From the library of the toe-eating kittens
Aug. 2nd, 2006 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
uberreinigerI finally finished Kushiel's Chosen
It took me awhile because I'm always reading two or three books at once. Anyway, I know my initial impression of it was less than favorable, but I've got to give Jacqueline Carey credit, she gave us a helluva good story this time around, completely avoiding the slow pacing of the first volume and, the first fifty or so pages notwithstanding, whitling away enough of heroine Phedre's more annoying personality traits that I could really feel empathy for her this time around.
Chosen picks up right where its predecessor Kushiel's Dart leaves off; former sex slave and divinely-empowered masochist Phedre no Delauny has been relaxing and enjoying the good life since saving the kingdom of Terre D'Ange from a coup attempt and a Viking invasion, all orchestrated by evil mastermind and lesbo dominatrix par excellence Melisande Sharizai. One day, she gets a package in the mail from Melisande postmarked "La Serenissima" so Phedre, much to her lover/bodyguard Joscelin's chagrin, returns to her career as a courtesan to gather information and once she has enough, is off to the neighboring realm of La Serenissima to find our villain. What follows is a fast-paced adventure story that reads like a summer blockbuster movie on paper: action, romance, intruige, gaudy set-pieces, epic swordfights, huge special effects... and pirates!
Like I said, this novel is completely different than the first in the series. Thanks to Phedre's unique first-person narration style, however, you never doubt it's the same world and the same character. She's a little older, a little wiser, and a bit ballsier. The world Carey creates is the real star here, however. She crams so much detail into her description of the countries visited in Phedre's globe-trotting trips across her mediavel world, an alternate-history mirror of our own. But the descriptions never bog down the pacing and they make you want to learn more. You really come to believe that these places with their unique cultures, realistic people, and amazingly-crafted religions are real. Frankly, she could write entire novels based on the mythologies she creates and given their importance in the Kushiel stories, I wish she would.
What surprised me about this novel is there's far less sex, with much of what little there is happening off camera. It was the biggest change to get used to following Dart, but its a testament to the storytelling that sex isn't needed to drive it.
The only thing I don't like about this novel and its predecessor is Phedre's ongoing romantic infatuation with Melisande which turns her into a starry-eyed jellyfish even when Melisande is murdering all of her friends and trying to take over the world. The reason for this attraction has never been adequately defined to my liking, other than they're both related to the pain god Kushiel in some way, Phedre likes being dominated, and Melisande is good at it. What it always comes down to is Phedre can't hurt Melisande because she's in love with her. Now call me crazy, but after someone I'm in love with sells me to Viking slavers, throws me in a maximum security water prison, and murders all my friends (TWICE!) I tend to kick their ass that much harder because I'm in love with them.
I know that the whole point is that Phedre likes Melisande because she's mean, but its hard to swallow even that when you show your audience no redeeming qualities to the villain at all. Melisande reminds me of Kate Winslet's bitchy mother in Titanic, a character devoid of any features which would generate a modicum of audience sympathy or support. Audiences want characters like that to take crushing blows to the head and it's annoying when the hero won't do it for no other reason than some vaguely-defined crush.
That quibble aside, it's still a good book.
I've already launched right into the final part of the trilogy, Kushiel's Avatar. Looks like it's gonna be a doozy.
It took me awhile because I'm always reading two or three books at once. Anyway, I know my initial impression of it was less than favorable, but I've got to give Jacqueline Carey credit, she gave us a helluva good story this time around, completely avoiding the slow pacing of the first volume and, the first fifty or so pages notwithstanding, whitling away enough of heroine Phedre's more annoying personality traits that I could really feel empathy for her this time around.
Chosen picks up right where its predecessor Kushiel's Dart leaves off; former sex slave and divinely-empowered masochist Phedre no Delauny has been relaxing and enjoying the good life since saving the kingdom of Terre D'Ange from a coup attempt and a Viking invasion, all orchestrated by evil mastermind and lesbo dominatrix par excellence Melisande Sharizai. One day, she gets a package in the mail from Melisande postmarked "La Serenissima" so Phedre, much to her lover/bodyguard Joscelin's chagrin, returns to her career as a courtesan to gather information and once she has enough, is off to the neighboring realm of La Serenissima to find our villain. What follows is a fast-paced adventure story that reads like a summer blockbuster movie on paper: action, romance, intruige, gaudy set-pieces, epic swordfights, huge special effects... and pirates!
Like I said, this novel is completely different than the first in the series. Thanks to Phedre's unique first-person narration style, however, you never doubt it's the same world and the same character. She's a little older, a little wiser, and a bit ballsier. The world Carey creates is the real star here, however. She crams so much detail into her description of the countries visited in Phedre's globe-trotting trips across her mediavel world, an alternate-history mirror of our own. But the descriptions never bog down the pacing and they make you want to learn more. You really come to believe that these places with their unique cultures, realistic people, and amazingly-crafted religions are real. Frankly, she could write entire novels based on the mythologies she creates and given their importance in the Kushiel stories, I wish she would.
What surprised me about this novel is there's far less sex, with much of what little there is happening off camera. It was the biggest change to get used to following Dart, but its a testament to the storytelling that sex isn't needed to drive it.
The only thing I don't like about this novel and its predecessor is Phedre's ongoing romantic infatuation with Melisande which turns her into a starry-eyed jellyfish even when Melisande is murdering all of her friends and trying to take over the world. The reason for this attraction has never been adequately defined to my liking, other than they're both related to the pain god Kushiel in some way, Phedre likes being dominated, and Melisande is good at it. What it always comes down to is Phedre can't hurt Melisande because she's in love with her. Now call me crazy, but after someone I'm in love with sells me to Viking slavers, throws me in a maximum security water prison, and murders all my friends (TWICE!) I tend to kick their ass that much harder because I'm in love with them.
I know that the whole point is that Phedre likes Melisande because she's mean, but its hard to swallow even that when you show your audience no redeeming qualities to the villain at all. Melisande reminds me of Kate Winslet's bitchy mother in Titanic, a character devoid of any features which would generate a modicum of audience sympathy or support. Audiences want characters like that to take crushing blows to the head and it's annoying when the hero won't do it for no other reason than some vaguely-defined crush.
That quibble aside, it's still a good book.
I've already launched right into the final part of the trilogy, Kushiel's Avatar. Looks like it's gonna be a doozy.
