Kushiel's Chosen

Written by Jacqueline Carey

Narrated by Anne Flosnik

Mighty Kushiel, of rod and weal

Late of the brazen portals

With blood-tipp'd dart a wound unhealed

Pricks the eyen of chosen mortals.

The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The inhabiting race rose from the seed of angels and men, and they live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phegrave;dre noacute; Delaunay was sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, the first to recognize that she is one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. He trained Phegrave;dre in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber-and, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze.

When she stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren't far off the mark.

The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phegrave;dre's brow, and they are not finished with her. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown...and those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Mar 9, 2009
• ISBN: 9781400179503

Jacqueline Carey

New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Carey was born in 1964. After receiving BA degrees in Psychology and English Literature, she embarked on a writing career. Kushiel’s Avatar is her third fantasy novel, completing the Kushiel’s Legacy trilogy, which also includes Kushiel's Dart and Kushiel's Chosen.

Reviews for Kushiel's Chosen

[awahlbom_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A sequel to _Kushiel's Dart_, wherein Phèdre attempts to find out what happened to the beautiful traitress Melisande Shahrizai. The search brings her to the republic of La Serenissima, to the terrible prison island of La Dolorosa, to the archipelagoes of Illyria, and to the brink of madness and death...The book starts off well, but a little more than 200 pages in I got stuck for over a month. For nearly a hundred pages, the only thing that really happened was a lot of scheming in Serenissiman politics, a young Serenissiman (one-quarter D'Angeline) nobleman unsuccessfully wooing Phèdre, and Phèdre and Joscelin quarrelling, which bored me stiff in the long run and almost killed my desire to finish the bloody thing.Once I got through that part, the pace picked up again, and it took me only a few days to finish the rest. Overall, I'm not too displeased, but those 100-ish pages were almost too much by being too little, as it were.

[msaucier818 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fantastic follow-up to Kushiel's Dart. This book had many favorite characters return alongside many new characters that added greatly to the story. Without getting into any plot details, I continue to love how the story explored new parts of this alternate European setting and infused more importance into the multiple religions of the world. As someone who loves European history, it is really fun to think about all of these possibilities. I will certainly continue this series.

[wanderlustlover_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

2018 Reread:

2018 Reread:

This totally happened for some friends (all the way up through book two for now), and I remain forever in the charms and arms of Jaqueline Carey's type of writing. I love her vocabulary and lyricism, and they I'm just stolen away forever by her fully flushed cultures, religions, politics, histories, and how they all overlap. Nothing about this series ages in the years since purchasing it on each first publication dates or reread since.

[linyarai · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Even better than the first one. I can't believe how much she has to go through.

[rosetyper9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is my least favorite book in Phedre's trilogy. I mean, I know Phedre is all about the pain but the way she treats Jocelyn and how she keeps running back to Melisande for more punishment. I want to tell to have some pride and smack her on the end.

Obviously, it all works out but there are moments when I really worried about these characters and the boys! Oh the boys -- well, I won't spoil it but it hurt my heart.

I love this series and will read it over and over for the rest of my life. This is the third re-read btw.

