Kushiel's Dart (Kushiel's Legacy) by Jacqueline Carey Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Kushiel's Dart (Kushiel's Legacy)
Book Review: Not for the faint of heart
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked up Kushiel's Dart in the bookstore one day and flipped it open to a sex scene that made me . . . decide not to buy it. A few months later I learned that the book won the Locus Award for Best First Novel. That got my attention. So I got Kushiel's Dart (at my library) and was very pleasantly surprised. Not by the BDSM scenes (if you don't know what BDSM is, ask someone to spank you), but by the excellent writing style -- it is much superior to a lot of what I pick up in the fantasy aisle. What a pleasure to read! No clunky phrasing or bad mechanics. No fluff. She doesn't tell me what I'm supposed to be thinking and she doesn't over-explain. It was extremely well-written, especially for a first novel. The first few paragraphs had me hooked:
"Lest anyone should suppose that I am a cuckoo's child, got on the wrong side of the blanket by lusty peasant stock and sold into indenture in a shortfallen season, I may say that I am House-born and reared in the Night Court proper, for all the good it did me. It is hard for me to resent my parents, although I envy them their naïveté. No one even told them, when I was born, that they gifted me with an ill-luck name. Phèdre, they called me, neither one knowing that it is a Hellene name, and cursed.
When I was born, I daresay they still had reason for hope. My eyes, scarce open, were yet of indeterminate color, and the appearance of a newborn babe is a fluid thing, changing from week to week. Blonde wisps may give way to curls of jet, the pallor of birth deepen to a richness like amber, and so on. But when my series of amniotic sea-changes were done, the thing was obvious. I was flawed."
BRAVO! Beautiful! As you see, Ms. Carey writes in the first person, and it was mostly effective here. However, occasionally I felt as though I didn't understand Phédre as well as I understood some of the other characters -- maybe I just couldn't relate. But I fell in love with Joscelin (she did a great job with him), and she's got some very appealing villains, too (I love very appealing villians -- is that so wrong?). Her plots move along at just the right pace for me. Her world is complex, but not as highly textured as Kate Elliott's, which is so complex that it moves (as my grandmother, who's from Alabama, says) like molasses in January.
Besides the BDSM and bisexuality, Phédre's religious beliefs may be an obstacle for some readers. As a Christian, I would rather read about completely made up gods and religions (since we're in a fantasy world, right?) than bastardized (literally) Christianity. Her version made me uncomfortable. But, I'm willing to overlook that because her characters are so compelling and the writing is so beautiful.
Book Review: Should you buy? -- Pros and Cons
Summary: 1 Stars
There are enough reviews on this product that I would rather push a prospective buyer who is on the fence.
The protagonist of Kushiel's Dart is a Mary Sue risen from a sort of poverty (bondage, as it were). She is so beautiful that mortals look upon her countenance with envy, so sexually desirable that every King, Queen, and noble would step over Helen of Troy for a chance with her, so scholarly that she knows more languages and poetry than the actual scholars of the realm, so clever that she never reads another person incorrectly, so physically fit that she can scale buildings and cross countries on foot, so stealthy that she is never noticed when she doesn't want to be, and so hardcore that she need never use her safe word.
It is a recommended buy if:
- You are looking for a feel good read with BDSM overtones. It might be a nice gift for the sub who has been having a bad week.
- You are interested in roleplaying (online or *cough* not) from the thirteen special pleasure houses introduced in this book.
- You enjoy the flowery beauty of "le France".
I don't recommend this book if:
- You want at least one of over 900 mass market pages to be thought provoking.
- Verbose, flowery language with inconsistent narrative tone makes you queasy. (Present, past, and future do not mean much in this narration, and the snarky asides do not help in this matter.)
Book Review: Difficult beginning but stick with it...
Summary: 4 Stars
Phedre no Delaunay is sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond purchased by Anafiel Delauney (aka The Whoremaster of Spies), who recognises that the spot of blood in her eye marks her as one who is pricked by Kushiel's Dart (she experiences pain and pleasure as one - a masochist). She's trained as a courtesan, but is also taught how to observe and analyse what she sees - the tools of a spy. As Phedre's homeland of Terre d'Ange is drawn ever closer to conflict through treachery and betrayal, it will be up to Phedre to use all of the talents at her disposal to save what she holds dear.
For me this book has one of the worst beginnings I have ever read. The first time I read it I think it took me over thirty starts before I managed to get past the first page. If you can bear with it this is a story that is well worth reading. I have pin-pointed the spot where I was drawn into the story - page 11 where Phedre finally stops talking about herself. And by page 343 I am totally absorbed in the cruelty and beauty of Terre d'Ange, just in time for Jacqueline Carey to rip my heart out via my throat - metaphorically speaking.
I guess my main problem with the book is that I don't particularly like Phedre as a character. She has a severe case of Buffyitis only instead of 'I'm the slayer', it's 'I'm the anguisette'. Get over yourself already!
If you haven't read the book you may want to know that most of the love scenes are of a sado-masochistic nature, so if that's not your sort of thing perhaps you should give this one a miss. Though in my opinion these scenes are beautifully written and necessary to the plot.
This book has taught me that you don't need to love the protagonist in order to fall in love with the world she inhabits and the story she tells. Jacqueline Carey's worldbuilding is immaculate. Not only does she bring the myths, culture and beauty of Terre d'Ange to life. She takes us to the wild northern lands of Skaldia with a struggle for survival, and over the sea to the barbarian land of Alba and the battle for a stolen throne. This is an epic tale.
More than anything it is the characters surrounding Phedre who fascinate me - Alcuin, Delaunay, Joscelin, Melisande and Hyacinthe - and the history of the land that she is witness to and part of. Jacqueline Carey draws us into this world and makes it real, her storytelling has a depth and lushness that pulls you in (if you can just get past those first few pages).
Also available Kushiel's Chosen (book 2) and Kushiel's Avatar (book 3)
Book Review: Better than I expected
Summary: 4 Stars
A fictional romantic book with elements of western history mashed together but having all names changed. I didn't know you could make the story of a prostitute into an epic, but this book pulls it off while keeping you intrigued. I loved it and blew through it 2 nights. If you start this book you won't be able to put it down. The only one aspect I thought a little cliche was saving the character Melisande so that Carey could use her again in future books. Although I certainly didn't mind it, because she's one of the most dynamic villains I've seen grow in a book. Also you can also actually grow to love and symapathize with Melisande at the same. at the same time, the heroin, being a protitute that saves her nation through prostitution is rather overt; but I think Carey might be suggesting something of Women's actions in the past (but then again I may be reading too much into it). If you dont know what I'm talking about, read the book, it's more than just a "dime novel" romance.Book Review: Boring
Summary: 1 Stars
I love a good epic story but Kushiel's Dart is not one of them. I had to force myself to get though the first 300 pages and then I gave up.
There was no excitment and I had no interest in the main character who to me comes off as shallow and emotionless. None of the characters were interesting enough to keep me involved, a page turner it's not.
I had high hopes for the book but it wasn't exciting, erotic or an adventure, everyone just seems bored and jaded. Yet I suppose if your entire life worth is based on your skills as a high priced courtesan then you're going to be jaded, but it still doesn't make you interesting.