Beemouse Laboratories

I just finished reading “Kushiel’s Dart” by Jacqueline Carey. I picked it up because I thought the premise sounded good and trashy (and everyone is in need of a trashy novel now and then, right?), without having any idea that the novel would actually be good. It’s a truly epic tale involving long journeys, battles, espionage, treachery, etc. I usually don’t read “epic fantasies”, because even “Lord of the Rings” couldn’t hold my attention (oh, the shame), and I barely made it through the highly recommended “Game of Thrones” by George R. R. Martin. I have a really hard time remembering characters when the cast numbers more than, oh, say, twenty, especially if they have names derived from languages I don’t speak.

I won’t go into the plot of Kushiel’s Dart, because you can read about it on Amazon or a billion other places, but I just wanted to say that in spite of the heroine’s “shocking” sexual identification (she is masochistic), she is so lovable and real.  I personally don’t find that uncommon (hey, I live on the west coast, we’re pretty chill about things like that here), but I saw some reviews warning of extremely graphic sex scenes, O reader beware!  Anyway, I found myself earnestly cheering for this unlikely heroine, when normally a 912 page fantasy novel would have me snoozing by page 12.

I don’t know why I write about the books I read… I’m not deluded enough to think that I’m writing a “real review”, but I think that all the books one reads, especially well-written fiction books, can add something to your brain files– they can enhance your understanding of the human experience in a truly meaningful way.  I absolutely think Kushiel’s Dart is one of those books, and I highly recommend it– especially to people who would find sadomasochistic sex scenes highly shocking.