Kushiel's Mercy

Kushiel’s Mercy
Jacqueline Carey
Warner Books-2008

I’m a sucker for these books.

It’s not just the alternative history, which admittedly excites the raging, ancient history geek in me. It’s not just the beautiful, epic scope of the stories, which speaks to the Tolkien geek in me. And it’s not just the very, kinky, S&M sex that gets to the….OK, what were we discussing again?

Ahem….Kushiel’s Mercy…yes.

Carey’s latest installments of the “Chronicles of Terre D’Ange” as it were is another adventure through the slightly-but-not-quite the same universe that she has created in her Kushiel series. As we all know by this time, Terre D’Ange is an alternative France, Alba is an alternative England, and you sort of figure the rest out by looking at the map, (assuming you can read maps). The hero of the last two books, Imriel no Montreve de la Courcel has just returned from the wilderness of Vralia (Russia), and has buried the head of the murder of his wife, Dorelei. He is reunited with his true love, Sidonie de la Courcel, both now realizing the grave mistake they made in putting duty over love, and are determined to face off her mother and the entirety of Terre D’Ange over it.

Well, it sounds like an idea anyway, and when the couple return to the City of Elua (Avignon), determined to never be parted again. But Imriel can no more change the fact that his mother was the treacherous Melisande Shahrizai than Sidonie can change the fact that she is the heir to Queen Ysandre’s throne. Sides rage between old and young, those who remember and lost loved ones in the wars and deceit that Melisande wrought cannon forgive her or Imriel for her crimes. As debate rages, the Queen declares that she can not ignore Blessed Elua’s precepts…but neither can she condone their relationship. She will acknowledge it, but she will not bless it, and her heir can not marry Imriel if she wants to remain her heir. That is, unless Imriel can bring his own birth mother back to Terre D’Ange to find the justice that she has eluded for close to twenty-five years.

Imriel has his marching orders, as it were, and begins his search, taking the brief respite to rest, and spend time with Sidonie and his adopted parents Phedre no' Delauney, Comtesse de Montreve and Joscelin Verruil. His happiness is marred only by the disgust many hold at the couple’s relationship, the least of which is Imriel’s perennial nemesis, Barquiel L’Envers, Sidonie’s Great-Uncle. Word finally does reach Imriel about his mother, on the heels of a Carthaginian envoy, seeking to reach out to Queen Ysandre and create relations between the two countries. Their arrival is more than exotic, it is also dangerous, and sets Imriel and his country on a crash course against their own kin, and forces Imriel and Sidonie to test the love they have not just for each other, but for their country as well.

That’s just the first third of the book! And that’s the problem with Kushiel’s Mercy. At 653 pages, it crams quite a bit of information into its pages, whirling us from Terre D’Ange, to Cythera, (Cypress), to Carthage, to Aragonia and Euskerria (Spain and the Basque Country). Much like her early book, Kushiel’s Chosen, you sort of get spun around in all these places, as Imriel, and later Imriel and Sidonie work to get back to their country and stop the wrong that has happened to them. While Carey is very fond of adding a new and exciting place we’ve never been to in every book, we have so many new places it sort of boggles the mind. And a part of you just wants them to get home and deal with what is going on there, run off, get married, and have babies, the end.

Which leads to the problem of too much is just too much. Imriel and Sidonie have a lot going on for them. After the last book, with the distance, the anguish, the guilt, all of that, you just want these two crazy kids to get together. Settle down, have a normal life. This is Imriel’s fourth appearance in a book, and no where does this kid have it easy. Perhaps it’s just part of being a member of Kushiel’s line, Imriel can’t ever seem to catch a break, and even I start saying, “enough already, just give him the girl and lets be done with it!” Perhaps this is what Imriel gets for wanting to be like his adopted father, Joscelin, and be a hero. He gets it in spades.

The keenest example of both of my major issues here is the entire section in Carthage. Imriel has gone to rescue Sidonie from the Carthaginians, but not as himself, as a distant cousin working for his mother, Melisande, so as to fool the magicians who have taken Sidonie. So a good fourth of the book is spent with Imriel as Leander, falling madly in love with Sidonie as Leander, and she with him, except it isn’t Leander she is falling in love with, it is really Imriel, and on, and on, and on….all to get to the point where their true love breaks the spell, Imriel frees her, and off they run to the rescue of their country.

I skipped through large portions of it because…well, I was bored. Really, it was great, Carthage, nice….I studied a lot about Carthage in school. Interesting place…really, I just wanted you to get to the point already. And we are only halfway through! The book started seriously bogging down, and I had trouble keeping as interested or caring as much about what happened until the two manage to save the day at the end.

Not the entire book was dull and boring. I appreciated the maturation of Imriel and Sidonie’s relationship from one of feverish, teenaged desire to that of mature, young love. I enjoyed seeing Imriel overcome many of his demons, physically as well as mentally. And while it was disturbing, it was very strange and yet insightful the way that Carey had the entire City of Elua possessed, and how the possession worked on the very faults that Imriel and his mother can see and press. Almost as if it turned people to the utter worst versions of themselves, bringing out their most awful capabilities, in a very stark way showing people what could happen when they allow their own ugliness and anger turn in on themselves to the point of civil war. While it wasn’t them, I think it was an important lesson for the D’Angelines, especially given the point they were almost at when Imriel and Sidonie returned to the city. It certainly makes a point of the demonization of Melisande. No matter how many wrongs she visited on her people, one can say she did nothing more than play ont he very fault they themselves had all along. I thought it was good irony. I think I just would have liked to see more focus on that, and less on Imriel’s adventures as Leander. Perhaps my attention would have been focused more.

Overall it’s not a bad book if you love the Kushiel series already. It certainly rounds out the story of Imriel and Sidonie de la Courcel nicely. True love perseveres, and all is made right in the land, huzzah, the sort of ending you want for any epic story. In comparison to some of the other Kushiel books, especially Kushiel’s Dart and Kushiel’s Avatar, I say it isn’t quite as good. It gets bogged down with too much extra stuff, and doesn’t have the momentum of a gripping story to keep you floating along, even through the duller parts.

This disappointment doesn’t mean I don’t plan on checking out Carey’s next D’Angeline installment, Naamah’s Kiss, out this June. It should be dealing with a descendant of Sidonie’s sister, Alais, who lives in Alba. It will be a completely different story, and I’m eager to see where Carey goes with it.

Rate this wormy book: I rate is as a fat worm for those who love the Kushiel series, though I wouldn’t recommend this as the starting book for anyone new to it.