On the recommendation of fellow Anne Bishop fans, I picked up this book to read. I still haven't read it. I ordered it in October (when I had no books to read) and it arrived in December from Amazon. In the past 4 months, I have begun receiving books for rings/rays I signed up for. Plus, I went on an Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter obsession with ringed and library books.

I am doing a TBR bookring for this book. It will probably start after Easter 2004.

Bookring Information:

The bookring is complete and the book has returned home. This book is currently a part of my permanent collection.

The names of the Bookcrossers who are in this ring are listed below. If you are interested please PM me with your location and shipping preference.

adrienne10 [Nebraska, USA]
Hexa [UK]
WistfulDragon [UK]
tehuti [UK]
bookrabbit [Massachusetts, USA]
az628 [Pennsylvania, USA](skip)
BountifulPots [Kansas, USA]
Eucalia [California, USA]
snowmyst [West Virgina, USA]
adrienne10 [Nebraska, USA]

Some guidelines to help the book on its journey:

1 On receiving the book write a journal entry so we can all keep track of where it is.
2 I will note people who already have had the book and its current location in colored type.
3 The person with the book PM's the next one on the list for their address.

Thank you so much for participating!

Wow!

First, I apologize to my bookring. I expected to start this book around April 5th and did not get to it until closer to the 8th. You'd be surprised at what 3 days can do to my reading. I also did not realize that it is a 900 page book! I generally read a 300 page book in a week, depending on how fast the book itself moves and how much time I have for reading. I had less time than usual to read this book and it has taken me 2 weeks to read. I hope most of you can get to it and finish it to pass on within one month. We want to keep this great book moving!

My thoughts: The plot is intricate, not hard to follow. I laughed out loud, I cried. It truly is an excellent story. You'll either love or hate Phedre, the main character, who is raised as a spy and prostitute. This is a sort of altnerate history of earth. It takes place in Terre D'Ange and surrounding countries, which is basically Europe, the UK, and Ireland. You'll recognize Yeshua, who died on the cross, and the followers are Yeshuites. Phedre's people are from a descendant of Magdalene and the Earth. This could be seen as terribly sacrilegious, but is done in good taste. I found this alternate history universe intriguing.

I do enjoy stories of politics and subterfuge. This book is choc-ful of politics and subterfuge. I look forward to hearing the thoughts of others on this story, especially those who are living in the UK and in the areas this book is based on.

Released on Thursday, April 29, 2004 at USPS in Bookring, postal release USA.

Sent to Hexa in the UK. It's supposed to take only a couple days to get there. Packaging was rather poor.

Received safely - thanks so much Adrienne. I'm really looking forward to reading this.

This is indeed an excellent story - one of those that was embarrassing to read on the tube to work, because I kept getting all emotional (it's been an emotional week - reading can be so cathartic). I liked the intricacy of the plot, and I loved the alternate Europe where it's set. The slavery/masochism angle was unusual, I thought it worked well, it definitely made for a different type of quest to your usual fantasy novel.

Thanks for sharing this one Adrienne - I'm sending it on to Mary tomorrow.

It's got to me, thank you. Front cover is slightly battered, I think my postie had a moment of madness and tried to get it through my letter box, but it's not too bad. I hope to start this next week - I've just started A confederacy of dunces, and have a Grafton book to read as well (they usually only take me a day). Looking forward to this one!

Don't you just hate it when you write a detailed journal entry, then the computer crashes out on you and loses it?
I loved this book, and MUST get the sequel. The societies are self-consistent, which makes the characters in them attractive as a product of that society. Phedre herself is really believable, and I identified strongly with her - while having absolutely nothing in common with her at all. Jacqueline Carey is an incredibly strong writer, and I thank you for introducing me to her work.
On its way to Tehuti with my next visit to the post office.

Oh my! I didn't realize it was so big!!! I'll try to read it as fast as I can, but please be patient as Bookcrossing nemesis has caught up with me and lots of rings have suddenly materialized.

Wow! What an amazing book. It is set in a parallel universe which mirrors mediaeval Europe, but in which religion includes, for some, SM practices. Phedre is one such, and her calling leads her along strange paths. This is a superb read and I have already started the second book in the series. Apologies once more for holding up the ring so long.

Sent to bookrabbit by air mail (UK to USA)

The book got here safe and sound. It came with a lovely Gustav Klimt postcard . . . Thanks, Tehuti. It looks like a very interesting novel.

Released on Friday, August 27, 2004 at By Mail in Sent to a fellow BookCrosser, Bookring Controlled Releases.

Sent to BountifulPots - enjoy!

Received this for a ring today. I have 3 others in front of it, but I will read them as fast as I can and get it out as soon as possible.

This book arrived in my mailbox today! I look forward to reading it, but first I need to finish the bookring book I'm working on now and I still have nearly 400 pages left in that one (it's almost as long as this one!), so it may take me a little while to get this one started. But considering all the good reviews everyone's been giving it, I hope it won't take me too long!

OK, I finished reading my other book last night so I started this one this morning!

I just finished reading this book last night. I have to admit, it took me about 300 pages to get into it and if this hadn't been a bookring book, I probably wouldn't have finished it. But I finally did get into it and I'm glad I finished it because it turned out to be pretty good after all! Thanks adrienne10 for sharing this!

This book actually survived a fairly bad car accident with me. It was sitting loose on the backseat when the car rolled. I found it later, wrapped in a window from one of the rear doors (see picture). This book was actually pretty beat up when it got to me and I only found one scratch on the front cover that is a result of the accident. It and I both walked away from that accident with only scratches!

Released on Friday, November 05, 2004 at about 11:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at sent to bookcrosser in Mailed, Bookring Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

I just got back from the post office. This book is now on its way back home to adrienne10. Thanks again for sharing this book with us!

Kushiel's Dart has returned home! This is my first book to make it through its full ring! While it did not stop at all the expected stops and some people skipped reading it as they had another copy, I'm very excited about its trip.

Thanks everybody for participating!

Welcome to bookcrossing!

This book is released as a part of a reduction of my book collection.

Sending on as a RABCK to a fellow bookcrosser. Enjoy!

Received from adrienne10 as a RABCK! Thank you! I was honoured to have been offered the book, and now to find it has such a history! A successful completion of a bookring and surviving a car accident is pretty amazing. Moving this book to the top of my TBR pile, for sure!
Thanks again! :)

Wow! This book was amazingly epic! Not at all what I expected, though if I was asked, I'm not sure I could say what I expected; it came highly recommended to me by a friend so I'd been looking for a copy ever since.
It took me a little while to get into it; I wasn't really hooked until Phédre began her wild journey, then I couldn't put the book down. So much intrigue! But even with all the characters involved it wasn't too difficult to follow. I think the author did a good job reminding the reader what each character was all about. The foreshadowing was great, too. Very ominous.
I ended up liking Phédre. She began the book as a quite selfish and jealous child, but she grew into a fabulously strong character.

Much thanks again to adrienne10 for this lovely RABCK!

"J" is for Jacqueline! Mailed away for the International Alphabet Relay!

I got this in the mail a few days ago. Thanks! It looks like this book has been through a lot and it is interesting to see that is has been in Kansas before!