TITLE: Heir to the Shadow
AUTHOR: Anne Bishop
COPYRIGHT: 1999
TYPE: Fantasy
PAGES; 496
SERIES: Yes this is the 2nd in the trilogy
My review: Book 1

REASON FOR READING: Loved the first one couldn’t pass on the 2nd

SUMMARY: {From Goodreads}
In Heir to the Shadows, Jaenelle's vampiric, adoptive father, Saetan, and her foster-family of demons shelter her. To restore her memory and emotional balance, they move to Kaeleer, where Jaenelle befriends the kindred--animals with magical and communicative powers--and gathers a circle of young Queens. She also heals Lucivar, Daemon's half-brother, who offers a brother's love and a warrior's fealty. As she recovers strength and memory, Jaenelle resolves to restore Daemon and cleanse Terreille.
Bishop subverts readers' expectations; the "darkest" powers reside in virtuous characters, demons and vampires are kindly, and Jaenelle's adolescence is more comically normal than horrific. Her vibrant characters and descriptions will keep readers hooked, anxiously awaiting what promises to be a riveting conclusion.

This book was just as dark as the first and had a little more story line that was easier to follow. We know that Daemon has gone mad and thinks that he’s the one that rapped Jaenelle. We learn that this isn’t true. Everyone is treating Jaenelle with kid gloves b/c of the rape and she knows something happened but can’t remember which equals that she can’t remember Daemon either so he goes on lost in the Twisted Kingdom (madness) for a couple of years.

Also it takes Jaenelle about 2 years to come back herself from the Twisted Kingdom during which she fixes the part of her that is broken. Also in this book we learn that Lucivar is alive and eventually comes to serve the woman he has always thought of as Queen.

We also learn that a lot of Jaenelle’s friends that she made as a child are very powerful witches and warlords which will come in handy at the end. Without giving too much away for a second book I thought this was just as good as the first if not better. It answer a lot of questions. Gives a better look at our characters and shows us where the story is heading. Everything a good 2nd book should do.

Things I enjoyed:

I really enjoy watching Jaenelle come into her own. She was violated as a child and survived and Ms. Bishop showed it wasn’t easy, it isn’t easy and she is still trying to cope with what was done. She still gets angry enough to destroy, she still hurts, she still has nightmares but most importantly she isn’t giving up on herself or her powers. Jaenelle is becoming the woman we all want her to be in this book and I think that it shows a nice balance between her pain and her love for those around her.
I also love how Ms. Bishop made sure to give Jaenelle a nice group of friends and support system that a lot of people don’t normally receive. Because of this Jaenelle is able to move on and learn how to cope with all the horrible things that are happening around her.
Another thing I enjoy is the fact that Ms. Bishop has made Jaenelle this unlimited power but hasn’t made her power hungry and the reason she isn’t is b/c of all the horrors she witnessed as a child. This is good. Usually this would be unbelievable b/c as they say absolute power corrupts absolutely but this time I can believe it didn’t.

Things I didn’t care for:

There are very few things I didn’t care for in this book. One of those is the world building that I have grown to love. Ms. Bishop has made such a complex world that its hard to keep up with all the different creatures and people. In this book alone we are introduced to the court that Jaenelle will pick and that’s 12 people/creatures with names and different cultures. Then add to it you are being introduced to more and more and more its just hard to focus on the story and the rich world all at once.Would I recommend this book? Yes I would highly recommend the first and of course if you read that then you will discover this is a must read as well.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? Not new will read again see review at top

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Keeping

SCORE: Another 9 out of 10

Anything else? Before reading this book you really have to read the first.