Kushiel's Justice by Jacqueline Carey
The Second Book of the Second Trilogy is Just as Amazing as the Rest
Mar 31, 2009
Like Carey's other novels, Kushiel's Justice (Orbit 2007) is a heavy, long tale of gods, magic, and love. Imriel, now past his legal majority, decides to do his duty and marry a woman he does not love, forsaking the woman he does because of politics.
Love Among Strangers
In order to do what he thinks is right, he follows Dorelei mab Breidaia to the land of Alba in an effort to unite their two lands.
What he does, however, is go against the precept of the god he worships--Elua's greatest law is love as thou wilt, and by marrying Dorelei instead of the woman he so desperately wants, he brings only devastation.
What Carey does so well, however, and better than so many authors, is show the many faces of love and life. Even though what Imriel feels for Dorelei is different from the deep, intense passion he feels for his true love, over time he comes to love and respect Dorelei. This is a beautiful relationship, one built on friendship, even though Dorelei is clearly settling for a man who does not love her as she loves him.
The love of family and friends is also deeply pertinent to the story. Dorelei's family must come to accept and loveImreiel as an outsider, just as he must learn to love them and their customs. He learns this the hard way when he must go on a cattle raid, only to prove that he is a man worthy of Dorelei.
Honor in Every World
When his world comes crashing down around him because of the attempt of the old world to keep the new world from destroying it, he must seek revenge. His new path leads him back to his homeland of Terre de Ange, as well as into the arms of the woman he loves. This is when they both realize that attempting to deny their love will only bring misery, and she stands up to all of the political machinations in order to declare her love for Imriel, even as he must leave her to avenge his wife's death.
It is with his dead wife's kinsmen that he goes to seek revenge. Their honor is at stkae as well, since it was her last wish to see Imriel with the woman he needed. the must also avenge her death, and no matter the length of time, or where in theworld they must go, they follow Imriel to the end.
And it is in the end that Imriel learns what true honor is. He gets his revenge, but once he understands the motives of the man who killed his wife, he understands that although he is duty bound to see it through, there is little honor in it for either of them.
Imriel returns to his home a different man than the boy the reader started out with in Kushiel's Scion. He is much like his foster parents, although he is always concerned that his mother's blood will taint his actions.
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