Kushiel's Legacy: Kushiel's Dart / Kushiel's Chosen / Kushiel's Avatar

Phèdre's Trilogy #1-3

by Jacqueline Carey

This discounted ebundle includes: Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen, Kushiel’s Avatar

The first trilogy in Jacqueline Carey's sprawling—and darkly sensual—New York Times bestselling series.

The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed 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. Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a tale of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies.


Kushiel’s Dart — Phèdre nó Delaunay is sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with a very 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.

Kushiel’s Chosen — The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phèdre's brow, and they are not finished with her. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown...

Kushiel’s Avatar — Phèdre and Joscelin journey on a dangerous path that will carry them to fabled courts and splendid vistas, to distant lands where madness reigns and souls are currency, and down a fabled river to a land forgotten by most of the world. And to a power so mighty that none dare speak its name.


Kushiel's Legacy
Kushiel's Dart
Kushiel's Chosen
Kushiel's Avatar

The Sundering
Banewreaker
Godslayer

Other books
Miranda and Caliban

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Science Fiction Fantasy

2689 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Jacqueline Carey (born 1964 in Highland Park, Illinois) is an author and novelist, primarily of fantasy fiction.

She attended Lake Forest College, receiving B.A.'s in psychology and English literature. During college, she spent 6 months working in a bookstore as part of a work exchange program. While there, she decided to write professionally. After returning she started her writing career while working at the art center of a local college. After ten years, she discovered success with the publication of her first book in 2001.

Currently, Carey lives in western Michigan and is a member of the oldest Mardi Gras krewe in the state.

Reviews

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kushiel's Dart

I can definitely understand why so many people love Kushiel's Dart. BUT it is a peculiar book that the romance is going to act as a gatekeeper for many fantasy fans that would really enjoy most parts of the story.

The bad thing going for it, is that the story is extremely long. The first third focuses on the courtesan life of the main character. She is blessed by the god Kushiel to be a masochist. She takes on clients to gain money to complete her marque, and intricate tattoo, that will give her "freedom." I put freedom in quotes because she is not a slave, but the world-building is so incredibly intricate it's hard to put into quick words.

So, if you enjoy the court drama, and you don't mind some scenes of masochism that may border on a little too much, the first part you'll enjoy.

However, after this the book take a sharp turn and honestly is like a Robin Hobb story. It's goes from court/romance fantasy to adventure fantasy. And then the final third picks up some military fantasy as well.

It's kind of crazy it's all in one book, but I guess that is the appeal.

The world-building is amazing and so detailed, really well done. I loved all the characters, Carey brought them to life so well.

Would highly recommend, but if you can't stomach the masochism, then definitely skip.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t write a full review of the first two books when I read them, figuring I might as well just write a review of the entire trilogy after I was done with it. On hindsight, I regret that decision. These three books were three completely different experiences.

In the first, though it is long, I was intrigued by the world building. I liked the geographical analogies to our world, as well as the new spin on religion and concepts of love and lust. A religion that has ‘Love as thou wilt’ as its motto and is the foundation of a society which not only accepts courtesans, but holds them and their art in great esteem, and where love and lust are not bound by gender at all, is immediately more appealing to me than any religion we know on our world.
Yes, the sex part is explicit and may not be to everyone’s taste, but it did appeal to me and it’s an integral part of this world, of Phèdre’s character, and the story.
The story in the first book, to me, was subordinate to the worldbuilding, but it kept me invested and was entertaining enough.

I didn’t like the second book as much as I did the first. The world-building wasn’t new anymore, and the story dragged too much. There weren’t really any new elements to the world or the characters and the story itself wasn’t enough to grab my attention. I found myself getting distracted from the story by the likeness of Terre d'Ange and it's neighbors to Europe, trying to figure out what the real life counterparts to all locations were.

The third book is a lot more fast-paced. It is also the one that I think has the strongest story. There’s a whole section that is not for the faint of heart, and grabbed me by the throat. What difference does it make to remove the idea of consent from scenes that could otherwise be compared to scenes from the first book! Thought the book lost some of its intensity further on it kept me engaged until the end, by exploring new regions that felt less familiar (probably because their real-world counterparts are less familiar to me as well).

Over all, even though I would describe the second book as mediocre, this trilogy stands out from it’s fantasy-peers, and I enjoyed it a lot.
One final remark though. Well-bred and well-educated as Phèdre and her companions may be, they really need to learn to articulate. There’s way too much murmuring going on.

[Ragna Ó. · Rating 5 out of 5]

!Contains spoilers!
Thought I'd review (or perhaps more ramble about) these books all together as I read two of them back to back, along with Cassiel's Servant, having read the first one some months ago, and I want to gush because phew what a ride!

I think I can say this trilogy is fighting for the 3rd place on my list of absolute favorite fantasies ever. It's fighting Temeraire by Naomi Novik, very different and yet with some similarities. Temeraire had 5 very good books and 3 less good and 1 awful. Phédre's Trilogy I feel keeps its stride more evenly, being of course shorter.
But it comes down to characterization and world building, both brilliantly done, and the political intrigue is tightly woven. It's so immersive and so hard to tear myself away. I tore through 3 books in a week, losing many hours of sleep, a perfect escapism which I maintain to be the highest compliment I can give a book.
During the first book I found it a bit difficult to keep all the names and factions straight but it seeped in throughout. Although I have no taste for BDSM and had difficulties stomaching some of the sexual stuff, I tried to take in with the context of the world building. Indeed, 'BDSM' is probably not entirely accurate here, bound up as it is with the culture and religion of Terre d'Ange, as well as Phédre's 'kinks' being wayyy more extreme than anything that I could imagine being acceptable in our real world.
But since she is so much more than that, I just adore her. And Joscelin too, who is right up my alley being all blond, blue-eyed, brooding and protective, and I share his sentiments on torture-pleasure.

