After years of waiting for the next book, anther book in the Jewels series has come out. I was so ecstatic. Really.
As a standalone story it was great. It was in keeping with the mysteries set up by Surreal and Ranier's brief stint in a short story Anne Bishop made in Powers of Detection titled The Price. Although Ranier was already introduced as a dancer, as a member of the Third Circle and as a Purple Dusk Warlord Prince in Daemon & Jeannelle's short story in Dream's Made Flesh
The premise here is that Jeannelle and Marian are making a spooky house for landen (read: people who do not have magic for the Bishop uninitiated) children. At the same time, someone else had made a house but of more sinister intents than fun and games and trapped Surreal and Ranier in it.
The plot is pretty straightforward, and you know EXACTLY who's to blame for the entire incident, and what is going on in both camps (also in keeping with Bishop's books where it's only character blind and not reader blind), but the book was still a wonderful read.
Unlike Invisible Ring, a prequel for the Dark Jewels released before Dreams Made Flesh, Tangled Webs is as unpredictable as walking into a haunted house in a fair. You don't know what surprises are waiting for you and you don't know what's going to happen next. Not a thriller really, since it wasn't really meant to scare you, and not a mystery exacltly. I guess it's still solidly in the realm of fantasy with some hints of suspense.
What was strong in this book was the sense of family. Of how the High Lord of Hell understands his two sons, and how his sons love him and the people in their (admittedly extremely extended) family. I was teary eyed in lots of ways. (Especially in part one, part one was NOTHING BUT family ties) You also get to see a lot of Lucivar's insecurities in this book (much like we all saw Daemon's own flaws and weaknesses in Queen of the Darkness and Dreams Made Flesh.
And just like in the rest of Ms. Bishop's books, though there is admittedly one main character, they all have equally important parts in it. Saetan, Lucivar, Daemon and Jeanelle all share in the movement of the story (I mean, I was FRUSTRATED without end when in Heir to the Shadows, Daemon had a what... ten page coverage.). I guess this was also a way to show that though an entire war was won and lost, that life goes on for the main characters too. Of the lives they lived after the entire War with Terille (sp?). I was curious after all, and though Dreams Made Flesh did quench some of that thirst, it hadn't showed me entirely enough of what a married Daemon and Jeannelle would have been like, especially since they were dealing with their own internal problems (although I guess Dreams Made Flesh was entirely for their internal problems).
I think this book also managed to build in the world more, if that was possible. There are some things that I didn't understand about the blood, that I understood more in this book, or rather there were more details in this book that didn't find a place in the previous books (like the concept of a Dark House, and wow even the genetics of the blood hehe and how Keeler Territories work) that type of thing.
I think the only thing that wasn't fulfilled here was my craving for more Saetan. I miss Seatan in the stories, although I must admit that his short in Dreams Made Flesh Zuulaman (sp?) was abundant in Saetan enough for me to know how he managed to stay with Hekatah that long and how he lived before becoming Demon Dead. I wonder if there are going to be more Saetan stories in the future, but it's highly doubtful since as the story said, Saetan was already becoming old. Although haha -_- age boggles the mind in Blood terms.
After reading this, it has reminded me that though Jeanelle is Witch and has been shaped by many dreamers, Jeannelle was born into a short lived race. If I remember correctly, Hyallians and Eryiens and all of the long lived races have dark hair and dark eyes, none of which Jeanelle has. There are three long lived races, but I only know of Hyallians and Eryiens... or maybe I'm forgetting something?
Haha, what I'd love to see if the author would indulge the fans in another book? A baby off Jeannelle and Daemon. Nothing is better than a big strong male brought to his knees by a swaddle of infant. Haha, and there's too little High Lord-grandson interaction! We all know the High Lord is extremely fond of children (He really was too cute when he dealt with Memphis and Pro...ugh can't remember his other son's name...), but there's really not enough of it. More Tersa too, I like her a lot... but it's really difficult to have Tersa involved too much, I think writing her must be difficult because in order to write her, you'd have to think like her, and the way she thinks isn't the easiest to understand.
Hopefully, there will be more Dark Jewels in the future,(but since the main story arc is finished, it would be difficult to keep coming up with short plots) but whether or not there will be, I am extremely happy with this particular book.
Lee sidestory for Ephemera? Anyone?
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