Kushiel's Avatar is the third book in the Kushiel's Legacy saga and the final book in the Phèdre Trilogy. It concerns Phèdre's childhood friend Hyacinthe and the breaking of the curse of the Master of the Straits and has a time frame of two years.
It was written by Jacqueline Carey and published by Tor Books on April 21, 2003.
Publisher's summary[]
The land of Terre d' Ange [sic] is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule:
Love as thou wilt.
Phèdre nó Delaunay is a woman born with a scarlet mote in her left eye and sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, and he was the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.
Phèdre's path has taken a strange and sometimes dangerous course. She has lain with princes and pirate kings, battled a wicked temptress who is still determined to win the crown at any cost, and saved two nations with her courageous actions and sacrifices. Through it all she has had the devoted swordsman Joscelin at her side, who knew from the beginning what she was. Her very nature is a torturous thing for them both, and it is a bane on their lives—but he is sworn to her and by accepting who she is, Joscelin has never violated the central precept of the angel Cassiel: to protect and serve.
But Phèdre's plans will put his pledge to the test, for she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe. She has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture to the Master of Straights [sic], a bargain with the gods that he struck so that a nation could be saved; in doing so, he took Phèdre's place as a sacrifice. She cannot forget, and she cannot forgive—herself or the gods. She is determined to seize one last hope to redeem her friend, even if it means her death.
Their search will bring Phèdre and Joscelin on a dangerous path that will carry them across the world, to fabled courts and splendid vistas, to distant lands where madness reigns and souls are currency, and down a fabled river to a land forgotten by most of the world.
And to a power so mighty that none dare speak its name.
Kushiel's Avatar is the concluding volume in Jacqueline Carey's evocative novels about the enigmatic Phèdre nó Delaunay; the third in a triptych of beautifully constructed historical fantasies that combine passion and danger, great battles of the sword and soul, deep eroticism, and mystical enigmas.
Cover gallery[]
Characters[]
Phèdre's Household
Anafiel Delaunay de Montrève—mentor of Phèdre (deceased)
Alcuin nó Delaunay—student of Delaunay (deceased)
Phèdre nó Delaunay de Montrève—Comtesse de Montrève; anguissette
Joscelin Verreuil—Phèdre's Consort; Cassiline Brother (Siovale)
Fortun, Remy—chevaliers (deceased)
Ti-Philippe—chevalier
Hugues—attendant
Eugènie—Mistress of the Household
Clory—niece of Eugènie
Purnell Friote—seneschal of Montrève
Richeline Friote—wife of Purnell
Benoit—stable-lad
Members of the Royal Family: Terre d'Ange
Ysandre de la Courcel—Queen of Terre d'Ange; wed to Drustan mab Necthana
Sidonie de la Courcel—elder daughter of Ysandre
Alais de la Courcel—younger daughter of Ysandre
Barquiel L'Envers—uncle of Ysandre; Duc L'Envers (Namarre)
Alba
Drustan mab Necthana—Cruarch of Alba, wed to Ysandre de la Courcel
Necthana—mother of Drustan
Breidaia, Moiread (deceased), Sibeal—Drustan's sisters, daughters of Necthana
Three Sisters
