Kushiel's Dart

Hmm, debating between a 2 and a 3 on this. So many people have recommended it to me that I finally got around to reading it; I wasn't expecting a particularly deep or meaningful read but I have somewhat mixed feelings.

First of all, about the book itself - it's set in some weird alternate Earth where they live in Terre d'Ange, which is clearly France (there's even a map, so it's definitely France) but in THIS world, when their Jesus figure was crucified, his blood mixed with the tears of Mary Magdalene and formed an angel known as Elua, who wandered Europe with a group of loyal Companions preaching free love and sleeping around until he was convinced to depart for the Next World for the good of this one. The descendents of Elua and the Companions now form Houses, having what is considered some "angelic" blood in them, and members of each House all share similar physical traits. And each House seems to be a different type of prostitute? This is where it got a bit confusing, and possibly I'm missing something because boy, the writing style is a bit convoluted at times especially when explaining (or not) all this back story.

ANYWAY, suffice it to say that you're already not going to like this book if you're after a good Christian read. But let's assume you're not, why read this? Well, it has a few interesting and likeable characters - Joscelin (paladin type struggling with his faith), Delauney (basically good-hearted master of intrigue, although also pimp), and Hyacinthe (male fortune-teller when only women are allowed to be such). It has a LOT of complex politics and war, if you like that kind of plotting and strategy. And it's got an interestingly open view of a society where sex isn't considered taboo and where prostitution is almost respected, which is unusual.

That said though there are a bunch of other things I didn't like. For me, the politics was TOO convoluted; it was hard to keep track of all the names, and when a book needs to preface the text with a multi-page list of important characters and how they relate to each other it's probably a warning sign you're gonna seriously need it. The main character Phedre is mostly interesting but she's described as an "anguissette", ie, someone who gets off on receiving pain, so there's a number of basically torture-sex scenes that aren't that pleasant to read. Particularly annoying with that is that the author doesn't seem to be able to decide whether she just can't resist ANY sex, or whether she specifically can't resist pain; both are described and it's inconsistent, which is annoying. Decide which and stick with it! It's also odd that it's stated many times that an anguissette is super rare and that Phedre is the first one to appear in three generations ... yet it's also described that there's an entire House dedicated to serving sex with pain, who are all trained to enjoy it from youth. So.... what? Why would an entire House train all their members for entire generations to do something that apparently isn't natural to more than one person in the world for generations? How does this even make sense? Why didn't they all just go become haberdashers instead or something?

There are bits of the book that are completely ridiculous, there's WAY too much heavy-handed foreshadowing ("if only I had known at the time that ....") and there's a lot that's hard to believe. But, it's also nice to see a heroine who's genuinely unusual; despite her odd preferences, Phedre often chooses to solve things in a way that would not occur to male heroes in this type of novel and that's refreshing at least. There's genuine character development (maybe not in Phedre, but in those around her). And there are some suspenseful moments.

The book wraps up well and could have ended here, but a last chapter is tacked on clearly setting the stage for a sequel, and this is indeed a trilogy. Not sure if I'm going to bother reading the other two, but the ending of this one was still a pretty good wrap up for everything without leaving a terrible cliffhanger.

I've heard several times in the past that this was a good book and seen it appear on multiple lists of great Sci-Fi/Fantasy books. I finally picked it up at our local library and gave it a read. For the first third or maybe even the first half of the book, I was continuing to wonder what all the fuss was about.

Yes, some of the characters were interesting but the world seemed a too thinly veiled version of medieval Europe. Then there was the squick factor from Phèdre being effectively sold into slavery while a child and her eventual transformation into a courtesan specializing in BDSM.

If you can get past the squick, then odds are you've gotten sucked into the political intrigue or how vivid the characters are. These two things are undoubtedly why this book is so well regarded by some, including myself. That being said I don't know of a single person I could actually recommend this book to. Additionally it wasn't good enough to make me want to read more of the series, though it was compelling enough that I took the time to write this review.

I'm not sure what attracted me to this book, but there was an exotic aspect to the back-cover teaser that got my attention. Kushiel's Dart is medieval fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, but the "sorcery" is sexual rather than magickal.

Phedre is a "whore's get"--and in medieval terms, that's pretty low on the totem pole. In Jacqueline Carey's universe, Phedre's nominally in a kingdom corresponding to Gaul/France. 'Yeshua ben Yosef' is acknowledged, as is "Tiberium," but Christianity doesn't dominate Western Europe as in the real world. This gives Carey a great deal of latitude regarding sexual mores. Written in the first person, Phedre tells the story of how she was given over by her mother to a "house" of the "Night Court." The men and women of the Night Court see their role as offerings to a god, so sex-for-money is acceptable. Phedre's contract/indenture is purchased by a player, a poet and adventurer who educates her, training her to become his spy amongst the nobles of the land.

I'll leave the plot exposition at that. What impresses me about this book are several things. First, the Carey's universe turns medieval Christian mores on their head. There's not much Phedre does that didn't happen anyway, but the hypocrisy of the Church is missing. One might argue this is a cop-out on part of many fantasy authors who aren't very well-educated on the Church, but clearly Carey knows what she's about, and has done a great job of creating an "alternate theology" that works.

Second, the "good story" here involves the sex. Phedre likes it rough, as it were, but it's the way she's wired. She's an anguisette, someone who truly gets off on the pain. Her patron and mentor recognizes this and allows her to make her way in the world, using her talents to make him money and to gather intelligence about the doings of the nobility. The author weaves a wonderful tale of intrigue, scheming on both a personal and a grand scale. Epic battles on land and sea, with trials and tribulations for the main characters that are both exciting and bittersweet.

Kushiel's Dart is an interesting cross between a fantasy and a romance novel. Ms. Carey did well with her universe, throwing in more than just bodice-ripping. The concept of the "adepts" of the Night Court is developed well. Sex scenes in the book aren't bodice-rippers, but are of a level you don't see in most "vanilla" fantasy novels.

Kushiel's Dart is exactly what the jaded fantasy reader needs, a sexual boost. Even if you don't continue with Phedre's exploits in subsequent titles, this is an enjoyable read.