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A review by bickleyhouse
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was recommended to me by one of my good librarian friends at the library where I work.
The world that Jacqueline Carey has built in this series is phenomenal. The further I got into this book, the better it got. It's kind of like if Song of Fire and Ice had a love child with Lord of the Rings. Call me crazy (and I'm sure some will), but it is that epic!
The story is all told in first-person perspective from Phedre, who is around seven years old when the tale begins. She is sold into servitude by her mother. She was "house-born," a full-blooded D'Angeline, and should have been able to be raised in one of the Thirteen Houses. However, she had this perceived flaw, which was a miniscule crimson spot in one of her eyes. For that reason, she was, as mentioned, sold into servitude to the Dowayne of Cereus House, who believed that the girl could fetch a hefty bond price.
I'm going to interject something here. Many reactions to this book include words like child sex trafficking, child molestation, child abuse, and things like that. The problem with those assessments is that these people are looking at it from a 21st century Western perspective. You simply cannot do that. It is not truly any of those things. And, while this book is most definitely "spicy" (and that's putting it mildly), the "spice" takes up, in my guesstimation, no more than 5% of the 912 pages. That 5% is pretty extreme, I'll give you that. But that's not at all the main theme of this tale.
Phedre's spot in her eye turns out to be Kushiel's Dart, for which the book is titled, and it turns out to be something quite special. Anafiel Dulounay recognizes this, and pays her bond price, and she becomes his student. From the time she is seven years old until she comes "of age" (in this world, that appears to be around sixteen or seventeen), she is educated in the best ways, the standard subjects. Eventually, though, she becomes educated in the ways of, well, pleasure. And pain. And this becomes the way in which she serves her master, not with him, but gaining information for him. All of this is done quite willingly. Again, one simply has to embrace the philosphy of the world that has been constructed, and if one is not willing to do this, one shouldn't bother trying to read this tale.
There is a lot of politics in this story, but there is also much daring adventure, betrayal, intrigue, and a whole lot of other stuff. At some point, the book almost becomes unputdownable for me. And I might also note that it is not the kind of fantasy that has dragons and sorcerers and the like. The closest thing to any of that is an encounter with one who is known as the Master of the Straits, who can somehow manifest himself in the waters of the ocean. Otherwise, there is nothing like magic or anything like that.
I simply loved this book, and definitely plan on continuing in the series, as this one ends wide-opened to be continued in the sequel, Kushiel's Chosen.
The world that Jacqueline Carey has built in this series is phenomenal. The further I got into this book, the better it got. It's kind of like if Song of Fire and Ice had a love child with Lord of the Rings. Call me crazy (and I'm sure some will), but it is that epic!
The story is all told in first-person perspective from Phedre, who is around seven years old when the tale begins. She is sold into servitude by her mother. She was "house-born," a full-blooded D'Angeline, and should have been able to be raised in one of the Thirteen Houses. However, she had this perceived flaw, which was a miniscule crimson spot in one of her eyes. For that reason, she was, as mentioned, sold into servitude to the Dowayne of Cereus House, who believed that the girl could fetch a hefty bond price.
I'm going to interject something here. Many reactions to this book include words like child sex trafficking, child molestation, child abuse, and things like that. The problem with those assessments is that these people are looking at it from a 21st century Western perspective. You simply cannot do that. It is not truly any of those things. And, while this book is most definitely "spicy" (and that's putting it mildly), the "spice" takes up, in my guesstimation, no more than 5% of the 912 pages. That 5% is pretty extreme, I'll give you that. But that's not at all the main theme of this tale.
Phedre's spot in her eye turns out to be Kushiel's Dart, for which the book is titled, and it turns out to be something quite special. Anafiel Dulounay recognizes this, and pays her bond price, and she becomes his student. From the time she is seven years old until she comes "of age" (in this world, that appears to be around sixteen or seventeen), she is educated in the best ways, the standard subjects. Eventually, though, she becomes educated in the ways of, well, pleasure. And pain. And this becomes the way in which she serves her master, not with him, but gaining information for him. All of this is done quite willingly. Again, one simply has to embrace the philosphy of the world that has been constructed, and if one is not willing to do this, one shouldn't bother trying to read this tale.
There is a lot of politics in this story, but there is also much daring adventure, betrayal, intrigue, and a whole lot of other stuff. At some point, the book almost becomes unputdownable for me. And I might also note that it is not the kind of fantasy that has dragons and sorcerers and the like. The closest thing to any of that is an encounter with one who is known as the Master of the Straits, who can somehow manifest himself in the waters of the ocean. Otherwise, there is nothing like magic or anything like that.
I simply loved this book, and definitely plan on continuing in the series, as this one ends wide-opened to be continued in the sequel, Kushiel's Chosen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual violence