"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

[ivy-chan.livejournal.com]

I am a lurker of your journal ever since I read your really kickass tortured!Suki fic, and have since been reading your Naruto meta that I sadly can not contribute to. And then I saw the black jewels trilogy link and thought: "What ho, something I can comment on!" and skipped forward to this entry and decided to make a reply that will most likely cause you to raise an eyebrow and wonder why someone is commenting so late. So...sorry. ^^:

Anne Bishop's work really screams kinktastic, and I do have problems with the Black Jewels Trilogy. These problems could most likely fill an LJ entry, and probably have, and mainly deal with characterization and character roles and general morality of the main characters and such. That aside, I loved the books on a whole through the first read. LOVED. I also enjoyed her sense of humor, which was snarky without being laden with bitterness, and just...fun. And varied from character to character, which means Lucivar did not make the same cracks Daemon did, and Surreal and Karla could probably outsnark them all. I adored Mrs. Beale. (Of course, the characters I really felt for and bonded to were all of Jaenelle's original family with the exclusion of Uncle Robert, and I was kind of annoyed with the Blood's black-and-white personally biased sense of justice with no middle ground. Honestly, those characters were some of the deepest she had.)

All in all, I characterize these books as fluff reading, great when I'm not thinking about it and I want something like chocolate for the soul, bad to go in depth on.

And yeah, none of her books after the trilogy even come close to the level of storytelling she shows. Even her characters aren't as compelling- the worldbuilding in the Tir Alain series isn't as complex. As someone who has three very careworn copies of the black jewels trilogy (And who skipped to Queen of the Darkness without reading Heir to the Shadows because I couldn't find that book anywhere where I was and waiting for the shipment would take, like, FOREVER in my mind), cheers to you.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Welcome! I'm so glad you decided to work.

Anne Bishop's work really screams kinktastic, and I do have problems with the Black Jewels Trilogy. These problems could most likely fill an LJ entry, and probably have, and mainly deal with characterization and character roles and general morality of the main characters and such.

I can't argue with that. And if you ever write that entry, I would LOVE to read it. I have to problem critiquing a work I love, I just hate how it's become in fashion to just rip the books apart with no awknowlagement of what made them good. And there are some really good aspects to those books.

That aside, I loved the books on a whole through the first read. LOVED. I also enjoyed her sense of humor, which was snarky without being laden with bitterness, and just...fun.

*nods* I think I was on my second read before I realized how much humor is in those books. Actually Heir to the Shadows is my favorite both because of all the Lucivar, and because it's the most humorous, imho.

And yeah, none of her books after the trilogy even come close to the level of storytelling she shows. Even her characters aren't as compelling- the worldbuilding in the Tir Alain series isn't as complex.

*nods* The goddess of death, (Morgan?) came close, but by that time I was a little irritated with her perfect innocent heroine, and when the witch who could control all elements showed up in the second book I rolled my eyes a bit.

[ivy-chan.livejournal.com]

Morag! Oh and the with who could control all the elements mde me throw the book across the room with a gusty sigh of "Oh god, Anne Bishop, you made ANOTHER superpowered female?" The last one got away with it because Jaenelle was the plot focus and a concept even more than a character, not to mention consistently focused on throughout every book. However, Selena just barged in on her special machine, and a piece of me died at how much like Barbie playtime it was. I was loving Ashk and Morag and Liam, and then in comes Selena. Damn.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

*nods*

Exactly. You'll also not that in the BJT, Janealle was NEVER a pov character - she was always shown from other people's perspectives, which I think lessoned the 'super special awesome heroine girl' factor.