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Carey, Jacqueline - Kushiel's Scion
As several cover flaps note, Imriel no Montreve de la Courcel is the son of the most detested traitors of Terre d'Ange and the adopted son of its greatest heroes.
I can't think of a good plot summary, probably because this book, like Kushiel's Dart, is more an account of how Imriel grows up and less of a straightforward adventure with a goal like the latter two Kushiel books. Mostly this is a recounting of Imriel's life from a year or so after Kushiel's Avatar to when he turns 18: Imriel learning about his own sexuality, coming to terms with his heritage, growing somewhat more comfortable in court.
I feel there is less of the annoying "We are d'Angeline, of course we are beautiful/sexually desireable/loving/the best country EVAR" than there was in the previous trilogy, along with less florid description of clothes, though I may just be remembering wrong.
But that may be partly why I didn't find this book quite as enjoyable. I think Carey knows that nothing can quite live up to the adventures of Phedre, parts 1-3, largely because there's just not that much you can do after you make your heroine nearly divine, along with making her the mostest specialist masochist ever. This book feels like the flip side to the trilogy -- Imriel is already noble, as opposed to making his way up from courtesan-ship; he has troubles with his own sexuality; he has to struggle with duty; his biggest desire is to be Not Special.
Also, he is so emo!
Um, not that this has stopped me from putting a hold on the next book. Hopefully there will be more intrigue and less emo. This book was fairly entertaining when Imriel was at court, but once he left court, I was so bored!
I can't think of a good plot summary, probably because this book, like Kushiel's Dart, is more an account of how Imriel grows up and less of a straightforward adventure with a goal like the latter two Kushiel books. Mostly this is a recounting of Imriel's life from a year or so after Kushiel's Avatar to when he turns 18: Imriel learning about his own sexuality, coming to terms with his heritage, growing somewhat more comfortable in court.
I feel there is less of the annoying "We are d'Angeline, of course we are beautiful/sexually desireable/loving/the best country EVAR" than there was in the previous trilogy, along with less florid description of clothes, though I may just be remembering wrong.
But that may be partly why I didn't find this book quite as enjoyable. I think Carey knows that nothing can quite live up to the adventures of Phedre, parts 1-3, largely because there's just not that much you can do after you make your heroine nearly divine, along with making her the mostest specialist masochist ever. This book feels like the flip side to the trilogy -- Imriel is already noble, as opposed to making his way up from courtesan-ship; he has troubles with his own sexuality; he has to struggle with duty; his biggest desire is to be Not Special.
Also, he is so emo!
Um, not that this has stopped me from putting a hold on the next book. Hopefully there will be more intrigue and less emo. This book was fairly entertaining when Imriel was at court, but once he left court, I was so bored!
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I have read Justice and in-my-non-spoiling-opinion, I think it's an improvement over Scion. No comment on whether or not he is more emo or less.
A piece of advice: Don't read the B&N.com editorial review for Justice. They might have since taken it down but I was horribly, TERRIBLY spoiled by that review and I think it greatly influenced my enjoyment of the book in a negative way because I knew what was coming.
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I'm looking forward to the second one, just because the cover flap seems to indicate that there'll be more court intrigue and therefore more Sidonie and Alais, both of whom I really like.
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For who are we, to deny the pleasures of emo boys? Ye verily, let them go forth and whine about death/sex/some fusion of the two, for they look mightily pretty and pale when doing it.
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... so maybe that last bit is sort of appealing... ;)
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Yes, exactly. ;) I was squicked as well but rather morbidly fascinated, especially if it meant Joscelin tearing around in hair shirts working on his self-flagellation, and other guilty monastic habits. (It's possible my idea of monasticism is solely drawn from The Name of the Rose.)
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Good to be warned about Imriel. Thanks!
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Oh Imriel. Why so uninterestingly emo? Why can you not be interestingly emo instead?
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Hee!
I have this theory about how woobie-type characters are not really interesting unless they are in deep, defensive denial of their woobieism. (See entries: 'Echolls, Logan' and 'Winchester, Dean'... as opposed to 'Petrelli, Peter')
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