A
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
I am a woman of eclectic genre reading habits, and wander far afield in the fertile lands of literary licentiousness. I am especially a fantasy and sci/fi junkie. However, I love it with all my heart when the sci/fi or fantasy novel I am reading adds at least a dollop of romance in its pages. Not some two-dimensional rumpy-pumpy between a fuck puppet and the hero or some bullshit like that, either. Make it good romance or go home.
I have recently read an epic (in every sense of the word) fantasy that does NOT have to go home, and Imma review it to bits. The book, Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey, gave me a fantasy, romance, mystery, and thriller all rolled into one and the only reason I am giving it an A is that I cannot give it an Outstanding on its OWLS.
I was first alerted to this book on i09, when its heroine was accounted the greatest courtesan-spy in fantasy or sci-fi. That intrigued me. I have a soft spot for courtesan spies. Ergo, I checked the book’s blurb to see if I might like it:
The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassing 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 with very a 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 courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations 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 holds 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.
Well, with a blurb like that, how could I not give the book a try? Boy, howdy, am I glad I did.
At first I was unsure, since the book was first person in that flowery language of pseudo-Tolkien, and I almost always hate that crap. Nonetheless, Carey’s writing was so good that it pulled me into the flowers and — like Dorothy among the poppies in OZ –and I had to stay and dream among them. Even her expositions, which could easily be info dump in lesser hands, were lush and delightful.
For example, when she is describing her alter-Earth’s religion:
He came every week, Brother Louvel, to sit cross-legged among us in the nursery and share with use the teachings of Elua … how Blessed Elua came to be; how when Yeshua ben Yosef hung dying upon the cross, a soldier of Tiberium pierced his side with the cruel steel of a spearhead. How when Yeshua was lowered, the women grieved, and the Magdalene most of all, letting down the ruddy gold torrent of her hair to clothe his still, naked figure. How the bitter salt tears of the Magdalene fell upon soil ensanguined and moist with the the blood of the Messiah.
And from this upon the grieving Earth engendered her most precious son; Blessed Elua, the most cherished of angels.
I listed with a child’s rapt fascination as Brother Louvel told us of the wandering of Elua. Abhorred by the Yeshuites as an abomination, reviled by the empire of Tiberium as the scion of its enemy, Elua wandered the earth, across vast deserts and wastelands. Scorned by the One God of whose soe he was begotten, Elua trod with bare feet on the bosom of his mother Earth and wandered singing, and where he went, flowers bloomed in his footprints.
He was captured in Persis, and shook his head smiling when the King put him in chains, and vines grew to wreath his cell. The tale of his wandering had come to reach the ear of Heaven, and when he was imprisoned, there were those among the angelic hierarchy who answered. Choosing to flout the will of the One God, they came to earth in ancient Persis.
Of these it was Naamah, eldest sister, who went smiling to the King and offered herself with lowered eyelids, in exchange for the freedom of Elua. Besotted, the King of Persis accepted, and there is a story still told of the King’s Night of Pleasure. When the door to Elua’s cell was opened, a great fragrance of flowers poured forth, and Elua emerged singing, crowned with vines.That is why, Brother Louvel explained, we revere Naamah and enter her service as a sacred trust … At last [Elua] came to Terre d’Ange, land of my birth and my soul. For three-score years, Blessed Elua and those who followed him — Naamah, Anael, Azza, Shemhazai, Camael, Cassie, Eisheth and Kushiel — made to dwell here … So did Terre d’Ange come to be what it is, and the world to know of D’Angeline beauty, born in the bloodlines form the seed of Blessed Elua and those who followed him.
The heroine, Phedre, is an anguissette and experiences pain as pleasure. This is a gift from Kushiel, Elua’s angelic companions who now function as demigods, and it is rare. As a sex worker, Phedre is a devotee of the angel/demigod Naamah, and the men and women who “serve as Naamah” are afforded the same rights and respect as any other guild in Terre d’Ange (which is analogous to France). Phedre, however, is no mere courtesan. Nope. She uses her unique connection with her clients to gather intel for the good guys and protect her queen and country like a boss.
