Cassiel's Servant by Jacqueline Carey ISBN: 9781250208330
Series: Kushiel's Legacy #1.5
Published by Tor Books on August 1, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 528
Format: ARC
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Returning to the realm of Terre d’Ange which captured an entire generation of fantasy readers, New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Carey brings us a hero’s journey for a new era.
In Kushiel’s Dart , a daring young courtesan uncovered a plot to destroy her beloved homeland. But hers is only half the tale. Now see the other half of the heart that lived it.
Cassiel’s Servant is a retelling of cult favorite Kushiel’s Dart from the point of view of Joscelin, Cassiline warrior-priest and protector of Phèdre nó Delaunay. He’s sworn to celibacy and the blade as surely as she’s pledged to pleasure, but the gods they serve have bound them together. When both are betrayed, they must rely on each other to survive.
From his earliest training to captivity amongst their enemies, his journey with Phèdre to avert the conquest of Terre D’Ange shatters body and mind… and brings him an impossible love that he will do anything to keep.
Even if it means breaking all vows and losing his soul.
I’m foregoing rating via the CAWPILE system for this, because it’s very much a companion novel. If you read this as a standalone, or the first book in the series, you wouldn’t feel very connected to characters or involved in the political intrigue at all. As it is, it reads more like an adventure novel, with a definite layer of emotional distance. That’s fitting, given the MC, Joscelin, is emotionally distant/reserved and a trained elite fighter. But also, this follows the events of three books, condensed into one. As a marketing tool, it’s cleverly done. I wasn’t captivated by the story at all, but it did serve to remind me of the original trilogy (and I forgot far less about that story than I thought!) and now I do want to re-read all of the Terre D’Ange novels. In terms of adding to the existing world, it did give Joscelin a little more humanity- mainly in presenting us with an MC who was slavish to his dream of what his destiny would be (ironic, against the character of the Duc d’Aiglemort) and then has to learn to live with himself when that’s ground away, and find his own path that honors what he believes about himself and the world. In that, Joscelin is more akin to a modern reader than Phedre was- which I did not expect, as Joscelin is an epic fighter and unhumanly stoic in Phedre’s trilogy. I can admire this while also admitting that for me, Cassiel’s Servant didn’t enrich the world or story. I think each fan of Jacqueline Carey’s series will have a different take on that, but I tend to vibe better with new information rather than known information presented in a different light.
TL;DR: Good, not great. Not a necessary read even for a huge fan of the original trilogy.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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