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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
meh. I think the book was described to me as filled with magic and intrigue and I couldn't follow the intrigue and the magic was lackluster. The pseudo biblical mythology and vaguely european geography annoyed me and the weird sexual religion made me want to skip whole sections of the book. Oh well, I can't like every book that I read.
I have a feeling that my timing with this book just doesn't work. I tried reading it when it came out and bounced off language that I felt was too flowery. This time around I didn't mind the language but in the end couldn't face a 700 page book that felt slow.
The main character in the book is an anguisette, a person who derives sexual pleasure from feeling pain and fear. In case you are wondering about this word, a good deal of the book takes place in a sort of alternate France and everyone has very flowery, romantic names. Phedre's country is called Terre d'Ange and its creation legend is that a supernatural entity springing from the blood of the messiah settled in this land along with a handful of angels that chose to follow him. One of the angels, Naamah, prostituted herself repeatedly to provide a living for her loves and the motto of the country is "love as thou wilt". There are many fancy houses of prostitution that name themselves for these angels and a libertine lifestyle is expected. But Phedre is unusual even among all these sex workers because of what turns her on.
This would probably have seemed a lot more edgy more than 20 years ago when the book came out. But since then we've had Laurell K. Hamilton with her protagonist whose magic is fueled by having sex. Anne Bishop's Dark Jewel series with its sexy witches. Court of Rose and Thorn with its sexy assassins and fairies. And that's not even nodding toward all the paranormal romance out there whose entire purpose is describing sexytimes. So I felt that some of the scenes were almost quaint. But they were still somewhat disturbing because this is a word in which sexual slavery is taken as a matter of course. Phedre is raised in a fancy brothel with the understanding that she'll have to earn her freedom on her back just as everyone else in the house must do. This is totally a nonissue in the book but a little icky as you read it.
While the language didn't bother me this time the pace of the book did. It's a 700 page chunk and about 200 pages in I had to ask myself if I wanted to spend the time to read 500 more pages and the answer was no. I skimmed through to the end and found there were some more interesting parts. Unfortunately for me, some of the non-interesting parts were the political machinations that drove the entire plot of the book. While I'm glad I went back to the book I don't see myself reading more of these.
The main character in the book is an anguisette, a person who derives sexual pleasure from feeling pain and fear. In case you are wondering about this word, a good deal of the book takes place in a sort of alternate France and everyone has very flowery, romantic names. Phedre's country is called Terre d'Ange and its creation legend is that a supernatural entity springing from the blood of the messiah settled in this land along with a handful of angels that chose to follow him. One of the angels, Naamah, prostituted herself repeatedly to provide a living for her loves and the motto of the country is "love as thou wilt". There are many fancy houses of prostitution that name themselves for these angels and a libertine lifestyle is expected. But Phedre is unusual even among all these sex workers because of what turns her on.
This would probably have seemed a lot more edgy more than 20 years ago when the book came out. But since then we've had Laurell K. Hamilton with her protagonist whose magic is fueled by having sex. Anne Bishop's Dark Jewel series with its sexy witches. Court of Rose and Thorn with its sexy assassins and fairies. And that's not even nodding toward all the paranormal romance out there whose entire purpose is describing sexytimes. So I felt that some of the scenes were almost quaint. But they were still somewhat disturbing because this is a word in which sexual slavery is taken as a matter of course. Phedre is raised in a fancy brothel with the understanding that she'll have to earn her freedom on her back just as everyone else in the house must do. This is totally a nonissue in the book but a little icky as you read it.
While the language didn't bother me this time the pace of the book did. It's a 700 page chunk and about 200 pages in I had to ask myself if I wanted to spend the time to read 500 more pages and the answer was no. I skimmed through to the end and found there were some more interesting parts. Unfortunately for me, some of the non-interesting parts were the political machinations that drove the entire plot of the book. While I'm glad I went back to the book I don't see myself reading more of these.
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gripping, unique tale that had me hooked until they travelled to Alba.
Finely crafted political intrigue, but sadly lost it’s charm when battle became the focus. I could only cringe when Phedre’s Boys were introduced. I was expecting something more and was excited about what Alba could bring, instead was left disappointed.
Finely crafted political intrigue, but sadly lost it’s charm when battle became the focus. I could only cringe when Phedre’s Boys were introduced. I was expecting something more and was excited about what Alba could bring, instead was left disappointed.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I only finished this one as I was reading it alongside someone. I think if I had read this when it had just come out I would have enjoyed it more. I would have been a teen with less reading experience and the ideas in the book would have been fresher and more novel.
A lot of my disappointment is in thwarted expectations I believe. The book wasn't sensual or steamy or romantic or filled with political intrigue. The interesting historical/ mythological exposition that heavily featured in the first part of the book ultimately wasn't important. And what is an anguissette? Just Delaunay's marketing tactic it seems. Or else the Terre d'Ange term for a Mary sue, cause Phedre didn't seem to have a particular hunger for sex or pain, but everyone she met was in awe of her for no reason, a definite mystical power.
The book ended up feeling pretty generic medieval fantasy after all the interesting setups had no interesting follow though. A tougher editor was sorely needed as well. If it hadn't been so unnecessarily long I'd feel more favourably about it.
A lot of my disappointment is in thwarted expectations I believe. The book wasn't sensual or steamy or romantic or filled with political intrigue. The interesting historical/ mythological exposition that heavily featured in the first part of the book ultimately wasn't important. And what is an anguissette? Just Delaunay's marketing tactic it seems. Or else the Terre d'Ange term for a Mary sue, cause Phedre didn't seem to have a particular hunger for sex or pain, but everyone she met was in awe of her for no reason, a definite mystical power.
The book ended up feeling pretty generic medieval fantasy after all the interesting setups had no interesting follow though. A tougher editor was sorely needed as well. If it hadn't been so unnecessarily long I'd feel more favourably about it.
Absolutely amazing. Hard to describe how beautiful a book this was.
