Book 4), The Invisible Ring (Black Jewels

Anne Bishop strikes again in the land of the Black Jewels, and the plot only gets better!!!Jared is the world's perfect, overprotective male falling for... an old lady? Kidding! It scared me when I first read that part, too. But the book is NOT about an old lady, just a really young, naivete one! ^.^She rocks, he rocks, the twisting, mysterious plot of who dun it makes for a EXCELLENTE read!!! I've read it thrice already and plan on doing so again!!!

The Invisible Ring is an enjoyable book and I advise anyone who enjoyed the Jewels trilogy to buy it. But the story is told through the eyes of the hero and I never got a chance to really know any of the other characters. And since the males in the first series had so much power, Jared seemed a bit of a weeny.
My only serious problem was that I felt too much time was wasted on the bad guys. The same thing bothered me about the other Jewel books.
I hope Ms. Bishop continues to write stories in this world she's created.

Yes, The Invisible Ring was enjoyable, but it was definately lacking something. The Black Jewels Trilogy had passion and icy hatred mixed with dark obsessions and unwavering loyalty, but this strange prequelish continuation? Almost every character in this book seems like a washed up reflection of someone else in the amazing novels it's based off of. Jared seemed like he was meant to be somewhat of a mix between Daemon and Lucivar, but it just didn't work for me. He just didn't have enough... personality to carry the male end of the story.
Still, I am in love with the world that Bishop has created. I forgive the book for the majority of it's rough ends. Any story even remotely related her rich, detailed world is definately worth my time. I'm waiting for more...

I've read the entire Black Jewels Trilogy and loved it so naturally I picked up this story with the same expectations. However, the book read like a short story with 417 pages. It lacked the depth and intrigue that I'd become accustomed to with Anne Bishop.

If you read the Black Jewels and loved them then I recommend picking this up for the simple pleasure of seeing the Sadist (however briefly) and returning to a world you loved. But if you haven't read the other BJT books than go read those because you'll find little pleasure in this one.

I thought the book would be a continuation of the others in the series, but it turns out its a prequal that sets up for the next books. Although I had been anticipating more of Jaenelle and Daemon, it was still as good of quality as the rest of Anne Bishop's novels.

The Invisible Ring (Black Jewels, Book 4)

Another great story by Anne Bishop. If you are a fan of her Black Jewels Trilogy then you will enjoy this book just as much. If you haven't read the trilogy then this book will make you want to start reading those books. I really enjoy this author.
A big fan!

When I finished this ( i use the word lightly ) book I ripped it up and threw it in the garbage. I have read a ton of books some I like, some I don't, hardly ever do I feel this strongly about about one. This book has nothing to recommend it. The characters are weak the plot is old and overused and worst of all badly told. I read stories that are not original but nonetheless well told, not this one. I felt cheated the art on the cover was the best part of the book and it was not worth my seven dollars.

I agree that this book has some merit, but because the Jewels trilogy was so outstanding, I was expecting a bit more out of this. I didn't find this cast of characters nearly as compelling as those in the other three books either, although Daemon Sadi does make an appearance. I look forward to other works from Anne Bishop.

If this book is your first introduction to Anne Bishop then please don't pass judgement on the author based on this book. I would have given it three and a half stars but bumped it up to four only because Bishop's other books are so good. Put this book aside until you've read all of Bishop's other books and are dying for more.

... and all they want is some dominant male to cuddle them and take care of them. Because, of course, strong women just want to fall into a burbling puddle of feminine submission at the feet of their man at the end of the day. Pffffft.

Ms. Bishop seems to make some presumptions here; that readers will have read the Black Jewels trilogy first; that we're not intelligent enough to distinguish real characters from cardboard cutouts; and that giving in to testosterone posturing is every woman's fantasy.

Some didn't, we are and it ain't.

We're tossed into Angst Land from paragraph one (a paragraph that has some promise with regard to deep character conflict that is never realized) without any background on why we should care about the male protagonist, other than he's an unwilling pleasure slave for an ebil queen about to be sold at the ebil slave market. A queen, I might add who has all the complexity of a head of lettuce if you've not read the trilogy, where she has all the complexity of a box of hair, not even tangled hair, mind you.

There's a female protagonist who whines and gets cranky a lot and has mysterious issues that prevent her from walking but aren't life threatening which enable the above mentioned testosterone posturing and much woman carrying and PMS crankiness.

Frankly, the testosterone posturing and resulting squabbles are the only type of interaction any of the characters have. This is what passes for content and plot and is all very handy since it eliminates the need for character depth, motivation, sub-plots, complexity or an engaging and unique backstory.

The 'guest appearance' by Ms. Bishop's favorite character is a contrived tie-in and even further out of character than his portrayal in the trilogy. Why does he care about this minor former noble turned sex slave, anyway, and why should we care that he cares?

Let's just be blunt. This is a bad book. Bad, bad, bad, bad. From the singular lack of plot (get the good queen before she crosses the mountains... that's your plan? Get her?) to the lack of forward motion (except for the walking some of the characters do) to the stock, lifeless characters. There aren't even any Mary Sues to watch, with the exception of the whiney, cranky female protagonist whose name escapes me (imagine that).

The ebil queen postures at the right moments, her henchman complains unconvincingly (and I'm not sure why he's there at all because, man, he didn't seem excited about his career pathing to become head of the ebil queen's guards). The right characters die that will make you want to sniffle. The right amount of danger threatens the characters without being too threatening. The right characters survive to make you want to fight bravely on with them.

The bad guys dither the right amount of time to allow the good guys to concoct the requisite cunning (more cunning than a fox teaching cunning at Cambridge University?) and unexpected plan that allows them to win out over the supposedly better armed, more powerful and better organized bad guys. Rather like neandertals defeating a modern army with nothing more than pluck and bent sticks waved confusingly.

There isn't even that much sex and it's simply embarrassing. Not because it's sex but because it's so badly written.

Just don't read this book. Do not give away the hours of your life you would spend reading it when you could be walking along a beach, painting a painting, sharing a romantic dinner with a loved one... you get the drift.

I am truly disapointed. I had been expecting a master piece from this book the moment I laid my eyes on it, I am a big Anne Bishop fan, her books are usually detailed to the point that you find your self in them, this one was a dissapoint. She seemed to hurry on this book, she normally pours her heart into it, this time she didnt. Weak plot, not origimal mais character. If you really want a Master Piece from this author try The Black Jewels trilogy, now THAT is a master piece.

Love all of the Black Jewel Series, I actually purchased them at this time for my sister as a Christmas gift. My sister had read the first 3 but hadn't had the opportunity to read any of the others so I purchased the entire series for her. She loved the first 3, I'm sure this one will be no different. These books are definitely not for the kindhearted and I would describe them as dark and disturbing for most of the series, they can be graphic, horrifying, fantastic, whimsical, saddening and much much more. I have found myself actually laughing out loud, and crying so hard I had to put them away for a while. I've read and reread them probably close to 10 times and can say that I feel they blow most other writers and writing styles out of the water. Everyone is all about 50 Shades of Gray for its sexual content and heat but, in my opinion, nothing beats these books in that aspect as well as many others, I find myself wishing I could step through the pages and live in their world. These books are definitely something you read with an open mind and they are by no means written for children. The Invisible Ring was such a good read solely for the reason that it shows how strong just one person can make you. I felt it was a wonderful view on the world that Anne Bishop made before Witch was even born, showing that it was a hard life and horrible things happened and why the really needed her.