[dabofdarkness · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Note: It is possible to read this book as a stand alone as relevant events from Book 1 are reflected upon in enough detail for a reader of Book 2 to grasp the point. However, I highly recommend reading Book 1 as it is just so damn good!We return once again to the alternate history of Terre D’Ange (France) and the surrounding lands. Book 2 picks up several months after Book 1 ended. Melisande Sharhizai is still at large. However, very early in Book 2 our heroine Phedre receives a challenge of sorts from Melisande – her sangoire cloak is returned to her via a carrier from Caerdicca Unitas (Italy) and more specifically La Serenissima (Venice). Phedre truly believes that Terre D’Ange and the queen (Ysandre) are in danger so long as Melisande is free. The challenge sets in motion events that will change Phedre’s life forever.Here we have another masterfully crafted book from Jacqueline Carey. Sometimes sequels aren’t near as good as the first in the series but this series holds it’s own weight as it progresses. I have read this book several times now and this is my second time listening to it. First, I love how the characters continue to grow and how the world continues to expand as Phedre’s travels take her further afield. Second, Melisande continues to make a most worthy opponent. Phedre definitely has her work cut out for her in this book!Once again, we are told the story through Phedre’s eyes. She was raised in the Court of the Night Blooming flowers and being subservient and unseen (expect maybe as a pretty plaything) comes easily to her. She polished off her training in Anafiel Delaunay’s house where she learned history, politics, languages, and how to think in a rational manner. Both served her well in Book 1 and they do so again in Book 2. Yet this journey she comes to understand her powers a bit more – her will power to live, her ability to forgive, her strength to deny Melisande. That which yields, is not always weak (a quote from Kushiel’s Dart).There were two interesting themes that twined throughout the novel: loyalty and grief. Again and again, we see Phedre and other characters having to figure out where their loyalties really lie – with queen and country? To the deities they serve? To family? I think Joscelin struggled the most with this one. Grief made an interesting thread throughout the book. What is a mortal’s grief compared to the grief of a goddess? How do you mourn the passing of something not of a physical nature, such as friendship or love? These were some big ideas to contemplate even as my mind was fully engaged in the day to day decisions of the characters.This time through, I listened to the book as part of a read along. It was a great experience and let me see things about the book I had not seen before. For instance, I had not really noticed before that Phedre is, on occasion, a little bit of a snob. Now I see it in small things and I see how it ties to her upbringing and culture. This in turn let’s me see it in other Terre D’Ange characters. And this leads to a nuanced part of the plot of this book – how Terre D’Ange has been a bit xenophobic towards other cultures for too long and it has cost them in the larger arena of politics. This book (and the entire series) is awesome because you can reread it and take something new away each time.As with Kushiel’s Dart, there is also plenty of sex and it is told in just as much detail as the rest of the story. You may blush a bit. The sex scenes serve to show certain aspects of the characters involved or to move the plot forward. I never feel that space is wasted on these scenes. Plus, some of them are rather educational in and of themselves. ;)As with Book 1, I was completely swept up into Phedre’s world once again. Jacqueline Carey makes great use of languages to round out a culture. If you’re a bit of a linguistics geek, you will love this aspect of the series. It’s a rich world, a devilishly intriguing plot, and characters you will never forget. Reading it the 7th time was just as good as reading it the first time.The Narration: Anne Flosnik is once again the voice of Phedre, and a great fit she is too! Phedre’s voice is how we experience the story and, hence, Phedre’s emotions come through the loudest. Flosnik did a great job imbuing the characters with emotions, but especially, Phedre. My heart broke and soared for her multiple times throughout the tale! The linguistics keep piling up in this series and Flosnik met the challenge magnificnetly.

[bellafoxx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In the second book of this Trilogy we continue with the political intrigue following the young queen of Terre d’Ange. The people love her but there are some who feel another should wear the crown.

Phèdre has once again stumbled onto a plot that threatens her homeland from an old enemy and she goes in search of her. There is treachery and Phèdre is betrayed and has to survive and thwart an assassination threat by her wits. This includes figuring out how the assassination is going to take place.

We are again reminded of Phèdre’s beauty, resourcefulness and how she is born to experience pain as pleasure by every time she melts when a certain person gets near. We also get an overwhelming dose of Phèdre’s self pity, all the people who have died because of her and how guilty she feels. She also treats Jocelyn horribly and feels guilty about it, but doesn’t change her behavior.

Something else that bothers me is the way Phèdre just shrugs off being raped as the inevitable consequence of being a courtesan. If you can ignore all this and concentrate on the plot line you would probably feel this is well written, however it could have been a much shorter book without all the guilt trips, and constant repetitions.

[atreic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this trilogy, although I waited too long before reviewing it, and they have all flowed together in my brain

[steph1203-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such an awesome book! Just as good as the first book; I'm so happy I already have the third, I'm going to start that very soon!

[satyridae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

9/2010: Same as it ever was. I sink into this book and luxuriate.

2008: Re-read. Still dig it.

The second book in the trilogy. Lush, rich, sensual, escapist. Layers of details, plots within plots. Perfect for taking one's mind away from one's worries.

