The second Kushiel trilogy by Jacqueline CareyFollow

This is weird. I can't find the review I wrote of Kushiel's Scion in my blog. Oh well. To recap: it was beautifully written, but it was a character story and didn't have a great deal of plot.

Kushiel's Justice:

I've said it before and I'll say it again: even a mediocre Kushiel novel is worth reading. This one was better than Kushiel's Scion the first of this trilogy starring Imriel, but still nowhere near the calibre of the original trilogy in terms of tightly-paced and waterproof plotting. I think the difference is, the first trilogy, all the novels had a very specific plot to drive them along. This second trilogy is more character-centric. We're along on Imriel's journey, but there's really no specific goal he's moving toward. It's a character story. Frankly, I'm missing Melisande's direct involvement--she always kept things interesting.



Kushiel's Mercy
If I have had one complaint about the first two books of the second Kushiel trilogy, it was that they weren't plot-driven enough. They were character stories. Kushiel's Scion was about Imriel coming into his sexual maturity knowing he has an inherent sadistic inclination stemming from his semi-divine heritage and trying to balance that streak of cruelty against 1) the trauma he suffered as a child at the hands of a truly mad ****** and 2) the earnest desire to be a good person and live up to the example Phedre and Joscelin have set for him. Kushiel's Justice was about Imriel setting aside boyhood selfishness and learning to become a man and face the responsibilities of a man, including owning up to his forbidden love affair with the Dauphine, Sidonie, despite the turmoil that was certain to come with it. Both of these books EVENTUALLY found a plot or quest of sorts, but it was one that Imriel sort of staggered into half-way through the book, not something that was really there from the very outset.

Now, of course, this character exploration was a perfectly valid choice of directions in which to take the trilogy. And given Imriel's backstory, perhaps it was quite necessary, or else we might not have believed him capable of accomplishing some of the feats he eventually accomplishes. But I really found myself missing that laser-beam precise plotline that cut right through each of the three books of the first trilogy from cover to cover. Jacqueline Carey's ability to craft intricate and compelling mystery/adventure/political intrigue is second only to her gorgeous and elegant use of language. I've heard these books compared to the early Dune novels in terms of the intricacy and detail of the political machinations, and while I've never read the Dune series, I imagine that's a pretty apt comparison.

This last book made up for the lack of plot I felt in the first two novels, though. The "quest" was established quite early on, and just as with the first trilogy, while it occasionally involved u-turns and detours along the way, there was always a strong sense that the story was heading very determinedly toward its conclusion, rather than meandering aimlessly in that direction.

It was an excellent story. And a necessary one, because we finally see Imriel stand completely alone and live up to the heroic examples that have been set for him. There's no chance of Phedre and Joscelin riding to his rescue at the last instant; in fact, when the climax came, he found himself having to face off against them and almost everyone else that he might have one time looked to for support. The hanging thread of Melisande's fate is at last tied off, though perhaps not as definitively as she might have deserved, and when we see them last, all the characters are in a good place, a place in which its easy to bid them farewell and know that we are never going to see them again.

As always, Carey's writing is beautiful, and midway through the novel, she accomplishes a trick so subtle I'm half-inclined to believe it was completely in my mind. Without giving away too much of the plot, Imriel ends up under a spell that makes him believe he's a different person. Since these novels are written in first-person narration, this means that that narrative is taken over by this new persona of Imriel's. And I swear, the tone of the narration changes. I can't put my finger on what's different about it, but the "voice" I hear in my head when reading first-person narration became a completely different voice while Imriel is under the effect of the spell. The new voice is just a little more light-hearted, more jocular and irreverent, not quite so bogged down in angst and painful memories or driven by issues of world-saving importance as Imriel's voice tends to be. And as Imriel gradually creeps back into the new persona, that voice gradually becomes Imriel's voice again until the final transition back to Imriel is made. It was absolutely bloody BRILLIANT. Carey truly is a first-calibre wordsmith.

So, if you've been on the fence about this second Kushiel trilogy because of my calling the first two books "mediocre" in previous reviews, get off the fence and start reading. It's definitely worth the while.

Edited, Nov 7th 2008 7:46am by Ambrya

Actually, I really like Imriel as a character. I like dark, broody boys. But I just wasn't prepared for the fact that the first two novels were mainly going to be character explorations, when the second strongest aspect of the first trilogy (right after Carey's gorgeous prose) was the tight-knit and laser-beam precise plots.