Terre d'Ange is a beautiful land believed to have been discovered by angels (hence it's poetic name). The current population is believed to be able to trace their origins directly back to the angels themselves and have one overriding rule for life – Love as thou will. To facilitate this principle they have established the Night Court, thirteen individual Houses filled with courtesans dedicated to satisfying their clients' different sexual tastes and predilections.

From the very day she was born Phedre's family knew she would be no ordinary child as she had been born with a scarlet mote in one eye. So, at an early age, her family sells her into the care of the Night Court to join the ranks of the other courtesans. Traditionally each Adept of the various houses is not paid for his/her services but should any of her clients be sufficiently pleased with her performance to give her a gift the money is used to pay for her Marque to be tattooed onto her back. Each Marque is unique to that particular courtesan and once the design is complete the Adept is freed from her commitments to the Night Court.

Phedre has accepted this future when she is surprised one day when her Marque (and therefore her ownership) is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman, who has some very specific intentions for his new property. As the years progress Phedre is not only trained in the skills of the courtesan but also as a spy; her aim being to extract critical information from her clients while plying her trade. Everything seems to be going to plan and her Marque is progressing nicely when her entire world comes crashing down around her ears and she finds herself wanted for murder and a slave of a brutal tribe known as the Skald. As she learns the truth about her capture she discovers a plot to overthrow the Queen of Terre d'Ange and determines to do everything in her power to escape her captors and warn the Queen of the plot. But can one courtesan achieve the impossible?

I came across this novel completely by accident. Stuck in an American airport with a 6 hour stop over I needed something to read as I had finished all the books I had with me so I headed off to Hudsons to see what I could find. There in front of me was Kushiel's Dart and reading the back I knew I had to give it a try. I would have bought all 3 books in the series but for some bizarre reason they only stocked books 1 and 3.

Anyway, 6 hours later I was completely hooked and I found the novel impossible to put down. I know that a book of more than 900 pages may seem quite daunting but Jacqueline Carey has achieved something virtually unique within the world of Fantasy. She has managed to write a lengthy novel that never once falters or loses its direction. Even works from the very best authors seem to lose their way when attempting a book of this scale but Carey keeps you interested until the very last word. In fact if I already had book 2 I would probably have dived straight in.

One thing I feel I musty mention is that this series of books has a very adult premise. We enter the world of indentured courtesans who join the Night Court and perform a variety of sexual services for their clients. In the case of Phedre; her particular skills are in the combination of sexual pleasure and the experience of pain and some of the acts performed on her are quite explicitly described and not for the faint of heart. However, that is not to say that this book is in the slightest way exploitative. Far from it. The sexual acts are portrayed with a delicacy and reverence that makes it clear that the men and women of the Night Court are not debasing themselves. Rather they are performing an almost sacred act.

According to the author's biography Kushiel's Dart is her first full-length work of fiction; a fact I find impossible to believe. This book is up there with the very best and, should the remaining 2 novels maintain the same high standard of writing, I believe they too will make it onto my top 10 list and achieve the elusive 10/10.

There are so many wonderful aspects about this book that if I were to list them all the review would resemble the novel in its length! Just let it be said that this is possibly the finest work of Fantasy I have ever read – no exceptions and if Carey succeeds in maintaining this exactingly high standard in all her future works then surely she will be remembered as one of the best authors of our generation. Astounding!