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Jewelfire #2
The Sapphire Throne
Freda Warrington has been publishing fantasy since 1986. The Amber Citadel (1991) opened her "Jewel fire Trilogy", continued in The Sapphire Throne. Book one ended with ambiguous victory in a civil war among the Nine Realms of Aventuria--a war fomented by the unpleasant Bhahdradomen shapeshifters or Eaters:
They consume life to the bare bones, even consume space itself, but at the end of it they are still thin, still hungry.
Practical attempts to regroup and mend political fences after the war are overshadowed by a doom-laden sense that everything happened just as the villains wanted. The land itself remains badly wounded. Investigative and diplomatic expeditions are sent to the Eaters' land of exile and the other world of the elf-like Aelyr. The human characters remain engaging, fallible and flawed, losing their tempers unreasonably and going to bed with the "wrong" people.
Warrington plays ironic games with fantasyland expectations. The Bhahdradomen peasantry are horrible but pathetic: the killing of a possibly innocent young shapeshifter by a human mob seems a shameful atrocity. One traumatically abused girl learns that some of those remote, beautiful elves have a nasty private agenda. Even the traditional quest for a cache of ultimate weapons against evil goes unexpectedly awry.
By the end, after multiple betrayals and perhaps also because its new queen refuses to play dirty tricks, Aventuria is in blacker trouble than ever. Warrington's trickiness and energy breathe life into the sometimes tired genre of mainstream commercial fantasy. --David Langford
527 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
2 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Freda Warrington
52 books327 followersFreda Warrington is an award-winning British author, known for her epic fantasy, vampire and supernatural novels.
“The Blood Wine books are addictive, thrilling reads that are impossible to put down and they definitely deserve more attention” – Worldhopping.net
Her earliest novels, the Blackbird series, were written and published in the 1980s. In the intervening years she has seen numerous novels of epic fantasy, supernatural and contemporary fantasy, vampires, dark romance, horror and alternative history published.
Her novel ELFLAND won the Romantic Times BEST FANTASY NOVEL Award in 2009, while her 1997 Dracula sequel DRACULA THE UNDEAD won the Dracula Society's BEST GOTHIC NOVEL Award.
Four of her novels (Dark Cathedral, Pagan Moon, Dracula the Undead, and The Amber Citadel) have been nominated or shortlisted for the British Fantasy Society's Best Novel award. The American Library Association placed MIDSUMMER NIGHT in its Top Ten for 2010.
Recently Titan Book reissued her popular romantic-gothic Blood Wine vampire series set in the 1920s - A Taste of Blood Wine, A Dance in Blood Velvet and The Dark Blood of Poppies - along with a brand new novel, The Dark Arts of Blood. In 2017, Telos Publishing will publish her first short story collection, NIGHTS OF BLOOD WINE, featuring fifteen lush dark tales - ten set in her Blood Wine world, and five others of gothic weirdness.
In 2003, Simon & Schuster published The Court of the Midnight King, an alternative history/ fantasy retelling of the story of King Richard III. To celebrate all the events surrounding the discovery of Richard III's remains in Leicester, The Court of the Midnight King is now available on Kindle and in paperback format. Most of her backlist titles, including the Blackbird series, Dracula the Undead, Dark Cathedral and Pagan Moon, can already be found on Kindle or will be available in the next few months.
Warrington has also seen numerous short stories published in anthologies and magazines. For further information, visit her website Freda Warrington
Born in Leicester, Warrington grew up in the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire. After completing high school, she trained at Loughborough College of Art and Design and worked in medical illustration and graphic design for some years. She eventually moved to full-time writing, and also still enjoys design, photography, art, jewellery-making and other crafts, travelling and conventions.
Series:
* Jewelfire
* Dark Cathedral
* Aetherial Tales
* Blackbird
“The Blood Wine books are addictive, thrilling reads that are impossible to put down and they definitely deserve more attention” – Worldhopping.net
Her earliest novels, the Blackbird series, were written and published in the 1980s. In the intervening years she has seen numerous novels of epic fantasy, supernatural and contemporary fantasy, vampires, dark romance, horror and alternative history published.
Her novel ELFLAND won the Romantic Times BEST FANTASY NOVEL Award in 2009, while her 1997 Dracula sequel DRACULA THE UNDEAD won the Dracula Society's BEST GOTHIC NOVEL Award.
Four of her novels (Dark Cathedral, Pagan Moon, Dracula the Undead, and The Amber Citadel) have been nominated or shortlisted for the British Fantasy Society's Best Novel award. The American Library Association placed MIDSUMMER NIGHT in its Top Ten for 2010.
Recently Titan Book reissued her popular romantic-gothic Blood Wine vampire series set in the 1920s - A Taste of Blood Wine, A Dance in Blood Velvet and The Dark Blood of Poppies - along with a brand new novel, The Dark Arts of Blood. In 2017, Telos Publishing will publish her first short story collection, NIGHTS OF BLOOD WINE, featuring fifteen lush dark tales - ten set in her Blood Wine world, and five others of gothic weirdness.
In 2003, Simon & Schuster published The Court of the Midnight King, an alternative history/ fantasy retelling of the story of King Richard III. To celebrate all the events surrounding the discovery of Richard III's remains in Leicester, The Court of the Midnight King is now available on Kindle and in paperback format. Most of her backlist titles, including the Blackbird series, Dracula the Undead, Dark Cathedral and Pagan Moon, can already be found on Kindle or will be available in the next few months.
