terreille. Men have been completely dominated, the most powerful of whom are forced into harsh slavery (often of a sexual nature). One broken, aka insane, witch, named Tersa, has a prophecy that one day Witch, also known as the Dreams made Flesh, will come and she will be the most powerful witch the world has ever known. Her purpose: to restore order, peace, and balance to the world(s). The main three males most concerned with this myth are Saetan, Daemon, and Lucivar, all extremely powerful men (jewels: black, black, ebon-gray respectivly), who will come to mean something different to Witch as the story progresses. The protagonist is young 8-years Janelle Angeline, she who is Dreams Made Flesh. She soons becomes a pawn in the corrupt game of politics, for who ever controls the Queen controls the Darkness and has access to the greatest force of power the world has ever known. Phew....that was the most concise synopsis I ever gave, if you can believe that! I am not kidding when I say this is a complex book, and it's hard to summarize because unlike something like Harry Potter in which each book is an individual adventure that is connected by overarching themes and events, this series is like one long story, divided into 3 parts. Seriously, I know I don't make it sound too awesome, but even the published summary on the back of the books give very little insight into what the story is actually about. I loved this because the characters were absolutely great. Don't let the names Saetan and Lucivar put you off (love them!), this isn't a story about ghouls and devils (although Saetan is the Lord of Hell, which is one of the three realms - it's not the fiery pit Christian theologists describe it as, but more like the dark underworld Hades of Ancient Greek religion). Warning: I will say this, if you're really young (say, under 13 - 14), you may want to avoid this for a couple of years. Particular parts of the story are graphic and there is some disturbing content (i.e. rape). It's not arbitrary, but Bishop uses it to emphasize how corrupt society has become and also the certain challenges and pains Janelle faces growing up Witch. The first book takes place from when she is 8 - 12 years old, the second 12 - 18, and the third 19 - 25 ish. For this reason in particular I loved this series because when I'm following the growth of a person over a substantial period of time I really begin to feel for the character and relate to her (although, since it is complete fantasy I'm relating in a purely mental sense, haha). All I have to say is read it, the story is extremely engaging, keeps you sucked in, and the characters are to die for (LOVE Daemon, so sexy).

***** 5 Stars!

Trilogy Includes:
1. Daughter of the Blood
2. Heir to the Shadows
3. Queen of the Darkness

Also read the following:
4. Dreams made Flesh - this is a small compilation of a few short stories that elaborate on the lives of certain characters (i.e. Saetan's life before the events of the Black Jewels, and Lucivar's activities between Heir to the Shadows and Queen of the Darkness). The largest story follows what happens to Janelle and Daemon after the events of Queen of the Darkness...and that should give away who the primary love interest is in the midst of everything....