Heir to the Shadows

I have to begin by saying that I love this book... it is one of my favorites, ever since I found it in the bookstore a few years ago. Since then, I have gotten several of my friends hooked on this series and they love it as much as I do.

Heir to the Shadows is the second book in Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy. I wouldn't recommend starting this book until you have read Daughter of the Blood as the trilogy is very much a package deal: the three books add up to creat one cohesive larger story and you skipping one book would cause you to be missing a great deal of information.

Once you have read Daughter of the Blood, you will definitely want to dive into this book. I loved it and in some ways, this book is better than the prequel. Bishop continues to use the endearing humor found in the first book; in fact, there seems to be more of it because Bishop can spend more time on the story, instead of establishing the world the characters inhabit.

After the events of the first book, this starts with Saetan adopting Jaenelle while Lucivar and Daemon try to escape Terreille. We watch Jaenelle grow up and finally meet some of her other friends, including some kindred. Of course, during this time, the evil forces of the first book continue to try to gain power over the realms.

There is some violence in this book, but it is more battle type violence or killing as opposed to the sexually-based violence found in the first book.

All in all, this is a great book for fans of fantasy and I heartily recommend it. The last book in the series is called Queen of the Darkness and you will probably want to have it nearby when you have finished with Heir to the Shadows.

Rating: 5.0