In the early aughts, Jacqueline Carey made an enormous splash with her debut novel, Kushiel’s Dart. Featuring a reimagined world where fallen angels founded a country called Terre d’Ange, it introduced Phèdre, a courtesan-spy who navigated court politics and intrigue to save her homeland from a Machiavellian plot threatening her beloved homeland. What gave this novel a truly unique spin, however, was the fact that Carey made Phèdre a masochistic submissive—something that, in the books, represented both her greatest flaw and her greatest strength.
While the Kushiel books remain Carey’s most popular titles, she has a versatile bibliography that includes a deconstruction of The Lord of the Rings-style high epic fantasy, urban fantasy, and a retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. With confident prose and intricate plotting, her novels showcase stellar storytelling and imagination.
But given romantasy’s surging popularity, let’s delve into the books that established Jacqueline Carey as a recognized name in the fantasy genre.
Kushiel’s Legacy
Spanning ten novels, Kushiel’s Legacy explores the intrigue and treachery that pervades the nation of Terre d’Ange, Carey’s fantasy analog to France. The first nine novels can be considered a trilogy of trilogies, with each one featuring a different protagonist. The final novel is a companion to the first trilogy about Phèdre.
Kushiel's Dart
The novel that started it all! Born with a distinctive red mote in her eye, Phèdre is an anguissette, a mortal marked by the fallen angel Kushiel to bring balance to the world. The name, however, derives from a specific quality in which those so marked experience pain as pleasure. Recognized and taken in by a mysterious nobleman, she’s taught a variety of topics—but most notably the art of pleasure and the art of espionage. The former makes her a highly prized courtesan at court, but the latter leads her to uncover a treacherous plot to seize the throne.
Kushiel's Chosen
Phèdre returns, and so do the conspirators who seek to remove Terre d’Ange’s young queen and replace her with a ruler of their own choosing.
Kushiel's Avatar
In the decade since the events of Kushiel’s Chosen, Phèdre and her partner, Joscelin, have enjoyed peace. But that ends when Phèdre is charged with rescuing a traitor’s son, who also happens to be third in line for the throne. In exchange, she will finally receive the information necessary to free a beloved friend from eternal imprisonment.
Kushiel's Scion
Carey returns to the world of Terre d’Ange with Imriel, the traitor’s son that Phèdre rescued in the previous trilogy. Imriel bears a heavy legacy. His birth parents are despised traitors, but his adoptive parents—Phèdre and Joscelin—are the nation’s greatest heroes. Some people wish him dead to remove him from the line of succession. Others hate and fear him for being his mother’s son and the potential of growing up to embody her worst traits.
Kushiel's Justice
After spending a year abroad studying at university, Imriel returns home and finds that the spark of interest that exists between him and his cousin, Sidonie, has ignited into full-blown attraction. Knowing that no one would ever accept the union between the heir to the throne and the son of traitors, they embark on a secret affair, hoping that it will burn out their passion. So when the time comes, they end things and Imriel chooses duty over love, leading to disastrous consequences.
Kushiel's Mercy
Terre d’Ange was founded on one sacred precept: Love as thou wilt. Imriel and Sidonie violated this tenet when they ended their love affair. In the wake of those repercussions, the young couple choose to reveal their relationship. It goes badly and the queen decrees that if Sidonie marries Imriel, she will be disinherited. But if Imriel brings back his traitorous mother to be executed, then perhaps the queen might reconsider.
Naamah's Kiss
Born of an ancient tribe, Moirin bears small magics that are a shadow of the great powers her clan once bore. But in addition to that, she feels the presence of mysterious gods in her life, leading her to discover that she also bears the blood of Terre d’Ange. This discovery leads her to leave her home and embark on a quest across the world.
Naamah's Curse
Moirin searches for her missing lover and finds him married to a ruler’s daughter. But their attempts to fix this error leads to her being kidnapped and him being sent into the wilderness. Oops.
Naamah's Blessing
Moirin and her lover travel to Terre d’Ange, her father’s homeland. There, she finds a royal court in disarray: a dead queen, a grief-stricken king, a prince lost in the jungle halfway across the world, and a young princess who’s become the perfect pawn. But Moirin doesn’t believe the prince is dead, so she and her lover set off to find him and bring him back.
Cassiel's Servant
We return to the original Kushiel trilogy and see Phèdre’s story from the perspective of her most loyal companion, Joscelin. A warrior-priest, Joscelin has dedicated his life to the sword and taken a vow of celibacy, but the gods bound him to Phèdre, a courtesan and an anguissette. It’s a partnership that will both challenge him and bring him the greatest love he’ll ever know.
More Works by Carey
If you want to see more of Carey’s immense range, the Santa Olivia duology offers a fascinating take on superheroes in a post-apocalyptic North America.
Santa Olivia
Santa Olivia is a town located in the buffer zone between Mexico and Texas. Here, we meet Loup Garron. You see, the U.S. government did some genetic engineering that resulted in human weapons with superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and a complete lack of fear. Loup is the daughter of one such soldier, and she bears her father’s special traits. When her mother dies, Loup is sent to live with the other orphans. But as injustice upon injustice is dealt to the town by occupying soldiers, the orphaned children come up with an idea. Loup will assume the identity of the town’s patron saint and use her abilities to avenge the town. What could possibly go wrong?
