{"id":180,"date":"2006-01-16T18:08:45","date_gmt":"2006-01-17T01:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=180"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:31:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T01:31:38","slug":"kushiels-dart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/180","title":{"rendered":"Kushiel’s Dart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kushiel’s Dart<\/em> (2001) Jacqueline Carey<\/p>\n

\"Kushiel's<\/a>I’ve read and heard a number of glowing recommendations for Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy<\/em> series. It’s a fantasy series written for a grownup audience, that focuses on the theme of sex and sexuality.<\/p>\n

In Terre d’Ange, courtesans–members of the Night Court–are blessed, and have the choice of their occupation. In fact, the Night Court is particular about who it allows into its ranks. perfection is a requirement. It is into this would that Phedre is born, only she was born with a scarlet mote in her eye that dedicates her to Kushiel–she is one for whom pleasure and pain are intermingled. Because of this mote her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, and she joins Alcuin as Anafiel’s pupil.<\/p>\n

What I found interesting about this book is how sex is depicted as something quite separate from love. Her assignations are described in detail, as she attempts to gain enough patronage to make her marque while gathering information for Anafiel. However, later in the book, when she is not using sex to gather information, the sex scenes are rarely described or are only alluded to, which I thought was very interesting. <\/p>\n

I had to say that I didn’t care much for the first half of the book. It struck me as slow and a little tedious, however as Phedre grows and matures and starts acting for herself instead of for others, the story becomes far more interesting. Jacqueline Carey took a little too long building the world and building Phedre into what she became. I found her far more interesting as a grown and independent actor than as a little more than a puppet.<\/p>\n

I strongly disliked the final chapter of the book. I think it would have served far better as the first chapter in the sequel. As it is, the final chapter was not a conclusion to this book, but as an enticement into the next book. I really dislike it when authors do that. My desire to read the next book in a sequel should stand upon the merits and strengths of the previous books, not because the end of the books are teasers to force you to read the following books.<\/p>\n

I particularly liked the cover of this book, except for one thing. Her marque is described as going straight up her spine, however, on the cover her marque appears on her side. It would have been far better had they just left the marque off entirely, instead of showing it wrong. Because aside from that grievous mistake, this is an excellent cover.<\/p>\n

On the plus side, the writing is strong, as are most of the characters. I particularly liked Hyacinthe and Alcuin. I also found the pull between Melisande and Phedre interesting, as it had little do with how the felt, and everything to do with who they were.<\/p>\n

Despite these strengths, I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. Partially because of the first half of the book, which I didn’t like, and partially because I just was not in the mood for this book. So I’m going to wait awhile before reading the rest of the series, until I am in the mood for it, so that I’ll enjoy it more.
\nRating: 5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kushiel’s Dart (2001) Jacqueline Carey I’ve read and heard a number of glowing recommendations for Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series. It’s a fantasy series written for a grownup audience, that focuses on the theme of sex and sexuality. In Terre d’Ange, courtesans–members of the Night Court–are blessed, and have the choice of their occupation. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,291],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-paper"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2U","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22208,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22208","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":0},"title":"The Seventh Sinner","author":"Michelle","date":"September 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Seventh Sinner (1972) Elizabeth Peters (Jacqueline Kirby) This was written in 1972, and is a product of those times--but not horribly so. (T)he long white scar on his forearm was the result of a bayonet cut acquired during the Six Days\u2019 War, and Ted was already respected in academic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Seventh Sinner","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Seventh-Sinner.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12745,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12745","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":1},"title":"Naked Once More","author":"Michelle","date":"April 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Naked Once More (1989) Elizabeth Peters (Jacqueline Kirby Mysteries) How old is this book? This old. Jacqueline proceeded on her way, pleased but wondering how the young officer had known who she was. 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Like most of the other portraits of Richard, it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Murders-Richard-III.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22434,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22434","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":3},"title":"Die for Love","author":"Michelle","date":"September 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Die for Love (1984) Elizabeth Peters (Jacqueline Kirby) First, I love the reminders of a world past. Jacqueline began to fear she would miss her plane. When she remonstrated, he said cheerfully, \u201cOh, there\u2019s plenty of time,\u201d and indeed they reached the gate several seconds before the loudspeaker announced the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Die for Love","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Die-for-Love.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9513,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9513","url_meta":{"origin":180,"position":4},"title":"The Seventh Sinner","author":"Michelle","date":"December 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Seventh Sinner (1972) Elizabeth Peters I read one book in this series years and years ago, and remembered next to nothing about it other than I wanted to read the other books in the series, so when I came across the ebooks on sale, I snatched them up. 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