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Summary: Phèdre nó Delaunay helped save her beloved homeland of Terre d'Ange from a barbarian invasion, and now Ysandre de la Courcel is safe on the throne. Phèdre has been adjusting to life as the Comtesse de Montrève, but when a mysterious package arrives from the city of La Serenissima, she knows that her brief respite is at an end. Because the barbarian invasion was defeated, but Melisande, its mastermind, escaped from custody... which means that there is a traitor in the very highest echelons of the government, and Ysandre's throne may not be secure after all. In order to find out, Phèdre must re-enter Namaah's service - something that does not sit well with Joscelin, her loyal yet conflicted guard and sometime lover. But even as Phèdre's decision drives them apart, it will take her deep within the politics not only of Terre d'Ange, but La Serenissima as well.Review: Oooooh, these books are so good! I didn't love this one *quite* as much as I loved Kushiel's Dart (for reasons I'll get to in a minute), but overall: SO GOOD. These books are big and fat and totally absorbing, drawing me into the story even when I'm scatter-brained and otherwise short of attention. They have a good mix of sexytimes and scheming and action. Phèdre's voice is wonderful and rich and evocative, even more so the more I read. Carey's writing continues to be wonderful, and there are these little sparkling lines or moments or scenes that are simply perfection. The books manage to be epic in scope and yet very immediate in feeling and detail. The characters are absolutely wonderful, completely winning me over and then breaking my heart, again and again. In short, every wonderful thing I said about Kushiel's Dart applies here, just as much. So why dock it a half-star? Joscelin. Or rather, the lack of Joscelin. I understand the narrative reasons why Phèdre and Joscelin had to spend most of this book apart, but I got surprisingly attached to him by the end of Kushiel's Dart, so it felt like the story was missing that little spark when it was just Phèdre by herself. I also thought the subplot with the Yeshuites (i.e. what Joscelin was doing in the meantime) was not as well developed as it could have been, although I don't know that I would have been completely happy with any explanation. Even so, I loved the pants off this book, and can't wait to dive into the third one in the series. 4.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: Oh my goodness, yes, highly recommended to people who like epic fantasy. Read this book. Well, read Kushiel's Dart, since they are not at all stand-alone, and then you will be totally hooked like I was, and not need my advice to read this one too.

[cameling_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The sequel to Kushiel's Dart does not disappoint. The first in the series introduced Phedre no Delauney as an anguisette, the red mote in her eye indicating that she's been chosen by Kushiel to follow a path of pain and pleasure. Trained in the skills of a courtesan of the Night Court, she is also trained to be a spy for the master of her marque, Afaniel Delauney. In this, the court intrigue continues as traitor to the crown, Melisande Shahrizai escapes from prison. Suspecting another traitor within the court of Queen Ysandre de la Courcey of having assisted in the escape, Phedre, now a Countess having inherited Delauney's Montreve title and estate, and her merry band of ex-sailors and her Cassile protector, Joscelin, once again embark on a secret quest to find answers, find Melisande and to save the Queen. Phedre, now experienced in palace intrigue, war strategies, and having suffered the loss of friends and love, finds herself taking on the mantle of a leader, suffering the consequences of certain decisions and understanding not just the weakness of her enemies but also her own.This book literally kept me up all night. I could not put it down until I had come to the last page despite its rather hefty size.

[samuraibunny · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Disclaimer: Since this is the second book of the series, please don't read this review if you haven't read the first book yet. Unless you really don't care about spoilers, then go right ahead. Sorry, had to go back to the beginning to see where I can start without significant spoilers. Anyways, the majority of the book is about Phedre chasing after Melisande and trying to stop her devious plots. In addition to that, Phedre and Joscelin have problems that have Phedre mopey. If it sounds like I didn't like the book, that is far from my true feelings. The book may have been a tad slow in the beginning, but midway through the book, it picked right up until the very end. It was interesting to read about how Phedre adapted to her various surroundings (different countries and such). She dealt with new trials and tribulations. Her growth as a character really shown through in this book, in my opinion. One thing I do admire in this series is the weaving of religion into the plot. Even though the different countries follow different gods, they are all somehow intricately related, perhaps an allegory to our own world and its religions? It's a possibility, if only a suggestion. Anways, I digress.If you liked the first book, you will probably like this book as well. I will now be off to twirl my thumbs, awaiting the arrival of the third book of the series.