Kushiel’s Dart is some of the best world-building I have read in years. Not only that, it has both erotism and romance woven into storyline in such a way that without them the plot cannot move yet avoids being all-about-teh-sex. While the sex is very important to the plot, but it is never gratuitous or tawdry for the sake of cheap thrills. Phedre is never reduced to being JUST a very skilled specialist courtesan.
Moreover, it relies on euphemisms and implications in ways that make it somehow hotter than if the author had used the more explicit terms common in erotica. More to the imagination, maybe?
As for the plot — WOW! It was intricate without being convoluted and alternated in pace without floundering or becoming hectic. I would be convinced that Phedre was in such peril that her escape could only herald the end of the novel, but look down to discover I was 18% of the way through the e-book. I caught myself, twice, actually holding my breath while reading lest Phedre get caught.
What? Was my breathing going to alert the guards? That is a serious breakdown of the fourth wall, there.
Additionally, there IS a strong (albeit non-conventional) romance and its interactions and developments are as complex as the rest of the storyline.
Furthermore, in spite of the very alternate alter-Earth setting, Carey did some serious research in this one. The analogous Venice is called La Serenissima, which was the actual name of Venice in the Middle Ages.
All of her myths, mythos, and mysteries were similarly built on a bedrock of fact. For example, the Yeshuites — a minority group which faced persecution and scorn yet who were also famed for their scholars and physicians — were clearly analogues of Jewish communities in historic Europe. Like actual Judaic practice in our world, Carey’s Yeshuites did not call the One God by name; they called him Adonai (the Lord). Likewise, her other analogues had a firm basis in the reality of our world. Her tribes of the Skaldi were essentially the same Germanic peoples the Romans faced, with the correct underpinning of real history. The people of Alba and Erie were based on facts about the Picts and the Celts, and then fantasy was spread on top like icing. It was incredibly appealing to me as both a scholar and a lover of epic world building.
This book was the first of a trilogy and there is a damn good reason the series is listed among the best of its genre. It is like Lord of the Rings with anal sex. It is like The Wheel of Time with BDSM. It is like The Wizard of Earthsea with un-emphasized and natural bisexuality. It was Game of Thrones with less incest and more consensual sex.
Seriously, I loved Kushiel’s Dart.
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This is my favorite trilogy ever. If you haven’t read the next two (I imagine you have), you are in for a treat. Glorious, immensely satisfying books. I have wondered how something this intense became a favorite comfort read but it is for me. Has anyone listened to the audiobooks? I have been debating getting them.
My only sadness about these books is that I found the next trilogy very dull and disappointing. But it’s ok, as this trilogy stands alone brilliantly. Phedre and Joscelin are among my favorite hero couples ever. They make my heart sing and sigh for true true love and purpose.
See, I felt the exact opposite about Kushiel. I spent the whole book rolling my eyes at the prose and wondering why the hell the author hadn’t just stuck Phedre in 12th century France, since it was PAINFULLY obvious that’s what she wanted to do. It would even make sense; France had a ton of weird ass cults with faint connections to Christianity and Gnosticism back then. In fact, the Albegensian Crusade was started due to one of those cults.
I also found Phedre annoying as HELL. I’m a masochist myself, but girl needed to get over herself and her pain.
I felt like Carey just tossed her character down and added some fake religious stuff to world build. Just keep her in actual France and quit with the attempt at making this Sci fi opera.
I hated the book. It irritated me on so many levels.
I loved this series *so much*! The great pity was that the two that followed were only *meh* for the second one and enh for the third.
However, you *must* read “Banewreaker”, also by Carey. It’s a deconstruction of the “Dark Lord imperils world”-type fantasy. I’d say it’s very like Lord of the Rings, but where the Dark Lord isn’t really a bad guy, but nonetheless, the world itself conspires to destroy him.
