NAAMAH’S KISS by Jacqueline Carey - Book Review

Rating: 4/5 -  A satisfying read that’s worth every word.
 
Title: Naamah’s Kiss

Author: Jacqueline Carey

Format: mass market paperback

Published: 2009

Genre: epic fantasy

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Landed in my hands: via self-purchase


Summary (from cover blurb):

A child of the Maghuin Dhonn, the fold of the Brown Bear, Moirin is raised in the wilderness of Alba by her reclusive mother. Only when she comes of age does she discover her own illustrious — and mixed — heritage: descended from Alais the Wise, princess of both Terre d’Ange and Alba, Moirin is also the daughter of a d’Angeline priest dedicated to serving Naamah, goddess of desire.

After undergoing the Maghuin Dhonn rites of adulthood, Moirin finds divine acceptance... provided she fulfills a mysterious fate that lies across oceans. Beyond Terre d’Ange, in the far reaches of distant Ch’in, she will need to survive the vengeful plans of an ambitious mage, and aid both a noble warrior-princess desperate to save her father’s throne and the spirit of a celestial dragon.

Review:

Jacqueline Carey has long since landed herself onto my shelf as a staple, and returning to Terre d’Ange with a new cast of characters felt like coming home. Her steady, melodic, and comforting tone befits this pseudo-European-renaissance world.

Regardless of the above statement, I was leery of returning to Terre d’Ange without Phèdre or Imriel. I really didn't know if it would be worth it, despite the fact that there have been three books published in Moirin's storyline. I should have remembered Carey’s ability pack amazing worldbuilding and magical charm into a novel.

Moirin is no less enchanting than Phèdre, and her quest to discover her destiny takes her far from home; across oceans and encountering strange peoples and magics. Carey has the ability to drop a reader into the realm of the mystical and make it real. Legend is tangible, and adventure is constant.

Aside from the classical epic elements that I enjoy in Carey's writing, what I find endearing in her work is her frank and poetic attitudes towards love and sexuality. Her characters have relationships of all different shapes and sizes, and while it is culturally accepted and revered (or not, in certain places, which creates its own issues), this naturally lends tension, conflict, and delicious romantic longing to the narrative.

One particular line which has stayed with me for its poetic simplicity and romantic weight, highlights the gravity of duty juxtaposed with emotion; it's the conflict of a woman torn —

    She loved them both.

    But she'd wed the King.

   
So simple, yet within the context of the story, it pulls the proverbial heartstrings.

(Oy. Where's Hopeless Romantics Anonymous when you need them?)

The scope and scale of Carey's imagination, coupled with her ability to pull off such a grand tale with elegance, is why I will keep returning to her writing. And now I get to return to Terre d'Ange for another two visits.

And when I am in need of romance, adventure — and comfort food — I'll do just that.

SANTA OLIVIA by Jacqueline Carey - Book Review

[Note: This review was originally published on PostWhatever.com in the summer of 2011.]

Rating: 4/5 -  A satisfying read that’s worth every word.

Title: Santa Olivia

Author: Jacqueline Carey

Format: trade paperback

Published: 2009

Genre: urban fantasy

Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing

Landed in my hands: purchased myself


Summary (from the cover blurb):

There is no pity in Santa Olivia. And no escape. In this isolated military buffer zone between Mexico and the U.S., the citizens of Santa Olivia are virtually powerless. Then an unlikely heroine is born. She is the daughter of a man genetically manipulated by the government to be a weapon. A “Wolf-Man,” he was engineered to have superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and senses, as well as a total lack of fear. Named for her vanished father, Loup Garron has inherited his gifts.

Frustrated by the injustices visited upon her friends and neighbors by the military occupiers, Loup is determined to avenge her community. Aided by a handful of her fellow orphans, Loup takes on the guise of their patron saint, Santa Olivia, and sets out to deliver vigilante justice — aware that if she is caught, she could lose her freedom... and possibly her life.

Review:

Carey has an amazing ability to plunge you into a narrative. Immediately I was invested in Santa Olivia. I was reading along, and it seemed a ton had happened already, so I glanced at the page count.

Page thirty seven? Seriously?!

Carey (and I know this from previous reads) is deceptively simple in her worldbuilding, able to quickly sketch a grand, grand scope. Santa Olivia is very different from her Kushiel’s Legacy series, and just as engaging.

I don’t know why, but I found this book very mellow — in a good way. Very calm, matter of fact, gritty, yet eloquent. Not flashy, even while the tension was building.

It felt real.

A realistic fairy tale of a girl born of odd origins who rises up to be the hero of the Outpost, a town on the edge of a military base that has been scorned by the bordering countries, where its citizens are the citizens of nowhere.

Santa Olivia has feisty, almost morbid humour, and is delightful in its nonjudgmental delivery of the story. So the priest isn’t really a priest — he’s helping people, so who cares? The community needs someone to organize charity and lead their faith, and he stepped up, so he’s the priest. It works.

And at the risk of that spoiler alarm wailing, it’s about boxing. Yep. When the subject first edged into the plot, I thought it would remain in the periphery, but I discovered, happily, that it wasn’t. It’s a true tale of the underdog, sweaty boxing gloves, split lips, and desperation.

Which is why — especially for those guys out there who are leery of delving into the urban fantasy genre for fear of accidentally stepping into paranormal romance — I’d suggest you pick up this book. Sure, there’s a romantic interest, but while it is important to the main character, it is not central to the plot. And if knowing it’s about boxing entices someone who would normally overlook Santa Olivia to give it a try... well, I don’t think it counts as a big spoiler.

And there is sadness

Because that’s what this story is, at its core. A tale of the underdog, who brings hope to the downtrodden. I’m interested in seeing where the tale goes in the sequel, Saints Astray, which is scheduled for release in October 2011.

The next book probably won’t have as much boxing, but I think I’m safe in assuming that Loup will be kicking some ass...
permeating this tale, plenty of loss and realistic good-old-fashioned human assholeness, and it makes you root for the underdog even more.

KUSHIEL’S DART by Jacqueline Carey - Book Review

[NOTE: This review was originally published on PostWhatever.com on December 29, 2010.]


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!