The candles had burned halfway down, and the room was filled with the scent of lovemaking. I heard Claudia get up and move about, and then the bed dipped under her weight as she returned. She knelt behind me, pressed against my lower back, the tips of her breasts brushing my shoulder blades. I felt the fingers of her left hand twining in the locks of my hair.

And at my throat, the keen edge of a dagger.

It is whispered that Kushiel's lineage carries the ability to perceive the flaws in mortal souls, to administer an untender mercy. I sense its presence like a shadow on my soul...the memories of blood and branding and horror, and the legacy of cruelty that runs in my veins, shaping my own secret vow and wielding it like a brand against the darkness, whispering it to myself, over and over.
I will try to be good.

Imriel de la Courcel's blood parents are history's most reviled traitors, but his adoptive parents, the Comtesse Phedre and the warrior-priest, Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in art, beauty, and desire. It is a court steeped in deeply laid conspiracies...and there are many who would see the young prince dead. Some despise him out of hatred for his birth mother Melisande, who nearly destroyed the realm in her quest for power. Others because they fear he has inherited his mother's irresisteble allure -- and her dangerous gifts. And as he comes of age, plagued by dark yearnings, Imriel shares their fears.

At the royal court, where gossip is the chosen poison and assailants wield slander instead of swords, the young prince fights character assassins while struggling with his own innermost conflicts. But when Imriel departs to study at the famed University of Tiberium, the perils he faces turn infinitely more deadly.

Searching for wisdom, he finds instead a web of manipulation, where innocent words hide sinister meanings, and your lover of last night may become your hired killer before dawn. Now a simple act of friendship will leave Imriel trapped in a besieged city where the infamous Melisande is worshiped as a goddess; where a dead man leads an army; and where the prince must face his greatest test: to find his true self.

My comments:
Another amazing book! Ms. Carey's writing is exquisite, which I know I've used that word before to describe her writing, but it truly is. Readers who were disapponted in her Godslayer duology will not be disappoited in Kushiel's Scion. I stayed up too late reading this book and immersed myself in it. It is a book that you read, wanting to keep reading more and more and more (and Carey does not disappoint here either), but you also do not want it to end, so you stop reading in places to digest what you have already consumed.

I am a little disappointed in the cover. It is meant to entice Kushiel's Legacy's readers with Phedre, who is a part of the story, how could she not? However, Imriel, our beautiful hero of this tale is in the shadows behind a curtain. This is not Phedre's story, it is Imriel's. So, the cover artist missed her mark. Perhaps she was so in love with Kushiel's Legacy that she could not let Phedre go as the center of the cover art.

I am glad that so much time has passed since I read Kushiel's Legacy. If I had been able to plunge into Kushiel's Scion, I would have. But, I worried that I would not like the portrayal of Phedre when we saw her through someone else's eyes, or that she would change the way characters often do change or stay exactly the same when authors are no longer telling that character's story, but you see him/her in another novel. I loved Phedre in this novel. She was who she was. She was not stagnant, yet her changes fitted her.

Imriel was an excellent voice. He was believable with one exception. Some of the exchanges between males seemed not likely. The comraderie I've seen is different. Maybe you can chalk it up to different time, different people, and even different universe. But, it is hard for me to imagine a teenage boy acting as Imriel, or perhaps not so difficult given Darsanga, but at least his teenage friends, who had never seen such horror to act in certain manners. A particular encounter sparked those thoughts, and that broke the flow of the novel that one time when it became apparent that this book was written by a female author for a primarily female audience.

This first novel of what I expect is another trilogy is like Kushiel's Dart, in that it is Imriel's coming of age story. Imriel had more hardship and lessons behind him when we meet him at 12 than Phedre had prior to Skaldia (even including Skaldia). Imriel really and truly comes of age in the second half of the novel, especially in Lucca. I cried and cried starting about page 525 until the end. Carey is back to that tactic of her writing I hate so much: she introduces one or two characters that you fall in love with, and they die. Of course, Imriel being Imriel, he carries guilt for those deaths, and every time he mentions one, new tears stream.

I was struck at the beginning of the novel of how much adults in Terre d'Ange treat teenagers as adults for the most part. I recalled how Phedre was treated in Dart and it holds true. The teenagers are not protected from themselves. I found it an interesting aspect of the novel.

Imriel does do a fair bit of whining that any brooding teenage boy does. Those who cannot tolerate whining will probably not enjoy this novel that much. Imriel has a lot to heal from and he tends to not let healing come. Those who have suffered violent crime probably will be able to relate better to Imriel and understand why healing is so hard.

I would love to share this book with others, but I will not be sending my hardcover in the post to be lost. Depending on interest, when the paperback comes out, I may purchase that and send it on a ring.

One last thought: I am really glad this book did not have the first few chapters of the next book in it or I would be a frustrated reader having to wait until another Kushiel book comes forth.

While this is not on my bday RABCK buddy's wishlist, the Kushiel series is one of my favorites. I have multiple copies of this book, and so am sending it. He can read it or simply release it in bookcrossing-style.

Happy Birthday, Stubee!

Thanks Adrienne10, I'm reading quit a lot of Fantasy novels at the moment so this fits in very well. :)

A decade has passed and I'm about to embark on this, sorry it's taken so long Adrienne but I think I'm getting there with the books you've sent over the years.

An enjoyable, fantasy coming-of-age novel. I enjoyed it so much that I'm going to seek out others in the series.

Not sure what to do with this, I'll pass it to KT-J to see if she is interested in reading it before deciding what's next.

Well I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this (probably not my go-to genre) but having read Adrienne10's glowing review I might give it a go!