Jared is a Red Jewel Warlord auctioned as a pleasure slave by a notorious queen. He fears he will share the fate of her other slaves, but the Gray ...
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Nov 19, 2011
Amanda
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This is a great companion book to The Black Jewels trilogy. We get to see a bit of the life in the Realm before Jaenelle is born. I really liked seeing Daemon show up in this book and give "advice" if that is what you want ot call it. Jared and Leah are get leading characters and Theyra and Blade provide great comic relief with their bickering. I love putting strong female characters against strong male characters that just want to protect each other. Provides for a great dynamic and c
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Feb 02, 2009
Sarah
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Good book as a stand-alone, but I was a little disappointed when I found that the main characters of the trilogy were missing.
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Apr 12, 2010
Alice
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Cronologicamente este livro situa-se antes sequer do nascimento de Jaenelle.
No início deste volume deparamo-nos com um Senhor da Guerra de Jóia Vermelha disponível para venda num mercado de escravos. O seu destino mais certo são as minas de sal (onde o nosso Lucivar passou muitos anos da sua vida), um castigo por ter assassinado a rainha ao serviço da qual se encontrava como escrevo do prazer. Como já sabemos de outras narrativas, as rainhas que se submetem às vontades de Dorothea SaDiablo More...
No início deste volume deparamo-nos com um Senhor da Guerra de Jóia Vermelha disponível para venda num mercado de escravos. O seu destino mais certo são as minas de sal (onde o nosso Lucivar passou muitos anos da sua vida), um castigo por ter assassinado a rainha ao serviço da qual se encontrava como escrevo do prazer. Como já sabemos de outras narrativas, as rainhas que se submetem às vontades de Dorothea SaDiablo More...
Apr 09, 2009
Cam
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Nov 30, 2010
Lilianavale
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First of all, I had never read any of Anne Bishop's books including the Dark Jewels trilogy so my review may be affected by that.
I feel guilty for liking this book... There are many good parts that I really liked and there are almost as many that I hated. The writing is very good and the storyline is also very good. The language is adult and I enjoyed even the most "violent" passages in the book. My problem was this: at first I was expecting something completely different out of More...
I feel guilty for liking this book... There are many good parts that I really liked and there are almost as many that I hated. The writing is very good and the storyline is also very good. The language is adult and I enjoyed even the most "violent" passages in the book. My problem was this: at first I was expecting something completely different out of More...
Nov 30, 2009
Alison
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The first three novels of the Black Jewels series really tear at me. On the one hand, I really liked some of the characters and found the world hard to look away from. On the other hand, I felt that the politics were ridiculous and difficult to really understand. On top of all that, the fact that certain races live for thousands upon thousands of years made it difficult to really connect with.
This novel, however, fared a lot better in my mind because the author expects that the More...
This novel, however, fared a lot better in my mind because the author expects that the More...
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Mar 01, 2009
Célia
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Este livro é mais uma incursão pelo mundo fictício criado pela Anne Bishop e que nos foi dado a conhecer na Trilogia das Jóias Negras. A história de "Anel Oculto" decorre antes da trilogia e temos alguns vislumbres de personagens já conhecidas, com destaque para uma breve mas marcante presença de Daemon. Este livro acompanha Jared, um escravo portador da Jóia Vermelha e escravo, que se vê envolvido numa luta pelo poder entre duas Rainhas dos Sangue.
A opinião final é positiv More...
A opinião final é positiv More...
May 29, 2011
Suz
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3.5 stars. Book #4 in the series, but it's a prequel to the original trilogy.
It's a good, quick read. It essentially sets up an explanation for how they did the resolution in book 3, the magic that was done. It's set up like a stand alone romance, though. There are moments when it's extremely emotionally evocative and other times when it seems a bit fluffy but I think I'm comparing it to the other books and how invested I eventually became in those characters. Unfair, I know, becau More...
It's a good, quick read. It essentially sets up an explanation for how they did the resolution in book 3, the magic that was done. It's set up like a stand alone romance, though. There are moments when it's extremely emotionally evocative and other times when it seems a bit fluffy but I think I'm comparing it to the other books and how invested I eventually became in those characters. Unfair, I know, becau More...
Apr 03, 2011
Melissa
rated it: 
This book was the first of Bishop's that I had difficulty getting into. The main character and narrator, Jared, is interesting enough, but he doesn't pull you in as some of the other characters Bishop has created. Also, there wasn't much action, and it left you wanting to know what happened. The readers, or at least I, wanted to know how Lia and Jared's love blossomed in the court.
SPOILER ALERT: Also, the premise of Sadi owing the Grayhaven line anything in the 8th and 9th books makes More...
SPOILER ALERT: Also, the premise of Sadi owing the Grayhaven line anything in the 8th and 9th books makes More...
Oct 07, 2011
Anoolka
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How to rate this? It has so many problems and yet I enjoyed it. Same as the first three books really. Very fast read. This one doesn't have the super special protagonist Queen, which is a plus, but is smaller in scope and the number of characters used. We get Daemon in about three scenes and Dorothea but other than that only mentions of other old ones (or future ones, chronogically).
