Jacqueline Carey

Well, last week my hard drive died, taking far too much with it, since I hadn't recently backed up. I'd deliver that as a warning, except that (my own experience making this clear) it never really hits home that a disaster like this can happen any time, until it happens to you. So, no dire warning; it's just a preamble to the new leaf I'm turning over -- I was getting diverted by the huge piles of information I'd accumulated and the multi directions I was going in. I am taking the disaster as a kick in the pants to be more focused (and organized! although in all fairness, I have been fairly organized).

Anyway, the point is, I've been neglecting this blog I started, and so here I am, on my focus drive, getting back into it.

Let's start with Jacqueline Carey. I'd been waiting eagerly for her next (and last?) book in the six-book Kushiel series, and was delighted to read it recently. Like Laurell K Hamilton (see earlier entry), the Kushiel series is one I keep away from my younger son (although the latest was ok in this regard), but otherwise no comparison intended. I enjoy both, but it's undeniable that Carey is by far the better writer. Also, Hamilton is urban fantasy, and Carey is 'proper' fantasy -- ie set in a fantasy world. Hamilton's recent work verges on porn, but Carey's use of sex is judicious, only portrayed when necessary to the plot. The reason I censor them from my son is not the explicit sex so much as the nature of the sexual attraction so prevalent in these books: sado-masochistic sex.

But Carey does it beautifully, and even to this easily-repulsed reader, I found her portrayal compelling and instructive. And the characters are fascinating; the world (which is reflective of our own, with France and England and Italy etc all identifiably present under different names and histories) and the mythology are intriguing; the story compelling.

So, a hearty recommendation, especially for those of you who are interested in the psychology of people, and you can see all about her books, and read first chapters, at her website.