Book Review: Kushiel's Dart

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Kushiel's Dart     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Jacqueline Carey
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   Political Intrigue
Series: Kushiel's Legacy # 1
Tor, Jun 2001, $25.95, 701 pp.

In Terre d’Ange, physical perfection means freedom and anything less denotes some form of bondage. Phedre no Delaunay is born with a red speck on her left eye, which means a life of slavery. Because of he "scarlet letter" on her eye, as a child, she is sold to eventually work as a servant of Naamah, providing pleasures to the free people of Terre d’Ange.

However, unlike the rest of the free masses, noble freethinker Anafiel Delaunay, upon seeing the red spot, feels Phedre’s mar is not a flaw. He believes it represents a greater perfection. He buys Phedre’s marque and begins to educate her for more than the art of pleasure. She begins to spy for him, but soon becomes embroiled in a dastardly plot to dethrone the King, in which she struggles to warn His Highness before doomsday arrives.

KUSHIEL’S DART is a powerful, extraordinary exotic political fantasy that never slows down yet fully develops the key cast and the culture. The epic fantasy story line is loaded with action that flows due to the characters seeming genuine while providing a deep look into a different culture and way of life. No one will believe that this is Jacqueline Carey’s debut because her first published novel has to have come from someone with at least a five-book resume.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner