Stupid Scarlet Mote

ITS FALLLLLLLL!!!!! Sorry, got a little excited there, but the weather has finally started to cooperate along with the rest of my life.  Not only has the weather gotten cooler, but I have actually been able to enjoy it while sipping cider, curled up in my reading chair with ample blankets and pillows READING!  Yep finally got to finish (and start) my books! One of the first ones is a book I feel like I have been reading forever, it is called Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey and it is the first in a series.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!
How does one go about rambling about a 901 page book?  How does one classify a book such as this?  Is it political? Is it fantasy? Is it erotica? Is it historical fiction?  Is it EPIC?  The answer to all of those in some way would have to be yes...kind of... Hmmm  I will sum up what I can, just know there are huge parts missing 'cause I want this post to be less then 27 pages long.

Our story is narrated in the first person by Phedre.  Phedre is unique because she was born with a scarlet mote in one eye, initially thought to be an imperfection it turns out that it is actually the mark of a deity called Kushiel, the lord of punishment in this pantheon.  Because of this special marking our Phedre is for lack of a better term a masochist or in the book terms an anguissette, now before you all freak out decide I have turned to a life of reading erotica, this is just one small portion of the book, and it actually serves a purpose.  See in this land of Terre D'Ange (which feels a lot like France) an alternate history of sort happened. An angel like deity was born and was turned away by Yeshua (the equivalent of the Judeo/Christian God) his name was Eula and he and his companions wandered the earth until they settled in Terre D'Ange with the phrase Love as thou wilt as there creed.  In this society Naamah's Servants or professional courtesans (both male and female) are revered for there practice of free love (well it is paid for...but you get the idea).  Phedre's marque is bought by a man named Delaunay who trains her to use her arts as an anguissette for hire to spy on important people. Delaunay has another ward, Alcuin, who while not an anguissette also chooses to enter into the services of Naamah to help gather information.  A whole bunch of stuff happens, among them a young Phedre meets a Tsingani (a gypsy type race) boy named Hyacinth who becomes an invaluable friend through out her life.  Eventually Delaunay procures the services of a Cassiline Brother by the name of Joscelin, a guard trained since he was 10 in the arts of protection who swears an oath to do anything to protect his charge.  In the land of Love as thou wilt, the Cassiline swear a vow of chastity making them a bit odd in a realm where free love is the norm. One of Phedre's clients is the beautiful Melisande, a brilliant, crafty noble woman who loves to play games.  Phedre has a love/hate relationship with Melisande, especially because she is the one of the few who know how best to utilize the plain/pleasure dichotomy that is Phedre. Confused yet?  Hang in there it keeps going.  Eventually Delaunay's spying gets him and Alcuin killed and Phedre and Joscelin get sold as slaves to the Skaldi (a Viking like race). Phedre learns from Melisande

herself that she is behind it all, but she cannot bear to have Phedre killed.  In slavery Phedre finds out what it is like to be forced to serve as a bed slave with no say in the matter, before she could always choose, always say no, and this lack of choice is unbearable to her.  She learns of a plot to overthrow the ruling family of Terre D'Ange by betrayal of one noble family (this gets really complicated, interesting but complicated...read the book for more details).  Phedre and Joscelin escape by him breaking certain vows (such as to only kill for protection)and make there way through a bitter winter to Terre D'Ange. Upon there arrival they are told by Hyacinth that they have been tried and convicted in absentia for the death of Deluany and Alcuin.  They make contact with the new Queen who believes there story and tell them that if they can find a way to Alba (an Ireland/Scottish hybrid) and help Drustan regain his throne, maybe he will bring his warriors to help secure the throne of Terre D'Ange (oh yeah Drustan and the young Queen are also in love and wish to marry which helps the cause).  Of they set to find this Drustan.  Along the way they meet up with a band of Tsingani which contains Hyacinths grandfather.  They are thrilled to see him return until they learn that he practices the dromande which is a seer like ability that is only used by women.  Saddened Hyacinth continues on with Phedre and Joscelin to secure a ship to Alba.  The biggest obstetrical is crossing the Master of the Straits, a man of great power who makes the sea rise up against them until Phedre sings for him.  They arrive in Alba, find Drustan, win the battle and head back to Terre D'Ange with Drustan and his warriors in tow. They make it back and have an epic three way battle, eventually winning and restoring the Queen and her new husband to the throne. Melisandre is captured, taunts Phedre and then escapes.  Phedre is named Deluany's heir (as she and Joscelin are now cleared of his murder) and inherits a decent piece of land.  In the end she decides to go back into the service of Naamah to see what other information she can find.  And thus ends this epic tome, the first in a series, none of which would have ever happened if she had not been born with that damned scarlet mote.

