Kushiel/Imriel
Kushiel's Dart
John Jude Palencar
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Kushiel's Avatar
John Jude Palencar
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Kushiel's Mercy
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Naamah's Kiss
(June 2009)
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Kushiel's
Dart
A nation born of angels; vast, intricate, and
surrounded by danger...
A woman born to
servitude, unknowingly given access to the secrets of the realm...
A plot borne of evil,
too cunning to be fathomed, too deadly to be known...
Sold into indentured
servitude in the sumptuous and exotic Night Court
as a child, Phèdre nó Delaunay is a woman who struggles
for honor and
duty, whose loyalty to the land she loves will take her to the edge of
despair—and then beyond.
Kushiel's
Chosen
When Phedre no Delaunay, Comtesse de Montreve,
receives a direct challenge from the traitor Melisande Shahrizai now an
escaped fugitive from the land of Terre d'Ange she undertakes a bold
venture to find the treasonous noblewoman and bring her to justice. She
dons once again the symbolic sangoire cloak of her former profession
that of courtesan in service to the Temple of Naamah, the angelic
patron of love in all its forms and uses her special talents to ferret
out a conspiracy that threatens her realm and the life of its queen.
Kushiel's
Avatar
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.Phèdre
nó
Delaunay is a woman born with a scarlet mote in her left eye and sold
into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a
nobleman, and he was the first one to recognize who and what she is:
one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and
pleasure as one.Phèdre's path has taken a strange and sometimes
dangerous course. She has lain with princes and pirate kings, battled a
wicked temptress who is still determined to win the crown at any cost,
and saved two nations with her courageous actions and sacrifices.
Through it all she has had the devoted swordsman Joscelin at her side,
who knew from the beginning what she was. Her very nature is a
torturous thing for them both, and it is a bane on their lives-but he
is sworn to her and by accepting who she is, Joscelin has never
violated the central precept of the angel Cassiel: to protect and
serve.But Phèdre's plans will put his 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 to
the Master of Straights, a bargain with the gods that he struck so that
a nation could be saved; in doing so, he took Phèdre's place as
a
sacrifice. She cannot forget, and she cannot forgive-herself or the
gods. She is determined to seize one last hope to redeem her friend,
even if it means her death.
Kushiel's
Scion
It is whispered that Kushiel’s lineage carries
the ability to perceive the flaws in mortal souls, to administer an
untender mercy. I sense its presence like a shadow on my soul…the
memories of blood and branding and horror, and the legacy of cruelty
that runs in my veins, shaping my own secret vow and wielding it like a
brand against the darkness, whispering it to myself, over and over.
I will try to be good.
Kushiel's
Justice
Imriel de la Courcel's blood parents are
history's most reviled traitors, while his adoptive parents,
Phèdre and
Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and
enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in
line for the throne in a land that revels in beauty, art, and desire.
After a year abroad
to study at university, Imriel returns from his
adventures a little older and somewhat wiser. But perhaps not wise
enough. What was once a mere spark of interest between himself and his
cousin Sidonie now ignites into a white-hot blaze. But from commoner to
peer, the whole realm would recoil from any alliance between Sidonie,
heir to the throne, and Imriel, who bears the stigma of his mother's
misdeeds and betrayals. Praying that their passion will peak and fade,
Imriel and Sidonie embark on an intense, secret affair.
Blessed Elua founded
Terre d'Ange and bestowed one simple precept to
guide his people, love as thou wilt. When duty calls, Imriel honors his
role as a member of the royal family by leaving to marry a lovely, if
merely sweet, Alban princess. By choosing duty over love, Imriel and
Sidonie may have unwittingly trespassed against Elua's law. But when
dark powers in Alba, who fear an invasion by Terre d'Ange, seek to use
the lovers' passion to bind Imriel, the gods themselves take notice.
Before the end,
Kushiel's justice will be felt in heaven and on earth.
Kushiel's
Mercy
Having
paid dearly for ignoring Elua's edict to love as thou wilt,
Imriel and Sidonie have finally come forward to publicly confess their
love for each other---only to watch the news ignite turmoil throughout
the land. Those who are old enough cannot forget the misdeeds of
Imriel's mother, Melisande, whose self-serving lies plunged their
country into war.
In
order to quell the uprising, Queen Ysandre hands down a decree: she
will not divide the lovers, but neither will she acknowledge them. And
if they decide to marry, Sidonie will be disinherited.
That
is, unless Imriel can find his mother and bring her back to Terre
D'Ange to be executed for treason...
Naamah's Kiss
Once
there were great magicians born to the Maghuin Dhonn; the folk of
the Brown Bear, the oldest tribe in Alba. But generations ago, the
greatest of them all broke a sacred oath sworn in the name of all his
people. Now, only small gifts remain to them. Through her lineage,
Moirin possesses such gifts - the ability to summon the twilight and
conceal herself, and the skill to coax plants to grow.
