Carey, Jacqueline - Kushiel's Justice

[oyceter]

I had thought previously that my remembered fondness for Carey's first three Kushiel books were because I didn't have as much taste when I read them, or other such insulting thoughts, partially based on how meh Kushiel's Scion left me.

Nope, not true. Still love the world, still love the over-the-top epicness of it, still love the strange kindness Carey has for her characters. This book thankfully hits those points, which I feel the first book missed -- there is lots of sex and sexuality and romance, there are larger-than-life conflicts and heroism, and there are lots of moments of grace. Also, amazingly, Carey makes the love triangle central to this book work for me. I suspect it's because all the parties are aware of the love triangle, and while there are some secrets being kept, they're really not very secretive.

Imriel continues to be emo in this book, but it worked better for me because people knew he was emo and called him out on being emo. I also like Dorelei and Sidonie very much (particularly Sidonie), so that made me happy. Also, I find I have a higher tolerance for people going off and deciding that they are In Love and it cannot be stopped when a) the people actually try to stop and b) their religion is based on the tenet that people should love as they will.

The thing that really twinged me about the book was the Yeshuites. In the prior trilogy, the Yeshuites follow Yeshua bin Yosef (aka, Christ), but are very clearly modeled after Jews. It bugged me a little when I read it back then, but probably not as much as it would bug me now. In this trilogy, we find the Yeshuites have adopted the cross as their symbol and are starting to take over things with armies, and wow, it really bugged me that they were modeled on Jews (Name ben Father's Name, speaking Habiru aka Hebrew, religious leaders being called "Rebbe" and etc.).

Anyway, will continue reading because of the brain candy and Sidonie and the acceptance of different kinds of sexuality and open relationships, but yeah. It bugs me.

Comments

[sajia.livejournal.com]

One of my livejournal friends once asked me which fictional universe I'd like to live in, as part of a meme. I almost answered "the Kushiel books", but couldn't say it, because face it, I am very troubled by the "we are special because we are descended from angels" notion. In all fairness, at least Terre d'Ange is not an imperialist nation. Am also bothered by the training of children as prostitutes, even well-treated prostitutes, as in Phedre in Dart.
What also bothers me is that some people actually praise Kushiel for historical accuracy, which is problematic when dealing with Eastern cultures as Avatar attempts to. Is the monstrous cult that kidnaps and tortures Imriel and a whole bunch of women meant to represent Islam or Zoroastraniasm?
So Imriel is actually going ahead and pursuing both sisters, heh? Don't tell me, I have to wait until the holidays before I can read any books of a non-educational nature.

[oyceter]

What also bothers me is that some people actually praise Kushiel for historical accuracy

*falls over laughing*

I like some of the things about Carey's worldbuilding, especially the non-demonization of sex and sexuality and the openness toward same-sex sex (though I would love to see more actual same-sex romances). But yeah, the whole
"Terre d'Ange is super special" thing bugs me. Not to mention the harems as a representation of the Middle East!

[oursin.livejournal.com]

These are presumably the same people who think that The Mists of Avalon is an authentic depiction of Dark Ages Britain?

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I thought the monstrous cult was a sort of evil parody of the Zoroastrian-inspired religion it temporarily supplanted, like Satanism is a parody of Christianity. When it's defeated, the sacred fires miraculously re-light across the country, and the old (Zoroastrian, non-evil) order is restored.

No argument on the lack of historical accuracy, though!

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Yes -- I enjoyed the first Kushiel trilogy quite a bit, but that was despite the Ever So Special And Beautiful D'Angeline, and every time their awesome was trumpeted my eyes nearabout rolled out of my head.

[jenfullmoon.livejournal.com]

Hm. Well, they didn't HAVE to be prostitutes, necessarily, I don't think? I remember other options for work being offered in the houses...