Upon the suggestion of a number of friends, I've started to read Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey, and for the most part it's not bad. It suffers a bit from some clunky world-building exposition, of the "Our Heroine is attending school! Let's listen in on what she's being taught" method. To be sure, the history of the Ersatz Europe where the French have become the pinnacle of civilization is definitely interesting, it's just that the story tends to jerk back and forth between narrative and exposition.
But the one thing that made me do a double take was the following: When we come to an explanation of one of the "13 Houses of Sluts" as a waggish friend once put it (who's a avid fan, let me assure you), the way they choose their recruits is as follows. "'It begins with the lesson of the spiced candies, of course; you know this? No? We do it with children of six. An adept explains that the pleasure of the taste is due to the touch of pain the spice provokes. Those who understand, we keep; others will have their marques [debts] sold.'"
This, by the way, is Valerian House, known for it's S&M bent (which Our Heroine is biologically inclined towards, don't ask, just read the book). Let me get this straight, you keep six-year-olds to be inducted into a life of masochism because of their penchant for spicy effin' food? Just because someone doesn't mind a burrito that bites back a bit is not a good indicator that they would enjoy being scourged for shits and giggles! What the Hell!
Once again, though, the book isn't that bad. It's rather heavy on the scheming and intrigue, and as of the moment, fuzzy logic.
Enough, More Later.
- James
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