Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

We are starting a new series called “If You Like” which will be hosted by various readers, authors and bloggers of Dear Author. The purpose of the post and the comments is to explore what we like about a particular iconic author and what other authors have books like the iconic author. Val Kovalin who writes about fantasy fiction at ValKovalin.com and m/m fiction at Obsidian Bookshelf is hosting this If You Like entry on Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel series. Val Kavolin did a great piece on Julia Spencer Fleming, a favorite of author of mine.
***
If you like Jacqueline Carey …

Jacqueline Carey writes the Kushiel’s Legacy epic fantasy series (six books: Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen, Kushiel’s Avatar , Kushiel’s Justice , Kushiel’s Scion , Kushiel’s Mercy), which may appeal to fans of historical romance and fantasy romance. To see why, please read on and rest assured that I don’t include any plot-spoilers.

Setting (era): Medieval.

Setting (geographic): Action takes place in Terre d’Ange (Land of the Angels), loosely based upon medieval France. The epic plotlines range across recognizable equivalents to …

Dear Ms. Carey,

I loved the original Kushiel trilogy. I found the heroine Phèdre nó Delaunay, her story as a premier courtesan and the only anguisette in generations, and the Terre D’Ange setting fascinating and compelling. All those things were enough to keep me reading the second trilogy about her adopted son, Imriel, despite the fact I never found him quite as interesting.

Imriel de la Courcel nó Montrève has spent his entire life burdened by the past. He’s the son of the traitorous, Melisande Shahrizai, whose manipulative plots sent Terre D’Ange into a war that nearly destroyed it. As a child, he was sold into slavery to a man who elevated perversion and abuse to an artform. And finally, he was saved from that bondage and raised to adulthood by Phèdre and her consort, Joscelin, who are considered heroes of the realm. In short, he has a lot of baggage and his narrative makes sure you know this again and again.

That’s more than enough issues for him to work through but in the previous two books of the trilogy, Kushiel’s Scion and Kushiel’s Justice, Imriel found himself with another burden — one that was as …

Dear Ms. Carey,

Your voice is like none other than I have ever read. You have a way of making a 700 page book seem like a glorious journey instead of an arduous task. When I first recieved the book, I was a little daunted by its size. I had vague memories of the manner in which I devoured Kushiel’s Dart but was certain that this could not hold the same treasure. While it doesn’t hold the same magic as the first trilogy, it is certainly heads and tales above much of what is published.

Kushiel’s Scion returns to the world imagined in the first three Kushiel series but the narrator Phedre is replaced by Imriel nó Montrève de la Courcel. Imriel is the son of the Phedre’s greatest enemy and possibly greatest weakness-Melisande Shahrizai. Imriel endured terrible things at the hands of the Mahrkagir in DarÅ¡anga. And Phedre suffered terribly to win Imriel, herself and Joscelin their freedom.

Imriel, as he nears manhood, struggles with his legacy from his mother, his shame over Phedre’s torment at the hands of his mother, and his own dark desires. …