Blog this item

Kushiel's Dart

(Kushiel's Legacy)

By Jacqueline Carey

(44)

| Hardcover | 9780312872380

Like Kushiel's Dart?
Join aNobii to see if your friends read it, and discover similar books!

Book Description

REVIEW: "A very sophisticated fantasy, intricately plotted and a fascinating read." (Robert Jordan) REVIEW: "Perhaps once in a decade, if you are fortunate, you discover a debut novel as intoxicating as Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart. Part reimagined history, this sumptuous, spellbinding fantasy is kaleidoscopic in breadth, intimate in detail. It is sure to be read and talked about for years to come." (Eric Van Lustbader) REVIEW: "Kushiel's Dart takes fantasy into shadowy, exotic corners it rarely dares to tread. The standard of the writing is so high, it's hard to believe this is a first novel. Jacqueline Carey is a writer to watch, as the clich goes, but more important a writer to read." (Storm Constantine) EXCERPT: She will sell me to this cruel old woman, I thought, and experienced a thrill of terror. My mother stood with my hand in hers and gazed down at my upturned face. It is my last memory of her, those great, dark, lambent eyes searching my own, coming at last to rest upon the left. Through our joined hands, I felt the shudder she repressed. Such a small thing on which to hinge such a fate. Nothing more than a mote, a fleck, a mere speck of color. If it had been any other hue, perhaps, it would have been a different story. My eyes, when they had settled, were that color the poets called bistre, a deep and lustrous darkness, like a forest pool under the shade of ancient oaks. Bistre, then, rich and liquid-dark, save for the left eye, where in the iris that ringed the black pupil, a fleck of color shone. Thus did I enter the world, with an ill-luck name and a pinprick of living blood emblazoned in my gaze. "Take her, then." Letting go my hand, she shoved me violently. I turned my head at the last for one final glimpse of my mother, but her face was averted, shoulders shaking with soundless tears. I had entered a different world. Is it any wonder, then, that I became what I did? Delaunay maintains that it was ever my destiny, and perhaps he is right, but this I know is true: When Love cast me out, it was Cruelty who took pity upon me.DESCRIPTION: A nation born of angels, vast and intricate and surrounded by danger.... a woman born to servitude, unknowingly given access to the secrets of the realm....Born with a scarlet mote in her left eye, Phdre n Delaunay is sold into indentured servitude as a child. When her bond is purchased by an enigmatic nobleman, she is trained in history, theology, politics, foreign languages, the arts of pleasure. And above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Exquisite courtesan, talented spy.... and unlikely heroine. But when Phdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens her homeland, Terre d'Ange, she has no choice. Betrayed into captivity in the barbarous northland of Skaldia and accompanied only by a disdainful young warrior-priest, Phdre makes a harrowing escape and an even more harrowing journey to return to her people and deliver a warning of the impending invasion. And that proves only the first step in a quest that will take her to the edge of despair and beyond. Phdre n Delaunay is the woman who holds the keys to her realm's deadly secrets, and whose courage will decide the very future of her world. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age and the birth of a new. It is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. A world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, deposed rulers and a besieged Queen, a warrior-priest, the Prince of Travelers, barbarian warlords, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess.... all seen through the unflinching eyes of an unforgettable heroine. AUTHORBIO: Jacqueline Carey is a researcher in art history and currently resides in Michigan. Her previous publications include various short stories, essays, and a nonfiction book. Angels: Celestial Spirits in Legend and Art. Kushiel's Dart is her first novel.

Critics

Kushiel's Dart

A striking alternate-world fantasy from newcomer Jacqueline Carey. In the land of Terre D'Ange, divine blood flows in the veins of men and women. D'Angelines trace their decent from Blessed Elua, child of Yeshua ben Yosef and the Magdalene, and from ... (read full critics)

sfsite published on Fri, 3 Sep 2010

Kushiel's Dart

Desert Isle Keeper Review Kushiel's Dart (This DIK review was written by a reader) Phedre was born with a red speck in her left eye. This made her unsuitable to be an adept of the Night Court, which is comprised of thirteen houses of prostitution - e ... (read full critics)

likesbooks published on Tue, 31 Aug 2010

7 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

It took a little more than a week, to finish the reading of this book.
It is the second time I read it, the first in its original language -and I had the sensation the translated one was cut out of a few passages, actually.
However it turns, I loved this novel.
Loved it, more than I h ... (continue)