At the beginning, that whole relationship made me roll my eyes, people with different values and attraction being thrust together in extreme situations... yadayada, and frankly during the second book I was thinking maybe he'd be better off without her because she really pushed him (though it was obvious they'd have some grand reunion). But then I was totally sold and am now fangirling to the max! Really, I ached for them in hard times and squeed and swooned during the good ones (actually found myself wishing he could oblige her a little bit in the bedroom, just a little, even though I feel just as apprehensive of it as he does). Honestly I was sure he'd be forced to watch something horrible by the end (he would have been if it was G.R.R.M. writing this story).

As an aside, having been kind of dissapointed with Cassiel's servant, I can't help but think the other two books would be more interesting from Joscelin's perspective where he had more time away from Phédre.

A lot of the secondary and even tertiary characters were well enough realized that I got attached to them and was sad if or when they left the story one way or another (Delaunay, Alcuin, Thelesis, Ysandre, Drustan, Phédre's boys, Kazan, Imriel... many others).
Melisande was quite terrifying in her domination over Phédre (although unfortunately her name by association made it difficult for me not to picture her in my mind like Melisandre from GOT).

So, as much as I love these books, I don't think they are without flaws but I know that's a matter of taste.
I've seen Carey get some flak for wordiness and purple prose, I don't mind that. If Phédre is repetitive in her thoughts, I think it's realistic. People dwell on the things the weigh on them. I don't get this complaint in general. Writers have a writing style. Would it be fun if everyone always stuck to the bare factual events? That was my exact problem with Cassiel's servant, actually.
No, my issues are nitpicky at best, I'm totally aware. I didn't mind the 'somewhats' and 'mayhaps'. What got me was the mundane word 'hard'. Everyone always kissed hard, hugged hard, held someone (usually Phédre) hard. It started to grate.

The other is even more nitpicky. It's 'love' as a pet name, specifically between Phédre and Joscelin. I understand Carey is American but this sounds so British to me in a way I found jarring, I couldn't help but hear in my mind cockney-accented catcalls 'aight luv!'. Ugh. Like she's already using a bunch of French sounding words, she couldn't have gone with something more romantic and intimate in the vicinity of amour??

Then, as much as I found the d'Angeline theology fascinating, I was on the verge of annoyance over how the concept of the scions of Elua's companions was categorizing people in the same way I've come to dislike in some YA/teen stories, be it Hogwarts Houses or whatever kind of factions based on characteristics. But seeing as these books are 20 years old, I'm also not sure it's right to complain about it now.

As I said, the world building is great, especially in the main setting of Terre d'Ange, but it was definitely thinner as it expanded and I couldn't help but feel it smacked of oriental savages stereotypes in the Middle-Eastern places.

My biggest complaint is the whole storyline regarding the Master of the Straits, including the search for the Name of God which was eye-rollingly predictable in the end. I didn't really like any of that stuff, and it took up the last half of the last book. And unfortunately Hyacinthe was bound up in that plot. He was a great character in the first book but after that it just became too distant somehow. I preferred it when the whole presence of the divine was mostly in peoples' heads or affecting things in more subtle ways. It felt kind of low stakes, after the first half of that book which was very hard to read.

But anyway, these are pretty minor complaints. Overall, I loved loved loved this journey and I'm half tempted to dive in from the beginning right away, though I also want to continue with Imriel's trilogy.

[Tea73 · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review disappeared. Apparently I liked it since the stars remain.

[Cait · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t remember the last time I felt as invested in the main characters as I did with this trilogy. It took me a minute to get past the archaic language and the tedium of the genealogy to feel so invested, but the exploration of what it means to be human - flawed, cruel, complex, & loving - was what hooked me. The central role of sex in its myriad forms- from the intimate to the depraved - was a fascinating way to explore the depth of human nature. And it made me feel everything from joy and longing to disgust and fury. Well done.

[K. G. Whitehurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 really. The reason? KUSHIEL'S DART is brilliant. I guarantee you I will read that one again. It's so rich in world building (French Renaissance), power politics, betrayal, and religiosity overlain with tremendous asynchronous history. Above all, it teems with all kinds of sex, particularly as the main character, Phèdre no Delauney, is an anguisette, a rare woman skilled in the arts of pleasure and pain. None of that is gratuitous or too graphic, and ultimately Phèdre who starts out as a bond servant ends as a noblewoman. Agency and choice are paramount. KUSHIEL'S CHOSEN is a romp of an adventure; it's loads of fun, but it lacks a lot of the finesse of the first novel. I couldn't get into the third KUSHIEL's AVATAR. Maybe I tried to take it all in too quickly, but while leaving your best friend on a magical island for all eternity would haunt you, it's not a reason to go back to a character who's been sidelined forever with no hope of return. My suggestion--read the first, skip the rest.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this series. First off this is not a cheesy sex filled romance, it’s way beyond that. The first book was a bit tough for me as it’s a lot of building up to the meat and confusing at times but I swear push yourself beyond this as it’s worth it.

At times I was laughing and crying and sometimes cringing and angry. The world building is impeccable, weaving between fantasy and true history. I loved all of the feminist messaging. Women run the world! Wish I were more articulate so I could really sell this series.

[Paul Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful reread

Not my first time with this series - paperback copies have been on my shelf for many years, but when I saw a digital trilogy, I picked it up again.

No regrets. One of my all time favorites.

[Kristy Hertzog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series. I'm sad that it is over.

[BookishB. J · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no idea how this book has so many good ratings, it is so freaking confusing. I consider myself a decently intelligent human and I just couldn’t understand this book