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A review by mirandahonfleur
Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop
4.0
*Reread*
I had mixed feelings about this one - part Disney princess tale, part teenage wish fulfillment, and part gripping dark fantasy. Readers will find the content still dark, but not nearly as dark as Daughter of the Blood (#1). Heir to the Shadows takes us through Jaenelle's recovery after the events of book one, from age 12 to 20, in Saetan's care. And this is largely Saetan's book, which is a minus, and I'll explain why.
After an explosive early chapter, Saetan is largely a paper tiger - a domesticated paper tiger, whose main concerns are educating Jaenelle, supervising her friends, and cuddling with puppies and kitties (seriously). He's portrayed as this immensely powerful High Lord of Hell, and yet he only demonstrates that power a handful of times, only the first time being really notable. Actually, I'm finding the books full of paper tigers--supposedly powerful people strutting around like titans and yet not really ever showing their strength (or very rarely), Jaenelle being the exception.
I hate to say this, but the first half of the book is largely skippable:
1. The Council tries to interfere with Saetan's guardianship of Jaenelle (but we never get a sense that they stand a chance, so no tension),
2. Jaenelle slowly recovers from Book #1's events (which, as a character arc would have been great if we'd had her viewpoint, but since we don't, we're not privy to her internal workings...),
3. She makes friends,
4. They socialize at the hall,
5. Some Kindred (talking magic animals) show up and make friends too,
6. Heketah & co. make some feeble attempts at villainy (really, being so ineffectual, why even bother?),
7. Saetan sits around like the exasperated dad in a sweater, cuddling with the pets and lamenting having teenagers around.
And that's about it. The conflict is paper thin (the Council and Heketah), no one's ever really in danger, and it's just this slice-of-life teenage-girl wish fulfillment, where the most powerful men in the world fall all over themselves because Jaenelle looked at them with her "sapphire eyes" and spoke in her "midnight voice" (these phrases are repeated ad nauseam). No joke. Throughout the book, the men have pissing contests over Jaenelle and routinely take each other's teasing (ex: "I'm going to throttle her!") seriously so they can snarl at each other about threats to Jaenelle and prove how devoted they are to her. Also note that none of her adoring man harem have any romantic partners, nor do they seem to desire any. She is literally their entire life. That gets old and tired quickly.
The first half of the book dragged so slowly that it took a month for me to read. There was nothing at stake, no tension, no conflict, and I just didn't care to read often or much. It was a snippet of Jaenelle's lessons here, a snippet of teasing Mrs. Beale there, Saetan taking a nap, Jaenelle socializing with her friends... *yawn* It was more interesting to my teenage self than now.
That all said, the second half--perhaps more like last third--REALLY takes off. The main focus of this book is Jaenelle's coming of age, and although that drags at times, by the end, it's spectacular. Almost as much as the first book was Daemon's, the second is Lucivar's. As soon as he shows up, he becomes a major character, acting as a foil to Jaenelle. As passive/shutdown as Jaenelle can be about being abused, Lucivar is ferocious, rebelling and fighting every perceived slight.
One of my favorite aspects of the Black Jewels series is the characters - Daemon and Surreal blew me away in the first book. In the second book, the cast greatly expands (but most of the new characters aren't described well enough or involved significantly enough for me to care about them), with the returning Lucivar as the shining star. He shows up and instantly contrasts with Jaenelle, and he becomes an impact character, encouraging her to fight, to rebel, to take a stand. She wants to go unnoticed, hold no power over anyone even if they want her to, and although this makes perfect sense given what she went through in the first book, Lucivar acts as a catalyst to help her develop into who she was always intended to be.
There's also a thread throughout the book about the abuse of the Kindred, the talking magic animals, by the Blood. Through the Kindred's interactions with the main cast, I came to see them as people, and the injustices done to them became even more appalling and made me crave justice for them. There's also the perpetual battle of the sexes so inherent to the worldbuilding. And if you've been waiting for this world's politics to be shaken up, you'll enjoy this book. :)
The last third of the book was so eventful, it almost made up for the slow first half. The ending was almost everything I longed for it to be, and more. (I don't want to spoil it, though.)
