Naamah's Kiss, by Jacqueline Carey
Most of the reviews on this seem to be 4- and 5-star, but I can't bring myself to give more than 3. However, even Carey's mediocre Terre d'Ange books are better than a lot of fantasy I've read, so I still recommend it if you love the world.
I do love that this book shows us what it's like to be touched by Naamah, and I was also excited to get a closer look at the Maghuin Dhonn (though we did not see as much of that as I might have hoped). Still, we see Naamah take a more active role, which of course leads to lots of lovely sex, so I can't be too terribly disappointed. Plus, reiki was officially made canon, which I really adored when I was roleplaying in the milieu.
What is it that keeps me from enjoying this more, then? Moirin just doesn't have the presence of both Phèdre and Imriel. She has some cool magic, but I'm not really sure she's a main character-level heroine. It was nice to hear how the main characters of the other trilogies ended up after 'retirement', so to speak, but it seemed silly that almost all of the stories she heard came from Phèdre's day. Seeing Ch'in was exciting, but it wasn't as wonderfully developed as Terre d'Ange or Alba.
I don't know what it is. It's a good book, but not a fabulous one. I'll always revel in more of Carey's Terre d'Ange worlds, but this just wasn't as strong as the first two trilogies.
Most of the reviews on this seem to be 4- and 5-star, but I can't bring myself to give more than 3. However, even Carey's mediocre Terre d'Ange books are better than a lot of fantasy I've read, so I still recommend it if you love the world.
I do love that this book shows us what it's like to be touched by Naamah, and I was also excited to get a closer look at the Maghuin Dhonn (though we did not see as much of that as I might have hoped). Still, we see Naamah take a more active role, which of course leads to lots of lovely sex, so I can't be too terribly disappointed. Plus, reiki was officially made canon, which I really adored when I was roleplaying in the milieu.
What is it that keeps me from enjoying this more, then? Moirin just doesn't have the presence of both Phèdre and Imriel. She has some cool magic, but I'm not really sure she's a main character-level heroine. It was nice to hear how the main characters of the other trilogies ended up after 'retirement', so to speak, but it seemed silly that almost all of the stories she heard came from Phèdre's day. Seeing Ch'in was exciting, but it wasn't as wonderfully developed as Terre d'Ange or Alba.
I don't know what it is. It's a good book, but not a fabulous one. I'll always revel in more of Carey's Terre d'Ange worlds, but this just wasn't as strong as the first two trilogies.
Comments
Have you read the first books in the series? This is a third trilogy, so it kind of stands alone, but some stuff from the other books gets spoiled if you do. I'd suggest starting with Kushiel's Dart if you haven't read that yet.