The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Ph�dre n� Delaunay is a woman pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. Her path has been strange and dangerous, and through it all the devoted swordsman Joscelin has been at her side. Her very nature is a torturous thing for them both, but he is ...
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The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt. Ph�dre n� Delaunay is a woman pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. Her path has been strange and dangerous, and through it all the devoted swordsman Joscelin has been at her side. Her very nature is a torturous thing for them both, but he is sworn to her and he has never violated his vow: to protect and serve. But Ph�dre's plans put Joscelin's pledge to the test, for she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe. She has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture, a bargain he struck with the gods--to take Ph�dre's place as a sacrifice and save a nation. Ph�dre cannot forgive--herself or the gods. She is determined to seize one last hope to redeem her friend, even if it means her death. The search will bring Ph�dre and Joscelin across the world, to distant courts where madness reigns and souls are currency, and down a fabled river to a land forgotten by most of the world. And to a power so mighty that none dare speak its name.
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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.
