May seems to be a readalong month. I’m hosting my own Literature and War Readalong at the end of the month, signed up for the readalong of Kushiel’s Dart at Dab of Darkness, and am extremely tempted to join Bellezza (Dolce Bellezza), Tom (Wuthering Expectations), and Helen (a gallimaufry) in their joint reading of John Crowley’s Little, Big.
Here’s the blurb of Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart:
The land of Terre d’Ange is a place of unsurpassing 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. PhEdre nO Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission…and 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. PhEdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, PhEdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair…and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and PhEdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear. Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of “Kushiel’s Dart”-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.
If you’d like to join – head over to Dab of Darkness. Below you find the schedule and the list of participants.
Week 1: May 10, Chapters 1-8, Hosted by Dab of Darkness
Week 2: May 17, Chapters 9-18, Hosted by Tethyan Books
Week 3: May 24, Chapters 19-26, Hosted by Over the Effing Rainbow
Week 4: May 31, Chapters 27-36, Hosted by Beauty is a Sleeping Cat
Week 5: June 7, Chapters 37-45, Hosted by Violin in a Void
Week 6: June 14, Chapters 46-54, Hosted by Books Without Any Pictures
Week 7: June 21, Chapters 55-63
Week 8: June 28, Chapters 64-73, Hosted by Lynn’s Book Blog
Week 9: July 5, Chapters 74-83
Week 10: July 12, Chapter 84-END
Allie at Tethyan Books
Lisa at Over the Effing Rainbow
Lynn at Lynn’s Book Blog
Grace at Books Without Any Pictures
Caroline at Beauty Is a Sleeping Ca
Lauren at Violin in a Void
Celine at Nyx Book Reviews
Bellezza at Dolce Bellezza
Susan at Dab of Darkness
Here’s the blurb of Little, Big:
Edgewood is many houses, all put inside each other, or across each other. It’s filled with and surrounded by mystery and enchantment: the further in you go, the bigger it gets.
Smoky Barnable, who has fallen in love with Daily Alice Drinkwater, comes to Edgewood, her family home, where he finds himself drawn into a world of magical strangeness.
Crowley’s work has a special alchemy – mixing the world we know with an imagined world which seems more true and real. Winner of the WORLD FANTASY AWARD, LITTLE, BIG is eloquent, sensual, funny and unforgettable, a true Fantasy Masterwork.
Winner of the WORLD FANTASY AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL, 1982.
If you’re interested in reading along John Crowley’s Little, Big, you should visit Bellezza’s blog here where you can find the details.
Unfortunately both books, Kushiel’s Dart and Little, Big are hefty tomes, that’s why I don’t think I’ll manage to join both. I’m glad if I succeed in finishing one.
Will you join?
