The Invisible Ring (Black Jewels, Book 4)

Same edition as ordered. Thank you

i read the trilogy first, and i picked this up because of that. While i understood the trilogy, this book did spell out the in's and out's of the fantasy world. The people in this are more normal for the land rather than being the most powerful as the Trilogy is. Overall, this was a great book the base is very welcome, and i LOVED this book.

Having read Ms. Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy (and loved it), I thought that this book worked well as a prequel, and is probably the best way to introduce a new reader to the Black Jewels realms. I thought that the whole society was more concisely explained in this book. It also gives the backstory about the Grey Lady mentioned in the Trilogy.This storyline is more straight-forward than the Trilogy. The characters in this book would seem to be easier for a new reader to understand (in that they're less exotic, everything being relative of course) and the realms are presented in a less complicated fashion, yet the book still gives an intriguing hint of of the depth and complexity of the Trilogy books. There are enough teases about Daemon Sadi, Lucivar Yaslana, Surreal, and the rest of the Trilogy characters to make reading the other books inevitable - even just to find out the outcome of Dorothea SaDiablo's machinations, not to mention learning whether or not Daemon Sadi's true love is ever born. And for the readers who've already read the Trilogy, the teases were nice reminders of what makes the Trilogy so special.Even if you've stayed away from fantasy, this book is a good introduction to the genre, since there are enough points of familiarity for a new reader to feel confortable with. Best of all, if you enjoy this book, you have the three books of the Trilogy to look forward to!

I read the Black Jewels trilogy when it first came out and thought it was about the best thing I'd read in a long time. Now Ms. Bishop comes out with The Invisible Ring, a story set in the same world as the trilogy, but hundreds of years before.What some of the other reviews have suggested is that the characters weren't as well developed and they felt a bit "let down". Keep in mind that this is a *standalone* book and so Ms. Bishop did not have 3 books to develop characters. Also, only 2 of the same characters from the trilogy show up in Ring, and I think some were expecting something along the same thing. Don't listen to them! This book takes place essentially over a few weeks or months, NOT many years as the trilogy.Others have already written about the plot, so I won't go into that here. Ms. Bishop has a website that has an excerpt of The Invisible Ring posted, so I suggest that you go read that for yourself!...

When I choose to read this book I picked it up already knowing the future of the story. (from the Black jewels trilogy) So keeping this thought in mind I read the book as a story onto itself, and I was not dissapointed. The Invisiable Ring has much of the same wit, charm, and darkness in it that the Black Jewels has. In this story we met some new friends but also we met up Sadi again as well. While for me Sadi was a major player and love of the Black jewels his is truly not the only story in the realm. Here we meet a new queen tring to stand against Dorthea and we meet the Warlord that is tormented by the twisted ways of Hayel. We learn more about how they use the jewels, how the offering works, and the virgin night and why it can break a witch. So while the book my not be as stong as the Black Jewels it is still a strong story by a very talented author. If you pick up the book remembering that you know the future and take the story on it's own you will not be dissapointed. As with the Black Jewles Trilogy this one is a keeper.

I loved this book. From the time I started it until the time I put it down, I was drawn into its web.The book takes place before Jaenelle's birth (and the Black Jewels trilogy) yet after Tersa's promise of Witch's coming. It is the story of the witch and warlord who first devised the style of web described in the Queen of the Darkness. The web Daemon remembered from his past. This book had a nice appearance from Daemon Sadi, mentions of other characters from the Black Jewels triology. It was also a wonderful story. It came from the point of view of the "normal" Blood of the land. These Blood do not all wear dark jewels, do not know if Kaeleer and Hell exist, do not know Witch is coming. It tells of the final Queen who resists Dorothea's taint in Tereille. Plus, it gives some nice background on the culture of the Blood. Once again, Ms. Bishop has created a spellbinding story with wonderful characters who you love to love and love to hate.