[mssbluejay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This sequel was just as good as the first novel, if not better. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so good that once finished, I immediately purchased the third novel in the series.

[thelorelei_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was not sure how well Carey would pull off the follow up to her wildly inventive debut, "Kushiel's Dart." As I got a few chapters into the book, I found myself breathing a deep sigh of relief, because Phèdre's personality and wit were intact, and so was Carey's lush prose. The only challenge that remained was for the plot to equal or surpass the first book in urgency and intrigue. In a roundabout way, I'd say that it does match up to its predecessor, but takes a slightly different tone in doing so. I think that the most intelligent thing Carey did was to take the action beyond the borders of Terre d'Ange. The first book did take Phèdre to her country's nearest neighbors, but in "Kushiel's Chosen," she finds she must travel even further to continue her game of wits with the escaped traitor of the first book. This is also a great strength of Phèdre's character arc; Carey is relentless in her exploration of the thin line between love and hate, and Melisande is the perfect vehicle. Through her we see the depths of Phèdre's capacity for love, as well as for strength of character and determination. "Kushiel's Chosen" takes the characters to whom we've grown quite attached, and throws them into something of a swashbuckler of a tale. Considering the act it had to follow, I think this was the best possible choice of narrative. All in all, it's a worthy sequel to "Kushiel's Dart."

[jasmyn9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the second book of the Kushiel's Legacy series, Phedre and her Cassiline, Joscelin, journey to La Serenissima in search of Melisande. But, as always, there is more to the game than anyone suspects at first. Phedre must learn to navigate her way through a whole new politcal climate and use all her wits to try and decipher the clues she has which lead her on a not so merry journey across the seas, where she encounters pirates, gods, and ancient rituals. She is forced to look at herself in a new light time and time again, and make sacrifices she never thought she would have needed.I was happy to see so many of my favorite characters back for a second book. The change of scenery and introduction of the La Serenissiman characters was the perfect addition to her already fantastic mix. The people and the setting meshed in a way that improved the flow of the story. Throwing in the action, which never seems to stop for Phedre, you have the perfect combination for an amazing book.5/5

[lisamaria_c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kushiel's Dart is the first book in this series, and if you haven't you really should read that first. There is a lot of adult material in these books--of a kind frankly I'd ordinarily find off-putting. The heroine is an anguissette--a masochist for whom pain is not just an integral part of her sexuality but her profession--she's a prostitute. Despite that, I loved these first three books centered around Phedre among my favorite books in the fantasy genre, and this middle book in my opinion doesn't fall off from the first. In this book we travel to an land reminiscent of Venice and the political intrigues is deftly done--it helps that this book features Melisande, a terrific and complex villain. This novel is a fast-paced read and Phedre's voice is so engaging and Carey's writing often so evocative and sensuous I just fell into the book and it didn't let go onto the end. The concluding book after this, Kushiel's Avatar, in my opinion is even stronger.

[silentq_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can never seem to stop with re-reading just the first book in this trilogy. :) Phedre is challenged by Melisande to reenter the service of Namaah in order to thwart yet another plot. She ends up in this world's version of Venice, afloat amidst plots and counter plots, trying to resist falling prey to Melisande yet again.

[willowcove · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

 A truly great series. It's got everything: court intrigue, sex, fantasy....

[aerrin99 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A villain from the first novel throws a gauntlet at Phedre's feet, a message that our heroine interprets as a challenge, both to her skills and to the safety of her queen. The ensuing story pushes the boundaries of Carey's world, taking us out of Terre D'Ange and into La Serenissima, a reflection of medieval Venice.In glancing at the professional reviews on Amazon, I see that they found this an inferior work to the first - I disagree. I think Carey grows stronger here, her world richer and more interesting, and her characters deeper.I also think that Carey's ability to write political intrigue saw a marked improvement in this novel. While it helped that I already knew the important names of Terre D'Ange, she still had an entire country's worth of important figures to dump, and not once did I feel boggled or baffled. The mysteries and secrets flowed much more naturally here, and as a result, Phedre also felt much more competent.What I really adored about this novel, though, was the thick tension between characters, and the way difficult circumstances forced them to grow, both in each other and as individuals. Their struggles felt very real and very intense.I also adore the way Carey keeps adding to her world brick by brick. The reflection of cultures we know - Roman and Greek gods have counterparts in this world, as do Nordic and Gaelic deities - makes it fairly easy to follow, but doesn't grow dull, primarily because Carey isn't afraid to let her characters truly and completely /live/ in a world shaped by these individuals, and she isn't afraid to tackle questions of religion, of devotion, honor, blasphemy. Because of this, the cultures we encounter and the gods they worship remain, always, something more than window dressing.Which is probably what appeals to me most about these books - they feel so vibrant and alive, in place, in character, in rich emotion. It's hard not to want to live there.