Obviously that is super bare bones basic basic basic plot line. There is a lot of really great, rich, detail that I just cannot capture in a summary.  Lets get to discussion now shall we?  I guess the first question is did I like the book and the answer is yes I did.  This book has been on my radar for years and I am pleased that I finally got to read it.  I enjoyed it for the most part.  Next Question, what did I like about it?  I liked the world building, the quasi historical setting was nice, it gave a reason to have a lot of familiar things, especially the different races while still giving some wiggle room for creativity. As weird as it sounds a society based on Love as thou wilt actually made sense in this story.  The Court of the Night Blooming Flowers as the 13 main houses were called were well written and gave some credence to all the sexy fun times, which oddly enough were used to the stories advantage.  A book like this, which states right off the bat that there will be explicitness through out could easily have been another fantasy smut book.  I have started (and rarely finished) books that sound like they have a good idea or premise but are just an excuse to have a vast amount of various sex scenes.  This is not only lazy writing, but actually makes sex boring!  This book actually uses its sex scenes (which for the most part are fairly tastefully portrayed) to further the plot.  They establish relationships  between various characters, information is divulged and Phedre's character is developed through these scenes.  Also for a 901 page book the percentage of pages devoted to sexy fun time is overall pretty minimal.  The plot, while a little complicated could have easily become convoluted, but stayed fairly easy to follow, at least the important parts.  I liked how each character had there flaws and there talents.  I loved how it showed that anybody could become your family, the ragtag family that Phedre eventually forms around herself is a great example of blood relations not being an essential part of family.

 Question 3 what did I not like about the book?  It was too long.  This is one of those books that you feel like you will be reading forever (I kind of wish I had this back in my poor college days when I had to make my books last as long as I could).  It wasn't a bad book, it just got tedious in certain areas.  This is a rookie mistake from a first time writer, the overly descriptive everything all the time, I don't need every detail of every house that the characters drive pass in there well described wagon.  Phedre's voice got a little irritating on occasion, this is written as a kind of recollection with Phedre constantly telling us at points early on "if I had only known" or "Later I would have wished to be at that event" almost always breaking the potential tension because you know something bad is going to happen and from her comments you can almost always figure out what.  As with most first person narratives you get stuck in there head, which in this case got a little angsty and introspective for my taste, but not near as bad as some I've read. I also was not completely sold on how EVERYBODY fell in love with our Phedre, I don't think there was a single person she could not turn, which makes it a little dull for she has no direct antagonist or even somebody to sharpen herself against. Question 4 would I recommend this book? I would most certainly recommend this book for the over 16 crowd that does not mind working through it a bit.  It is not an easy read, it takes paying attention to make sure you are up to speed on the whole storyline, but it is broken into 96 chapters that go by fairly quick individually, making it very easy to put down and pick back up. I will probably eventually pick up the next book in the series, but I am not dying to go get it right this instant.  I give this book 6 out of 10 whips and chains.
Does sexy fun times in books make you want to pick it up or put it down?  How long a book is too long? Does that term erotica make you laugh like a twelve year old boy?