Kushiel's Avatar (Kushiel's Legacy) by Jacqueline Carey Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Kushiel's Avatar (Kushiel's Legacy)
Book Review: Kushiel's Avatar... great finale to this trilogy
Summary: 5 Stars
A good adventure/fantasy read from Jacqueline Carey.
I've decided to do a review of all three "Kushiel" books,(that being "Kushiel's Dart', "Kushiel's Chosen" and "Kushiel's Avatar") as one review; all three books are connected with the same ongoing story line, quality of prose and a consistent level of interest and intrigue.
This is a story of Phedre, a heroine who is blessed (or cursed, depending on your point of view) with some special talents and skills; she rises from obscure beginnings to queens' favorite over the course of the three novels.
The books were well written and gripped one's interest from early on. There is travel, love, betrayals, unexpected enemies and friends, and a few situations where magical qualities are displayed; but my favorite scenes were those of the battles and escapes. You should also be aware that there are some very intense, sexually explicit encounters in these books.
All in all, I enjoyed this trilogy very much; while not deep or philosophical it was easy to read and found myself looking forward to finding time to return to these books when the opportunity arose. The only negative, (and this is purely a subjective, personal opinion) was that I found the areas involving travel within the book a little long and dragged out; but this is a minor complaint compared to the overall quality of the entire trilogy. 4 1/2 stars.
Book Review: The perfect conclusion to an amazing trilogy
Summary: 5 Stars
A masterpiece...there's nothing more that can be said.Book Review: what a fantastic finish!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought this was a superb finish for the trilogy!! There are episodes in this story that are heartrending, and you share the feelings of Phedre as she goes through her adventures. This story takes our heroine anywhere and everywhere, and our group of unlikely partners increases. Some great characters are presented in this story, including a pirate and some renegade fighters. My favorite plot advancement of this book is Joscelin and Phedre's relationship. It made me so happy to see their relationship grow, and I would have been so disappointed if it hadn't. This is by far my favorite book of this trilogy, and I would recommend this to anyone, and I can't wait until Carey's new book is available!! Book Review: Want more!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Kushiel series deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Where are the action figures? I'd buy them. Where is the movie!
We expect one resounding climax out of a story. Kushiel's Avatar has three of them. There is the resolution in Darsanga, when our Phedre takes on the evil Mahrkagir and his satanic cult that threatens the world. There is our Phedre's journey to Africa to find the magical name of God. And there is our darling Phedre's face-off with supernatural Rahab to try to win Hyacinthe's freedom.
I could rave about this book and the entire series for pages and pages. But I'd rather point out a few flaws. It's more fun. You already know I love the books.
Yes there are some little flaws here and there, but the fact is, the best way to improve these books would be to illustrate them. Generations ago, books were illustrated. I guess greed got in the way. I guess it has become too expensive to illustrate them anymore, which translates into - publishers don't want to go to the expense. This book cries out for a lot of great illustrations, of all the characters and major events.
Don't tell me things are better left to our imagination. Bull. That's no excuse. I'd rather see the author's imagination, in a large series of approved illustrations of her characters.
This series is so terrific that it forces me to think outside the box and demand some improvements in the book biz. I want several dozen beautiful full page full color illustrations.
Melisande Shahrizai is such a wonderful villain. I think it was so original of the author to have her villain and hero in love with each other. She does it, slightly, with the Mahrkagir as well, but who cares about that creep.
All right, there is one criticism. The episodes in Darsanga are really awfully dark. It is pretty upsetting. It was worse than Merry and Pippin taken prisoner by Saruman's orcs. It was kind of equivalent to Sauron actually capturing Frodo and Sam, and putting them through hell.
Whew! I'm glad they got out of there!
Book Review: The best comes last in "Kushiel's Avatar"
Summary: 5 Stars
Jacqueline Carey has cemented her place among fantasy fans with her Kushiel trilogy. Phedre no Delaunay, her heroine, is a courtesan with a strange mark--a blood-red mote in her eye, "Kushiel's dart," a sign that she is one for whom "pleasure and pain are intertwined." Well, "Kushiel's Avatar" takes Phedre's taste for pain and the intrigues that surround her and sets up a finish to one of the most interesting works the genre has seen in a decade.
Phedre has two matters on her mind: Melisande de la Courcel (formerly Shahrizai), in exile for attempting to overthrow Queen Ysandre of Terre d'Ange; and her friend Hyacinthe, doomed to a lonely existence as Master of the Straits unless Phedre can do the impossible and find the Name of God. Daunting as it is, Phedre has searched for years. When Melisande's young son Imriel (the son of the treacherous prince Benedicte de la Courcel) goes missing, Phedre goes off to find him--and her twin missions, for Imriel and Hyacinthe, take her into dark, hidden lands and lethal secrets.
If that sounds like the worst of all fantasy cliches, then rest assured: Carey pulls it off. Weaving a truly scary group of people in with a retelling of the Solomon and Sheba legend, she takes Phedre from the figurative depths of Hell as "Death's Whore" to the equally figurative throne of God. None of this would be as enthralling as it is if Carey wasn't able to make the reader believe wholeheartedly in her characters. Scenes that, in the hands of lesser writers, would smack of "supercharacters" and McGuffins, are revelatory in Carey's hands.
If for nothing else, Carey should be commended for introducing a new kind of evil creature: the nightmarish sorcerors of Drujan whose shadows bring death. But she not only creates images of great beauty and horror, she lavishes care on her characters' relationships, their hates and their loves--and nothing exemplifies this more than the romance between Phedre and her Cassiline consort, Joscelin Verreuil. Joscelin's oath to Phedre undergoes a test that, frankly, anyone would be expected to fail; likewise Phedre's ordeal at the hands of a man considered to be Death himself is an experience full of transformation and anguish. Carey treats this with compassion and only a little saccharine. As for Melisande and Hyacinthe, the only two who have a hold on Phedre that can equal Joscelin's, they too emerge at the end of the adventure fundamentally changed. Melisande becomes, if not softer, then certainly more human and complex--and, in the end, a tragic figure; Hyacinthe is not quite tragic, but still placed somewhat beyond the simple existence and successes he once dreamed of for himself.
I heartily recommend this novel and its predecessors. "Kushiel's Legacy" is a fine series, and an excellent example of what a writer can do when he or she decides to take an unorthodox character down the usual Hero's Journey. I'm looking forward to her Imriel trilogy, and I daresay I'll probably buy any book she writes in the future.