by Jacqueline Carey
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 into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission... and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.
Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair... and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.
Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. 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.
Review: Confession I read this originally when it came out in 2002. I remember sitting on the floor in the fantasy section of Borders looking through the books and tucked away on a bottom shelf I pulled this out. I fell in love with Phedre, Hyacinthe, Joscelin, and the world of Terre d'Ange. When I received the email from TOR offering the review I jumped at the chance to revisit this world and see if the reprint held up to the original.
It did. Oh it so did!
Ms. Carey has built a world that is beautiful, deadly and magical based on our own. You can find bits and pieces of history used as a foundation to create this amazing realm. The book is narrated by Phedre as though this was her journal or memoirs. She takes us from the time she was a child in the Night Court to being taught by Anafiel Delaunay and her adventures beyond. Phedre was touched by the gods, to experience pleasure and pain as one. She is marked for great things, and Delaunay sees this in her. He pays to trains her not only in the art of pleasure, to which she was born, but to listen, learn and think. Sex plays a huge part in the book, as Phedre is a servant of Naamah and basically considered a whore. There is far to much information for me to explain all of it in this review, but the amount of depth Ms Carey devoted to the world is incredible.
Phedre's tale is one of political intrigue, adventure, romance and, yes, even a bit of magic. I loved following Phedre's life as she went from a child, sold to the Night Court by her mother, to a courageous young woman that faces untold dangers to do what is right. The plot is engaging and dragged me in so as I wanted to keep reading. It's one of those books where the writing is so vivid you can see the scenes in your mind like a movie. I truly became lost in the book and did not want to come back to reality.
I'm not sure if I can wait for the next reprint to come out and may have to go digging in my books totes to see if I still have the rest of these books.
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