I've mentioned the slow first half, not being a fan of how the men around Jaenelle are portrayed, and the sort of ineffectual villainy that is supposed to be the conflict in this book, but I have another major complaint. After reading Daughter of the Blood, which was so much about Daemon, this book largely ignores him. Thinking he raped Jaenelle, he goes insane... and we don't see him for most of the book. He pops up a couple times... and that's it. Daemon Sadi is crazy--so the book just forgets about him and focuses on the other characters.
And it gets worse... not only does he get very little page time, the characters ALSO don't care. Jaenelle doesn't remember him. Lucivar is convinced Daemon is guilty - although you might think he'd try to find out more before abandoning his insane half-brother, but no - and none of the people Daemon has helped over the years bother to do anything except for Surreal, who takes care of him now and then, but we hardly get her viewpoint (another disappointment, as I greatly enjoyed her in the first book). And Saetan, DAEMON'S OWN FATHER, doesn't bother to check on him, which really put him in a negative light for me. Saetan bends over backward for the "daughter of his soul," Jaenelle, but Lucivar practically dies and Daemon is insane, and Saetan couldn't care less... Too busy supervising teens, playing with puppies and kitties, and eating nut cakes... And considering he probably gets the most viewpoints in the book, it wasn't as exciting to read.
Speaking of characters lacking page time, where was Jaenelle's sister, Wilhelmina? After everything Jaenelle went through, you'd think someone would have a care for her sister... Guess not.
The worldbuilding, however, was still excellent, building upon the first book with Black Widow healing, Kindred, politics in Kaeleer and Hell, and some stunning spells (but I wish we could've seen the Offering to the Darkness instead of just being told about it). The writing was also noticeably better. And that ending... Wow.
So a three-star rating might mean "meh" for some, but for me, it was a combination of annoying things and really awesome things that battled for priority. Ultimately, I like the books, with a few caveats.
I had mixed feelings about this one - part Disney princess tale, part teenage wish fulfillment, and part gripping dark fantasy. Readers will find the content still dark, but not nearly as dark as Daughter of the Blood (#1). Heir to the Shadows takes us through Jaenelle's recovery after the events of book one, from age 12 to 20, in Saetan's care. And this is largely Saetan's book, which is a minus, and I'll explain why.
After an explosive early chapter, Saetan is largely a paper tiger - a domesticated paper tiger, whose main concerns are educating Jaenelle, supervising her friends, and cuddling with puppies and kitties (seriously). He's portrayed as this immensely powerful High Lord of Hell, and yet he only demonstrates that power a handful of times, only the first time being really notable. Actually, I'm finding the books full of paper tigers--supposedly powerful people strutting around like titans and yet not really ever showing their strength (or very rarely), Jaenelle being the exception.
I hate to say this, but the first half of the book is largely skippable:
1. The Council tries to interfere with Saetan's guardianship of Jaenelle (but we never get a sense that they stand a chance, so no tension),
2. Jaenelle slowly recovers from Book #1's events (which, as a character arc would have been great if we'd had her viewpoint, but since we don't, we're not privy to her internal workings...),
3. She makes friends,
4. They socialize at the hall,
5. Some Kindred (talking magic animals) show up and make friends too,
6. Heketah & co. make some feeble attempts at villainy (really, being so ineffectual, why even bother?),
7. Saetan sits around like the exasperated dad in a sweater, cuddling with the pets and lamenting having teenagers around.
And that's about it. The conflict is paper thin (the Council and Heketah), no one's ever really in danger, and it's just this slice-of-life teenage-girl wish fulfillment, where the most powerful men in the world fall all over themselves because Jaenelle looked at them with her "sapphire eyes" and spoke in her "midnight voice" (these phrases are repeated ad nauseam). No joke. Throughout the book, the men have pissing contests over Jaenelle and routinely take each other's teasing (ex: "I'm going to throttle her!") seriously so they can snarl at each other about threats to Jaenelle and prove how devoted they are to her. Also note that none of her adoring man harem have any romantic partners, nor do they seem to desire any. She is literally their entire life. That gets old and tired quickly.
