Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop

ISBN-10: 0451456718
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 1998
Black Jewels, #1
412 pgs

She has come. (Pg 39)

Seven hundred years ago, a Black Widow witch by the name of Tersa wove a tangled web to see the dreams and visions. What she saw both shocked and terrified her, for she forseen a new witch would have the power of controlling the Realms, where the land of the living coexists with the land of the demon dead. Now the Realms are ruled by the Blood whereby each individual is ranked accordingly to the colours of their Jewels (for example, a Black Jewel is the most powerful and highest rank among the Jewels, and Opal is the dividing line between other lighter and darker Jewels. However, when one makes the Offering to the Darkness, that person could descend a maximum of three ranks from his/her Birthright Jewel).

Jaenelle, the witch-child with sapphire-eyes is what Tersa had foreseen in her vision. At age twelve, she already possessed some unique powers but still there is a sense of naivety in her. On the other side of the Realm, three men (Saetan, the High Lord of Hell and his two estranged sons, Lucivar and Daemon; both are Warlord Prince and wore Ebon-gray Jewels, the second powerful Jewels in the hierarchy) knew of the powerful witch that will descend to the universe soon but have no idea she is still a child. Afraid that Jaenelle might fall into the wrong hands, Saetan acts as her mentor and taught her some crafts, but Jaenelle has the ability to do some amazing stuff through her power though Saetan has no idea why a simple craft stumped her.

As for Lucivar and Daemon, they are one of the most interesting characters I came across in this story, besides Jaenelle that is. Though they are warlord princes, they are by no means powerful as they deem more of a sexual slaves to the Black Widow queens and priestesses as these witches rule some of the territories in the world of the living. Daemon has endured the suffering and humiliation for centuries, but what kept him sane is his dream of serving the Witch and to be her soulmate one day. Though there is nothing wrong with his intention, I find his attraction to Jaenelle a little disturbing considering she is a child, but yet I also find there is tenderness between them and that is the beauty of it. I see Anne Bishop has taken great care on writing their relationship so beautifully. You can tell there is great chemistry between them through their conversations; and some of the things Jaenelle said made me smile. She is such a bright and intelligent girl, and despite being a child she could be so wise and courageous on most occasions. This is one reason why I was fascinated by her. I cannot imagine what she would turn out to be if she has fully grown up but I know she would be someone very, very powerful aside from the abilities she possessed.

I wish I could go on and on about this installment but oh there is so many things to say that I do not know where to start. I am most fascinated by the characters (though it takes a while to memorise all of them and some of the names are so interesting!), and I like the naivety in Jaenelle because this is what makes her so real and intriguing. As for the plot, let's just say the story keeps getting better the more you read it but I have to warn you that there are some issues on abuse, violence and sexuality but they are all significant attributes to the story so it does not bother me much.

And oh, how could I miss the exchanges between Saetan and Jaenelle? Some of them cracked me up due to Jaenelle's naivete about the things around her and Saetan's attempts to answer her simple yet bold questions. And mentioning of Saetan reminds me of his estranged relationship between Lucivar and Daemon. The father and sons definitely have some issues going on but I liked how their relationships has changed gradually due to Jaenelle. Can you tell there is a lot of things going on in this book?

Daughter of the Blood is one of the best fantasy I have read. I am definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the sequels in the near future.

Other reviews:
Errant Dreams Reviews
Hypatia's Hoard of Reviews
Novel Reflections
Saving My Sanity
(Let me know if I missed yours.)