Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy, #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Nov 28, 2007 Tani rated it it was amazing

Shelves: female-author, favorites, fantasy, 2008, five-stars

This book was a little bit of a slow start for me. The first 300 pages or so had me wondering a little just what everyone was raving about. Phedre starts out as a spoiled child, and it was hard for me to sympathize with her. Plus, I think that the nature of the events in the beginning made things difficult for me: lots of characters that it was difficult to keep straight, and not even Phedre really knew the exact purpose of what she was doing.

However, once I got past that beginning section, I f ...more

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Jul 21, 2009 TRXTRMXTR rated it it was ok

I found this book on a list of the top 10 fantasy novels for women. The entire premise of the novel is that the main character gets pleasure from pain which somehow makes her able to act as a spy in the overly complicated political world of the novel. The first 50 pages read like this - plot, plot, plot, foreshadowing, plot, plot, plot, foreshadowing, etc. until the author gets increasingly confused with her tenses until we don't know if the story is being told in past or present tense.

It is al ...more

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May 25, 2009 Jennifer Provost rated it it was amazing

Wow. I hesitantly picked up this book - partly because I don't need to be drawn into another epic series, partly because every time I flipped it open I found a scene heavy with BDSM. But I was drawn to it, again and again, and once I did read it I was not disappointed. Just when you think this is nothing more than the coming-of-age tale of a particularly talented courtesan, the author turns everything upside down. It becomes a tale of intrigue, and betrayal, and the strength of the hunman spirit ...more

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Sep 27, 2009 Sarah rated it really liked it

I love the world building in this series, an "earth as it could have been in the middle ages" idea. Nicely rounded out characters, very heavy and somewhat graphic on the romance. Overall I really enjoyed it, though I wouldn't put it on the mental heavy weight-lifting shelf. ...more

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Jan 14, 2008 Jennifer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book. It's an ongoing series and I thought the first book was probably the best. But I'm a sucker for a drawn out love story and this definitely qualifies. Carey can sometimes be longwinded and she can drag a story out but I've reread these quite a bit. ...more

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