The first half of the book dragged so slowly that it took a month for me to read. There was nothing at stake, no tension, no conflict, and I just didn't care to read often or much. It was a snippet of Jaenelle's lessons here, a snippet of teasing Mrs. Beale there, Saetan taking a nap, Jaenelle socializing with her friends... *yawn* It was more interesting to my teenage self than now.
That all said, the second half--perhaps more like last third--REALLY takes off. The main focus of this book is Jaenelle's coming of age, and although that drags at times, by the end, it's spectacular. Almost as much as the first book was Daemon's, the second is Lucivar's. As soon as he shows up, he becomes a major character, acting as a foil to Jaenelle. As passive/shutdown as Jaenelle can be about being abused, Lucivar is ferocious, rebelling and fighting every perceived slight.
One of my favorite aspects of the Black Jewels series is the characters - Daemon and Surreal blew me away in the first book. In the second book, the cast greatly expands (but most of the new characters aren't described well enough or involved significantly enough for me to care about them), with the returning Lucivar as the shining star. He shows up and instantly contrasts with Jaenelle, and he becomes an impact character, encouraging her to fight, to rebel, to take a stand. She wants to go unnoticed, hold no power over anyone even if they want her to, and although this makes perfect sense given what she went through in the first book, Lucivar acts as a catalyst to help her develop into who she was always intended to be.
There's also a thread throughout the book about the abuse of the Kindred, the talking magic animals, by the Blood. Through the Kindred's interactions with the main cast, I came to see them as people, and the injustices done to them became even more appalling and made me crave justice for them. There's also the perpetual battle of the sexes so inherent to the worldbuilding. And if you've been waiting for this world's politics to be shaken up, you'll enjoy this book. :)
The last third of the book was so eventful, it almost made up for the slow first half. The ending was almost everything I longed for it to be, and more. (I don't want to spoil it, though.)
I've mentioned the slow first half, not being a fan of how the men around Jaenelle are portrayed, and the sort of ineffectual villainy that is supposed to be the conflict in this book, but I have another major complaint. After reading Daughter of the Blood, which was so much about Daemon, this book largely ignores him. Thinking he raped Jaenelle, he goes insane... and we don't see him for most of the book. He pops up a couple times... and that's it. Daemon Sadi is crazy--so the book just forgets about him and focuses on the other characters.
And it gets worse... not only does he get very little page time, the characters ALSO don't care. Jaenelle doesn't remember him. Lucivar is convinced Daemon is guilty - although you might think he'd try to find out more before abandoning his insane half-brother, but no - and none of the people Daemon has helped over the years bother to do anything except for Surreal, who takes care of him now and then, but we hardly get her viewpoint (another disappointment, as I greatly enjoyed her in the first book). And Saetan, DAEMON'S OWN FATHER, doesn't bother to check on him, which really put him in a negative light for me. Saetan bends over backward for the "daughter of his soul," Jaenelle, but Lucivar practically dies and Daemon is insane, and Saetan couldn't care less... Too busy supervising teens, playing with puppies and kitties, and eating nut cakes... And considering he probably gets the most viewpoints in the book, it wasn't as exciting to read.
Speaking of characters lacking page time, where was Jaenelle's sister, Wilhelmina? After everything Jaenelle went through, you'd think someone would have a care for her sister... Guess not.
The worldbuilding, however, was still excellent, building upon the first book with Black Widow healing, Kindred, politics in Kaeleer and Hell, and some stunning spells (but I wish we could've seen the Offering to the Darkness instead of just being told about it). The writing was also noticeably better. And that ending... Wow.
So a three-star rating might mean "meh" for some, but for me, it was a combination of annoying things and really awesome things that battled for priority. Ultimately, I like the books, with a few caveats.