[laileana · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This novel picks up directly where the first left off. Phedre and Joscelin each seem to reach a peace with who and what they are in the end of the book. Phedre has all new adventures as she searches for the traitor Melissande-who has not stopped playing her yet.

[dbhutch_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Once again Ms. Carey immerses us in the world or Terra D'Ange - and gives us more of it. Our lovely Phedre gets pulled back into the fate of the realm after she gets her beloved cloack in a package, and from the onely person who would have it - Melisandre. so the traitor is still somewhere, and puts Phedre on notice that she is up to something. Phedre sets out to find out what, with old friends and new, gets proposed to, locked up in jail, sees close friends killed, captured by pirates, promises to clean a Goddess's temple, and much more. The reader cannot helped but be pulled in quickly, in this well paced tale, with incredible detail.

[andersocheva · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A sequel to _Kushiel's Dart_, wherein Phèdre attempts to find out what happened to the beautiful traitress Melisande Shahrizai. The search brings her to the republic of La Serenissima, to the terrible prison island of La Dolorosa, to the archipelagoes of Illyria, and to the brink of madness and death...The book starts off well, but a little more than 200 pages in I got stuck for over a month. For nearly a hundred pages, the only thing that really happened was a lot of scheming in Serenissiman politics, a young Serenissiman (one-quarter D'Angeline) nobleman unsuccessfully wooing Phèdre, and Phèdre and Joscelin quarrelling, which bored me stiff in the long run and almost killed my desire to finish the bloody thing.Once I got through that part, the pace picked up again, and it took me only a few days to finish the rest. Overall, I'm not too displeased, but those 100-ish pages were almost too much by being too little, as it were.

[molliewatts · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Queen of Terre D'Ange, Ysandre de la Courcel, once again is in need of the services of the lands most herioc courtesan, Phedre no Delauney de Montreve. This time Phedre and Joscelin must travel to La Serenissima, where the game of political intrigue, while played with less finesse than in Terre D'Ange, is still played with ferocity. There Phedre must flush out the latest conspiracy against her queen, while ensuring that her own life remains in the balance.

[roguebelle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The second installment in the Kushiel's Legacy series continues the high quality and gripping qualities of the first. The world gets a bit larger here, and Carey adds several new cutures to her fascinating alternate history. The intricacy and detail is astounding -- you really get the sense that the world could have turned out this way, given the alterations to history she makes several centuries before the story's timeline. Added to that is Phedre's increasing awareness of her role in the universe and no end of romantic entanglements. A truly brilliant novel.(And Ysandre's climactic scene -- but that would be telling! -- is still my favourite part of the entire series).

[jkcollins_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The tale of Phedre continues and is even better than the last! Many 'omigod!' moments!

[conniejo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this immediately after I read the first one, which is something I never do since I tend to wear out halfway through the second title when I marathon an author like that. I disliked the first one for the use of flowery language, and while that's still being used, I've either gotten used to it or it's been toned way down.This volume is about Phedre going after Melisandre, and what happens when she succeeds. The first... third or so of the volume is a little slow since it's mostly Phedre and her Chevaliers looking for clues. There is also a slow buildup of a side story involving Jocelin and the Yeshuites, basically those who worship Christ instead of Elua, and how Jocelin has to make a choice between his rough relationship with Phedre and as a leader of the Yeshuites. Phedre's interest in the Yesuites lies in studying their ancient texts looking for a way to free Hyacinthe.After the first third, Phedre starts out on another extremely epic adventure through the neighboring countries and their different cultures. I didn't enjoy these countries as much as I enjoyed the country from last volume with the Dalriada and the Cruinthe, but it still made for a really enjoyable story, with a similar, possibly more suspenseful, conclusion for the story.Unfortunately, there's a really easy loose end left open for the next book. I'm not a really big fan of the most obvious path, but I'll still read the next volume and likely enjoy it quite a bit. The links between Europe and the countries surrounding Terre d'Ange was a little less obvious in the last volume (save for the parallels between Hellenic culture and the Nordic/Skaldic gods as well as the Picts), in this volume, right from the redrawn map, it's pretty obvious that every country links to one in Europe. It was kind of a relief to me, because it really helps me picture the geography better.I didn't like it quite as much as the first one since a lot of what happens seems a little less exciting, but it was still a fantastic read.

