:: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 ::

Love as thou wilt

"Mighty Kushiel, of rod and weal, late of the brazen portals, with blood-tipp'd dart a wound unhealed, pricks the eyen of chosen mortals."

That's my favorite quote from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel trilogy, made up of Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, and the latest, which I've just finished, Kushiel's Avatar. Basically, the books follow the adventures of Phèdre nó Delaunay de Montrève, a beautiful comtesse, courtesan and spy who also happens to be an anguisette, blessed (or cursed) and chosen by the angel Kushiel to feel pleasure from pain.

The books are sort of alternate historical fantasies, taking place in about the year 1400, but in a very different world than what we are used to. Basically, the angel Elua was born from the mingled blood of Jesus Christ (called Yeshua ben Yosef) and the tears of Mary Magdalene, and wandered the earth with angels as his companions until they founded the nation of Terre D'Ange, in what we would call France. Also, it seems that Yeshua was accepted by the Hebrews as the Messiah, so Christianity as we know it never developed, leaving Europe (and the rest of the Old World) to develop differently from the real world, with old dynasties and old gods still existing. The D'Angelines, descended from Elua and his companions, live in an essentially Renaissance-level culture in Medieval world. They worship Elua and his companions, based on Blessed Elua's precept, Love as thou wilt.

That's a bit of a simplified synopsis of an incredibly rich and detailed setting, but it hopefully gives some idea. Of course, there's a lot more than that. There's politics, intrigue, great quests, comedy, tragedy, as well as some good old VALNAC*. These three books, and especially the latest, Kushiel's Avatar, are definitely and firmly ensconced on my list of all time favorite books.

Please check them out...I can't recommend them highly enough.

And for those of you who have read the books, take Kushiel's Quiz to find out which character you are. My results are below.

*VALNAC: Violence, Adult Language, Nudity, Adult Content


You are Melisande. Beautiful, compelling, devious
and utterly wicked, you entrance your prey
before you lead them to their deaths. You are
self serving, brilliant, diabolical and just
warm hearted enough to keep your foes off
balance.


Kushiel's Quiz
brought to you by Quizilla

Love as thou wilt.

:: posted by Rob 5:01 PM [+] ::

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