“Tell me what you read and I’ll tell you who you are” is true enough,
but I’d know you better if you told me what you reread.
François Mauriac
Perhaps as a continuation of yesterday’s posting about having too much to read … calculating the reading time for all the books you want to read is one thing, but some books you want to read again. This screws up the calculation but it improves the life satisfaction :-).
After stumbling upon a posting in a newsgroup I follow, I recently started to re-read a book series I enjoyed very much — and still do. It’s a rather impressive fantasy series — playing in a beautiful and interesting alternate reality world. It plays during the medieval times, but in a world in which gods and angels do exist. Consequently, the world turned out to be a bit different — perhaps even a bit better. What makes the series interesting is that it is very smart, mature and sex positive writing. A perfect combination of eloquence in writing, and maturity in dealing with topics of love and desire in all its forms. Neither avoiding desire/sex, nor using it as a cheap way to get attention — just a normal but important part of life — as it should be. A nice alternative to all the crap that is available and promoted these days.
Anyway, the series consists of three trilogies: I. Phèdre Trilogy (Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen, Kushiel’s Avatar), II. Imriel Trilogy (Kushiel’s Scion, Kushiel’s Justice, Kushiel’s Mercy), and III. Moirin Trilogy (Naamah’s Kiss, Naamah’s Curse, Naamah’s Blessing). Although the first six books are closer together than the last three — and personally, I like the first six books most:
Highly recommended.
Update: Ah, Twitter, always a source of information. I just got the info that these books are also available as audiobooks at Tantor Audio. I haven’t listened to them — personally I prefer the written word (among others, because I love to collect beautiful quotations). But for those who like to listen to audiobooks this is an option 🙂
The Kushiel Series is my favorite! I have re-read then so many times that my third set was all bought as e-books after my first, and second copies fell apart!
I love this series and her other works as well. It is one of my guilty pleasures!
I was browsing the aisles of Powell’s one day with friends and happened to spot the cover of Kushiel’s Scion. The cover intrigued me enough that I picked it up, and the description on the back kept my interest hungry. I read through the 4th book in the Kushiel series without realizing that it was 4 books in. And I adored it. I read it a second time before I bothered to look inside the cover and realize that there were more books in the series I had yet to find! So of course, I ordered all of them (up to that point, anyway). I read the books as a starving man ate. I hardly put them down. I was obsessed. I got my friends obsessed. We all obsessed. It was impossible to pull ourselves out of the sexy, brilliant, well-writ series that was Phedre, Imriel, and later Moirin. I still reread the books, though they are falling apart. I still keep them on the most accessible shelf of my bookshelf. And I still press them upon those looking for a fantastic, timeless fantasy series to embark on.
The Kushiel’s Legacy series is my all-time favorite series. I love them so much that I have all of the books in hardback, e-book and audiobook formats so I can have them with me wherever I go! 🙂
The author linked this on her Facebook 🙂 I’d ss, but can’t at this moment.
I love doing rereads of this series. One of my all-time favorites.
Ah, okay, thank you … if you find the time to do a screenshot, I’d appreciate it. 🙂
Update: Ah, nevermind, despite having strong misgivings about facebook I’ve created an account (again). Temptation, temptation … 😉