Namaah's Curse, Book 2 of Namaah's Legacy
So, being back from all my travels, all my vacations and events, the first thing I accomplished was sitting down and reading Namaah's Curse between sleeping and going to work. Well worth it, but I do love Kushiel's Legacy so much more. I'm not sure Jacqueline Carey is going to trump that series, but I'll cross my fingers.
It took me a surprising amount of time to dive into Namaah's Curse, but I think a lot of it has to do with where the first ended, not heading back in Jehanne's direction. I get it though, new trilogy, new land to explore... we should want to explore it, right? I guess so, but I really wanted to go back to Terre D'Ange. Not that Princess Snow Tiger (... yes, really, that's her name) wasn't a delicious fighter or innocently sweet in bed once she stopped ripping her lovers apart, but she just didn't have the grabbing character arc that Jehanne did.
Okay, let's get to the Lovers spiel.
Bao-
The main love interest. I'm not so hot on him and not because I want to femslash Moirin so badly. I adore Phedre/Joscelin and Imriel/Sidonie from Kushiel's Legacy. It's just... Moirin/Bao just doesn't do it for me. This may or may not be because I was introduced to Jehanne first. However, I did warm up to Bao more toward the end of the book, but it's still not quite there. Also, his plot arc with Moirin where they keep searching for each other practically the entire story was tiresome. The plots themselves were fun, just not in conjunction with their inability and desire to reunite with each other.
Aleksei-
I could have done without the whole story of the devout youth raised by a sexually oppressing religious leader on a crusade who gets seduced by our sexytimes main character. I knew he was going to be the love interest in the whole convert-the-heathen-but-desire-prevails arc, but I was actually crossing my fingers that it would be his mother Valentina. The streak of rebelliousness in her was a lot more appealing to me than Aleksei realizing that Mr. Mean God wasn't as cool as the I-Love-Everyone God. I did love his vision of a future where love/desire/sex and religion were intimately intertwined.
Amrita-
I liked her subplot (sorta? It was kind of the major plot at the end...), but I think it would have been infinitely more interesting if Moirin had been seduced by Jagrati instead of almost-seduced. I wasn't particularly big on Amrita sleeping with Moirin as an act of compassion because Moirin was just so horny that it was a huge distraction, but I did like how Amrita opened up more afterward with her feelings toward Moirin. I still vouch for Jagrati because even though she was pretty callous, there was that beautiful layer beneath her evil that showed she was just a woman who wanted to be valued. One of her quotes when talking to Moirin, "Any caste, or no caste. No one was untouchable to [Namaah]. It was only desire that mattered. Desire that made a thing sacred." She was no Melisande, but she had some great villain angst going on.
Jehanne-
YOU'RE A DELICIOUS BITCH. Okay, so my heart completely broke when I read that Jehanne had died in childbirth and then Moirin was all sad like whoa. I was mollified by the strong reaffirmation that Moirin's love for Jehanne was so deep and passionate. UNF! I somehow managed to read through until the end, thinking Jehanne was gone forever, getting my heart wrenched out every time she was mentioned, BUT THEN, she pulled a Denna and came back as a spirit! Okay, granted, she only appeared as a spirit in a dream, but the way it was written made it kind of way better than just a wispy ghostly apparition. Mmmnn, sexydreamtimes.
Really, it's about her bringing about this ridiculous, but awesome quote from Bao when he guesses there was more to Moirin's dream than just a warning about the plot of the next novel, "So, within hours of our wedding, Moirin, you are telling me that it appears I am sharing you with the ghost of the White Queen... is that right?"
Yes, Bao, it is, but I like you a little bit more for being okay with the fact that your wife has a dream-mistress on the side.
All in all, I'm looking forward to the third book especially since I know Jehanne is going to be appearing in it. Dare I hope that she manifests physically, or that she appears in Moirin's dreams very, very often? I'm pretty sure this is going to end as a trilogy, but I do hope that Carey has more up her sleeve. Oh! Maybe she'll do something with Jehanne's daughter Desiree. There's some potential there.
It took me a surprising amount of time to dive into Namaah's Curse, but I think a lot of it has to do with where the first ended, not heading back in Jehanne's direction. I get it though, new trilogy, new land to explore... we should want to explore it, right? I guess so, but I really wanted to go back to Terre D'Ange. Not that Princess Snow Tiger (... yes, really, that's her name) wasn't a delicious fighter or innocently sweet in bed once she stopped ripping her lovers apart, but she just didn't have the grabbing character arc that Jehanne did.
Okay, let's get to the Lovers spiel.
Bao-
The main love interest. I'm not so hot on him and not because I want to femslash Moirin so badly. I adore Phedre/Joscelin and Imriel/Sidonie from Kushiel's Legacy. It's just... Moirin/Bao just doesn't do it for me. This may or may not be because I was introduced to Jehanne first. However, I did warm up to Bao more toward the end of the book, but it's still not quite there. Also, his plot arc with Moirin where they keep searching for each other practically the entire story was tiresome. The plots themselves were fun, just not in conjunction with their inability and desire to reunite with each other.
Aleksei-
I could have done without the whole story of the devout youth raised by a sexually oppressing religious leader on a crusade who gets seduced by our sexytimes main character. I knew he was going to be the love interest in the whole convert-the-heathen-but-desire-prevails arc, but I was actually crossing my fingers that it would be his mother Valentina. The streak of rebelliousness in her was a lot more appealing to me than Aleksei realizing that Mr. Mean God wasn't as cool as the I-Love-Everyone God. I did love his vision of a future where love/desire/sex and religion were intimately intertwined.
Amrita-
I liked her subplot (sorta? It was kind of the major plot at the end...), but I think it would have been infinitely more interesting if Moirin had been seduced by Jagrati instead of almost-seduced. I wasn't particularly big on Amrita sleeping with Moirin as an act of compassion because Moirin was just so horny that it was a huge distraction, but I did like how Amrita opened up more afterward with her feelings toward Moirin. I still vouch for Jagrati because even though she was pretty callous, there was that beautiful layer beneath her evil that showed she was just a woman who wanted to be valued. One of her quotes when talking to Moirin, "Any caste, or no caste. No one was untouchable to [Namaah]. It was only desire that mattered. Desire that made a thing sacred." She was no Melisande, but she had some great villain angst going on.
Jehanne-
YOU'RE A DELICIOUS BITCH. Okay, so my heart completely broke when I read that Jehanne had died in childbirth and then Moirin was all sad like whoa. I was mollified by the strong reaffirmation that Moirin's love for Jehanne was so deep and passionate. UNF! I somehow managed to read through until the end, thinking Jehanne was gone forever, getting my heart wrenched out every time she was mentioned, BUT THEN, she pulled a Denna and came back as a spirit! Okay, granted, she only appeared as a spirit in a dream, but the way it was written made it kind of way better than just a wispy ghostly apparition. Mmmnn, sexydreamtimes.
Really, it's about her bringing about this ridiculous, but awesome quote from Bao when he guesses there was more to Moirin's dream than just a warning about the plot of the next novel, "So, within hours of our wedding, Moirin, you are telling me that it appears I am sharing you with the ghost of the White Queen... is that right?"
Yes, Bao, it is, but I like you a little bit more for being okay with the fact that your wife has a dream-mistress on the side.
All in all, I'm looking forward to the third book especially since I know Jehanne is going to be appearing in it. Dare I hope that she manifests physically, or that she appears in Moirin's dreams very, very often? I'm pretty sure this is going to end as a trilogy, but I do hope that Carey has more up her sleeve. Oh! Maybe she'll do something with Jehanne's daughter Desiree. There's some potential there.