A great fantasy novel!

Phaedra is a child marked by fate ... in its name, recalling an ancient tragedy, and its flesh, for in her dark eyes shining red Kushiel brand, a brand so rare that no longer remember some of its meaning ... but this is not the case of Delaunay, the independent nobleman who buys the girl to the Court of Night where his parents had sold. Pursuing his own designs, he will initiate Phaedra complexity and danger of court intrigues, making her a courtesan celebrated for her beauty, but also a formidable spy and quick-witted observer. And in troubled times experienced by Terre d'Ange, his homeland, Phaedra will need all its resources to survive, and to save what can be ...

Jacqueline Carey is clearly in love with France, and that is roughly fun! First, if we look at the inevitable card that opens the novel, one is surprised to find more or less the silhouette of the kingdom of France Terre d'Ange, flanked by her neighbors, Britain, Germany and even Italy ... and the description of this land blessed by the gods is a feast for the ears ... French end of crowing ...

This fantasy novel is well written, with a coherent universe that I particularly liked the religion ... of course it is quite dark and have lots of passages in the torrid sensuality, understandable in view of the professional activity heroin ... I really enjoyed reading this, and even if I do not get me started right away in the reading of the other two volumes, I think it's only a matter of weeks! In reading it, I thought of other books, including the trilogy by Feist Daughter of the Empire Pair of Empire and Mistress of the Empire in the fantasy level, political intrigue, and My Geisha life Mineko Iwasaki for the first part of the life of the girl at the Court of Night.