Kushiel's Scion (Kushiel's Legacy) by Jacqueline Carey Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Kushiel's Scion (Kushiel's Legacy)
Book Review: Excellent, brilliant, and breathtaking
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading a review that claimed that one could skip reading Kushiel's Scion and go on to read Kushiel's Justice and not have missed anything of consequence made me quite upset and angry. Now that I have read Kushiel's Scion I know that the person that wrote that review was mistaken. Kushiel's Scion sends the perfect ideas about light and dark and the cycles of life that with the bad comes the good and vice versa. The struggles that Imriel faces are well substantiated in the emotional intricacies of his life as Phedre's were in the previous three novels. The wording is exquisite and I am not sorry for reading this addition to the series. Every addition to this series is worth reading for their is much insight and knowledge to be gained from the emotional turmoil of life.Book Review: Wow is all I can say...
Summary: 5 Stars
This book was amazing! I was searching for a new something to pass the time as I sadly abandoned the Anita Blake Series.
This Book was a welcome change from the mindless sex scenes in the Anita Blake Series.
The book was well written and it contained a very though plot/character development. I was instantly drawn to this book. I finished the book in a matter of days (Sadly work gets in the way of reading time). Imriel is an engaging character! The best part is that he is not alone, Phedre, Joscelin, Gilot, the entire array of characters only enrich the story.
I give this book five stars! And tonight I start the next book Kushiel's Justice.
Book Review: Doesn't disappoint
Summary: 5 Stars
Have read the original trilogy some time ago, I was afraid that I would not be able to get back into to caring about the characters without first re-reading the originals. That was not the case at all! My memory was certainly rusty to begin with, but this beginning of a second trilogy pulls you right in and includes gentle reminders of past occurrences whenever necessary, without burdening the reader with a lot of wasted time reviewing "what has gone before." I was also afraid that a new trilogy, focussing on a new main character could not possibly live up to the originals. I was completely wrong. The story is every bit as rich and engrossing as any of the first three books. I was captured immediately and couldn't put it down. Read this book. If you haven't read the first trilogy, read those too. You won't be disappointed.Book Review: After all, I was my mother's son.
Summary: 4 Stars
"I felt at once tired and sad. "Why would you think it was anything else, Sidonie? Who told you to be afraid of me?"
Jacqueline Carey revisits her engaging world previously conceived in the first of the "Kushiel Legacy" trilogy with a fervor and skill that we have come to know and love. She deftly weaves the previous storyline of Phedre and her companion, Joscelin, into a new tale surrounding Imriel, the son of the traitorous Melisande Shahrizai, Phedre's former patron and greatest enemy. Imriel, recovering from the horrors of Darsanga, cannot wholly escape his past. He is now laboring under a new mantra, having been adopted into Phedre's household... "I will try to be good".... In other words, he is trying not to succumb to the treacherous nature of his blood and the cruel and malign hand of the God Kushiel, whom the Shahrizai are direct descendents of.
The story begins when Imriel is thirteen, three years after his rescue from Darsanga and after the fateful trip that released the Master of the Straits, Phedre's childhood friend Hyacinthe, from his eternal curse. Now, Imriel is growing up, learning the discipline of the Casseline Brotherhood under Joscelin's tutelage, and trying to forget the fact that he is a Prince, third in line for the throne of Terre d'Ange. There are the beginning stirrings of puberty and manhood taking their toll, but Imriel is still far too tortured from Darsanga to heed their call. Suddenly, something no one excepts occurs; Melisande disappears from the Temple of Asherat without a trace. This causes a stir in the Royal Court, but Imriel tries to remain above it. Some time later, at the behest of Phedre, he decides he wants to become friendlier with his Shahrizai relatives so his cousins Mavros, Baptiste, and Roshana come to be fostered at the Montreve estate for a summer. It is then that he discovers the true nature of what lies in his blood, and begins to realize the beginning stirrings of desire which he attempts to quell. During the same year the son of Grainne and Quintilus Rousse, Eamonn mac Grainne, comes to the estate and falls into a fast friendship with Imriel.
"Is it possible to fall upward? It seemed it to me. Lying on my back, I fell upward into Emmeline; into her mouth, into her. Every part of me she had touched and made sacred blazed with desire that was Naamah's gift, clean and pure, untouched by any shadow. I offered it back as tribute, and she accepted it with gladness.."
When Imriel turns 16 he visit's the Balm house and couples with the adept, Emmeline, who teaches him the true nature of desire. This helps him to repress some of the atrocities of Darsanga, but healing is very hard to come by. It is not until his cousins take him to Valerian house when he truly begins to know himself, and the cruel hand of his lord Kushiel. To his horror he realizes the allure of power over another and this knowledge, combined with the realization that it will forever alter his and Phedre's relationship causes him to flee to Tiberium, assuming the life of a poor student so that he may attempt to flee his duties, including a proposition that he wed the Princess Dorelai of Alba.
Carey's incomparable with and narrative are still very present in this revisiting of the Kushiel world. I found myself powering through the book with extreme alacrity. The one part that I did not find myself enjoying, however, was the siege of Lucca. To be frank, I skipped some of it. I cannot even say why but I found it to be tedious and uninteresting, which is the only reason I am rating the book 4 stars instead of five.
The remainder of the book, however, was superb, and I found myself falling in love with Imriel as a narrator and the protagonist. Actually, for a time, I thought that he was more interesting than Phedre. Of course, he has a more interesting basis for comparison, as he is the son of Melisande Shahrizai, and he has all of his past to contend with. I found him to be extremely empathetic and tragic, and that made me compelled to read the book that much more swiftly. Plus, the fact that he was a dominant sexually, as opposed to Phedre's submissive tendencies, but was fighting against his own nature, made him more exciting to read. I adored this book, with the exception of the one detail of Lucca, and would recommend this series to everyone. Carey has definitely found another way to captivate an audience with the world of Terre d'Ange and I applaud her for doing so.
"I was tired of being afraid."
Book Review: Love it
Summary: 5 Stars
I just love books by Jacqueline Carey the Kushiel's books are the best. When I start to read this book I can not put it down.