I loved this trilogy, too. The world building and prose are amazing. Though I didn’t feel quite the same for the subsequent books (perhaps because I liked Phedre and Joscelin so much), they are quality reads.
Loved this trilogy, was meh on the second (liked the world-building but was disappointed by the story esp. in the final novel), loved the hell out of the third trilogy. Carey’s research on history is impeccable; the little details are amazing (for example I recognized that game with the dregs of wine from some of my own historical research). I’m very surprised by Jamie’s comments that it should have been kept in medieval France. One of the most fascinating elements of this series to me was a Europe in which Christianity is not the dominant religion. George R.R. Martin does that too, but I think Carey does it better. Her religion is actually deeply thought out and integrated into the culture, whereas in Martin’s book it’s pretty much pasted on.
Yes! With the words! And the ideas! Put together! This is exactly why I recommended this book two weeks ago in my letter to you, but my baby addled brain simply isn’t up to stringing my thoughts together just right. And I agree with what the other folks have said. All three books in this trilogy are strong, sexy, fantasy/romance/espionage and Phedre is a kick ass heroine. The subsequent trilogies are definitely more meh, but I’d still visit for Phedre. Love it!
This book was such a freaking slog I ended up quitting 3/4 of the way through. The main character was up her own ass most of the time, and the prose was eye-rolling. It didn’t help that there was a time period where EVERYONE kept recommending it to me, and then telling me I just needed to read a little further when I said I quit. I place it in the same category of over-rated crap as The Wheel of Time.
The first book is available on Scribd if anyone wants to try it.
This isn’t my usual cuppa, but I’m in a mini slump and think I’ll give it a try. I read a couple of Grace Draven’s books on Scribd and enjoyed them much more than I expected!
This seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it book. I’m firmly in the love it camp. If nothing else, one has to admire the level of craft here – the worldbuilding, the pacing, the individual players swept up in vast events – it is so good that the characters are almost icing on the cake. It’s also delightful to experience a heroine who is completely opposite to the insipid, whiny, spineless type; Phèdre has gumption and brains.
Add me to the list of people who loved this series. But I completely understand why it’s not the thing for some. It is definitely Epic fantasy with all that entails. And sometimes the characters get a bit too angsty for me. But I really enjoyed the way religion was handled, and I really loved that the the main character saving the day doesn’t use any of the traditional “heroic” methods. There is plenty of sword-waving, but not by Phedre.
[If anyone would like a rec for another epic historical fantasy set in a version of medieval France, I suggest A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay. It’s a standalone novel, and less sexy and subversive than Kushiel’s Dart. But Kay is another author excellent at realistic worldbuilding through use of real historical detail, and the book explores some very interesting themes around gender roles as a patriarchal culture clashes with a more matriarchal one (ruled by a character I imagine as an alternate Eleanor of Aquitaine). NOT a romance, but has some romantic elements.]
This is the best book that took me 5 years to read. (That was due to a bad habit of mine, being distracted by other books while in the middle something.)
I really liked the first four books overall, but I haven’t quite got round to reading the other five yet. (They’re in my physical tbr pile, along with three other books by her.)
About my rec in #10 for A Song for Arbonne, it now occurs to me that I haven’t had a chance to re-read it anytime recently, and the themes might be more Feminism 101 than I first recalled. Having said that, I still recommend it to epic fantasy lovers.
Still at a loss for why this book gets so much love. The info dumps make it a bad fantasy novel and the fact that she’s abandoned as a *child* into a life of heightened sexuality and never has a choice (yes, fine, she makes the best of a bad situation) makes this bad erotica. I DNF’d this before I could figure out if it was also a bad romance based on her initial desperation to please the man who bought her whom she claimed to have real feelings for.
This is one of my all time favourite fantasy series, because it pretty much has everything I look for. Great world building, fascinating political intrigue, complex and engaging characters, adventure, thrills and romance. I adore Phédre and Joscelin so much. I really like that the world is just a alternate history version of ours, because as a historian I love discovering similarities and differences between it and our own world.
