Kushiel's Dart

Kushiel’s Dart- Jacqueline Carey

How I found this book: My friend Caron began reading this book after a late-night Hy-Vee run, (a grocery store in the Midwest), and because she is into cool tattoos, she thought the cover was interesting. It turns out the stuff inside the book was pretty cool too.

Setting: In the alternative history of our Earth, about what I’d consider the 13th-14th century. In this alternative history, Christianity did not take over Europe, and France instead of being settled by the Franks is settled instead by a bastard divinity and seven angels. They settle into the populace and teach them both to love and to live, giving them art, culture, and science, as well as beautiful offspring. The descendants call their land Terre D’Ange, the land of the Angels. And here I thought the French had a snooty enough story behind their own culture….

Main Characters:

Phedre no Delauney: The daughter of poor merchant and his former courtesan wife, Phedre is sold into the Night Court, (a group of courtesan houses all dedicated to the angel/goddess Naamah). But she is flawed; she was born with a dark mote in her left eye that leaves her useless to the Night Court. It is a minor noble, Anafiel Delauney who recognizes that Phedre is marked by the angel/god Kushiel to experience pain as pleasure, an anguisette. Phedre’s bond (marque) is purchased by Delauney, and she is raised in his household as both a courtesan and a spy. While pretty and unique thanks to her ‘gift’, she is also highly intelligent and determined. When tragedy falls on her lord due to his allegiance to the Dauphine of Terre D’Ange, Phedre is caught up in a plot that might cost the Dauphine her throne and the D’Angeline’s their freedom. And Phedre is one of the few people who have the knowledge and courage to prevent it from happening.

Anafiel Delauney: A minor nobleman’s son, Anafiel was once the lover of the Dauphin, Roland de la Courcel. He was disgraced when he publicly called the Prince’s wife a murderess. However, he swore to Roland that he would always ensure that Roland’s daughter would attain the throne, and despite his disgrace he seeks out as best he can to ensure this. This is accomplished mostly through Delauney’s network of spies and allies, which he uses both to get at the princess and to attain his goals. As part of his network he raises two children, Alcuin and Phedre, to serve as his eyes and ears amongst the scheming nobility of Terre D’Ange. However, proud as he is, it is his pride that gets the better of him when one of his allies, Melisande Shahrizai, has her own games she is playing, and they are at cross-purposes to his own. It ends badly for Delauney and his household, as she is the last person Delauney suspects.

Alcuin no Delauney: The illegitimate offspring of a noble in service to Prince Rolande de la Courcel, Alcuin’s mother was a D’Angeline girl from one of the border areas next to the Skaldic barbarian lands. He was rescued by Delauney just as Skaldic raiders stormed his village, and went with his new adopted father to live. Adoring his rescuer, Alcuin agrees to be trained as a courtesan and spy, though he has no love for Naamah’s service. He feels he must do this out of his love for Delauney. Highly prized as a noble plaything, Alcuin seeks to get the most information out of his patrons at the highest price so that he might pay off his debt to Delauney, both because he hates what he does, but because he wants to approach his patron as a free man. While it nearly gets Alcuin killed, eventually he does attain his freedom, and briefly becomes Delauney’s lover. Their happiness is short-lived, however, when the machinations of Melisande Shahrizai betray Delauney’s house.

Joscelin Verreuil: The middle son of a minor noble house who followed the old traditions, Joscelin was sent as a child to study with the strict Cassiline Brotherhood. The whole of his training was for the purpose that one day he would act as a personal bodyguard to the members of the Royal House, House Courcel. He had barely completed his training when he was assigned by the head of the order to work for Anafiel Delauney, who had just recently lost his own bodyguard. Being raised by the Order to a strict code of conduct, which included chastity, he is askance at the idea of guarding Phedre, a courtesan with tastes that horrify him. While his skills with his daggers are without question, Joscelin’s lack of world experience and his hidebound view of the world often leave him at a loss where Phedre is concerned. But when they are both thrown into peril, it is Joscelin’s skills and his vow to protect her at all costs which allow them both to manage the impossible.

Hyacinthe: The son of a Tsingano princess and an unnamed D’Angeline noble, Hyacinthe is Phedre’s oldest friend, having met her when the two were still children. The two developed a close bond, as Hyacinthe provided the willful Phedre with an escape from her situation into the dark and exotic Night’s Doorstep, where Hyacinthe moved about freely. As he grew older, he took over the inn where his mother took in laundry, and began running it and a stable, becoming well known amongst some of the more disreputable members of the City of Elua. But Phedre is his one true, best friend, and for her he would do anything, even assist her in her hour of greatest need. When Phedre is called upon to do something most think is impossible, Hyacinthe willingly goes to her aid, but pays a heavy price for his choice.

Melisande Shahrizai: A noblewoman from one of the oldest and most powerful houses in Terre D’Ange, Melisande is a descendant of Kushiel, and like her forefather has a taste for sadism and punishment. Marked by Kushiel’s Dart, Phedre is naturally highly drawn to and attracted to Melisande, something the other woman knows and teases the girl with. But Melisande is also highly intelligent and very scheming. She has her own plots and plans whirling, ones that speak danger for the throne of Terre D’Ange and for the people as a whole, and only Phedre knows her secret.

Ysandre de la Courcel, Dauphine of Terre de Ange: The daughter of the Dauphin, Prince Roland de la Courcel, and his wife Isabel L’Envers, her father died when she was still just a baby, her mother when she was a child. Ysandre is raised by her grandfather, the King as his heir, teaching her statecraft, and he plans to have her installed on the throne when he dies. There are those, however, who do not like the idea of a young girl taking over the throne, and there are those who would stop at nothing to see that she finally sits on it. However, Ysandre has her own plans and dreams for her kingdom, all of which are threatened by the threat of invasion from a long-time enemy to Terre D’Ange, and Ysandre must use all her wits and skills as an untried leader, as well as calling upon Phedre, to prevent her kingdom from falling within weeks of her reign.

