Ever since Ph�dre n� Delaunay was sold into servitude as a child, her path has taken a strange, and often dangerous course. She has lain with princes and pirate kings and battled a wicked temptress still determined to win the crown at any cost. All this time Ph�dre has had at her side the devoted swordsman Joscelin, who has never violated the central precept of the angel Cassiel: to protect and serve. Now Ph�dre's plans will put his pledge to the ultimate test. For she has never forgotten her childhood friend ...
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Ever since Ph�dre n� Delaunay was sold into servitude as a child, her path has taken a strange, and often dangerous course. She has lain with princes and pirate kings and battled a wicked temptress still determined to win the crown at any cost. All this time Ph�dre has had at her side the devoted swordsman Joscelin, who has never violated the central precept of the angel Cassiel: to protect and serve. Now Ph�dre's plans will put his pledge to the ultimate test. For she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe, and has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture to the Master of Straits. To redeem Hyacinthe, Ph�dre and Joscelin embark on a dangerous journey that will carry them to far-off countries where madness reigns, and to confront a power so mighty that none dare speak its name. 'Carey dismantles standard notions of both magic and mortality to produce a long, complex saga worthy of the field's best writer on such a scale, George R. R. Martin' Locus 'One of the best running fantasy sequences at present' Time Out
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Arguably the darkest of the trilogy featuring Phèdre nó Delaunay, "Kushiel's Avatar" also provides the climax and denouement that these characters deserve.
Never having forgotten her vow to free her childhood friend from the curse that isolates him on a lonely isle, Phèdre finds herself compelled to bargain with her old nemesis, who claims to hold a clue to her friend's geas. Ultimately, Phèdre walks into a country of terrifying darkness for love of her friend.
The travels in the first and second book don't hold a candle to the new countries and realms these characters explore in "Kushiel's Avatar." The vivid descriptions of these places alone are enough to recommend the book, but once again, it is the theme of love that provides the backbone of the narrative. Indeed, it is Carey's relentless obsession with the fortifying, healing power of love that will get the reader through the most dire, horrifying sections of the book.
Ultimately, this may be my favorite of the three books, perhaps because it delivers so satisfyingly on the theological and political themes set up throughout the first two books. Phèdre's adventure in obtaining the ultimate key to Hyacinthe's release is unmatched among contemporary fantasy in sheer jaw-dropping awesomeness, in my opinion.
This trilogy is a favorite of mine, and I look forward to coming back to it again some day.