Best.Series.Ever!!! I love every single word in every book in all 6 Kushiel books and the 3 Naamah books. I reread or re-listen to all these about once a year and they just get better and better. If I could beg Jacqueline to do a virtual signing, I’d rebuy every book signed.
PointyEars42:
I know how TV tropes defines infodump and they shouldn’t define it that way. The word has negative connotations and it can’t be the only word available to refer to any worldbuilding exposition, a staple of SFF. My rule, as a prolific reader: an infodump is only an infodump if it’s an infodump. A gifted author weaves information about her world into the narrative, showing as much as telling, as Carey does. The example the reviewer used is a good one regarding how Carey tells–Phedre is recounting her childhood and in showing how she received religious instruction, experienced her first crush, and discovered her masochism Carey also gives us some (not all) information about the religion of Terre D’Ange. If we want worldbuilding at all, it can’t be an infodump just because it contains information.
It’s also disingenuous in addition to false to say that “Phedre was abandoned as a child into a life of heightened sexuality and never has a choice”.
– First, because Phedre was born to the Night Court, regardless of her mother’s abandonment. She would have grown up within it no matter what–if she hadn’t had the mote she simply wouldn’t have been abandoned and indentured. She would have still grown up in Jasmine House (instead of Cereus). Abandonment + Night Court aren’t precisely linked.
– Second, because the children in the NIght Court are–to the degree deemed necessary in the fictional culture–insulated from age-inappropriate sexuality. They’re not allowed in certain areas of the House or at certain events; this is explicitly stated. They have an age of consent. Etc.
– But–third–sex is an expression of religion in these books. To Phedre, the atmosphere was less “heightened sexuality” and more “sacred atmosphere”. (It’s a thing you should do if you read speculative fiction, to be able to entertain this type of “what if?” scenario instead of reacting to it based on shame-centered real life sexual mores; I imagine if you can’t do that you don’t like most SFF..?)
– And, fourth, in part because it’s religion, consent is deeply, deeply, important and shown as such over and over. No one, born to the Night Court or not, indentured or not, ever becomes a Servant of Naamah against their will. Phedre didn’t get to pick where she grew up or who she was indentured to, but she totally got to pick how she worked off her indenture. You obviously DNF’d it before Phedre’s dedication to Naamah? Even though it’s totally what Phedre wants, Anafiel makes a point of sitting her down to explicitly discuss, consider, and consent. Then the priests ask her. Then, since this is not real life, her goddess looks into her soul and accepts her sincere dedication.
– Which is to say, fifth…it is totally what Phedre wants. Personally. She’s not, as a character, making the best choice available, she’s choosing the life she wants to the extent she has a choice (she wants to be a Servant of Naamah…but throughout the books, she sometimes does not want to be Kushiel’s Dart; that she has no real choice about except, well, it’s a spoiler). Yes, obviously her culture which reveres Servants of Naamah and glamorizes them has a lot to do with it…but that’s precisely the point. For Phedre, being a sex worker in Terre D’Ange is nothing like any real-life cultures. She’s not marginalized and there’s no shame whatsoever in it; it’s considered a sacred calling…why wouldn’t she, in this what-if world, want to do it since she felt the calling?
– Sixth, the books explore a lot of nuances about consent and free will in ways that make such an offhand interpretation superficial.
Now, there’s personal tastes: your favorite book won’t necessarily be mine. And, on top of that, goodness knows I sometimes have viscerally negative reactions to the implications of things in books at times (in ways other people would say make no sense). Enjoyment of what one reads is obviously subjective and up to each reader. But for any future readers who may see your comment and think this book is about pedophillic grooming: it’s not.
[…] Dart by Jacqueline Carey. Picked up on a whim based on a review over at Smart Bitches Trashy Books. Fantasy + romance = potential win? Plus, see above regarding my weird fetish for reading 1,000+ […]