There's the heavy emphasis on how strong and revered the females are and yet it's the guys who need to prot More...
There's the heavy emphasis on how strong and revered the females are and yet it's the guys who need to prot More...
Nov 20, 2011
Saphirablue
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I have a love/hate relationship with this book series. I love the concept of the Jewels, the powers that they have, the idea that animals have the same, the H/C in the books but there are also some things I don't like: One second women are very powerful, the next second they are so fragile and vulnerable. The same goes for the men. Such inconsistency drives me mad (same reason why I don't like Bella in the "Twilight" books). Also, I don't get why these books have the lable "erotic
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Nov 29, 2009
Anita
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Book 4 for the Black Jewels series takes the reader on a tangent to a story about the Gray Lady - one of the last good Queens to hold out against Dorethea. I couldn't tell where in the timeline this story fell - Daemon had not yet met Janelle, but that covers over a thousand years of his life, so that didn't clue me in. If anyone knows the answer, I'd love to know. I'm hoping that the characters in this story end up woven into the main story in the 6th, 7th, or 8th book.
So, the int More...
So, the int More...
Jul 12, 2011
Lu
rated it:
This... is a weird one. I started it thinking it was more of a romance novel than anything else. Not so much.
The world that the characters are in is interestring, along with the different races and the Jewel system. All of that was fine. The things that bugged me, I guess, was the role reversal of men and women to the extreme in which men rarely encounter a woman that won't disfigure him if he does something he doesn't like. I found some of the scenes difficult to read. The e More...
The world that the characters are in is interestring, along with the different races and the Jewel system. All of that was fine. The things that bugged me, I guess, was the role reversal of men and women to the extreme in which men rarely encounter a woman that won't disfigure him if he does something he doesn't like. I found some of the scenes difficult to read. The e More...
Jun 30, 2011
Ayse
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Why did I read this? Oh right, because when I go on a book bender, I just keep reading until I run out of things to read. I mean it's not bad, but not great either. The characters are a little more complex than in the first trilogy, so it bodes well for the other books (right? right?). It's one of those books that makes you smile when you read it, and then the contentment fades after a few days and you forget you even read it. Enjoyable, but nothing special. Reminds me of quite a bit of m
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Jun 12, 2011
J.H.
rated it: 
I've read every Anne Bishop book I can get my hands on, although the Black Jewels trilogy is definitely my favourite.
This looks like the start of a new serious set in the same world as the original Black Jewels books, and I look forward to reading the rest.
I understand some readers will be disappointed that the book is not about the characters from these books, although there were a couple of great cameos, but it is set in the world I've come to enjoy, the sense of humour a More...
This looks like the start of a new serious set in the same world as the original Black Jewels books, and I look forward to reading the rest.
I understand some readers will be disappointed that the book is not about the characters from these books, although there were a couple of great cameos, but it is set in the world I've come to enjoy, the sense of humour a More...
Aug 28, 2010
Kir
rated it: 
This was the first Anne Bishop novel I've picked up, and I think it's also going to be my last. The beginning was promising, but I found the very complicated 'jewel' and 'blood' rankings mentioned to clarify different characters relationships throughout the book to be distracting. These caste relationships soon took over the plot of the book and the pace became plodding. Eventually I gave up and started skipping whole sections of the book in an effort to continue on with the initial plotline. Mi
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Mar 07, 2011
Harmonybites
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This not the book I'd start with if you're new to Anne Bishop or her Dark Jewels series. I'd recommend reading at least the opening trilogy first of Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows and Queen of the Darkness, despite the fact this novel precedes them chronologically (set a few centuries before) and could stand alone. I think however that earlier written trilogy is the stronger introduction to the Dark Jewels series.
The story in The Invisible Ring is alluded to briefly towar More...
The story in The Invisible Ring is alluded to briefly towar More...
Aug 14, 2010
Nancy
rated it:
Jared, a Shalador warlord, has spent the last nine years of his life as a pleasure slave for wicked queens. After losing his temper and killing his last queen, he is labeled as too dangerous and sent to a life of hard labor. Only while in the slave market, he catches the attention of an elderly queen whose gray jewels outrank his red. Jared begins in a long harsh journey through the mountains. He finds out that his new mistress, The Gray Lady, isn’t quite what she seems, and neither are many of
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Sep 19, 2011
JG (The Introverted Reader)
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Jared is one of the more powerful members of the Blood, the vaguely aristocratic magic-wielding rulers of the lands he lives in. After a life-alteringly bad choice in his teens, Jared has become a pleasure slave for the Queens and Witches of Hayll. After nine years of bowing to sadistic whims, he does something that has him headed for a short, brutal life in the salt mines unless some fool decides to buy him at the semi-annual slave market.
Enter The Gray Lady. She is one of the fe More...
Enter The Gray Lady. She is one of the fe More...
