Finished Kushiel's Mercy!!! :D
Well I swore to myself that I wouldn't stay up past 2 am this morning, but once I picked up "Kushiel's Mercy" again....I just couldn't put it down until I had finished it, which happened around 5:15 this morning! ;)
All I can say is.....WOW! And SQUUUEEEE! :D
Spoilers for book below....
Seriously, I was constantly squeeing while reading the final chapter, even out loud at times! (Good thing I was alone! ;)). And I couldn't help grinning like an idiot afterwards, it was all so happy and beautiful! What a way to end a book/series! I wish some other authors would take pointers....*cough* JK! *cough* (And no doubt *cough* SM! *cough* after reading Breaking Dawn...*sigh*)
I just thought JC did a wonderful job at tying everything together, as well as introducing loose ends to be explored in her next series (what do you want to bet that the protagonist of the next series will be a student at their magical academy and find the Book of Raziel Phedre and Joscelin hid so many years ago? :p). I loved how they managed to bring so much back from the previous books, esp. the Phedre ones (even things like saying he swung the emerald like a goatheard something--which brings to mind he was once "the goatherd prince" as Phedre put it!). I loved how happy and awesome it was, seeing everyone together, Imriel making the comment about the carpet as he carries her away (squee!), and ending on "Always and always." *claps in joy*
Even if the final outcome was predictable (though I was not completely positive going into the book that Melisande wouldn't be executed--b/c I didn't realize she'd end up helping to save Terre D'Ange!), I think what came in b/t was not--the book was VERY different from what I expected! Here I thought we'd get hundreds of pages of Imriel searching for Melisande to find her in the end--but no, we got to solve the Melisande mystery and meet her pleasantly early on, and move on to a much more exciting adventure, IMO! I loved how he transformed into Leander, and fell in love with Sidonie all over again, and how he just barely managed to break the spell only in the nick of time (I thought he'd find it earlier...). I did not expect that duel with Joscelin, which made me want to cry, it was so heart-breakingly done! (Was anyone else reminded of the Ani-Obi duel in Star Wars III in that scene, with Obi going all, "I have failed you Anakin!" and "You were the Chosen one! You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them!"--in other words, the utter betrayal of the scene, and with one of them being out of their mind, seeing conspiracy, though with the mentor being that one in this case....). In any case, VERY exciting! Only one lull point really, unlike with the last one....(Stupid Vralia!)
I thoguht the ending was perfect, though I was a little disappointed not to be able to see in the flesh the horde of brooding boys and haughty girls (lol) that we heard so much about! ;) Even a vision would have been nice, though maybe it's for the best....More Alais would have been nice, as well as much Lucius (I feel they had some unfinished business between them....;)), and the rest, but I do feel like we got to see plenty of them in other books.
There were some aspects of this book I was less than thrilled with (I could have done without the new masochistic sex routine--I don't know, they just didn't seem as tactfully done as in the Phedre books IMO...), but overall it was great, definitely my favorite of the Imriel trilogy, and a fine end to the series! :D
Some of my favorite quotes:
"Some great undying love affair that turned out to be!" (Bless you Barquiel L'Envers, I'll miss you!"
"Happiness is the highest form of wisdom." (probably true!)
"Sun Princess....I don't have the words. I wish I did. I just don't ever want to be without you."
"You are my sunlight, Sidonie"
The last quote is why this song http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=P6h-gdNQMSw&feature=related makes me think of I/S so much, especially right after he learns that she has gone to wed Astegal and is all in despair! Poor Imriel, so glad he gets to be happy and with Sidonie at long last!
I am very sad that this is the last book in the series with these wonderful characters though! :( I kept thinking the whole time I was reading, "this is the last time I'll hear Barquiel's sardonic humor or Joscelin snort sarcastically, or Mavros grin mischieviously....." the whole time, and wanting to cry and hug all of the characters! I love ALL of these characters so ridiculously much, I didn't want to say goodbye! I wonder if it's worse in some ways that I know there will be another series in this world, because instead of thinking, "this is the last time I'll see them" I was thinking, "this is the last time I'll see them alive," which is almost more depressing! :(
I hope the next series will be good and interesting though, and that the Maguoin Dhonn protagonist is one of Alais's descendants (makes sense to me!), because I want the character to be connected to the beloved characters of these generations somehow, even if it's 200 years later or whatever!