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Posts Tagged ‘Book Reviews’

I’ve decided on a new monthly feature. Each month, I’m going to highlight one author that I have read and list books that read similar to that author’s books. There are a lot of websites out there that try to do this, but most of the time, the person compiling the list hasn’t actually read all of the books they are recommending. I have personally read all of the books that I will list, and I will explain how they are similar to the focal author, as well as how they differ, and offer my LibraryGrrrl ™ ratings from 1 – 5 Library Cards (they’re like stars, but geekier.)!

If you like: dark fantasy, sci-fi, romance, horror, fantasy-thrillers

This month’s author is Anne Bishop. She is the author of 12 and counting fantasy/romance books for adults. Her most famous works are the Black Jewels Sequence, beginning with the original trilogy and continuing from there with several new standalone books set in the same world. Altogether, she has created three distinct fantasy worlds as settings for her novels. Her books are often dark at the outset, but with happy endings. Her novels often center on taut, conflict-laden relationships between men and women, both individually and as a society in the worlds she has created. There is always an element of romance, with a sweet or bittersweet ending.

Black Jewels Books (Realms of the Blood) (3.5/5 Library cards) The world exists as three realms side-by-side: Terreille, a land dominated by the vicious control of power-hungry witches, Kaeleer, the shadow-realm populated by the kindred, a race of animals with human thought-levels and their trusted companions, and Hell, the dark realm where the spirits of those who have passed congregate. In this dark fantasy series, witches, warlords, warlord princes, queens and healers are selectively gifted with gems that contain reserves of power, with each color representing a different depth of power. Terreille’s selfish and power-hungry rulers are no longer content in ruling their own realm, and begin spreading a culture of slavery, torture, and permissible rape throughout the realms, and it’s up to Jaenelle, a powerful and long-awaited witch and her warlord-prince consort Daemon to stop it.

List of Books in Black Jewels Series:

1. Daughter of the Blood
2. Heir to the Shadows
3. Queen of the Darkness
4. The Invisible Ring
5. Dreams Made Flesh
6. Tangled Webs
7. The Shadow Queen

Tir Alainn Trilogy (3/5 Library Cards)Humans are watched over by the Fae, who exist in a realm above the clouds that can be reached by crossing one of several spirit bridges. When the bridges start disappearing though, the Fae take a closer interest in the world below to discover that those who guard and keep the bridges are systematically being hunted and killed for practicing witchcraft. Long considered by many of the Fae to be simply interesting toys to watch, the humans suddenly become critical to the way of life of the Fae, and the two races must join forces to save both their worlds.

The Tir Alainn Trilogy:

1. The Pillars of the World
2. Shadows and Light
3. The House of Gaian

Ephemera Duology (4/5 Library cards) Ephemera is a land shattered into pieces to protect it from the dark and vicious eater of the Worlds. Instead of one cohesive world, Ephemera exists as a series of landscapes joined separated from each other. Each landscape must be tended and guarded by someone, and one can only travel to landscapes that resonate closely with what is contained in their own heart. Still locked away for as long as anyone can remember is the Eater of the Worlds a dark force, disconnected from all other landscapes — until a student unwittingly frees it, allowing it to draw prey into its twisted landscape. Only two people have the power to stop it: Belladonna, the infamous Landscaper credited with creating some of the darkest landscapes of Ephemera, and her cousin Sebastian, a feared incubus.

The Ephemera Duology:

1. Sebastian
2. Belladonna

LIBRARY CARD RATINGS EXPLAINED: I’ve rated each series according to its overall readability, interest, and depth of storytelling. All of her books are engaging and entertaining if nothing else, although the Tir Alainn books can be dull during a few places in the narrative. The Black Jewels books are extremely dark, incorporating themes of rape and child abuse, and may be difficult for some readers to stomach. Overall, I like the Ephemera Duology best, because it contains the most relatable and interesting characters, and the thematic elements are interesting and not overdone or overused.

Anne Bishop Read-alikes: If you have read Anne Bishop’s books and would like to read other books that are similar in nature, I recommend the following:

Sharon Shinn writes several fantasy series, all of which have a romantic element and a good vs evil fantasy theme. These books are far, far less graphic than Anne Bishop’s, and are recommended for readers who like the involving, psychologically complex world of Anne Bishop, but felt that the violent and sexual elements were hard to handle. I’d recommend starting with her Samaria series, which centers on a world where angels live among humans and serve as a mouthpiece for the people to the god, Jovah. There’s a lot of tasteful romance, and it’s better than it sounds. The series begins with Archangel.

Total rating: 3/5 Library Cards

Maria V. Snyder writes a series of sci-fi/fantasy books all set in the same world. the world is divided into two territories: Ixia, a military dictatorship where everyone wears uniforms according to their station in life, and Sitia, a land where almost everyone has magical abilities, each slightly different from everyone else’s. With Sitia relying on magic and Ixia despising it, the circumstances are perfect for a war to develop, unless someone can find the way to keep the peace.

Snyder’s books so far consist of one complete trilogy and one in-progress trilogy, both set in the same world. The entire series of books is rife with conflict, cliff-hangers and surprise plot twists. There is so much impending danger, and the characters seem to handle it so well, in fact, that at times the story becomes a bit unbelievable, even for fantasy, especially the further into the series you get. There are strong sexual and violent themes, although not quite as detailed or exaggerated as in Bishop’s books.

The very first book in the first trilogy, however, is a very good book that actually works as a standalone better than it fits into the series, in my opinion. In the first book, Yelena is imprisoned in Ixia for murder and is offered a chance to escape death – by being a food taster for the Commander. She is poisoned from the outset and must return every day to get the antidote, and then she is trained to recognize poisons by taste and smell in order to protect the Commander’s life. This book, which I reccomend more highly than any of her others, is called Poison Study.

Rating for first novel: (4/5 Library Cards)

Rating for series as a whole: (2.5/5 Library Cards)

That’s it for today’s installment! Hopefully I’ve given someone a good lead as to what they should read next. Remember that although some of these ratings appear low (2.5/5 for example) my rating scale isn’t like everyone else’s, in that I’m only rating things that I would actually recommend to people, and then am rating them against each other. Things that I don’t like and wouldn’t recommend don’t even get a Library card rating, so something that’s 1 Library Card isn’t something I wouldn’t recommend – it’s just something I’d recommend only as a slightly entertaining, fast read.