Aaahhh... I loved this book. I read it for the first time more than 15 years ago, and I remember liking it, but I think I liked it even more this time. Phèdre is my favorite kind of female character: brave, strong, and intelligent, yet vulnerable and soft, too, with big emotions that threaten to engulf her. I adored her companions: Delaunay, Hyacinthe, and Joscelin. (Oh, Joscelin... I may be a little in love with him myself.)

I loved the political intrigue, the complex world-building and the adventurous feel of the plot. Carey's writing is beautiful, lyrical, melodic, and intense. And the overall message of the book is one I can get behind: love as thou wilt. I can't wait to read the next in the series! ( )

Yeah, I don't know. I've been struggling with what to say about this one because I've had such mixed feelings. Usually, I start with what I liked about a book, but I simply think that the problematic aspects of Kushiel's Dart are so problematic that they have to be discussed up front before the book can be analyzed in any depth.

When this book was recommended to me it was just as an "epic fantasy that makes epic fantasies interesting again" so any trepidation I had coming in was that it was over 900 pages long, with a map inside the front cover followed by a list of characters with High Fantasy names longer than my arm -- in short, the sort of fantasy that I haven't read in a decade. So to be confronted with the core plot of the One True Masochist was jarring. Good heavens people, don't fail to warn people about the BDSM. I see why it could happen -- the back two-thirds are a completely different book -- but there's 300 pages of a tonally very different book first. And the tone. So, I mean, I try to be a "your kink is not my kink and that's OK" sort of person. And, as one of my friends commented, it is kind of fascinating to get inside someone else's psychosexual identity, but it's not my kink, which made it, honestly, kind of boring. But also, beyond the kink, one has to deal with the really problematic pieces: bond slavery, grooming of children, children slaves, a relationship between a teenage bond slave cum foster child and his owner/guardian, classically conditioning children into masochism -- I mean really problematic stuff that has all of its extreme implications glossed over in the book.

And I'm really concerned about the glorification of submission and masochism in women and the way in which this is broadcast for public consumption, both in the book but also in the fantasy subcultures. It's not super consensual for bystanders and I think it sets up a gendered culture that can be borderline abusive to young women trying to fit in. I think it's not actually OK to not think about the real world implications of the culture that you're starting (I was really disturbed to see the fan tattoos on the author's website.)

Finally, you're allowed to do an alternative history of Europe. Alt histories are fun and amazing. You're allowed to do such a transparent alt history that Scandinavia is actually named a Norse word, and Rome is named after a Roman empire. You're also allowed in fantasy to have highly stereotyped races; we side-eye it these days, but dwarves and elves and goblins are all still kosher. What you're not allowed to do is have a very transparent alt history AND stereotype races. Not OK to say that only alt-history Western Europeans and specifically the French are super blessed/pretty people and alt-history Scandinavians are all ugly and alt-history Romani are super stereotypical fortune tellers and alt-history Jews believe in Jesus.

So why did I read a thousand pages of this? Because it actually is a gorgeous Epic fantasy. I found the initial setup of a religion that is to Christianity the way that Christianity is to Judaism fascinating. I really thought that the setting was a well-developed world with some unique implications (although the more I dwell on it, the more I think the mores of Terre d'Ange fit whatever Carey was into at the moment rather than being consistent.) But mostly, after the first super problematic one third, the entire premise was dropped and it became an actual epic story about someone who went from being kind of self-absorbed and shallow to deeply invested in the survival of a country and a lifestyle. I found Phedre's (and Joscelin's) personal development really intriguing and I thought that they were depicted well as sympathetic characters who still had a lot of room for growth over the course of the story, which is really unusual.

The political intrigue was decently well-done, and I found the setting both big enough that the intrigue was convoluted, but small enough that I could follow what was happening. When the book was good, it reminded me of the [b:The Goblin Emperor|17910048|The Goblin Emperor|Katherine Addison|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1373039517s/17910048.jpg|24241248]

Ultimately what kept me in it was that I really liked Joscelin's character arc. It's really rare that a fantasy novel lets a character break a vow. Usually the fantasy convention is that vows are inviolate, it's one of the most fantastical elements of fantasy. And in traditional fantasy, characters that break vows are either irredeemable or their core story is a quest for redemption. On the other hand, Joscelin simply realized that the vows he took as a teen were naive. An exploration of how to be true to oneself and be a moral person while also loosening up on a black-and-white world view is something rare in fantasy and rare in literature in general, and that's a pity. ( )

This girl cannot catch a break! I gave up halfway through, I couldn’t any more of her misery. In a world where sex work is a relogious order I didn’t think she could experience such heartbreak. I do want to know what happens… ( )

This is an interesting book, with lots to recommend it. It's also got lots of bits in it to offend you, so be warned.

The main character enjoys pain and sex, the religion if the day is a clearly twisted Christianity, Jews wander, Roma steal and the Celts take heads...

But for all that, the "near but not really" background is both fun to spot the references in and a handy anchor to keep you from getting confused. The whirlwind journeys and blizzards of secondary characters can get overwhelming, and the politics of the day are a tangled mess.

The magic is very restrained except for one over the top character, and the numerous sword battles aren't the focus of the novel either. The sword work in particular is a bit bipolar, sometimes described "blow by blow" in gritty detail, and sometimes glossed over to the point of "guy with blond hair and shiny sword is wonderful".

The plot, driven by those crazy politics, alternates between quests that are too easy (and repetitive) and sections that could have been stand alone works in their own right.

While everyone seems to find either something they love or something they hate in this book, in the end it's the handful of main characters, lovingly crafted, that will make or break the story for you.

You will really like parts of this book, but most likely not all of it. Worth reading nonetheless. ( )

I've meant to read this book for a while, and I'm finally getting around to the series. The world-building is incredible, based on Europe with a pseudo-Christian religion that believes one should "love as thou wilt." There are many kinds of love, and the religion in Terre d'Ange covers them all.
Phadre is the main character and tells the story. Sold by her parents as a small child to one of the guilds because she has a small defect, a red dot in the iris of one eye. Anafiel Delaunay, a rich and educated nobleman, recognizes the dot as denoting one of Kushiel's chosen, an adherent of pain. He buys Phadre and trains her both sexually and intellectually to become one of the great courtesans and spies of the city.
The politics in this book are elaborate and intriguing. The various countries on the continent vie for control, especially of Terre d'Ange, which is noted for its wealth and trade. Phadre is at the center of politics, and it is fascinating. I don't want to spoil the story too much, but the twists and turns are amazing. The various characters are captivating in their own ways, whether evil or good or somewhere in between.
This is an amazing start, and I'm very sorry not to have read it earlier. I'm looking forward to the next books in the series. ( )