netgirl_y2k

havocthecat wanted me to make a bit of a sales pitch for the Kushiel's Legacy books, since we like a lot of the same media, and since I've talked so much about my affection for them this year.

A few things first, I'm pretty sure the marketing for these books was borked in some way, because prior to them being recommended by a trusted source this year I had picked them up numerous times only to quickly put them down again, going yeah, no. I read the first three books over the course of a month in, I think, February this year, which was when I was still knee-deep in grief and loss of purpose, and was failing to deal with being the owner of an exciting new anxiety disorder; I mention this because sometimes the right books find you at the right time, and I think this was one of those times.

Finally, I am not always good at explaining why I like something, as opposed to why it irks me, but... here is an incomplete list of things I like about the Kushielverse, things you might like too if you are of similar tastes and sensibilities.

-The world-building. The series centres around the country of Terre D'Ange, which is a pseudo mediaeval alternate version of France, where women and men are basically equal; at the beginning of the series the heir to the throne is a woman, who as queen has two daughters of her own, and in contrast to a lot of mediaeval-esque fantasy there is a refreshing absence of wailing and teeth gnashing over the lack of a male heir. It's also a country where het, queer, and poly relationships are all taken equally seriously; if you're traditionally minded and heir to something important you might want to marry and produce some heirs, but it's generally acceptable to have a same sex consort and adopt some heirs.

And it's not just France that has an alternate version; the world-building is global, pretty much every country you can think of has an in universe version. The equivalent of Britain is called Alba and is a little more... pictish, I guess. And how many of these countries clash or don't with equal opportunities, sex-positive Terre D'Ange comes up a lot.

-Rape is heresy. This isn't a huge plot point, but it does come up again and again, and it resonated with me because it was so different to how sexual violence is usually handled in fantasy, where it's either magically not a concern or endemic (Hi, Game of Thrones!) and I loved the idea of a fictional world where rape was heresy against the gods; I should like to live in that world.

It's worth noting that this doesn't mean there isn't a lot of dub-con stuff in there, especially once we get out of Terre d'Ange and into the quest narrative. Most of it is of the it's not rape if you consent, even if not-consenting isn't much of an option variety; I will say that I found it delicately handled, self-aware, and internally consistent when your protagonist is a courtesan-spy who is used to using sex to navigate situations. Still, it's a thing...

-The way religion is handled in the books. I'm an atheist who went through twelve years of catholic school, so my interest in religion is, um, limited. I like that the gods of Terre D'Ange are real, which makes people take things like rape as heresy a mite more seriously, and that their only commandment is Love as thou wilt which a) turns out to be a harder commandment to keep than you think it's going to be, and b) can apply to love of country or love of power games, as well as romantic or sexual love.

I also liked that it wasn't pushing a one true religion thing, the gods of Terre D'Ange are real because all gods are, and you must always show respect to the local deities just on the off-chance.

-Did I mention that the central character in the first three books is a masochistic courtesan spy, who is as smart as a whip, and whose oft repeated mantra is All knowledge is worth having? How's that for different from your usual fantasy heroine.

Because of this, there's a lot of BDSM flavoured sex had in the first three books, which isn't my usual bag of chips at all, but I wasn't put off by it at all, and ultimately got quite into it. So if it's the sort of thing you usually like...

-Relationships between female characters being the driving force of the narrative. There's the one between Phedre (the masochistic courtesan spy protagonist) and Ysandre (the queen); and a lot of the epic fantasy-style quests Phedre ends up on are at Ysandre's behest, or in an endeavour to protect her and her kingdom; it's all very a king and his knight, except it's a queen and her courtesan.

But the most important one is between Phedre and Melisande Shahrizai, her fascinatingly machiavellian lover turned nemesis. And the push and pull between them is both the driving force of the first three novels and absolutely fascinating to watch play out. There's also Melisande herself, a fantastically unrepentant villainess; a woman so cunning and ruthless that Morgana Pendragon, Regina Mills, and Cersei Lannister go to bed at night and dream of one day growing up to be like her.