Kushiel's Avatar FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Phedre no Delaunay is a woman born with a scarlet mote in her left eye and sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, and he was 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." "Phedre's path has taken a strange and sometimes dangerous course. She has lain with princes and pirate kings, battled a wicked temptress who is still determined to win the crown at any cost, and saved two nations with her courageous actions and sacrifices. Through it all she has had the devoted swordsman Joscelin at her side, who knew from the beginning what she was. Her very nature is a torturous thing for them both, and it is a bane on their lives - but he is sworn to her, and by accepting who she is, Joscelin has never violated the central precept of the angel Cassiel: to protect and serve." "But Phedre's plans will put his pledge to the test, for she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe. She has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture to the Master of Straits, a bargain with the gods that he struck so a nation could be saved; in doing so, he took Phedre's place as a sacrifice. She cannot forget, and she cannot forgive - herself or the gods. She is determined to seize one last hope to redeem her friend, even if it means her death." Their search will take Phedre and Joscelin on a dangerous journey that will carry them across the world, 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.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
The promise of Kushiel's Dart (2001), the first volume of Carey's immense trilogy set in a skewed Renaissance world, is more than realized in this splendid conclusion. In the 10 years since the action of the second, relatively uneventful volume, Kushiel's Chosen (2002), the winsome and gritty anguisette Phedre, bidden to seek pain in love by her demi-gods, the cruel Kushiel and the loving Naamah, has matured gracefully. Now the Comtesse Phedre no Delaunay de Montreve, she enjoys maintaining an estate together with the swordsman Joscelin, her faithful consort. She still follows her calling, though accepting but three patrons a year. Only the lonely fate of her imprisoned childhood friend, Hyacinthe, who's courageously volunteered to become Master of the Straits, disturbs her serenity. Then the beautiful, treacherous Melisande Shahrizai asks the anguisette to rescue her kidnapped son, Imriel. In return, Melisande promises to help Ph dre find the Name of God, the key to freeing Hyacinthe. Having traveled west in the first book from the French-Italianate city-state of Terre d'Ange, Phedre here journeys south into the equivalents of the Middle East and Africa, where she triumphs gloriously. Effortlessly rich in adventurous incident, with a huge cast of well-defined characters, this poignant and robust story will appeal to both fantasy lovers and fans of erotic romance. Agent, Jane Dystel. (Apr. 21) Forecast: A recent interview in Locus and strong cross-over appeal to romance readers who don't mind a touch of kinky sex will ensure sales that build on those of the previous two volumes. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Trained as a courtesan and dedicated to the service of Naamah, the goddess of love, and Kushiel, the god of pain and punishment, Phedre no Dalauney, now a countess and friend of the Queen of Terre d'Ange, finds herself drawn reluctantly into the service of a former enemy. When the traitor Melisande Shahrizai's child disappears, she offers Phedre a bargain: find her son, and she will give Phedre the information she needs to rescue a childhood friend trapped in perpetual service to the gods as the Master of the Straits between Terre d'Ange and the rest of the world. Phedre's search takes her on a trip to exotic and dangerous lands, from the fabled court of the Pharaoh of Mnekhet to the dark and deadly land of Drujan, where a mad king serves a dark god and makes plans to conquer the world. The dramatic conclusion of Carey's trilogy (Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen) provides enough loose ends for possible future tales set in an alternate Earth ruled by the descendants of fallen angels and forgotten gods. Graphic and explicit scenes of sex and violence, reminiscent of the works of Terry Goodkind and Storm Constantine, suggest a mature readership. Highly recommended. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Conclusion to Carey's huge and remarkable fantasy trilogy (Kushiel�s Chosen, 2002, etc.) set in a stunningly detailed and coherent medieval quasi-Europe. The exquisitely beautiful inhabitants of Terre D'Ange, descendants of angels, are bidden by their gods to "love as thou wilt." For the "anguisette" Ph�dre—her fate is to experience pain as pleasure—and her consort, Joscelin the ex-warrior priest, ten years have passed in relative tranquility. Ph�dre has learned how to release her dearest friend Hyacinthe from magical bondage to the Master of the Straits: she must command the Master by speaking the hidden Name of God! Then a message arrives from her lover and rival, Melisande, confined on pain of death to a temple following her attempt to seize the throne. Melisande's son, Imriel, a royal heir raised in the deepest secrecy, has vanished. In return for Ph�dre's help, Melisande offers the whereabouts of the lost tribe of Dan, whose elders may know the hidden Name. Imriel, Ph�dre and Joscelin discover, was snatched by slavers. From the Pharaoh of Menekhet they learn that the boy was taken to Drujan, a grim, bloody, terrible place whose priests it is death to provoke and where invading armies are shredded by seemingly magical means. Drujan's ruler, styling himself the Conqueror of Death, needs a perfect sacrifice—Imriel!—to confirm his supremacy. The only way into Drujan, Ph�dre reasons (for she has lost none of her sexual skills) is for Joscelin to sell her into the Conqueror of Death's seraglio! A rousing finale to an altogether captivating saga.
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