About this title: Sold into servitude in the pagan splendour of the Night Court as a child, Phedre no Delaunay is a woman who struggles for honour and duty, whose loyalty to the land she loves will take her to the edge of despair, and beyond.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780765342980ISBN:0765342987
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Light reading wear. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 816 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Tor Fantasy
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780765342980ISBN:0765342987
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. 2002-Mass Market Pap----Used-Acceptable-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780765342980ISBN:0765342987
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Excellent Condition; Never been read. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 816 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: Later Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Tor, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780765342980ISBN:0765342987
Description: Good. Book has creases in spine, and small curve, there is a stain on the bottom part of the book, and through some of the pages. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Tor Fantasy
Date Published: 2002-03-15
ISBN-13:9780765342980ISBN:0765342987
Description: Fair. Spine has slight creasing. Cover corner creased, bent and has small tear on bottom at spine. Text unmarked. *Ships Next Business day* read more
Description: Very Good. 0765342987 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Tor, New
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780765342980ISBN:0765342987
Description: A pristine, unread copy; no blemishes or marks. First in Carey's epic, erotic, and ground-breaking fantasy series, followed by "K u shiel's Chosen" and "Kushiel's Avatar"... read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780765342980ISBN:0765342987
Description: Very Good. Cover has edge wear and wear to corner ans spine tips. Small crease across lower corner on front. Pages have no marks, bends or tears. Binding tight. Not a remainder. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Published: 3/2002
ISBN-13:9780765342980ISBN:0765342987
Description: Very Good. 0765342987. Bright, glossy cover, clean, tight pages. No bookstore stamps or stickers. No spine creases. Small corner crease. 1st in KUSHIEL'S LEGACY series. The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing 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 young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold ... read more
Edition: Reprint. Sixth printing.
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC; Tor Fantasy
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780765342980ISBN:0765342987
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover has some wear and soiling. xvi, 912 p. Map. Sold into indentured servitude as a child in the sumptuous and exotic Night Court, Phdre no' Delaunay is a woman trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, in the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. She also struggles for honor and duty, and her loyalty to the land she loves will take her to the edge of despair and beyond. read more
"I thought this book was absolutely brilliant. I was drawn into the story from page one...although after the first 200 or so pages, a story that was above average to begin with shot straight to the top of my favorites list.
It is a fairly complicated story due to various political intrigues...but I can promise you that you will NOT be bored for even a second (or at least, I sure wasn't). The names and places can all be fairly confusing, but by the time the story really gets going you'll have them pretty much down.
I thought it was pretty darn original, I've sure never heard of anything even remotely like this before. In an odd way, it was one of the most spiritual books I've ever read...just not by our standards. Their methods of worship are quite different then one might expect. I should take this moment to warn you of several S&M scenes...but all the different sexual portrayals were lovely to me, because Carey has a way of making you see them from the characters' eyes-which means viewing them as a homage to the gods.
I can't wait to keep going with this series!
*EDIT* Just realized I forgot to mention my one major gripe...the outrageously bad foreshadowing technique. I think this was the author's first book, so hopefully she gets better but...really. There was constantly a "little did I know how important this would be" or "if only I'd known then how it would turn out, I could have done it differently..." It got on my nerves. But the story was so good I forgave her, and eventually I was so caught up I stopped noticing (or maybe it was when I got to the "then" that she wished she'd known before, haha).
*ANOTHER EDIT* I just did a half-reread/scan, because I was curious to see if knowing what happens in books 2 and 3 would affect the way I saw this one. I have to say, still love this one...but it made me appreciate how much deeper you go into Phedre and Joscelin's lives in both the next books. I don't like the way Joscelin was portrayed when he first appears: he was always showing either too much insight or far too little, depending on the situation. Once she shames some sense into him during their stay in the Skaldi territory, he seemed to snap into the Joscelin I know and love. I guess that was when his pride took its first big beating. *shrug* anyway, just something I noticed."
"A prostitute, a gypsy, and a warrior-priest walk into a bar.... Actually, this isn't too far off from the plot of this book. The main character, Phedre, is an anguisette, the ultimate submissive, chosen to experience pleasure and pain as one. She is taught by her patron to be a spy as well, and she infiltrates herself into the lives of royalty and courtiers.
Her spying leads her to discover a plot against the country she so dearly loves. Aided by an uptight warrior-priest and a half-psychic gypsy man, she endeavors to save her people and her home.
The book has a wonderfully sex-positive tone throughout that stimulates without being tawdry."
"I don't normally do a very long or thorough review for books that are part of a trilogy: I tend to wait for the end of the trilogy. But Kushiel's Dart is an exception, mainly because there's enough action and intrigue for a whole trilogy in the first book alone. A lot of people start their reviews by saying that this book is not for everyone. Well, bah to that. No book is for everyone. Kushiel's Dart does deal with a lot of sex. Kinky sex. I thought, on the whole, that part was well done -- and a lot of Phèdre's assignations were also plot points. I think that even a person with no interest in BDSM in itself could enjoy the books, and just skim or skip the sex scenes if they're that troubling. Now, some of the torture scenes: they made me wince.
I wasn't fond of the narrative voice, at first, but once I got into it, I quite enjoyed it. The voice is quite distinctive, being decidedly not modern English, although it does remind me a little of Fitz and Nevare in Robin Hobb's work -- I think it's mostly that they and Phèdre tell their stories from the same distance.
This book is incredibly rich in terms of world building. There is so much depth to it, woven into the story. Perhaps a little more than is exactly necessary, but if you appreciate a lot of world building, it's brilliant. You probably have to lay aside any scepticism about a land where everyone is beautiful, having the blood of the son of Jesus, but if you suspend your disbelief and let the details build up, I think it's a very compelling world. The politics that drive the plot are also amazing, and this is one of few books that kept me guessing a lot. Melisande really does play a deep and subtle game.
The characters themselves, again, you have to be willing to buy into, I think. I know that some people think she's a "Mary Sue" because she's beautiful and she's special and she's marked by a god and all of it. Yes: okay. I can see that criticism. But once you're drawn into the story, once the setup is over, the characters become incredibly compelling. The complex relationships between them are very, very interesting, and I can't wait to see how things will play out. My favourite characters were Joscelin and Hyacinthe, fairly predictably. There's something I find incredibly compelling about the depth of loyalty Joscelin and Hyacinthe have for Phèdre in their different ways. Melisande is also incredibly interesting, of course.
I loved the subplot of Ysandre and Drustan, too, including the part with the Master of the Straits. Hyacinthe's subplot in that breaks my heart, and yet I love it.
Jacqueline Carey keeps a lot of threads on the loom, in this book, and I think she manages them all admirably. I'm eager to read Kushiel's Chosen -- though I might have to take a day or two to recover first!"
"This is a reread, but I am happy that Kushiel's Dart is as gloriously vibrant and fun as it was upon first reading--the magic of Terre d'Ange is still there and..clothes!kinky sex! Action Spy Courtesans! IMAGINARY FRANCE!
This has fantasy, adventure and romance all wound up in a vibrant, well imagined package that is a delightful thrill ride...and oh, how I love Phedre. This is excellent reading pleasure, much like a fine truffle--it's a confection and a damn wonderful one."
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