[lewispike · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Continuing shortly after Kushiel's Dart this continues the mix of high intrigue, power politics, spying and BDSM, although the latter is rather downplayed from my memory of the previous book in the series.This might be because, in best fantasy trilogy mode, Phédre tours the world, well parts of it: although in fairness she did a fair bit of traveling in book 1 too.In essence it is simple. The sangoire cloak has Phédre convinced that Melisande is still playing games. She decides she has to find out more, so she returns from an idyllic country life with Joscelin to her life as an anguisette and spy. Her investigations lead her to suspect Melisande is in La Serenissima (Venice under a very thin veneer) and off she goes. Intrigue, excitement and more follow.Of course the fact that this is the second book in a trilogy is a bit of a give-away, unless book 3 is called Kushiel's Wrath (and it's not).There is that same familiar, and well-worked mix of stories, and the not-quite familiar. All in all a success and I'll be looking forward to book 3 soon.

[whitewavedarling · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book lives up to the precedent that Carey set in her first novel. The writing is gorgeous, and the book overall is one that you simply can't put aside. It takes some time to get back into the characters if you're reading the book a while after you've read the first one (and I wouldn't suggest reading them out of order), but you get there fairly quickly, and the energy is well worth it. There's not too much repetition to catch up first time readers of the series, and the characters are even more engaging than they were in the first go round. These books are full, exotic, and undeniably engaging.

[clong_818048 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After very much enjoying the first book of this series, I was looking forward to reading the continuing adventures of Phédre and Joscelin. In my opinion (which doesn’t appear to be shared by other raters of this book), Kushiel's Chosen is not nearly as good of a book. Partly this is an issue of pacing: the first half of Chosen is very slow, much heavier on intrigue and speculation than action. In fact, by the half way point I was almost ready to give up on the book as not being my cup of tea, but then things suddenly picked up. The last 300 pages or so are a return to the non-stop action and compelling storytelling that marked Kushiel's Dart. But the problems with this book go beyond a slow beginning. The villain in Kushiel's Dart was a Great Man who just happened to be a Barbarian king out to conquer Kushiel's homeland. He was an interesting character whom we saw lots of. The villain in Kushiel's Chosen is a simpering fool whom we barely see. In Dart, Melisande is an active, brilliant manipulative femme fatale, a delicious villainess. In Chosen, she is a hiding blackmailer with an over-reaching plot, and gets little screen time. Joscelin’s fascination with all things Yeshuite was disappointing, and his absence for vast portions of the narrative was a loss. In Dart, sadism seemed the passion of a dark sliver of Terra d’Ange high society; in Chosen it seemed implausibly universal. Some of the plot left me scratching my head as well. I never really understood Phédre’s decision to return to Namaah’s service. Kazan’s ransom plan seemed unlikely given his sailors’ prowess and his most wanted status in La Serenissima. The side trip to visit the Unforgiven seemed an obvious, yet not terribly plausible, setup for the later necessities of the plot. The quickness of the return to the capital seemed contradictory to earlier travel realities (from both books). And the fact that a young Yeshuite girl would know of the secret entrance and to the temple where the climax would play out, not to mention the carefully guarded secret of how the Goddess “speaks” to the people, seemed ridiculous. And I am astonished to say that even the sex scenes came off as almost boring. Nicola’s knots were the hottest thing in this book. Still, I have no doubt that I will eventually pick up the later books of the series to see what comes next.