Heir to the Shadows (Black Jewels Series #2) » (Reissue)

Anne Bishop is a winner of the William L. Crawford Memorial Fantasy Award for The Black Jewels Trilogy, presented by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts. She lives in upstate New York. Author website: annebishop.com.

In this violently passionate, "darkly fascinating world,"** the Blood rule: a race of witches and warlocks whose power is channeled through magical jewels. Ambitions unfurl in this second novel of The Black Jewels Trilogy, as the realm's dreams of a liberator have finally been made flesh...

Jaenelle, singled out by prophecy as the living embodiment of magic, is haunted by the cruel battles the Blood have fought over her-for not all of them await her as their Savior. Nothing, however, can deflect her from her destiny-and the day of reckoning looms near. When her memories return. When her magic matures. When she is forced to accept her fate. On that day, the dark Realms will know what it means to be ruled by Witch.

Locus - Carolyn Cushman

...[T]his second book of "The Black Jewels" trilogy is more upbeat than the first....a rich and fascinatingly dark fantasy, a series definitely worth checking out...