"Prick." "Bastard."

[redbrunja]

Am I the only person on the internet that honesty, unironically, loved the Black Jewels Trilogy?

It seems like it has become popular to diss this series, to read it because "omg so bad it's good!" and I'm a little tired of hearing it.

I honesty adored this series. I remember reading the ending of the last book hunched over with a flashlight in the front seat of the car, because I couldn't wait until I was at home to read it and later, practically trembling as I finished because it was so graphic and intense.

I ordered these books on interlibrary loan and was counting the minutes until I go the next one. I almost missed class because I misread the clock and was reading the "Heir of the Shadows".

It took me 2 hours to do 50 minutes of math homework the day that I got "Queen of the Darkness."

I remember all the hoops I had to jump through to order these books from amazon.com before I had working internet in my house, and I never for a minute thought they weren't worth the money or the effort.

Am I the only person who thought and still thinks Lucivar Yaslana is just about the hottest character ever written?

Who enjoyed the reversals of the good guys all being demons and living in hell?

Who didn't have a problem with the hero meeting the heroine when she was quite young because Daemon was freaking out enough for the both of us?

Who categorizes Saeten with Keith Mars, Iroh, and Mr Bennet - all men who I would crawl over broken glass to be their daughter?

Sure, you can step back and it's an overwrought fantasy gothic, but it's supposed to be. It's like reading Bronte and bitching about all the running around in the rain and madwomen in the attics.

Looking back, especially when I've read the entire series from cover to cover approximately six times, not counting the times I skipped to my favorite parts, yes, the prose gets a bit repetitive, and it's not on the same level as Patricia K McPhilip's, but whose is?

And if we're criticizing this series, could we please focus on some of the things that I found annoying, such as the fact that the tart girls (personality-wise) never get a happily-ever-after?

And if we're criticizing Anne Bishop, instead of vilifying her for writing a series that her id was clearly passionately involved with, could we be sorry that nothing she wrote afterwards had the passion of this series, and that she ended up rewriting less-interesting versions of the archtypes in her head? (And if she's going to be rewriting characters, why has a second Lucivar not shown up?)

I've never understood the concept of 'so bad it's good' but I know that some people enjoy ripping apart trashy books. However in-my-not-so-humble-opinion The Black Jewels Trilogy deserves better than to be fandom's latest punching bag.

Sure, I look back at all the sexual magic, and the incest (sub and textual) and the dramatics of it all, and sure, I see where you're coming from, I really do.

But It gets hard reading over and over how something I love is only enjoyable if you hate it.

Comments

[demonschild.livejournal.com]

I absolutely devoured them the first time I read them. I finished the first one in about two hours, and made my grandmother take me to the bookstore the very next day so I could get the other two. Which I then read obsessively for roughly two weeks.

That was one of the things that drew me in, in the first chapters, the obvious love between Lucivar and Daemon. I'm kind of a sucker for strong sibling relationships. And in the second book, when Jaenelle's friends still come visit even though they haven't heard a word from her in years? I may have actually squealed with joy.

I can see the tension between Lucivar and Karla, but I always sort of thought he saw her more like a female, less polished version of Daemon. They both have similar sorts of edges on them. Marion, on the other hand, isn't any sort of weakling, but she's softer enough that he can relax with her. After having to deal with Daemon for however many centuries, and then Karla and the rest of the coven, and Saeten, I think he would appreciate being able to let down his guard a little more.

I actually don't remember if they ever significantly interact in the series, but in my head, I like to imagine that Karla and Surreal hooked up after the entire thing was over, and ruled Karla's kingdom together more-or-less happily for many years.

Wait, there was another book? How did I miss that? What's it called?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Looking at it critically, I understand why Lucivar went for Marion - while I had guessed he'd go for a strong women, after being dominated for hundreds of years, it makes sense that he'd want someone where he is in the protective, dominate role.

Karla and Surreal don't really interact, but they are enough alike that they'd either love each other or hate each other. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm tempted to ship Surreal/Saetan.... hmmmm....

There was a book with several long short stories called dreams made flesh, and there is another that came out recently called "tangled webs" that I haven't read yet.