Drustan mab Necthana, Heir to the Cruarch of Alba: Drustan is the son of Necthana, the sister of the Cruarch, (king), of Alba, and by their custom their legitimate heir. But he is ousted from his rightful place by his ambitious cousin and scheming aunt, who have made their own plans for the throne of Alba. Drustan sits, bidding his time, knowing that across the straits from Alba lays Terre D’Ange and a woman who promised to one day be his equal and his partner. When word reaches him that she and her homeland is in trouble, Drustan must act to both claim his throne and to aid the woman he loves.

The Master of the Straits: A strange, mystical character who lives in the islands between Alba and Terre D’Ange and controls all weather and contact between the two nations. It is only on his word that any passage can happen between the two, and he must deal with his own curse that is entwined into the fates of the two nations as well.


Plot: Phedre no Delauney, a beautiful courtesan, serves as her master’s eyes and ears amongst the nobles of Terre D’Ange. As D’Angelines they love their beauty and their sexual games, but they love their Byzantine politics as well, and Phedre uses her skills both in the art of sex as well as in the art of covertcy to find out their secrets. But when her master is betrayed and her kingdom is in peril, Phedre, along with her trusted friends must pull off the impossible in order to warn her ruler and to help save her people.

Themes:

Love as Thou Wilt: In Terre D’Ange they worship their angelic forefathers as well as Blessed Elua, the bastard grandchild of the One God. Elua had one precept, “Love as thou wilt,” and it is something the D’Angelines take with all seriousness. They love everything and with abandon, beauty, art, culture, the sciences, even in some cases the love of the game of houses. But most of all no form of love is ever frowned upon, not the love between man and woman, people of the same sex, of opposite political spectrums, or different cultural groups. Love rules everything the D’Angeline do.

Keep your enemies closer and your friends closer: Yes, that is turning the phrase around, but in this book it is true. Betrayal in literature often doesn’t come from the enemy, but from the friend, and for those who know how to play the game REALLY well that’s exactly how they like to do it. The game of politics is complex, and no one can ever really be considered a true friend, especially since everyone has a secret. It’s simply knowing how get them to confess what that secret is, which is a game Phedre has to learn to play.

Strength in bending: Perhaps one of the key’s to the series and a very important clue into Phedre’s nature is in knowing that she can bend, but not break. As she is struck by Kushiel’s Dart, she has the gift of being able to withstand great amounts of pain, both in the physical sense, but also in the mental and spiritual sense as well. Unlike many others, even Joscelin at times with his strict code of honor, Phedre is able to adapt to the situation presented to her and find a way for her to handle it as effectively as possible. Often this means sacrificing herself in ways she had never expected. While there is courage in standing against all odds and fighting, there is also courage in waiting and making the best of a situation till you are able to overcome it, and it takes a strength of will that not even the most harden warriors sometimes display.

Choosing what is right over what is easy: This sounds like a Harry Potter reference, (it is), but it is often hard to choose what is right rather than what is easy. Several characters over the course of this book are presented this challenge, and all have different reactions to it. Those who chose what is right often do so at the expense of themselves and their long-cherished beliefs. They do so because they follow the precepts they know in their heart are correct, rather than the traditions or customs that have come in place after centuries. While these choices are not easy, in the end they prove to be the right ones.

Love can conquer most anything: I won’t say love can conquer all, but love is a powerful force indeed. It can rally someone to the aid of another, or it can cause someone to give up all they love and know for the greater good. Perhaps that is why Elua commands to “love as thou wilt.”

Every book sucks somewhere: If there is a sucky part to this book, is that it starts out really slow. I tried to read this book several years ago, but it was hard for me to get into it at first. When I picked this book up again recently, I got into it much better, I think partly because I had gone through stacks of dryer reading material in my college history courses. That being said, it’s not the length that bothers me, but sometimes the pacing in this novel. When it does pick up, though, boy does it ever.

What did I like: I love that this is a world that is our world, but not. Carey takes our world and twists it in a totally believable way. The historical background to the book is completely plausible, and if you are a student of Late Antique and Medieval Europe and the Middle East, (which I am), you eat this stuff up with a spoon. Her world is complex and very detailed, everything from D’Angeline society with its excesses and pleasures, to the Skaldic tribesmen living in their villages in the wilds of Central Europe, to the Alban clans fighting amongst themselves in what we could call England. It’s all relatable, it isn’t some made up, far distant world, but it is all something that really did happen, just differently in our world.

I also loved her characters. Phedre is a very different heroine, yes she is a woman, but she isn’t a hard, tough, ‘fight-like-the-boys’ type of hero, but neither is she a cold, distant politico. While she has to use her wits and her skills to get out of many situations, (often that includes her skills as a courtesan), she can be just as frail or frightened as anyone else. And because she is so very human in her foibles, she is also very real. She doesn’t come off as being a super-hero, rather a woman who is a product of her society placed in very trying situations and making do with what abilities and skills she herself has. We see her making mistakes, being frightened, being willful and stubborn, but most of all being herself.

How would I rate this wormy book: This book rates a FAT worm from me, but I quantify that with a warning, this book is not abashed about sex. It’s a part of the culture of Terre D’Ange, in all of its wonderful and many different positions and forms. If you are bothered by the idea of a little kinkiness going on, than this isn’t the book for you. However, I think this book is absolutely amazing, and if it weren’t for the warning to the prudish amongst you I’d rate it MONSTER and command you all to read it! It’s a rich, wonderful fantasy, full of mystery, intrigue, and a world so realistic you almost think that is how history SHOULD have been.