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Mar 07, 2009
Diamond
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I was pleased with the direction this book went, as it gave a good glimpse into a little piece of the Black Jewels world that didn't completely revolve around the main characters from the original trilogy. As much as I do love those characters and enjoy reading about them, it's nice to get a look at things outside the whirlwind of their lives, and nicer still to see things from an earlier time. It gave an added depth to a world that is already so very well developed, and made it that much more
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Mar 06, 2008
Jessica
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The Invisible Ring is a prequel to Anne Bishop's The Black Jewels Trilogy. It provided a wonderful insight into what Daemon was like during his years in Tereille, and how he managed to stay sane as he waited for Jaenelle.
That's a minor side story, however. The main plot of this book is how a slave manages, surrounded by love and acceptance, to overcome his history of torture and degradation and finally grow into the person he was meant to be. The ending was incredibly gratifying, More...
That's a minor side story, however. The main plot of this book is how a slave manages, surrounded by love and acceptance, to overcome his history of torture and degradation and finally grow into the person he was meant to be. The ending was incredibly gratifying, More...
Feb 06, 2008
Stephanie
rated it:
I must admit I was disappointed in this book. While it takes place withing the same world as The Black Jewel Trilogy, it just doesn't live up to those books. Now, I think if I had some more distance between them and had not been so anxiously awaiting this book, I may have enjoyed it more. I just didn't care for the protagonist. No one can compare to Daemon SaDiablo.
Amazon.com (where they can say it better than I)
In this engaging story of Jared, a Red-Jeweled Warlord and unw More...
Amazon.com (where they can say it better than I)
In this engaging story of Jared, a Red-Jeweled Warlord and unw More...
Dec 30, 2009
Amethyst
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book. Anne Bishop has a wonderful way of bringing her characters to life... to make them a friend to the reader. What a gift!
This is one of the Black Jewels books and it is a great read. Full of magic, romance, and evil.
Jared is a Red-Jeweled Warlord who is made a pleasure slave. In short... he gets a little irked (and deadly) and ends up in a slave auction. He gets bought by The Gray Lady (ohhhhhh... shiver, shiver) and he (along with The Gray Lady More...
This is one of the Black Jewels books and it is a great read. Full of magic, romance, and evil.
Jared is a Red-Jeweled Warlord who is made a pleasure slave. In short... he gets a little irked (and deadly) and ends up in a slave auction. He gets bought by The Gray Lady (ohhhhhh... shiver, shiver) and he (along with The Gray Lady More...
Jul 28, 2011
♆ Bookaddict
rated it:
I read these books out of order. This is my first book from Ms. Bishop. This world she creates is intriguing. I am kind of amused with her cock ring into a controlling device in a CBT way. This is unexpected. This story is the underdog fighting against a corrupt government. There are rebel forces who still stand for good. I love these stories because it tickles my particular fancy. I'm intrigued enough to read the first three to see how I those go. I've heard so much about them.
Mar 15, 2010
Victoria
rated it:
This was the first time that I have re-read this book and I think I enjoyed it much more the second time around. The first time, I think I was too busy being disappointed about the absence of so many of the major characters and with Daemon's "guest star" status. That, and the fact that this is more of a prequel than the fourth book in the series... This time, I enjoyed the story more. It is a good story and I'm excited to re-read one more Bishop book before reading her newest.
Apr 15, 2010
Lindig
rated it:
First Anne Bishop book I've read. After reading the first 100 pages, I began skipping 30 pages at a time. While I thought her voice was well done, the plot itself was fairly familiar, and her gender politics were annoying and patriarchal. After all, women were "hysterical" at lot, especially at their "moontime," and were yelled at by the men a lot. And the men "served" their ladies by yelling and getting their own way by force.
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Jun 15, 2011
Bookworms
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Well at first I was a little bit disappointed that this book wasn’t the sequel of the trilogy around Jeanelle, Daemon etc. It’s a standalone book, Dorothea and Daemon have only a guest role. Main part of this story is Jared and Lia. I don’t want to say so many about the story because it wasn’t that interesting, to be honest.
Jared was bought by the Gray Lady and the story is about the journey of them from the place of the slave market to the court of the Gray Lady. Only in the end the story More...
Jared was bought by the Gray Lady and the story is about the journey of them from the place of the slave market to the court of the Gray Lady. Only in the end the story More...
Jun 16, 2010
Sharakael
rated it:
I read this novel before the Dark Jewel Trilogy itself, and as such could not make any comparison.
As a standalone novel though, it was a good read, and offered a good understanding of the world while giving hints of the things to happen in the Trilogy. And thankfully, as a standalone novel, it also had a satisfying conclusion. Definitely recommended for people who want to know what the Dark Jewel Trilogy is like but don't want to commit to reading a trilogy yet.
Also... j More...
As a standalone novel though, it was a good read, and offered a good understanding of the world while giving hints of the things to happen in the Trilogy. And thankfully, as a standalone novel, it also had a satisfying conclusion. Definitely recommended for people who want to know what the Dark Jewel Trilogy is like but don't want to commit to reading a trilogy yet.
Also... j More...
Nov 20, 2009
Stephanie
rated it:
Very great book! We all wanted to know a little about before the series start, and here we have it. After my run in with the first series I checked to see for more books, and here it was. I read it, and loved it. It's great that Bishop does so many (great) side stories! If you're a fan of the Black Jewels trilogy, definatly pick this one up!
