Sunday, January 11, 2004
Kushiel's Dart - Jacqueline Carey
I finished this yesterday, so I suppose that it is probably the easiest place to start.
After reading close to a book a day over the holidays it felt a little weird to take just over a week to finish this one. Granted it weighed in at over 900 pages but still. There's never enough time to read, and full time work just gets in the way.
So, plot summary. I'll keep it short and avoid even the inkling of a spoiler.
Well its told from first person perspective of an young woman, Phedre, who is brought up trained in the arts of a courtesan and as a spy. Just to give a twist to all the sex and intrigue she is also an anguissette. What is an anguissette? Someone cursed (blessed?) by Kushiel to experience pleasure from pain. This leads to many quite vividly written bedroom encounters which may turn off the weak of stomach. Definitely not something for the faint hearted. Phedre is quickly caught up in the machinations of many of the highest nobles in the land. Apparently letting someone beat you with a whip and carve you with a flechette is a good way to get them to talk.
Betrayal, treachery, love in unlooked for quarters - it is a complex, intricate novel. I will admit I lost track of some of the threads in a few places, there are many characters and noble titles to keep track of. But the main story shines through rich and deep. The characters are brilliantly and beautifully written, no cardboard cutouts or cliches here, but they live in a world that has largely been lifted straight from medieval Europe. This is not a subtle thing only to be picked up only if you read into some of the symbolism. The story takes place mainly in Terre d'Ange - France, civilisation, sophistication, beauty, but there are also parts in Skaldia - Scandinavia, with the snow and viking warriors, Tiberium - Byzantine, they built the roads, once held a vast empire, now a squabble of city states, Alba - England, across a short strait from Terre d'Ange inhabited by Picts who paint their faces with blue woad, eventually held back the Tiberium expansion. I could go on. For me this really took away from what could have been a truly great novel.
I am not a huge fan of political intrigue, and more battles would certainly have kept me more interested, but the complete lack of newness in the setting was disappointing. Especially when from the writing and the characterisation it is so obvious that this writer is capable of great works of imagination. I enjoyed discovering the characters, and it would have been great if I'd been able to discover the landsacpe as well, but I'd been there before. Maybe she didnt want to be accused of using cliches, so took directly from history. Maybe it won't bother some people, but it definitely bothered me.
Would I recommend it? If you like books about politics, intrigue and sex then I think you will enjoy this book. I am still undecided on whether it is worth tracking down the sequel, and the concluding volume (Kushiel's Chosen, and Kushiel's Avatar, not sure if the 3rd one has been released yet in Australia.) But definitely not a book I regret reading, if only for the characterisation and the intricacy of the plot.
After reading close to a book a day over the holidays it felt a little weird to take just over a week to finish this one. Granted it weighed in at over 900 pages but still. There's never enough time to read, and full time work just gets in the way.
So, plot summary. I'll keep it short and avoid even the inkling of a spoiler.
Well its told from first person perspective of an young woman, Phedre, who is brought up trained in the arts of a courtesan and as a spy. Just to give a twist to all the sex and intrigue she is also an anguissette. What is an anguissette? Someone cursed (blessed?) by Kushiel to experience pleasure from pain. This leads to many quite vividly written bedroom encounters which may turn off the weak of stomach. Definitely not something for the faint hearted. Phedre is quickly caught up in the machinations of many of the highest nobles in the land. Apparently letting someone beat you with a whip and carve you with a flechette is a good way to get them to talk.
Betrayal, treachery, love in unlooked for quarters - it is a complex, intricate novel. I will admit I lost track of some of the threads in a few places, there are many characters and noble titles to keep track of. But the main story shines through rich and deep. The characters are brilliantly and beautifully written, no cardboard cutouts or cliches here, but they live in a world that has largely been lifted straight from medieval Europe. This is not a subtle thing only to be picked up only if you read into some of the symbolism. The story takes place mainly in Terre d'Ange - France, civilisation, sophistication, beauty, but there are also parts in Skaldia - Scandinavia, with the snow and viking warriors, Tiberium - Byzantine, they built the roads, once held a vast empire, now a squabble of city states, Alba - England, across a short strait from Terre d'Ange inhabited by Picts who paint their faces with blue woad, eventually held back the Tiberium expansion. I could go on. For me this really took away from what could have been a truly great novel.
I am not a huge fan of political intrigue, and more battles would certainly have kept me more interested, but the complete lack of newness in the setting was disappointing. Especially when from the writing and the characterisation it is so obvious that this writer is capable of great works of imagination. I enjoyed discovering the characters, and it would have been great if I'd been able to discover the landsacpe as well, but I'd been there before. Maybe she didnt want to be accused of using cliches, so took directly from history. Maybe it won't bother some people, but it definitely bothered me.
Would I recommend it? If you like books about politics, intrigue and sex then I think you will enjoy this book. I am still undecided on whether it is worth tracking down the sequel, and the concluding volume (Kushiel's Chosen, and Kushiel's Avatar, not sure if the 3rd one has been released yet in Australia.) But definitely not a book I regret reading, if only for the characterisation and the intricacy of the plot.
