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Who recommends: Preeti, Lori, Shelley, Barbara, Edith, Lynn, Suzanne, Shelly, Laurie, Isabel, Margaret, JW, Danielle
Who discommends:
I read this. If you like Laurell Hamilton, there's a good chance you'll like this, too. It's fantasy, not set in an alternate modern day world, like Anita Blake's world. But it's very good. --Lori
I second this recommendation for Anne Bishop's DAUGHTER OF THE BLOOD. I think if you like LKH's NIGHTSEER and Michelle Sagara's INTO THE DARKLANDS, then you will love this book. Dark fantasy, kinda sick sometimes, but somehow it ended up being the most absorbing book I read all year long.--Preeti
DAUGHTER OF THE BLOOD is one of my top favorites for 1998. I should warn you, however, it uses fantasy to deal with some very disturbing issues. That said - I found it to be a great read and am eagerly (and impatiently) waiting for the next book. DOTB is the first of a trilogy. If I were to do a blurb to describe this one I would say "darkly fascinating with threads of sensuality, humor and horror running through out the story".--Shelley
I read Anne Bishop's DAUGHTER OF THE BLOOD and it LEAVES YOU HANGING. I am now DEFINITELY refusing to read unfinished series. Honestly, what is the point of writing books that end in the middle of nowhere?? Publishers should not be allowed to issue books until ALL OF THE books in the SERIES have been written. Then they should issue them a month apart. NO MORE than a month apart.
So.... I recommend this book even though it's not my kind of book -- a bit too horror-ish to make it to keeper status. Humiliation, degradation, child abuse. Even starts with a man getting his balls eaten by rats. Ugh. Took me a while to get past that distaste. But it does definitely improve. Good characterization, interesting story, although I did want it to MOVE faster. --Edith
'Humiliation, degradation, child abuse. Even starts with a man getting his balls eaten by rats.' And you describe yourself as squeamish? ugh! These books are going to the head of my mental Not TBR list. (I like dark, but not visceral).--Catie
I don't like that kind of stuff but I DO recommend this. The violence is mostly off-screen (? can't think of the proper word) and NOT described in loving technicolor detail. I do think you should give it a chance if you ever happen to run across it. Bishop does an excellent job world-building and creates interesting redeemable characters. Really, I described the worst bits. It's not ALL like that. There are charming funny bits.--Edith
I'll second this. I didn't much care for the first part of the first one, but my daughter read the whole thing and loved it, and I got the second one partly by accident (partly on the recommendation of this list) and read it then went back and read the first one all the way through. The first part of the first one was a little hard to take, but things improve massively. You can't triumph over adversity w/out adversity.--Lynn
This was my kind of book. Horribly dark, gut-wrenching, sweetly humorous (loved the way Daemon and Lucivar interacted: Prick/Bastard LOL) and unforgettable. Wow, it's been too long since I've read a book that had this kind of emotional effect on me. There were some spots that I found confusing, did anyone else find that while reading?...I also thought that she introduced way too many characters, I wanted more of Saetan, Daemon, Lucivar, Surreal and Jaenelle -- less of everybody else....Love the way this woman writes about the sexy, frightening Daemon's besottment with Jaenelle...I'll never look at "shaving" quite the same way after reading this one!--Laurie (06 Aug 99)
I was trying to tidy up one of my messy little book piles right before bed time last night and came across DAUGHTER OF THE BLOOD. Now, I was going to save it until the third book came out since I really *hate* being left dangling in the middle of a story but I made the fatal mistake of starting the first chapter. It was five in the morning the next time I looked at the clock! What an incredibly mesmerising book! I'm not usually into dark stories and boy, did this book cover some dark issues. However, the characters were irresistible, especially Daemon, Lucivar and Saetan, and there were such unexpected touches of humour - the bemusement of these deadly males in trying to raise such a precocious Witch. Now the question is whether I will be able to resist buying the second book before the third one comes out :) --Isabel (27 Sep 99)
I have just finished read the Anne Bishop trilogy and enjoyed it very much. I can't really separate the books out as I was fortunate enough to have all 3 so was able to read them consecutively. I can see why some people mentioned Laurell Hamilton - these books are certainly dark but there is much less visible violence than in LKH's books. The best part was the emotional interaction between the main characters. I also enjoyed the depiction of a matriarchal society, particularly as Bishop managed to avoid the traps many authors fall into. The worst part was the lack of development of many of the characters - neither Dorothea nor Hekateh had any personality to speak of, most of the evil queens were indistinguishable and the only one of the coven with any individuality was Karla. I would also have liked to know more about Jaenelle's motivations.--Margaret (21 May 00)I did finally read the first in Bishop's Witch trilogy. Really really enjoyed it, but will reserve judgment until I see how the relationships are wrapped up. Also, there's only so much torture I can take, so I hope it doesn't get *too* much bloodier.--Danielle (28 May 02)
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