Hyacinthe—apprentice to Master of the Straits; Prince of Travellers
Tilian, Gildas—assistants
La Serenissima
Benedicte de la Courcel—great-uncle of Ysandre; Prince of the Blood (deceased)
Melisande Shahrizai de la Courcel—second wife of Benedicte
Imriel de la Courcel—son of Benedicte and Melisande
Severio Stregazza—son of Marie-Celeste de la Courcel and Marco Stregazza; Prince of the Blood
Cesare Stregazza—Doge of La Serenissima
Ricciardo Stregazza—younger son of the Doge
Allegra Stregazza—wife of Ricciardo
Benito Dandi—noble, member of the Immortali
Verreuil
Chevalier Millard—Joscelin's father
Ges—Joscelin's mother
Luc—Joscelin's elder brother
Yvonne—wife of Luc
Mahieu—Joscelin's younger brother
Marie-Louise—wife of Mahieu
Jehane—Joscelin's elder sister
Amílcar
Nicola L'Envers y Aragon—cousin of Queen Ysandre
Ramiro Zornín de Aragon—King's Consul, husband of Nicola
Fernan—Count of Amílcar
Vitor Gaitán—Captain of the Harbor Watch
Mago, Harnapos—Carthaginian slavers
Menekhet
Fadil Chouma—slaver (deceased)
Nesmut—harbor-lad
Raife Laniol, Comte de Penfars—ambassador to Menekhet
Juliette de Penfars—wife of Raife
Ptolemy Dikaios—Pharaoh of Menekhet
Clytemne—wife of Pharaoh
Rekhmire—Treasury clerk
Denise Fleurais—member of Lord Amaury's delegation
Radi Arumi—Jebean guide
General Hermodorus—enemy of the Pharaoh
Khebbel-im-Akkad
Sinaddan-Shamabarsin—Lugal of Khebbel-im-Akkad
Valère L'Envers—wife of the Lugal; daughter of Barquiel L'Envers
Tizrav—Persian guide
Renée de Rives—member of Lord Amaury's delegation
Nicholas Vigny—member of Lord Amaury's delegation
Nurad-Sin—Akkadian captain
Menekhet
The Mahrkagir—"Conquerer of Death," ruler of Drujan
Gashtaham—chief Skotophagotis
Tahmuras—a warrior
Nariman—Chief Eunuch of the zenana
Rushad—Persian eunuch
Erich—Skaldi prisoner
Drucilla—Tiberian prisoner
Kaneka—Jebean prisoner
Uni-Azag—Akkadian eunuch
Jolanta—Chowati prisoner
Nazneen—Ephesian prisoner
Jagun—chief of the Kereyit Tatars
Arshaka—Chief Magus
Jebe-Barkal
Wali—river guide
Mek Timmur—caravan master
Zanadakhete—Queen of Meroë
Ras Lijasu—Prince of Meroë
Nathifa—sister of Lijasu
Tifari Amu—guide
Bizan—guide
Nkuku—bearer
Yedo—bearer
Shoanete—Kaneka's grandmother, storyteller
Saba
Hanoch ben Hadad—captain of the militia
Yevuneh—widow, sister of Hanoch
Bilgah—Elder of the Sanhedrin
Abiram—Elder of the Sanhedrin
Ranit—woman of Saba
Semira—woman of Saba
Morit—woman of Saba, astronomer
Ardath—daughter of Yevuneh
Eshkol ben Avidan—soldier
Others
Evrilac Duré—Captain of the Guard at Pointe des Soeurs
Guillard, Armand—men-at-arms at Pointe des Soeurs
Bérèngere of Namarre—priestess of the Great Temple of Naamah
Eleazar ben Enokh—Yeshuite mystic
Adara—wife of Eleazar
Michel Nevers—priest of Kushiel
Audine Davul—D'Angeline scholar of Jebe-Barkal
Emile—member of Hyacinthe's former crew; chief among Tsingani in the City
Brother Selbert—chief priest in the Sanctuary of Elua (Siovale)
Liliane—acolyte in the Sanctuary of Elua (Siovale)
Honore, Beryl, Cadmar, Ti-Michel—children in the Sanctuary of Elua (Siovale)
Jacques Écot—crofter (Siovale)
Agnes—wife of Jacques (Siovale)
Kristof, son of Oszkar—head of a Tsingani kumpania
Cecilie Laveau-Perrin—adept of Cereus House; tutor to Phèdre and Alcuin
Roxanne de Mereliot—Lady of Marsilikos (Eisande)
Thelesis de Mornay—Queen's Poet
Quintilius Rousse—Royal Admiral
References[]
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