It took a little more than a week, to finish the reading of this book.
It is the second time I read it, the first in its original language -and I had the sensation the translated one was cut out of a few passages, actually.
However it turns, I loved this novel.
Loved it, more than I had the first time. Kushiel's Dart is, I guess, one of those books which one might read twice at least, for being able to catch a sufficient deal of its beauty and complexity.
All the first part of the book is, actually, pretty complex.
The immediate fifty first pages are pretty slow at a reading, but they're a necessity too, which one endures heading for the prosecution.
I had liked Delaunay's figure already at the first reading; I have loved him all the more this second. And actually wept when things turned badly, for him and Alcuin.
All the remaining pages, a good half and little more, runs so straight, one wouldn't want to stop reading; I wouldn't even sleep, if I could -pity that's exam period, and I had to study; I swear, I think I would have finished the book whithin three day, wasn't it so.
Phèdre is, of course, the greatest of the heroines. One could object she's a Mary Sue, but I wouldn't daresay so in any way, and not after having read twice the whole Kushiel's Legacy Trilogy.
She is too tormented, too in struggle with her own desires; with the desire Melisande triggers in her. She despises herself, and is human in all of her feelings and emotions, all the while being the mithyc figure she represents: Kushiel's Chosen, pricked by his dart in the left iris, cast toward those of his lineage who try to betray the very realm on whose earth he and the others Companions once have walked along with Blessed Elua.
And then comes the Cassiline. Joscelin.
My favourite character of all the five -soon six- books in which he appears.
He is the very most tormented character of the serie: caught between his vows and trainings, Cassiline discipline carved deeply into his bones, he has -as Phèdre tells him at a moment- a temper. He loves, and angers, and fights with all of the temper he has, with the strenght coming from these same feelings and emotions.
Useless to tell that I like him very much for his beauty too.
The plot is, too, of a disarming complexity, which actually never falls into absurdity; Carey is skilled to persuade the reader with shrewd observations, spoken in Phèdre's voice, that every situation, every step of the way has to be in that exact direction and no other.
I would have a thousand and more words to say about this book and its characters. But the truth is: that's one of those novels which speak on their own, not needing further comments from a real fungirl, as I do am.
Only I can say, just read it. And if you can, read it in English.
Carey's writing style isn't easy to one not having a habit to read in English; but believe me: it's worth the difficulty.
Have I to repeat it? Well, maybe not, but I'm going to anyway.
I really, actually love this book. Likely I will read it thrice.

Is this helpful?

Rowina said on Jun 20, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

Perfectly written, sensual and a most enjoyable read.

Is this helpful?

Cindy said on Dec 12, 2007 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

A wonderful book, if you can stand the introduction

After a hundred pages of introduction I was almost thinking about abandoning it. When you surpass that trial the book becomes wonderful and you can not stop reading it.
The characters are well described, each one with its own peculiarities and flaws, and the story is always full of intrigues and twi ... (continue)

After a hundred pages of introduction I was almost thinking about abandoning it. When you surpass that trial the book becomes wonderful and you can not stop reading it.
The characters are well described, each one with its own peculiarities and flaws, and the story is always full of intrigues and twists.

Is this helpful?

Caffeinomane said on Jun 25, 2011 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

A bit boring at first, when plot and characters are first introduced: too many names, patterns, friendship ties and relations to keep in mind and connect. Once the frame is clearer, though, and the action really kicks on, the whole work grows in interest, suspence and intrigue, its quality improves ... (continue)

A bit boring at first, when plot and characters are first introduced: too many names, patterns, friendship ties and relations to keep in mind and connect. Once the frame is clearer, though, and the action really kicks on, the whole work grows in interest, suspence and intrigue, its quality improves and the reader is definitely glued to the page. I loved in particular the female characters, strong and determined, each in her own way, and the war scenes. A very good story, in the end, worth reading.

Is this helpful?

DevilKitty said on Aug 30, 2010 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

I picked this book up on some very enthusiastic recommendations from friends, and upon reading the oodles of positive reviews all over it I was looking forward to an enjoyable read. How wrong I was. This so called 'erotic, sensual, epic fantasy' fulfills not a single of the above adjectives. The boo ... (continue)

I picked this book up on some very enthusiastic recommendations from friends, and upon reading the oodles of positive reviews all over it I was looking forward to an enjoyable read. How wrong I was. This so called 'erotic, sensual, epic fantasy' fulfills not a single of the above adjectives. The book began well enough, however the pretty opening proves itself to be no more than an elaborate wrapping around an empty box. After 250 pages of Phedre smugly going on and on about the beauty and superiority of Terre D'Ange and all it's people, down to the seediest peasant, the only interesting characters are killed off and we are given no compensation for them whatsoever. And I had thought that it couldn't possibly get any more dull... wrong again. Phedre proceeds to accomplish one task after another, going through no challenges or growth at all, remaining the same pretentious, narcissistic whore from beginning to end. To top it all off, the author actually manages to make S&M and erotic torture boring, tepid and dry. An achievement in and of itself. The characters are boring and flat, coming out laughably perfect, failing even as stereotypes.
I don't like giving really negative comments, but I could not find any redeeming qualities about this book. Don't waste you time or money on it.

Is this helpful?

Dyskarsia said on Nov 24, 2009 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Unlike many fantasy series, this one has remained strong and interesting throughout.

Is this helpful?

Camille said on Apr 12, 2007 | Add your feedback