Book Report: Kushiel's Justice

Jacqueline Carey is one of those authors who is just so damned good, that every time I read one of her books, it makes me want to go back and re-read everything else she's ever written as well. After Kushiel's Scion was released, I waited with baited breath for the year it took for Kushiel's Justice to come out. Thanks to Amazon and their ability to ignore release dates, even though Justice wasn't slated for release til the 13th, I received it last Friday, and had real difficulty putting it down over the weekend. I just finished it, and it was utterly fantastic.

Kushiel's Justice, the 5th book set in Terre d'Ange, continues Imriel's story - the adventures of a young man who is at once the son of the greatest traitors, and the foster-son to the greatest heroes in the history of his country. Third in line for the crown, living eternally under the shadow of suspicion cast by his parentage, but striving to live up to the example set by his foster-parents, Imriel is driven by one goal: try to be good. But the one law of the land in Terre d'Ange is blessed Elua's precept to 'love as thou wilt,' and when Imriel violates that precept by marrying for politics and duty, rather than following his heart, tragedy so great it threatens the existence of an entire nation strikes. Imriel is plunged into a quest for justice that takes him far from home and the people he loves, the result is an epic tale filled with adventure, intrigue and passion.

Kushiel's Scion was a coming of age novel, and a lot of people didn't like it as much as the first three Kushiel novels - I gather because it wasn't as epic in its scope, and wasn't as ... ah... dirty as the preceding three. I liked it just fine on the first read, and loved it on the second. I thought it was a wonderful bridge to Kushiel's Justice, and Justice definitely dives right back into the sort of grand adventures you came to expect reading Phedre's stories, but without as much ... ah... dirtiness.

But with regards to the smut to be found in any of the novels - Carey isn't LKH. Perhaps it's because LKH's Blake started out as a tough-as-nails, celibate heroine, who over the course of the series turns into the super-slut from hell with a menagerie the size and variety of a zoo, and the original heroine in the Kushiel series is the most famous courtesan in the history of the country who eventually settles down with her one true love. Whatever the reason, while I find LKH's books are pretty much straight smut, I just don't mind it coming from Carey - her writing doesn't seem exploitative. It is, however, pretty graphic.

And Terre d'Ange... Carey has built the most engrossing alternate history I've ever read. The idea of an entire people descended from angels... set in the era of the rise of Christianity, with the attendant split between the original children of Israel and the believers in the Messiah is grand storytelling of the first order. Unless you simply cannot handle a few X-rated scenes, lovers of historical epics should absolutely try the Kushiel series out.

5 out of 5 stars - just like everything Carey has written.