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Summary
Summary
Imriel de la Courcel's birth parents are history's most reviled traitors, but his adoptive parents, the Comtesse Phedre and the warrior-priest 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 art, beauty and desire. It is a court steeped in deeply laid conspiracies---and there are many who would see the young prince dead. Some despise him out of hatred for his mother, Melisande, who nearly destroyed the entire realm in her quest for power. Others because they fear he has inherited his mother's irresistible allure---and her dangerous gifts.
As he comes of age, plagued by unwanted desires, Imriel shares their fears. When a simple act of friendship traps Imriel in a besieged city where the infamous Melisande is worshiped as a goddess and where a dead man leads an army, the Prince must face his greatest test: to find his true self.
Author Notes
Jacqueline Carey was born in 1964 in Highland Park, Illinois. After receiving B.A. degrees in psychology and English literature from Lake Forest College, she spent six months working in a bookstore in London. Upon returning to the U.S., she began her writing career while working at a local college.
Her debut novel, Kushiel's Dart, was published in 2001 and won the 2002 Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her other works include the Kushiel's Legacy series, the Naamah series, the Sundering series, and Santa Olivia series.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The magnificent fourth book in Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series marks the start of a new trilogy set in Terre d'Ange, the author's reimagined Renaissance world. The story picks up where volume three, Kushiel's Avator (2003), left off, though Imriel no Montreve de la Courcel, a prince of the blood, now narrates in place of the unforgettable heroine of the previous books, Phedre no Delauney. As a boy, Imriel is abandoned by his treasonous parents and subjected to terrible indignities by pirates. Later rescued and adopted by Phedre, he grows into a position of authority and learns many skills, including sexual prowess. He has a torrid affair with a married woman, and finally survives a terrible siege at a walled city he courageously defends. The specter of Imriel's sinister, absent mother, Melisande Shahrizai, looms over the action. Credible and gripping, this is heroic fantasy at its finest. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Traitorous parents, the curse of Kushiel's blood in his veins, and the unspeakable crimes he endured while a child slave severely damaged Imriel. Feeling tainted and incapable of goodness, he fears he will misuse Kushiel's gift. Yet he is compelled to overcome the dark forces that shaped him. The love of Phedre and Joscelin, his beloved adoptive parents and Terre d'Ange's greatest champions, has helped him heal. He does an excellent job of comporting himself as a prince of the blood, third in line from the throne, until he turns 18. Then the conflicts raging within threaten to overwhelm him. Pushed beyond his limits by his first visit to Valerian House with his Shahrizai cousins and angry with the powerful, twisted desire that is Kushiel's legacy, in an impulsive moment he flashes up at Phedre--and changes his world irrevocably. He is now on his path to adulthood, first stop Tiberium. Traveling and living simply, he hopes to find himself. Evoking the same stunned awe that the tryptych of Kushiel's Dart (2001), Kushiel's Chosen (2002), and Kushiel's Avatar (2003) did, the Imriel trilogy is off to a smashing start. Uncommonly self-aware, young Imriel, in his maturing thoughts and emotions, is a tremendously believable, sympathetic character. Meanwhile, Carey continues thoughtfully and respectfully re-envisioning S&M in images of beauty, power, and eroticism firmly rooted in the sacred. Intelligent, sexy, heartbreakingly human, Carey at her intoxicating best. --Paula Luedtke Copyright 2006 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Born the son of two of the Kingdom of Terre d'Ange's most infamous traitors, Imriel de la Courcel has grown to near-manhood under the loving care of the Comtesse of Montreve and her consort, two of the land's greatest heroes. Seeking to find his calling and gain experience as someone other than a "Prince of the Blood," Imriel travels to the country of Tiberium. When political intrigue sparks the city to riot, catching Imriel in its midst, the young man must confront his true self to find the path he was born to follow. Carey (the "Kushiel's Legacy" series-Kushiel's Dart; Kushiel's Chosen; Kushiel's Avatar) has taken her tale of a land blessed by the gods into a new generation as the sons and daughters of familiar characters search for ways to leave their mark on the world. Her exotic alternate earth, set in a Renaissance-like time of cultural flowering and sensual gratification, provides a lush backdrop for a cast of compelling and fascinating characters. With particular appeal to fans of Terry Goodkind, Tanith Lee, and Storm Constantine, this evocative debut in a new trilogy, strong enough to stand on its own but enriched by other series titles, belongs in most libraries. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.