Kushiel's Justice (Treason's Heir) by Jacqueline Carey
| Kushiel's Justice (Treason's Heir) by Jacqueline Carey | |
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| Category: Fantasy | |
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Reviewer: Myfanwy Rodman
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| Summary: An epic fantasy set in a world close to our own but subtly different. World building at its best. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 736 | Date: September 2008 |
| Publisher: Orbit | |
| ISBN: 978-1841493626 | |
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Imriel de la Courcel, traitor's son and prince of the blood, has chosen a loveless marriage to try and atone for the crimes his mother commited before he was born. He has not chosen to fall in love with Sidonie de la Courcel, heir to the throne of Terre d'Ange. Horrified by the political and personal ramifications of their affair, Imriel and Sidonie deny the first precept of Blessed Elua, love as thou wilt, and Imriel keeps his promise to marry for peace and political gain.
His reluctant marriage takes him to Alba and a life among the Cruithne. But dark magic blights his arrival and his love for Sidonie has greater import than he could possibly imagine. Despite being trapped in a marriage without love and far from home, Imriel learns to care for his bride and to look forward to a life of peace if not true happiness. But Imriel's defiance of holy rule costs him dear. His life shattered by tragedy, Imriel finds himself on a journey of vengeance that will span continents.
Kushiel's Justice continues the story of Imriel de la Courcel as he grows from a troubled adolescent into a man. With her usual simple prose and deft charaterizations, Carey carries the reader on a journey from Alba in the west to the distant country of Vralia in the east, where a new religion and a new order is rising. The span of travel in this book is enormous and though Imriel's quest for vengeance is understandable, as the driving force for much of the plot it begins to pall before the end. Much of the action is set in a frozen north and too many pages abound with descriptions of ice, snow and cold. The characters move through different countries and territories but the similarity of the landscape tends to blur one into the other. The deadly nature of the landscape also stretches the tension out too far so that the conclusion of Imriel's quest is an anticlimax.
Other parts of this book are a joy, particularly the relationship between Imriel and Sidonie. Carey has succeeded in making Sidonie, a rather unsympathetic character in the first book of this series, Kushiel's Scion, into a person of surprising depth and likeability. And her relationship with Imriel is wholly believable. The reappearance of other characters, such as Mavros, Imriel's Shahrizai cousin, help to give this part of the novel fire and sparkle.
Kushiel's Justice, despite its faults, is a highly enjoyable read and a testament to Carey's extraordinarily detailed world building and sympathetic characters. I look forward with eagerness to the last book in the series, Kushiel's Mercy. There are still plenty of plots and sub-plots to be concluded and a feeling of anticipation permeates the last few chapters if Kushiel's Justice, promising good things to come. For those who have already become immersed in the world of the D'Angelines, this book is a must and for a new reader, this introduction will send them running back to read the rest.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
Before reading this book you really ought to read Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Kushiel's Justice (Treason's Heir) by Jacqueline Carey at Amazon.com.
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