Daughter of the Blood / Anne Bishop

Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took me halfway through this book before I could tell the men apart or figure which woman I was reading about! They all act the same, that is to say badly. I can see why this book is one of those “love it or hate it” novels. So how did I end up in the middle of the road? Well, I can perhaps see what Bishop was trying to achieve—a dark fantasy with women at the top of the hierarchy.

But I found the execution of this idea to be so clumsy! It was as if she took her cue for this Dark Kingdom from R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt series. The whole witch & black widow business seemed pulled right out of Menzoberranzan and the cult of the spider goddess. And how completely unimaginative to name your two main male characters Saetan and Daemon, locating the former in Hell. For a society which claimed supremacy of women, those two men seem to actually run things. If you believe what Bishop says, the women are in charge, but she doesn't find them interesting enough to centre the story around them. Saetan and Daemon seem to trump even Jaenelle, whom they all claim to adore. (I'm somehow reminded of J.R. Ward's Dark Lover series, which had powerful vampires tripping all over themselves for goodie two shoes Beth, and not just because one of those “bad boys" was named Zsadist). *eyeroll*

It was finally the mystery around Jaenelle that kept me reading. Why was she unwilling to leave a home where she was so obviously unhappy? Plus, it was interesting to watch the manoeuvring of older people around her, much like I imagine powerful people would have circled Victoria before she became queen of England, trying to buy her gratitude and/or her regard before she ascended the throne. Everyone seems to forget that young women have more brains than adults give them credit for.

It may be awhile until I can get to book two. My library has withdrawn the copy that I had a hold on, and I assume they have ordered a replacement, since there is still a hold in existence. In these uncertain times, who knows when that new book will be received and processed? A break doesn't worry me, as I'm not champing at the bit to continue, but I am intrigued enough to continue whenever that volume makes an appearance.

Book number 374 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.


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