After everything she had been through no one would blame Phedre if she'd taken the opportunity to enjoy life and settle down with Joscelin. But after the ten years of peace promised to her by the Oracle of Asherat-of-the-Sea she was haunted by the thought that her childhood friend, Hyacinthe, was still trapped on the isle of the Three Sisters. She has spent much of her time searching for a way to set him free but with little success.

When, one day, she received a letter from Melisande Shahrizai, asking her to visit Phedre was understandably concerned. Melisande was still the only person to make her yield during her role as an anguissette. But despite her concerns she knew that she had to go to Melisande. However, she could not have anticipated the request that Melisande would make – to find her son and keep him safe.

Kushiel's Avatar is the final book in the Kushiel's Legacy trilogy and concludes the story of Phedre no Delaunay, an anguissette who gains sexual pleasure from pain and has used this to obtain information from her various clients. As you might guess, this does make this whole trilogy very adult in content. The nature of Phedre's predilections does result in some explicit scenes that may not be the taste of many readers.

When I picked up the first book in this series I was impressed by the writing skill and Carey's ability to weave such a compelling story. However, as the first volume was more than one inch thick (in paperback) I wondered if she would be able to maintain the pace throughout the whole trilogy. The second book was thicker than the first and yet she still managed to keep me enthralled from the beginning to the very end. So when I picked up the final volume (at nearly two inches thick, some 967 pages) I was excited to see how the epic tale would conclude. The answer is, to put it simply, it would conclude perfectly. In fact, I rather wish there was a fourth book waiting for me...

To embark on a trilogy of this scale is to commit a significant proportion of your reading time to one author's creation. You do this trusting that the author will take you on a journey and be skilled enough to keep the story fresh from start to finish. Carey manages this with an ability that belies the fact that this is her first series of novels. Astounding!