Tangled Webs (Black Jewels, Book 6) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: demon prince, stained shrimp, cildru dyathe, Warlord Prince, Black Widow, Mother Night (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In Bishop's bewitching latest Black Jewels adventure (after 2005's Dreams Made Flesh), a tour of an old house becomes a hellish matter of life and death. Lady Surreal SaDiablo receives an invitation to preview the silly, spooky house that Queen Jaenelle Angelline has created to parody myths about the magically gifted Bloods, and she persuades her friend and fellow magic user Warlord Prince Rainier to join her. The only snag is that Jaenelle didn't send the invitation. Crazed, jealous novelist Jarvis Jenkell has discovered his Blood heritage and developed his own haunted house with the goal of trapping other Bloods and using their travails to inspire his fiction. As Surreal, Rainer and several local children struggle to escape Jenkell's deadly snare, Jaenelle's husband, Daemon Sadi, and Sadi's half-brother, Lucivar, must call upon all their Craft skills to free the trapped. With feverish pacing and terrifying twists, Bishop's surefire spell craft will leave readers' hearts pounding. (Mar.)
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Product Description

The invitation is signed "Jaenelle Angelline," and it summons her family to an entertainment she had specially prepared. Surreal SaDiablo, former courtesan and assassin, arrives first. But when she enters the house, Surreal finds herself trapped in a living nightmare created by the tangled webs of Black Widow witches...and if she uses Craft to defend herself, she risks being sealed in the house forever.

But Jaenelle did not send the invitation. And now Jaenelle and her family must rescue Surreal and the others inside without becoming trapped themselves-and then discover who has created such a place, and why...

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Roc Hardcover; 2nd Printing edition (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451461606
• ISBN-13: 978-0451461605
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #337,142 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 6 in The Realms of the Blood (Black Jewels) Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing by Comparison, March 9, 2008

By	Elizabeth Banks "Librarian" (Kansas, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was deeply disappointed in this. Though the story centered around Surreal, many of the usual characters made appearances -- Daemon, the High Lord, Jaenelle, Tersa, Marion, the kindred -- their involvement was fairly limited and superficial, despite the book's description implying that the entire family will come together to help one of their own. The plot itself seemed very shallow and contrived, with Surreal being tricked into arriving at this "Haunted House", then appearing to be fairly helpless within, which is out of character for Surreal. Jaenelle appeared particularly insipid and, in general, the story lacked credibility and was dreadfully predictable. I loved the original Blood trilogy, as well as the volume of short stories, and re-read them frequently, but this has no "re-read" value at all.

The one bright spot was a previously published short story about one of Surreal's assassination jobs which was included at the end. It was much more in the flavor of the original stories and very enjoyable, though short.

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing sequel, March 23, 2008

By	J. Marsala (Harbor City, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Bishop's original trilogy was wonderful, and I loved the characters and the world. After the four short stories in Dreams Made Flesh, I was looking forward to reading a full story which dealt with the aftermath of the trilogy.

This isn't it.

In Tangled Webs, Jaenelle decides to create a "spooky house" to entertain the landen. A disgruntled writer decides to use this opportunity to get back at the Blood for laughing at his books which really autobiographical. He creates his own house, and invites Surreal, Luciver, and Daemon in Jaenelle's name.

The conflict in the book seemed contrived. As in all Bishop's books, there's the conflict between the genders. Jaenelle is mad at Daemon, but he doesn't know why. Luciver apologies to Marian, and she doesn't understand why he cares so much about her feelings.

I was frustrated with the character's behaviors in this book; their intelligence regressed. For example, after knowing Jaenelle, no one questioned the wording and timing of the invitations? Why couldn't Marian read to her son, why depend on Daemon and Saeten?

When you learn that the writer was a newly discovered Blood, you would think that the landen-Blood relationships would be explored, but no. Or Saeten's role now at the Keep. Or how the Coven are handling ruling their own territories.

There just was no substance to this book.

If you enjoyed the previous books, I would recommend that you borrow it, or at least wait until the mass market paperback edition. And don't expect much.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Those Who Love the Blood, March 7, 2008

By	klmeri - See all my reviews

If you've read the Black Jewels Trilogy, you know each book was a meal in itself. Tangled Webs is a snack, and can be easily devoured. Don't expect an epic storyline; in fact, the plot doesn't begin until the reader is well into the book. I get the impression Tangled Webs has more than one objective--and the main one is not to involve us in drama we can't handle.

In some ways, I'd call this novel "light-hearted"--which made it a little awkward for the foundation of a sinister plot. The first third is almost entirely made up of "family fluff"--and by family, you know I mean the SaDiablos. But these are some of the tidbits we, the fans, had been hoping to find. It's the dynamic between the characters that made the trilogy work. So when you fall in love with the characters, this will be a book you can't not buy (if only to read more about the SaDiablos).

Anne addresses some unanswered questions like in Dreams Made Flesh, but she also introduces some new issues that loosely tie into the plot. A downside is that you may feel some things are not fleshed out well enough or not quite in sync with a character. By this, I mean that I had a tough time accepting some of Lucivar's behavior in the book. Don't get me wrong, it is very plausible but, come on, no one likes to think of the Prick as insecure. Regardless, he's still Lucivar and this time we get his temper featured more prominently than Daemon's.

The book could have been longer (but that might be a fan's wishful thinking). It must be intended to give us a glimpse into life of the Blood now that things have settled down, but remind the reader that the Blood are not complacent and, deep down, are not like the landens (no matter how much of a kinship there appears to be). This is where the plotline makes itself valuable: Surreal and Rainier are forced to defend themselves, and some children, without Craft, all at the whim of a lunatic mystery writer who's holding a grudge and completely clueless about just how down and dirty the Blood can get.

Tangled Webs has both charm and flaws. But revisiting the SaDiablo family is always worth while, even when you want to smack them hard!