Daughter of the Blood, by Anne Bishop

Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop (Black Jewels Trilogy, book 1); dark fantasy, horror; 384 pages

Okay, we're down to crunch time on the Book Challenge, so it's time to pull out all the stops. And that means revisiting some of my favorite reads, that I know I can reread quickly. This series is one of my ultimate guilty pleasures, and it's a trilogy, to boot (though it's really more one giant story broken into three volumes, than three connected novels).

In this first installment, an extraordinary young girl appears who may be the answer to an ancient prophecy. She's destined to rule over a golden age, but first she must survive to adulthood. The story is told from the points of view of three men who will play central roles in her life, who fight to protect her from her enemies.

This book isn't for the faint of heart; it's got some of the darkest moments in all of the literature I've read, and it isn't shy about the blood an gore, either (this is the darkest book in the series, at least as far as bad things happening to characters we know). There's also a LOT of melodrama (which is essential in a guilty pleasure book). But in contrast, there are also moments of humor or warm fuzzies that wouldn't be out of place in a cozy. It's a strange mix, but it works. The characters are the real draw here, and I can say from experience that, by the end of this series, they'll feel like old friends. This fist book is probably my least favorite of the series, because the characters are still meeting up, so we don't get as much interaction between them as in later volumes. Bishop also spends a lot of time in this book world building, and while she does a superb job, it means less room for story. The world she creates is really original, though, and the series is worth checking out just for that. One last note: there's a magical horse that plays an important role. To me, that means PONIES.