Moirin
has a secret, too. From childhood onward, she senses the
presence of unfamiliar gods in her life; the bright lady, and the man
with a seedling cupped in his palm. Raised in the wilderness by her
reclusive mother, it isn't until she comes of age that Moirin learns
how illustrious, if mixed, her heritage is. The great granddaughter of
Alais the Wise, child of the Maghuin Donn, and a cousin of the Cruarch
of Alba, Moirin learns her father was a D'Angeline priest dedicated to
serving Naamah, goddess of desire.
After
Moirin undergoes the rites of adulthood, she finds divine
acceptance...on the condition that she fulfill an unknown destiny that
lies somewhere beyond the ocean. Or perhaps oceans. Beyond Terre d'Ange
where she finds her father, in the far reaches of distant Ch'in,
Moirin's skills are a true gift when facing the vengeful plans of an
ambitious mage, a noble warrior princess desperate to save her father's
throne, and the spirit of a celestial dragon.
Sundering
Banewreaker
Donato Giancola
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Godslayer
Donato Giancola
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Banewreaker
In the Seventh Age of the Sundered World, the world of
Urulat lies
uneasy under the shadow of Satoris Banewreaker, whom Men and Ellylon
name the Sunderer. Wounded and defeated in the Shapers' War, banished
by the Six Shapers who are his kindred, the Sunderer has raised a
mighty army of Fjeltroll in his fortress of Darkhaven. At his side are
the dreaded Three, his immortal generals. Together with the Sorceress
of the East, they have conceived a plot to conquer the sundered world
of Urulat and bring all of existence under their dominion
This is their story…
and they're going to lose.
For a red star has
risen over Urulat, and the time of the Prophecy has
come. In the halls of the Rivenlost, the wizard Malthus studies the
portents, and in the depths of the desert, a child is born with the
mark of destiny emblazoned on his palms, unaware that the fate of the
world will rest in his hands. A valiant company of travelers undertakes
an impossible quest to retrieve the dagger Godslayer and destroy the
Sunderer. As the forces of Darkhaven move to thwart their plans, events
unfold to reveal the intricate linkage between triumph and tragedy,
between good and evil.
The Sundering asks
the question: Which is which?
Godslayer
Supreme Commander Lord Tanaros was once human.
But he chose darkness and immortality when his wife betrayed him with
his king. He killed them both and fled the realms of Men, and now cares
nothing for their fates. A thousand years passed. His only allegiance
is to his master, the dark god Satoris, who gave the gift of Life to
the race of Men. Satoris rebelled against his elder brother, the god
Haomane, who had demanded that gift be taken away. Their fight cracked
the very world in two; the name of Satoris became the word for evil
throughout all the races, while the legend of Tanaros is the seminal
tale of treachery. And yet not all tales told are true. A final
prophecy has begun to unfold, and the races are uniting their quest to
rid the world of Satoris. The elder gods and goddesses, stranded on the
other side of the world, send dreams to spur all to destroy Satoris and
Tanaros, but those loyal to Satoris know a different side of the story
and try to defend their citadel of Darkhaven, where their god sits in
sorrow, controlling his own dominion, seeking neither victory nor
vengeance. Satoris's followers capture the beautiful Lady Cerelinde,
and without her the Allies cannot fulfill the prophecy. All who support
Satoris clamor for her death - but Satoris refuses to act like the
monster that he is made out to be, for he recognizes in Cerelinde a
spark of the love that he once bore for his fellow gods. She is a great
danger to Satoris - and a greater danger for Tanaros and all that he
holds dear. For she reminds him that not all women need to be false...
and that though he may be immune to death, his heart is still very much
mortal.
The Sundering, in my personal opinion, is
the best of Jacqueline Carey's works to date. It's a pity that
it's only two books. The world and mythology (is that the correct
term when a god is still present?) are compelling, the human
characters are beautifully etched with the strengths and weaknesses,
which are the essence of our race. The other races in this
world are well rounded, easily imagined, she breathes such life into
them. Many shades of grey, most likely, including "A
Delicate
Shade of Kipney," give ample evidence that life cannot be seen in
only
black and white. She definitely answers the question, "If all
that is considered good considers you evil, are you?"
Novels
Santa Olivia
(May 2009)
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Santa Olivia
Loup
Garron was born and raised in Santa Olivia, an isolated,
disenfranchised town next to a US
military base inside a DMZ buffer zone between Texas
and Mexico.
A fugitive "Wolf-Man" who had a love affair with a local woman, Loup's
father was one of a group of men genetically-manipulated and used by
the US
government as a weapon. The "Wolf-Men" were engineered to have
superhuman strength, speed, sensory capability, stamina, and a total
lack of fear, and Loup, named for and sharing her father's wolf-like
qualities, is marked as an outsider.
After her mother dies,
Loup goes to live among the misfit orphans at the parish church, where
they seethe from the injustices visited upon the locals by the
soldiers. Eventually, the orphans find an outlet for their
frustrations: They form a vigilante group to support Loup Garron who,
costumed as their patron saint, Santa Olivia, uses her special
abilities to avenge the town.
Aware
that she could lose her freedom, and possibly her life, Loup is
determined to fight to redress the wrongs her community has suffered.
And like the reincarnation of their patron saint, she will bring hope
to all of Santa Olivia.
