From Publishers Weekly
HThis brilliant and daring debut, set in a skewed Renaissance world (people worship Jesus-like "Blessed Elua" but also demigods), catapults Carey immediately into the top rank of fantasy novelists. In the character of PhŠdre n¢ Delaunay, "a whore's unwanted get" sold into indentured servitude in opulent Night Court, the author has created a particularly strong and memorable female lead, and has surrounded her with a large and varied cast, from nobles and priests to soldiers and peasants. An engrossing plot focuses first on court intrigue and treachery, then, in a surprising shift, on high adventure, travel in barbarian lands including Alba (England) and war. Two demigods rule PhŠdre: Naamah, for sensual love; and Kushiel, for sado-masochistic pain, his "dart" being a blood spot in PhŠdre's eye. Not everyone will go for PhŠdre's graphic if elegantly described sexual encounters, which usually involve the infliction of pain, whether from lashing, branding or even cutting. PhŠdre, however, is no clich‚d sexpot but a complex character motivated by religious zeal. In one amusing scene, a group of sailors on the march chants: "Whip us till we're on the floor, we'll turn around and ask for more, we're PhŠdre's Boys!" At the end, the heroine reminds one of an equally strong-minded sister whose home was Tara. No mere feminist novel, this is an assured and magnificent book that will appeal to both male and female readers. (June 4)Forecast: With blurbs from Delia Sherman and Storm Constantine, plus major print advertising both genre and mainstream, this first novel could rack up impressive sales.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Trained from childhood to a life of servitude and espionage, Ph?dre n? Delaunay serves her master, Anafiel, as a courtesan and spy, ferreting out the dangerous secrets of the noble houses of Terre d'Ange. When she uncovers a treasonous conspiracy, however, her life takes on a new and deadly purpose. Set in a world reminiscent of late medieval and early Renaissance Europe, Carey's first novel portrays a society based upon political and sexual intrigue. The author's sensual prose, suitable for adult readers, should appeal to fans of Tanith Lee, Storm Constantine, and Terry Goodkind. Recommended for adult fantasy collections. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
*Starred Review* When Mary Magdalene wept over the dying Christ, her tears mixed with blood in the earth beneath him. From that soil the great earth mother formed Blessed Elua, the most beloved of angels, and from him and his band of eight angels descended the beautiful D'Angelines. Phedre, a D'Angeline, is trained in the exotic Night Court to be a courtesan of the highest order. As she learns before she is 10, she is marked by the angel Kushiel, one of Elua's eight, whose path to ecstasy is one of pain and submission. Phedre leaves the Night Court to serve Anafiel Delauney. She becomes devoted to him, and he treats her like a favorite daughter, teaching her diplomacy, strategy, and the ability to recognize deeply layered patterns of intrigue. Because her beauty and sexual skills make her a coveted prize, her capabilities for observing and listening make her privy to some of the deadliest secrets whispered in her highborn clients' bedrooms. Thus she lives out her destiny as Kushiel's dart. Compelled by honor, duty, and loyalty to her country, Phedre ultimately serves the queen of Terre d'Ange in a time of dire need. Making a marvelous debut, Carey spins a breathtaking epic starring an unflinching yet poignantly vulnerable heroine. The tale blends Christianity and paganism with fascinating results, such as arguing, through deft treatment of alternative sexual practices, the sacred potential inherent in every sexual encounter. Paula Luedtke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
"When Love cast me out, it was Cruelty who took pity on me." Ph￯﾿ﾽdre was the product of an ill-advised union. The daughter of a merchant prince's son and an adept of the Night Court, she was born into a society of courtesans who followed in the service of their angels. She was a flawed child with the mark of the devil.

Sold into indentured servitude by indifferent parents, she had little reason for hope. But hope would come in the form of a banned poet named Anafiel Delaunay, who would become her mentor. He wanted her for her mark; he knew what it meant and how he could use it. He taught Ph￯﾿ﾽdre to move within the royal halls virtually unseen -- to look, listen, and think. She learned to spy in places of power, and her greatest danger would be that eventually she would know too much.

Kushiel's Dart is an exotic, edgy, and sensual novel about politics, intrigue, betrayal, conspiracies, and desire. But a Harlequin romance this isn't, trust me. This is a well-written story that simply amazed me. (Jim Killen)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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.

Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart—a tale about the violent death of an old age and the birth of a new. It is a novel of grandeur, luxury, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. A world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, deposed rulers, and a besieged Queen, a warrior-priest, the Prince of Travellers, barbarian warlords, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess...all seen through the unflinching eyes of an unforgettable heroine.

FROM THE CRITICS

Robert Jordan

A very sophisticated fantasy, intricately plotted and a fascinating read.

Storm Constantine

Kushiel's Dart takes fantasy into shadowy, exotic corners it rarely dares to tread. The standard of the writing is so high, it's hard to believe this is a first novel. Jacqueline Carey is a writer to watch, as the cliché goes, but more important a writer to read.

Eric Van Lustbader

Perhaps once in a decade, if you are fortunate, you discover a debut novel as intoxicating as Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart. Part reimagined history, this sumptuous, spellbinding fantasy is kaleidoscopic in breadth, intimate in detail. It is sure to be read and talked about for years to come.

Library Journal

Trained from childhood to a life of servitude and espionage, Ph dre n Delaunay serves her master, Anafiel, as a courtesan and spy, ferreting out the dangerous secrets of the noble houses of Terre d'Ange. When she uncovers a treasonous conspiracy, however, her life takes on a new and deadly purpose. Set in a world reminiscent of late medieval and early Renaissance Europe, Carey's first novel portrays a society based upon political and sexual intrigue. The author's sensual prose, suitable for adult readers, should appeal to fans of Tanith Lee, Storm Constantine, and Terry Goodkind. Recommended for adult fantasy collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The physically exquisite inhabitants of Terre d'Ange reckon themselves descended from an angel, Blessed Elua. Among them, the arts of sexual expression are highly developed, with the various Houses of the Night Court catering for all needs. Young Phedre is unremarkably lovely-except that one eye is marked with a pinprick of red: Kushiel's Dart distinguishes her as a rare "anguissette" whose gift is to enjoy any form of sexual stimulation, including pain. Sold by her parents, she becomes the indentured servant of the noble Anafiel Delauney, who arranges for her an orthodox education-languages, politics, history, philosophy-as well as training in sexual skills. He also helps her sharpen her observational and critical faculties-she'll be not merely an exotic sexual toy, but a capable and unobtrusive spy. Phedre accepts only those clients she chooses, and receives no payment, though the satisfied ones give rich gifts. The information astute Phedre gathers for Delauney feeds some mysterious purpose he refuses to reveal-but his intrigues involve the Royal Family and the succession to the throne, as well as revenge. Delauney's former partner, now rival, the cold, calculating, and utterly ruthless Melisande Shahrizai nestles at the center of a series of truly Byzantine plots, intrigues, and treacheries; she aims not only to destroy Delauney but to rule Terre d'Ange. Phedre cannot resist Melisande or prevent Delauney's downfall, and is sold into slavery among the barbarian Skaldi. And Phedre's adventures, like Melisande's intrigues, have only just begun. Superbly detailed, fascinatingly textured, and sometimes unbearably intense: a resonant, deeply satisfying, and altogether remarkabledebut-but, emphatically, not for squeamish or judgmental readers.

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