[lemming]

Thanks Nimea. :)

If it clarifies things any, the big difference is consent. There's definitely a difference to me between an explicit sex scene involving some consensual pain, and a scene where someone's being tortured to death. Anyway, you guys have persuaded me to keep reading, in a few weeks when my current reading pile wears thin. Thanks for all the info.

[rune]

I realise that this discussion was some time back but i have just managed to read this book.

I decided to buy the book after reading this thread and give it a go. I have to agree that Carey writing style is very good, one of the best I have come across :)

Unfortunately that is the only praise i have for this book. It is long, detailed, repetitive and for me nothing really exciting happens.

I got quarter the way into the book and even wondered if it was worth continuing :( .

This isn't the kind of story I like, which is a shame because the writing style was very visual and I did like that. If only there had been a more magical element to the plot I would have stuck with the series and enjoyed this book more.

rune

[Shehzad]

I'd say keep on reading. The middle section does pick up although a lot of people have issues with the latter parts.

[rune]

Originally posted by Shehzad
I'd say keep on reading. The middle section does pick up although a lot of people have issues with the latter parts.

Thanks for the tip, but I'll not continue with this series. It's just too political for me :(

rune

[Eldanuumea]

I only just discovered this series a few days ago, and am in the middle of the second book, with the third on order from Amazon.

I haven't gone back and read the backlog on this thread yet, but wanted to get my little bit in, fresh from first reading Kushiel's Dart.

I love the world she has created, with its hints of Merovingian France. I also am fascinated by the entire night Court thing. I won't go into detail, but let's just say Jacqueline Carey has read my mail pretty good.....I am entranced by the whole concept of the anguisette, Kushiel's Dart, etc.

The politics do get complex, and I will readily admit I had a hard time with all the names and parties......but things began to mesh for me about the middle of the first book, and I was able to get into the intrigue and read beyond the beautifully wrought eroticism.

These books speak to my oldest, darkest fantasies......I will mourn when I finish Kushiel's Avatar and must leave her world, I just know it.
But then, that's what rereading is all about!

And now, I need to find time to go to page one and see what everyone else has said and thought.

[Eldanuumea]

Originally posted by Shehzad
Whew. First day off in the last 10.

I too thought the first half of the book was exceptional. Although Joscelin indeed whined a little too much, I quite liked his character... perhaps a whiny version of Caine...?


Joscelin reminded me faintly of Caine as well.....in fact, enough so that I have been thinking of rereading Blade of Tyshalle and Heroes Die pretty soon!

I love Joscelin. I adored his character from the very first. I picked up on the ironic humor of having a celibate warrior as a courtesan's bodyguard......

The descriptions of his fights are some of my favorite passages....Carey does an excellent job of making those fights easy to visualize. I would love to see someone try to film the first book......mainly so I could see Joscelin's fighting!

I have the third book coming to me in the next few days from Amazon.....until then, I may reread the first one, now that I have all the complexity of the political houses and characters straight!
My only negative feeling when reading book 1 was that all the names became confusing to me, and I couldn't keep track of who was who.

[Eldanuumea]

Alas, I just read the closing sentence of Kushiel's Avatar, and now there is naught for me to do but go into mourning!

I shall miss Phedre and her Casseline, miss Terre d'Ange, miss yes, even Melisande. Of course, I could just reread them all again!:rolleyes:

[Nimea]

Yes, I felt like that, too.

But Jacqueline Carey is already writing a new trilogy which this time is told by Imriel.
I can't wait to read those books and yet . . . there is always a feeling of dread when something that I liked so much gets and had an ending is continued.

[Eldanuumea]

I really like Imriel, so that sounds quite promising......:cool:

[Leiali]

Wow, I didn't realise how long this thread was. I have just read Kusheils Dart, which I was reluctant to read as I am not keen on books written in the first person.

I have to say I enjoyed the French medieval setting, and the fact that in one book we travelled through it, Pictish lands and Viking lands too, so there was no stinting there! She is a very descriptive writer, which was great in some respects, but there was often a bit that started ' Of that event I shall tell you little more than' and quite a few paragraphs later she's finished. This is definitely the cause of the length of the book.....which I did not appreciate.

I wasn't keen on the character Phedre, and I thought she was Rand of The Wheel of Time reincarnated, the amount of love interests she (and he) had was positively ridiculous...though I suppose her job meant she could get away with it....and I can't say I needed to know as much about the goings on in people's dungeons either...

But, other than all that, it was a pretty good book, with characters that were engaging, if not as realistic as one would hope (don't get me started on Joscelyn and his vows) and a solid plot which was not that original but still kept me interested.

Reading this it sounds like I didn't think much but I did like it! Honest!