Tagged: melisande

Kushiel’s Avatar by Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey

(Cover picture courtesy of Val’s Random Comments.)

The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassed 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 woman pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.  Her path has been strange and dangerous, and through it all the devoted swordsman Joscelin has been at her side.  Her very nature is a torturous thing for them both, but he is sworn to her and he has never violated his vow: to protect and serve.

But Phèdre’s plans put Joscelin’s pledge to the test, for she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe.  She has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture, a bargain he struck with the gods—to take Phèdre’s place as a sacrifice and save a nation.  Phèdre cannot forgive—herself or the gods.  She is determined to seize one last hope to redeem her friend, even if it means her death.

The search will bring Phèdre and Joscelin across the world, to distant courts where madness reigns and souls are currency, and down a fabled river to a land forgotten by most of the world.

And to a power so mighty that none dare speak its name.

What a great end to a great trilogy!

In Kushiel’s Avatar we finally see what happened to the east in Jacqueline Carey’s alternate Medieval era.  Not only has the kingdom of Akkad not fallen, Egypt has not fallen either because in this version, Cleopatra beat Rome (called the Tiberian empire).  But of course there’s a purpose to all this travel and it’s really twofold: Melisande’s son Imriel has gone missing and Phèdre has promised her she will do anything she can to find him.

What both poor Imriel and Phèdre endure at the court of the Mahrkragir is horrendous and it’s not temporary either.  Even later in the book, both characters are wrestling with and trying to come to turns with what happened.  I won’t go into more detail than that, but I think you can guess what happened to both of them.  However, this is an important part of Imriel’s characterization and it adds a new dimension to Phèdre, who is settling down now that she is older (about 32 at the beginning) and taking less and less assignments.  The dynamic between Phèdre and Joscelin has changed and it seems they have come to terms with Phèdre being Kushiel’s Chosen.  Joscelin is quite a different character in the beginning of Kushiel’s Avatar and his character arc certainly is complete by the end of the book.

The plot involves, of course, a lot of travelling, but that is generally expected in fantasy/alternate history.  There were times it was a little slow and things were sort of bogged down in Menekhet, but overall I was quite pleased with the pacing.  It was definitely more character-driven than plot-driven, so it’s a good thing Phèdre can hold my attention as a character.  I thought the ending wrapped things up a little too nicely, but I think all the characters deserve such an ending after all the suffering they went through.  As I said, it’s a great ending to a great trilogy and I look forward to the spin-off trilogy about Imriel.

I give this book 4.5/5 stars.

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Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey

(Cover picture courtesy of Lusty Reader.)

The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace.  The inhabiting race rose from the seed of angels and men, and they live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay was sold into indentured servitude as a child.  Her bond was purchased by a nobelman, the first to recognize that she is one pricked by Kushiel’s Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.  He trained Phèdre in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber—and, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze.

When she stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it.  She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren’t far off the mark.

The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phèdre’s brow, and they are not finished with her.  While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown…and those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge.

While it may disappoint some readers, Kushiel’s Chosen has much less sex and far more political intrigue than Kushiel’s Dart did, which suits me just fine.  But hey, each to their own.

The thing I most admire about Jacqueline Carey’s novels is how she weaves mythology and history together to establish Terre d’Ange and all the lands around it.  As I mentioned in my review of Kushiel’s Dart, Jacqueline Carey draws on real historical events and combines them with the tale of Elua and his Companions to create an alternate Medieval Europe.  To truly appreciate the scope of her world-building it helps to have a background in ancient history, particularly that of ancient Rome.  It’s not necessary to understand the books, but it really does enhance your reading experience.

There were a few times I was annoyed at Phèdre for being a Mary Sue, but then I realized something: she is a rarity, the first anguisette in three generations and was the ambassador to Alba for the Queen Ysandre.  Of course she’s going to be revered and looked on with curiosity by people.  That’s what happens when people achieve legendary status within their own lifetime.  Phèdre also goes through a lot more character development, particularly when she’s in Kriti.  She’s a lot more aware of her actions and how they affect people and by the end of the novel she’s a better person for it.

The plot of Kushiel’s Chosen is much faster than that of the first book, mainly because we don’t have to go through Phèdre’s childhood again.  Instead, we can skip right to the action where she’s trying to figure out where Melisande escaped to and why she sent the sangoire cloak back.  The search for Melisande is, of course, more complicated than it seems at first but it really is amazing what Phèdre goes through in order to find her.  Hint: Melisande is not hiding where you would expect her to be.  In hindsight I probably should have guessed where she was hiding, but I had no idea until the dramatic reveal.  In the hands of most authors, a reveal like that would be very cliché, but Jacqueline Carey definitely pulled it off.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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