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manondereeper 's review for:
Kushiel's Dart
by Jacqueline Carey
Written for RantingDragon.com
Though based on the geography of what we know as Europe, this story is set in an entirely different world. Our France is known as “Terre d’Ange”, where we get to know Phèdre. Phèdre, an unwanted child is a child that is given to Cereus House of the Night Court.
One day, a nobleman, Anafiel Delaunay, comes to Cereus House to buy Phèdre. He buys her for the reason that Phèdre always thought was her biggest flaw, the scarlet mote in her eye. Delaunay, however, is the first to recognize her for what she is: pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, meant to always experience pain and pleasure as one.
Phèdre spends her childhood in Cereus House, where she is taught all the courtly arts and talents of the bedchamber, until she is old enough to move to the Delaunay residence, where she is trained to become an expert spy as well and Phèdre quickly becomes the most desired courtesan in the City of Elua.
The day Delaunay makes a misstep in the games he plays with the court of the City of Elua, and he and his household are betrayed, means a major change in the life of Phèdre. She is sold into slavery to the barbaric Skaldi, with only her Cassiline (a warrior priest that serves as a bodyguard), Joscelin as her companion. As barbaric and disorganized as the Skaldi seem, they have a leader that seeks to unite them, to destroy Terre d’Ange.
As Phèdre and Joscelin are the sole beings that are aware of this plot, they must find a way to escape and warn the Queen of her homeland.
Poetry and sexuality
This is an excellent book. Jacqueline Carey is one of those few authors that knows to make every sentence to sound poetic. She has built a world so intricate but sensual at the same time that it is very appealing. Her characters have real depth and are interesting. Undoubtedly, the frank description of Phèdre’s passions in the bedchamber will put people off. However, the many sex scenes are not overabundant and are very elegantly written. Personally, it has introduced me to a whole different viewpoint on sexuality, which I found very interesting. If you open yourself up to such unusual sex scenes, you’ll find yourself amazed and intrigued.
The plot of the story is exciting and interesting, even if it’s a bit long and Carey does tend to get a bit overly wordy. This 1015 pages big brick will keep your mind occupied and will leave you craving for the next book in the series to find out more about the complicated culture of the D’Angelines.
Kushiel’s Legacy
Currently there are eight books in Kushiel’s Legacy, compromising two finished trilogies and one unfinished trilogy. The first trilogy is “Phèdre’s Trilogy”, Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen and Kushiel’s Avatar. The second trilogy is “Imriel’s Trilogy”, consisting out of Kushiel’s Scion, Kushiel’s Justice andKushiel’s Mercy. The third trilogy currently has two released novels called Naamah’s Kiss and Naamah’s Curse. This trilogy is called “Moirin’s Trilogy”. The remaining book is scheduled for release in June 2011.
You will probably agree with me that with all those similar names, it gets a bit confusing which book you have to get next.
I doubt there will ever be movies made based on these books because as great as they are, they won’t likely appeal to the mainstream public because of the rather dark, sexual nature of Phèdre. A tv-series could me more likely in my opinion, but for as is known to the internet, there are no commercial adaptations of Kushiel’s Legacy scheduled.
Why you should read this book
This is a book that every fantasy fan should have read. It’s intricate plot, the depth of the characters and the beautiful writing style of Jacqueline Carey will be a pleasure to read for everyone. Do keep in mind that there’s a lot of 18+ explicit scenes in this novel, so I wouldn’t recommend that you give this book to your 12 year old niece who likes Harry Potter. Go get it for yourself, though! This book most certainly won’t disappoint.
Though based on the geography of what we know as Europe, this story is set in an entirely different world. Our France is known as “Terre d’Ange”, where we get to know Phèdre. Phèdre, an unwanted child is a child that is given to Cereus House of the Night Court.
One day, a nobleman, Anafiel Delaunay, comes to Cereus House to buy Phèdre. He buys her for the reason that Phèdre always thought was her biggest flaw, the scarlet mote in her eye. Delaunay, however, is the first to recognize her for what she is: pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, meant to always experience pain and pleasure as one.
Phèdre spends her childhood in Cereus House, where she is taught all the courtly arts and talents of the bedchamber, until she is old enough to move to the Delaunay residence, where she is trained to become an expert spy as well and Phèdre quickly becomes the most desired courtesan in the City of Elua.
The day Delaunay makes a misstep in the games he plays with the court of the City of Elua, and he and his household are betrayed, means a major change in the life of Phèdre. She is sold into slavery to the barbaric Skaldi, with only her Cassiline (a warrior priest that serves as a bodyguard), Joscelin as her companion. As barbaric and disorganized as the Skaldi seem, they have a leader that seeks to unite them, to destroy Terre d’Ange.
As Phèdre and Joscelin are the sole beings that are aware of this plot, they must find a way to escape and warn the Queen of her homeland.
Poetry and sexuality
This is an excellent book. Jacqueline Carey is one of those few authors that knows to make every sentence to sound poetic. She has built a world so intricate but sensual at the same time that it is very appealing. Her characters have real depth and are interesting. Undoubtedly, the frank description of Phèdre’s passions in the bedchamber will put people off. However, the many sex scenes are not overabundant and are very elegantly written. Personally, it has introduced me to a whole different viewpoint on sexuality, which I found very interesting. If you open yourself up to such unusual sex scenes, you’ll find yourself amazed and intrigued.
The plot of the story is exciting and interesting, even if it’s a bit long and Carey does tend to get a bit overly wordy. This 1015 pages big brick will keep your mind occupied and will leave you craving for the next book in the series to find out more about the complicated culture of the D’Angelines.
Kushiel’s Legacy
Currently there are eight books in Kushiel’s Legacy, compromising two finished trilogies and one unfinished trilogy. The first trilogy is “Phèdre’s Trilogy”, Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen and Kushiel’s Avatar. The second trilogy is “Imriel’s Trilogy”, consisting out of Kushiel’s Scion, Kushiel’s Justice andKushiel’s Mercy. The third trilogy currently has two released novels called Naamah’s Kiss and Naamah’s Curse. This trilogy is called “Moirin’s Trilogy”. The remaining book is scheduled for release in June 2011.
You will probably agree with me that with all those similar names, it gets a bit confusing which book you have to get next.
I doubt there will ever be movies made based on these books because as great as they are, they won’t likely appeal to the mainstream public because of the rather dark, sexual nature of Phèdre. A tv-series could me more likely in my opinion, but for as is known to the internet, there are no commercial adaptations of Kushiel’s Legacy scheduled.
Why you should read this book
This is a book that every fantasy fan should have read. It’s intricate plot, the depth of the characters and the beautiful writing style of Jacqueline Carey will be a pleasure to read for everyone. Do keep in mind that there’s a lot of 18+ explicit scenes in this novel, so I wouldn’t recommend that you give this book to your 12 year old niece who likes Harry Potter. Go get it for yourself, though! This book most certainly won’t disappoint.