Kushiel's scion

This is the first book of the second Kushiel trilogy. We bid goodbye to Phedre as our protagonist and narrator, and switch to angsty Imriel, Phedre's adopted son, third in line to the throne of Terre D'Ange. The book starts when he is 14, but the majority of the action finds him at 18. I am not kidding when I say he's angsty, because he is a boy with emotional trauma from his childhood abduction, but also the baggage of being the natural son of the country's greatest ever traitor, Melisande.

The first half of the book focuses on Imriel growing up and adjusting to his role at court. I liked that part best, because there are few books out there that focus on political intrigues in fantasy, and the author does it so well. Of course there are lots of bedroom shenanigans, in Imriel's case of the angsty kind as he has some understandable issues. Eventually, he goes all out angsty and tries to flee the court life by following his best friend Eamonn to Tiberium aka Rome to attend university there. There are assassination plots, more bedroom shenanigans, and warfare.

I love Jacqueline Carey's writing, but Imriel is not as likeable a character as Phedre was. His brooding shtick got old somewhat quick. Okay, deal with it, you like to be dominant, don't cry about it, sheesh. Also, the whole Unseen Guild stuff in Tiberium had tons of potential for intrigue and plotting, and never lived up to its potential. Instead we got warfare with the Siege of Lucca that held my interest far less. I was amused that the author doesn't even cloak her alternative history much anymore. Tiberium was pretty obviously modeled on a Republican Rome in decline. After reading The First Man in Rome previously, Tiberium paled in comparison.

Still, four stars, and I will keep reading, because it is a lovely world, with lovely characters that have grown on me. Even brooding teenagers called Imriel.