I began keeping a reading journal several years before I began blogging. I find it interesting to sift through my thoughts of books that I read back then. My reviews were often brief and contained little substance, but I thought it'd be fun to document them here on my blog as well as share them with you. The first half of 2006 seemed to be my time for series reading. Here are some of my reviews from 2006:
Roc, 2000
Fantasy; 398 pgs
The Invisible Ring is a prequel to the Black Jewels series that I read just over two years ago. I had started to read The Invisible Ring at that time, but ended up setting it aside because I needed a little space between the books. I hadn’t expected to wait so long to read the prequel, however, this time I was much more ready for the book and enjoyed it quite a bit. Although the world Anne Bishop created in her novel was not fresh in my memory, it was easy to slip back into it. In The Invisible Ring, Priestess Dorothea who rules over Hayll is determined to see the Gray Lady, queen of Dena Nehele, dead so that she can overtake the queen’s land and people. The perfect opportunity arises when the Queen steps off her lands to buy slaves at the market. She picks up an unlikely lot of slaves, many of whom have secrets just like herself. Among the slaves is the powerful Red-Jeweled Warlord, Jared, who had been a pleasure slave for many years and whose last queen died at his hands. Dorothea and her Master of Guards soon discover that killing the Gray Lady will not be an easy task. Anne Bishop’s story contained suspense, magic and even a touch of romance throughout. The author painted a very dark world, where cruelty and unfairness seem to rule over honor and justice.
Roc, 2005
Fantasy; 439 pgs
Stepping back into the realm of the Black Jewels, I decided it was the perfect time to read Dreams Made Flesh, which is made up of four stories involving some of my favorite characters from the Black Jewels series. The book opens with a creation story not quite like any other. Next is the story of Eyrien Warlord Lucivar and hearth witch Marian. Readers learn a dark secret about Saetan and what can happen if his family is threatened. And then there is the final story is of Warlord Prince Daemon and his Queen, the Witch, Jaenelle. Power, revenge, and retribution fill the pages of Dreams Made Flesh, in a realm where women tend to have the upper hand and the men serve. But threaten the man and those he loves, and there will be no mercy. I hated to see the stories come to an end because I so enjoy spending time with Anne Bishop’s characters. When I finally make it to some of her other books, I hope they are just as good.
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Looking at the covers I'd have thought these books were marketed at very different age ranges - just goes to show what I know.
ReplyDeleteGreat reviews, its always such fun to take a look back like this.
Tracy - The Invisible Ring cover in particular doesn't seem to fit well with the book.
DeleteIt's been fun to go back and read my thoughts on books I read years ago. I still have a number of posts to go and then I'll be all caught up. :-)
I love this series, even though it is a bit twisted. I always wished they stuck with the same characters though, it was a bit hard to figure out which stories came before which without checking them all out first. Great reviews:D!!
ReplyDeleteLanie - I'm glad to hear you like the series too! I just love Anne Bishop. I'm with you about keeping the same characters. It did get confusing.
DeleteHave not read any Anne Bishop but I know she's got lots of fans. Fantasy is not my typical go to story but these do sound interesting. Thank you for sharing from your archives :)
ReplyDeleteIliana - I'm definitely a fan. I wasn't sure of her at first, but she's grown on me. :-)
DeleteI've heard of Anne Bishop but never read any of her books. I'm not sure these are for me but I am curious. I'm always amazed at your Archive reviews. It always makes me wish I had taken the time to review books better pre-internet.
ReplyDeleteKatherine - I tend to read more urban fantasy now than high fantasy like this, which kind of makes me sad.
DeleteIt's been fun re-visiting my reading from years ago. I'm almost caught up to when I started my blog.
Ugh! I really, really need to read something by this author! I've checked Written in Red from the library but ended up returning it unread. Soon I keep telling myself!
ReplyDeleteSamantha - I hope you will try Written in Red at some point. I have my giant review scheduled to post at some point this summer (finally). LOL
DeleteThe Invisible Ring is the only Anne Bishop I ever read- and made me never want to read another, actually. I found it pretty distasteful, and couldn't like any of the characters. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteJeane - I think if I had started with this one, I might not have liked it as much. But I read it after reading three of her other books, and I was already immersed in the world. I agree, not many of the characters are that likeable.
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