Reading Anne Bishop
There are some books - some series - that are special to me. Take The Witches of Eileanan series by Kate Forsyth. I bought the first book - titled The Witches of Eileanan - with a gift card my friend Michelle gave me in seventh grade. My grandfather took me to the book store to pick it out and it was the first time I'd ever bought a brand new adult book of my own choosing. He bought me the rest of the books published so far in the series (naturally, the last of which ended with a FREAKING CLIFFHANGER!) as a Christmas gift the next year, which happened to be our first without my grandmother. The last book was bought during the first shopping spree I'd ever been on, a birthday present from my aunt. The story of Isabeau and Iseult was my go-to comfort read for most of high school, their adventures having a bit of everything, their happy ending earned through a series of bittersweet victories.
And yet, much as I love The Witches of Eileanan, it's not my favourite series; that goes to Anne Bishop's Black Jewel Trilogy.
This is the story of Jaenelle, a girl who is literally the dreams of magic users made flesh. Each book focuses on a different stage of her life - from child to teenager to woman - and develops her relationships with three men - a father and his two adult sons. They highlight the corruption of one world as it bleeds into another and chronicles the web that builds around Jaenelle as she works up to cleansing both worlds and restore balance. Simultaneously, she deals with how the corruption touches her own life and affects those around her. Not a single character can be said to have had a happy life, not until they join the patchwork family Jaenelle pieces together and finds a safe haven from the trauma and nightmares of their past. Particularly, I love how, despite the whole story revolving around Jaenelle, hers is one of the few perspectives that's never written. You have to learn her through the eyes and experiences of others.
The trilogy went on to spawn a prequel, a spin-off duology, one sequel, and two short story collections. And they were all fine but none lived up to the epic awesomeness of the original trilogy. I read it when I'm upset, when I'm bored, when I'm lonely. It's like taking up with an old friend - I literally just open to any old page and start reading. It's comforting to know that no matter how stressful or anxious or angry or sad or scared I am, everything will still work out in the end for Jaenelle, Daemon, Lucivar, and Saetan.
Now anyone who reads will tell you that when you find a series you love, you always have to go ahead and read anything else with that author's name on it. After all, it could be a fluke, or there could have other treasures hidden out there just as good. So, naturally, I've read other series by Anne Bishop - her Tir Alainn trilogy is particularly good and deals with an Inquisition-like witch hunt killing the witches who anchor the bridges between our world and the fairy realm (which they, of course, find out the hard way when the witches die and the bridges vanish). This week I finally had the chance to read her newest series - The Others (I'd brought the paperback from home, FYI).
Meg is a blood prophet - meaning she sees the future when her skin is cut - who's just managed to runaway from her life-long captivity where her gift was exploited for another's gain. In a stroke of luck, she happens to find an ideal hiding spot living among nature's original monsters, shapeshifters and vampires tasked with keeping an eye on humanity from communities within human cities. Simon is the leader of the community, a wolf shifter, who is beyond irked by the fact Meg makes no sense to him. What it boils down to is a love story between two people who have no idea how to be human and even less idea that they're falling in love. In fact, in the second book, there's actually a character who catches on to their feelings and wonders if anyone else has figured it out. The first two books deal mostly with the fact Meg's former owner wants her back and keeps sending a variety of mercenaries to retrieve her with various degrees of failure, but there's also an undercurrent of hostility brewing between the Others and humans that's bound to explode and carry the story through the forthcoming three books.
*happy sigh* Nothing quite sells a good break, like a good book.
And yet, much as I love The Witches of Eileanan, it's not my favourite series; that goes to Anne Bishop's Black Jewel Trilogy.
This is the story of Jaenelle, a girl who is literally the dreams of magic users made flesh. Each book focuses on a different stage of her life - from child to teenager to woman - and develops her relationships with three men - a father and his two adult sons. They highlight the corruption of one world as it bleeds into another and chronicles the web that builds around Jaenelle as she works up to cleansing both worlds and restore balance. Simultaneously, she deals with how the corruption touches her own life and affects those around her. Not a single character can be said to have had a happy life, not until they join the patchwork family Jaenelle pieces together and finds a safe haven from the trauma and nightmares of their past. Particularly, I love how, despite the whole story revolving around Jaenelle, hers is one of the few perspectives that's never written. You have to learn her through the eyes and experiences of others.
The trilogy went on to spawn a prequel, a spin-off duology, one sequel, and two short story collections. And they were all fine but none lived up to the epic awesomeness of the original trilogy. I read it when I'm upset, when I'm bored, when I'm lonely. It's like taking up with an old friend - I literally just open to any old page and start reading. It's comforting to know that no matter how stressful or anxious or angry or sad or scared I am, everything will still work out in the end for Jaenelle, Daemon, Lucivar, and Saetan.
Now anyone who reads will tell you that when you find a series you love, you always have to go ahead and read anything else with that author's name on it. After all, it could be a fluke, or there could have other treasures hidden out there just as good. So, naturally, I've read other series by Anne Bishop - her Tir Alainn trilogy is particularly good and deals with an Inquisition-like witch hunt killing the witches who anchor the bridges between our world and the fairy realm (which they, of course, find out the hard way when the witches die and the bridges vanish). This week I finally had the chance to read her newest series - The Others (I'd brought the paperback from home, FYI).
Meg is a blood prophet - meaning she sees the future when her skin is cut - who's just managed to runaway from her life-long captivity where her gift was exploited for another's gain. In a stroke of luck, she happens to find an ideal hiding spot living among nature's original monsters, shapeshifters and vampires tasked with keeping an eye on humanity from communities within human cities. Simon is the leader of the community, a wolf shifter, who is beyond irked by the fact Meg makes no sense to him. What it boils down to is a love story between two people who have no idea how to be human and even less idea that they're falling in love. In fact, in the second book, there's actually a character who catches on to their feelings and wonders if anyone else has figured it out. The first two books deal mostly with the fact Meg's former owner wants her back and keeps sending a variety of mercenaries to retrieve her with various degrees of failure, but there's also an undercurrent of hostility brewing between the Others and humans that's bound to explode and carry the story through the forthcoming three books.
*happy sigh* Nothing quite sells a good break, like a good book.