Kushiel's Dart

Jaqueline Carey’s masterpiece, Kushiel’s Dart, came highly recommended. First by a good friend of mine, secondly by my favourite author Juliet Marillier and thirdly by another favourite author Robert Jordan. So if my word alone is not enough to make you read this book, then please, please trust in theirs.

Kushiel’s Dart is written from the first person perspective of the voluptuous female lead, Phèdre. Her keen and intelligent mind work great detail into the book, her observations as a pupil to a master of intrigue. She learns covertcy, the ability to weasle out information, and the tell tale signs of a lie.

She is set upon by her master to find out information, using her body to manipulate her client’s into letting slip details, until treasonous plots wrench her from her home and set her on a perilous quest. She is an adept in the arts of Namaah; the angel who lay down with strangers so that her companion may eat. It is a sacred calling within Kushiel’s Dart, and Phèdre worships with her body as well as her heart. She is also marked by Kushiel, angel of punishment, and cursed to enjoy the more violent pleasures of the human race.

Kushiel’s Dart is a unique tale set within an alternate history; deadly, erotic and intelligent. It is definitely an adult book, filled with violence, sex and death. The start of the first trilogy of three set in this world, each as interesting as the last, though this will always remain one of my favourites.

If you like action, adventure and intrigue then I definitely recommend this book. It will fufill your every need.

Deep Economy

To start off the blog I’ve picked a book I recently read by the author Bill McKibben. It’s outside the usual genre I read (fantasy) but I found it extremely interesting nonetheless.

Though this book enlightens one on the current state of the world the real aim is to propose working solutions to aid in solving what could be the biggest crisis in the history of man kind. Although the stats and figures can be somewhat depressing, this book is like a little beacon of light in an otherwise very dark landscape.

The general idea the book proposes is to evolve beyond the current economic structure of ‘growth before all else’, and aim instead to direct our energy towards becoming sustainable communities. The benefits of this, he hypothesises, far outweigh those of just the economic and environmental kind. He believes that greater mental well being can also result from focusing on building local communities.

The examples he uses within the book are taken from all around the world; hidden spots that manage to live differently to consumerist nations, and yet still manage to be happy, healthy communities. He also points out the ways in which smaller scale power systems and smaller farms can actually be more  efficient as well as being more sustainable than their larger counterparts.

There’s lots of untapped knowledge right at your finger tips here people. Recommended not just for a good read, but also to set you on the right path towards the future.

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