[Lani]

I've just finished reading the book today, so now I can put a few of my thoughts down.

For some reason at the beginning I felt predisposed to dislike this book. I am not sure where it came from, perhaps from something I read about it, but I felt that this book is not something I am going to enjoy. Well, I proved myself wrong as I actually started enjoying the book quite a bit by the time I've got to the middle of the story.

The characters do seem rather interesting and colourful and not quite the prototype of what you usually get in a fantasy novel. Some of their actions though did seem not so realistic as some of the bad and evil characters seemed rather dull and benign at times. Also I felt the whole crisis in the end of the book with Janelle is too made up as she has so much potential and still they manage so easily to drug her... I really feel she could just escape together with Wilhelmina much earlier and not have this whole thing happen.

The fun part of the book were the relationships between Janelle and Saetan as well as Janelle and Daemon. It was funny to see the way she drove them crazy with the things she did. I really enjoyed that aspect of the novel. I also liked the way different characters ended up being tied together by different threads by the end of the book. I also really liked Surreal maybe because she wasn't as made up as other characters and seemed more real, while being powerful at the same time.

All, in all I think the book was rather interesting and I'll probably be looking at the next books of the series.

[rune]

I found the relationships between the characters developed really well as the series progressed :)

[drizzt77]

It means when an author tackles subjects that can be disturbing. Where I live people call this 'close to the bone'. Stuff that makes you cringe or feel disturbed about reading about it :)

Oh ok makes sense to me now

[Nimea]

No further comments about the way the magic works and the background of the jewels? Mmh. *shrug*

I never got to write more about this book but now I will try.

Did I mention the long-living and longlong-dead? I don't know why, it could well be a phobia of immortality on my part, but all those thousands and ten thousands of years make me feel both cringe and unsatisfied. Earth has a loooong history as well and humans have been around for an impressive little while - yet worlds with people living (one way or the other) for some thousand years and that being normal does not - well, convice me is the wrong expression. I have no problem to accept fantasy worlds with a long history where change was never too big and you still have an essiential medieval society. But for me there is a limit.
Thinking about people living forever is interesting (call me crazy, but Dennis McKiernan of all people had very interesting passages about how his elves spend their immortal lives; and Richard Morgan took another intersting look at what prolonging life in the future might mean) but again there is a limit to my brain capability.
Maybe it is too little exploring and too many thousand years in this book . . . I don't know. Just thought it to be interesting to tell you.

And then there is the character of Daemon. Something I had to chew on as well. He is set in scene rather well, no wonder so many quote him to be the most charismatic and beautiful character of all times. I like the concept of his character - bad boy with a good core. Great personality and power with big tragedy that led him a dark path.
Yet, once in a while I felt it was overdone. A bit romance-like. *makesface* Can't point my finger at it and in the end I have to give in to say that I started to like him.

Oh, and FicusFan mentioned the matriarchal society. That was interesting as well. For a while after reading the book I wondered about the sexuality aspect and the way the women treated the men. Interesting take on it - and yet, there was a Star Trek TNG episode with a matriarch in the first season and about that time I also read Marion Zimmer Bradley's Ruins of Isis. Both times a matriarch with reverse sexism, so to say. It irked me, really. Mmh.

And isn't it like that the female rulers and women of power are always afraid of the men. They are oooh-so powerful and we really should not annoy them or they forget their usual urge to serve.
I can't really remember a convincing and smart evil female right now. Or is my memory just clouded by hoping that women would not be monsters like that if they were the rulers? [Not saying a matriarch would be better! Just liked to see its dark sides explored differently.]

Okay, if anyone feels like answering or commenting, just don't kill me, okay? ;)

[sic's mom]

Well I know this is an old thread, but I just finished the trilogy the other day and in the middle of "Dreams Made Flesh". A friend of mine recommened these books to me a few months ago and I finally had time to read them. All I can say is that I really didi like it. At first the story is sort of confusing with the caste system and then she tacked on the jewel heirarchy too. But once you figure all that out it becomes an easy story to get lost in. Yes, I completely fell in love with Daemon. Yes he is the Alpha male of the romance novels, but I have always loved the bad boys with a heart of gold. But Bishop doesn't always paint him that way. As she says plenty of times, He isn't called the Sadist for nothing. And I really loved the interaction between Saetan and Janelle. The father=daughter interaction really got to me mainly because of the sense of humor that it was infused with. Having lost my own father this last year, it made me realize that we sort of had the same type of relationship and for me was very touching. And I love the fact women are really the strong characters here. Jeanelle may be the most powerful Witch there ever was, but in the end she still needs the people around her that love and care for her. All I can say is that I really, really liked this set of books.