Rating: 4.5/5 - Writing down the title so I can recommend it to everyone.Title: Kushiel’s Dart (book one of the Kushiel’s Legacy series)
Author: Jacqueline Carey
Format: mass market paperback
Published: 2001
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Fantasy
Landed in my hands: purchased myself
Summary (from the cover blurb):
The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of surpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good... and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.
Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman on a very special mission... and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.
Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is a courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundation of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair... and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she hold dear.
Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel’s Dart — a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.
Review:
Okay wow, that cover blurb was long. But it had to be — this is one of those books that has so much to talk about, and bizarrely enough, I don’t think that blurb reveals anything! And I usually preface talking about Kushiel’s Dart by saying it’s not for everyone, but if it’s for you, it’ll be on your keeper shelf.
This narrator has a remarkably poetic, formal voice that took a little getting used to, but once I’d adjusted, I found myself sucked into this story. Phèdre is a very strong heroine, with a very distinctive voice, and the tale is told through her perspective. I won’t be forgetting her easily (even though, at times, I really just wanted to slap some sense into her!).
I’ve spoken to other readers of this book, and it seems that the consensus is the same. It’s difficult to discuss this story without bringing up the sexuality laced throughout it, and then suddenly the book is more about taboo than the actual narrative itself. Yes, Phèdre’s universe is one in which sex is more openly spoken of, but that is not what Kushiel’s Dart is about! Part of me is in utter awe that Carey went there, and so honestly and skillfully — the woman has stones! — and it is this same awe that makes me feel like a complete prude.
As a reader I have a pet peeve about sex scenes appearing in a book for the sake of there being sex scenes in said book. Let me be clear: Carey's use of sexuality and Phèdre's occupation are both necessary to drive the plot and develop characters. Carey does not flamboyantly insert scenes that are unnecessary — they have purpose, and it is of that well-plotted purpose that I am in awe. She went there. And it makes sense.
There’s so much more to Kushiel’s Dart than its frank and poetic treatment of sexuality. It has excellently plotted political intrigue that didn’t bore me(!), it has adventure and travel, a lovely skewed-renaissance world setting that draws very intricate cultural and religious lines from our own world, romance, humour, mythical gods, war, magic, and heroes, and... it’s the very definition of Epic Fantasy.
In actuality, this is a love story; a story about loving your family, your friends, and your homeland. It’s about challenging yourself to do everything you can to save everything you love. (And I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I wholeheartedly fell in love with Joscelin Verreuil. To the point where if Joscelin ever shows up at my door, I might just have to run away with the man. No worries, folks, I’ve already warned my husband... ha!)
I blew through all six of the Kushiel’s Legacy series this summer, and they have a gravity and intensity to them that quenched my thirst for epic adventure. I have been blessed in my reading this year, and Carey is definitely one of the reasons.
I did notice a trend, though, in that these very lengthy books (700-1000 pages) seem to have a buffer — a distinct orientation — in the beginning, a good hundred pages or so before the action truly starts. Personally, I'm fine with that, and especially in an epic like this, set in an alternate universe, there's a certain amount of world-building legwork necessary before an author can expect their reader to follow along. That is not to say the first hundred pages are entirely world-building: it's lead up to the critical event that begins the action. And everything before is just as important in order to fully understand the characters and what motivates them. I must say that when that critical event occurred in Kushiel's Dart, I literally shouted "no!" and spent the rest of the book wishing it had somehow been a mistake. I was hooked, and nothing was going to keep me from finding out how it ended.
I strongly urge anyone interested in this title to check out Amazon.com’s “Look Inside” feature and read the first six pages given. It’ll give you an idea of Phèdre’s elaborate poetic diction, and just might suck you in. Cheers!