Warrington has also seen numerous short stories published in anthologies and magazines. For further information, visit her website Freda Warrington
Born in Leicester, Warrington grew up in the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire. After completing high school, she trained at Loughborough College of Art and Design and worked in medical illustration and graphic design for some years. She eventually moved to full-time writing, and also still enjoys design, photography, art, jewellery-making and other crafts, travelling and conventions.
Series:
* Jewelfire
* Dark Cathedral
* Aetherial Tales
* Blackbird
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 12, 2020
A little open ended but good job , I have already got the next volume. Started it straight away. Always enjoy Freda Warrington 's books. She be better known. Read her you'll enjoy her work.
March 11, 2018
I don't know how I managed to finish this in one day. It unfortunately falls under the "sequel is worse than the original" curse, which is a shame, since its prequel is amazing.
The Sapphire Throne suffers from the problem of unnecessary sex scenes that do nothing to advance the plot. The Amber Citadel had this issue, but it's worse here. The character Tanthe does the nasty with her own brother (well, its kind-of iffy) and she even has a child.
Did this do anything for the plot? Was it necessary?
No. Her child gets taken away, and it never surfaces again.
The incest scene ruined it for me. It was just completely unnecessary.
The Sapphire Throne suffers from the problem of unnecessary sex scenes that do nothing to advance the plot. The Amber Citadel had this issue, but it's worse here. The character Tanthe does the nasty with her own brother (well, its kind-of iffy) and she even has a child.
Did this do anything for the plot? Was it necessary?
No. Her child gets taken away, and it never surfaces again.
The incest scene ruined it for me. It was just completely unnecessary.
August 16, 2018
The Sapphire Throne is a huge improvement on the first book.
The Amber Citadel introduced so many characters and backstory and such a massive amount of history that the story got bogged down. The Sapphire Throne takes all the setup already done and runs with it!
The story is exciting and well paced and Freda Warrington throws surprises in almost every chapter. She turns the expected fantasy storylines on their heads and writes something a bit different with a strong personality - often sorely lacking in the fantasy realm.
The ending leaves things in such a desperate state I NEED to get my hands on the next book to find out what happens.
I have a serious love / hate relationship with the characters in this series. All of them have things about them I dislike and make me angry but I still care about them. There's so much less whinging that in the first book that I actually quite like Tanthe and Rufryd, though they still make some very questionable choices (especially Tanthe). It's a refreshing change to have heroes that are flawed and human instead of humble and self-sacrificing to the point of saintliness.
I'm hooked - can't wait for the next one!
The Amber Citadel introduced so many characters and backstory and such a massive amount of history that the story got bogged down. The Sapphire Throne takes all the setup already done and runs with it!
The story is exciting and well paced and Freda Warrington throws surprises in almost every chapter. She turns the expected fantasy storylines on their heads and writes something a bit different with a strong personality - often sorely lacking in the fantasy realm.
The ending leaves things in such a desperate state I NEED to get my hands on the next book to find out what happens.
I have a serious love / hate relationship with the characters in this series. All of them have things about them I dislike and make me angry but I still care about them. There's so much less whinging that in the first book that I actually quite like Tanthe and Rufryd, though they still make some very questionable choices (especially Tanthe). It's a refreshing change to have heroes that are flawed and human instead of humble and self-sacrificing to the point of saintliness.
I'm hooked - can't wait for the next one!
January 7, 2013
Having purchased all three books of the trilogy together I started this book not expecting much after reading the first installment. However I found this one to be a vast improvement. While it is still by far not the best fantasy series I have ever read it is shaping up to have some imaginative and unique redeeming qualities. The second book delves into the psyche and culture of the “enemy” allowing the reader a greater insight and understanding of the central conflict providing the grounds for not just another generic black and white, good and evil plot. Couple this with several other plot twists and you have a solid addition to the trilogy worth the read if you have already labored through the first.
September 2, 2013
In this second book in the Jewelfire trilogy, all hope seems lost for Aventuria. Ysomir is still imprisoned for the murder of the King, Tanthe has traveled back into the realm of the Aelyr to confront her scheming uncle, and Queen Helananthe faces the invasion of the Bhahdradomen from Vexor.
I wish I could marry Freda Warrington and her amazing writing style.
Seriously people. She's amazing.
I can't even describe how amazing her writing is. Full of beauty, depth, magic, and wonder. I am still lost in a daze of how great she is.
If you haven't yet read her work, go out and do so immediately! If you love fantasy, she is the author you need to be reading!
I wish I could marry Freda Warrington and her amazing writing style.
Seriously people. She's amazing.
I can't even describe how amazing her writing is. Full of beauty, depth, magic, and wonder. I am still lost in a daze of how great she is.
If you haven't yet read her work, go out and do so immediately! If you love fantasy, she is the author you need to be reading!
November 12, 2017
Wow... What just happened? I'm scared to start the next book because of the stuff that just went down. Yet I also desperately want to know what happens. Freda Warrington is a great writer, I can never guess what's going to happen, she always leaves me shocked and worried what will become of my favourite character's who at the moment seem doomed. Didn't enjoy this book as much as the first because of Tanthe's choices, I feel like I said this in my review of the first book but she can be incredibly stupid. Rufryd is my favourite character, and what happens in this book makes me terrified what will happen to his character in the third book. I think I know what will happen but I've never wanted to be more wrong in my life!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews