SFF Author: Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey

Return to Terre d’Ange with Kushiel’s Scion, sequel to the Kushiel’s Legacy trilogy. This book follows Phèdre’s adopted son, Imriel, son of the treacherous Melisande and third in line for the D’Angeline throne. Carey does an excellent job of developing Imriel into a complicated, troubled young man without in any way betraying the character he was in Kushiel’s Avatar: haunted but with the proverbial heart of gold.

Imriel is coming of age here,

Kushiel’s Mercy by Jacqueline Carey

I quote Yeats with Melisande Shahrizai firmly in mind. For the last two books I’ve waited to see the perilous beauty again, knowing she’d have to appear again at some point. Her machinations and her legacy have always been at the heart of the series, even when she was unseen.

At the beginning of Kushiel’s Mercy, Melisande’s shadow lies heavily over her estranged son, Imriel de la Courcel. Imriel is in love with the Dauphine, Sidonie, but Sidonie’s mother the Queen does not fully trust Imriel.

Naamah’s Kiss by Jacqueline Carey

In Naamah’s Kiss, Jacqueline Carey returns to the world she created in the Kushiel’s Legacy series, and introduces a delightful new heroine.

Moirin mac Fainche is a descendant of Alais de la Courcel and a member of the Maghuin Dhonn tribe of Alba. On her father’s side, she’s D’Angeline, with lines of descent from Naamah and Anael. When a tragedy changes Moirin’s young life, and an initiatory rite reveals that she has a destiny beyond the sea, Moirin travels to Terre d’Ange in search of her father.

Naamah’s Curse by Jacqueline Carey

At the end of Naamah’s Kiss, Moirin’s lover Bao set out on his own, uncomfortable with the magic that bound him and Moirin together. As Naamah’s Curse begins, Moirin undertakes a dangerous journey to find him. The beginning is on the slow side, focusing on the hardships of winter travel and on Moirin’s stay with a kindly Tatar family.

Then, Moirin learns that Bao has done something stupid.

It took me a while to warm to Bao in Naamah’s Kiss,

Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey

I’m not actually sure if Santa Olivia (2009) is technically a fantasy novel. The heroine, Loup Garron, has unusual abilities, but she gets them by way of genetic engineering, not magic (her father was a top-secret military experiment). However, if you’re a fantasy fan, don’t let this dissuade you! There’s plenty here for a fantasy reader to love. Santa Olivia is a coming-of-age story; it’s a story about being a misfit; it’s a story about an underdog up against towering odds;

Saints Astray by Jacqueline Carey

I find myself wanting to give Saints Astray (2011) two different ratings: one for how happy I am for its heroines, Loup Garron and Pilar Ecchevarria, and the other for how well Saints Astray works as a novel. I love the characters and am glad their lives have become easier since the events of Santa Olivia, but the result is a book that does not have enough tension or conflict.

Loup and Pilar have escaped Outpost and travel to Mexico,