Dreams Made Flesh
I finally got my hands on "Dreams Made Flesh", Anne Bishop's new "Black Jewels" anthology. I had been hoping for a lot from this book, and I was not disappointed. In fact, I stayed up late reading it (the day before), as I usually do with good books/stories. I simply... cannot go to sleep.
Weaver of Dreams
The first story. It left me a bit confused, but then again the Arachnian POVs always did that, even in the trilogy. Still, it gives us a bit of a background on how the Blood was created. Nice, short story.
The Prince of Ebon Rih
Lucivar's story, how e met his wife and their courtship. This was hinted at in "Queen of the Darkness", and I was really looking forward to reading it because Marian is, surprisingly, a very likable character.
I very much enjoyed the details, and some of the character concepts. Saetan as the family patriarch; Lucivar as the violent yet contrastingly tender, fierce defender of what is his, Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih. I was a bit surprised to find out Karla "does nor like men, not that way" but I cannot say I did not expect it. Out of the coven, she was the most outrageous, tom-boy one. I like Karla ;) Lucivar in rut (oh yes, sexy boy!), and the impromptu wedding. There's something about this family and impromptu weddings, I'm telling you! It also made me hate Luthvian (Lucivar's mother) with a vengeance.
By far my favourite story out of the four. ^_^
Zuulaman
The explanation of why one shouldn't piss off Saetan (although I find Daemon by far more scary). It takes us back 50,000 years before DJT, when Saetan Daemon SaDiablo was still alive, still married to Hekatah, and his first sons were young. Hekatah is the same-old bitch, only this time she's presented as a bad mother as well... a thing hinted at in the other books. Wouldn't want her as a part of my family. As for Saetan... unleashing the Black has its advantages, but is till think the price he paid (people kept pulling away from him) was too high.
Kaeleer's Heart
Meant as a conclusion for DJT, no doubt. It's a nice enough story, without any of the stunning plot twists in the actual books; but it doesn't really need them. At least Jaenelle and daemon are doing better and Surreal is there as well. I like Surreal; she's an assassin and provides nice word-sparring with Lucivar. Yay! Books wouldn't be the same without these two (and sometimes Daemon) lashing at each other.
Anyway, someone threatens Daemon's relationship with Jaenelle, and he goes all cold. Luckily he doesn't go as far as Saetan did in "Zuulaman", that would have been plain scary. Surreal breaks up with Falonar, Daemon and Jaenelle get married, the truth about Jaenelle's new Jewel, Twilight's Dawn, is explained, and a few bitches die. Among the more spectacular bits we have Daemon dancing with Prince Rainier (oh, the wonderful m/m undercurrents here!), and Daemon getting stabbed in the ass by a baby unicorn's horn at his own (impromptu!) wedding.
I wandered to FF.Net this morning... just to see what else was new in their DJT section. Well, I shouldn't have bothered. Just looking at the summaries, you can tell that 90% of the fics are either Mary Sues, or meant as (dreadful) sequels to the series. I did not read any of them, nor did I intend to. Still, it makes me wonder... why is it that good series that are not so popular always draw bad fan fiction writers? Honestly, people! Please, spare us. Pretty please?!
Hmm... I really need to catch up with the posts in my friends list, especially miriald's stories, but I don't have the right set of mind for it just yet. Studying has killed my brain.
Weaver of Dreams
The first story. It left me a bit confused, but then again the Arachnian POVs always did that, even in the trilogy. Still, it gives us a bit of a background on how the Blood was created. Nice, short story.
The Prince of Ebon Rih
Lucivar's story, how e met his wife and their courtship. This was hinted at in "Queen of the Darkness", and I was really looking forward to reading it because Marian is, surprisingly, a very likable character.
I very much enjoyed the details, and some of the character concepts. Saetan as the family patriarch; Lucivar as the violent yet contrastingly tender, fierce defender of what is his, Warlord Prince of Ebon Rih. I was a bit surprised to find out Karla "does nor like men, not that way" but I cannot say I did not expect it. Out of the coven, she was the most outrageous, tom-boy one. I like Karla ;) Lucivar in rut (oh yes, sexy boy!), and the impromptu wedding. There's something about this family and impromptu weddings, I'm telling you! It also made me hate Luthvian (Lucivar's mother) with a vengeance.
By far my favourite story out of the four. ^_^
Zuulaman
The explanation of why one shouldn't piss off Saetan (although I find Daemon by far more scary). It takes us back 50,000 years before DJT, when Saetan Daemon SaDiablo was still alive, still married to Hekatah, and his first sons were young. Hekatah is the same-old bitch, only this time she's presented as a bad mother as well... a thing hinted at in the other books. Wouldn't want her as a part of my family. As for Saetan... unleashing the Black has its advantages, but is till think the price he paid (people kept pulling away from him) was too high.
Kaeleer's Heart
Meant as a conclusion for DJT, no doubt. It's a nice enough story, without any of the stunning plot twists in the actual books; but it doesn't really need them. At least Jaenelle and daemon are doing better and Surreal is there as well. I like Surreal; she's an assassin and provides nice word-sparring with Lucivar. Yay! Books wouldn't be the same without these two (and sometimes Daemon) lashing at each other.
Anyway, someone threatens Daemon's relationship with Jaenelle, and he goes all cold. Luckily he doesn't go as far as Saetan did in "Zuulaman", that would have been plain scary. Surreal breaks up with Falonar, Daemon and Jaenelle get married, the truth about Jaenelle's new Jewel, Twilight's Dawn, is explained, and a few bitches die. Among the more spectacular bits we have Daemon dancing with Prince Rainier (oh, the wonderful m/m undercurrents here!), and Daemon getting stabbed in the ass by a baby unicorn's horn at his own (impromptu!) wedding.
I wandered to FF.Net this morning... just to see what else was new in their DJT section. Well, I shouldn't have bothered. Just looking at the summaries, you can tell that 90% of the fics are either Mary Sues, or meant as (dreadful) sequels to the series. I did not read any of them, nor did I intend to. Still, it makes me wonder... why is it that good series that are not so popular always draw bad fan fiction writers? Honestly, people! Please, spare us. Pretty please?!
Hmm... I really need to catch up with the posts in my friends list, especially miriald's stories, but I don't have the right set of mind for it just yet. Studying has killed my brain.