3.5/5
This is a very thick book and I realized too late this is a companion story in the Kushiel’s Legacy. It’s recommended to read the other books in the series or at least the first one. From what I could grasp of this book, I liked the author’s writing style. The world-building was very interesting from what I could understand and I know if I read the other books that I would love the series. The pacing was slow and I think it could have been shortened. Joscelin and Phedre are the main characters in this book. I really enjoyed their characters and thought they were well-written for the book. From what I read, they developed pretty fine but I don’t know how I would feel if I read the series. There were many side characters in this book but the romance part of the book wasn’t so great. I couldn’t find the chemistry and was confusing. The ending was well done and I believe that I will be reading the series soon because I’m missing out on a great series.

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

Absolutely loved the backstory of Cassiel and to be brought back into this fantasy world created in the Kushiel series. Going back to his childhood also allowed for development of parts of the world that readers did not get to see in the previous books. Fantastic read - and can be a stand alone.

Decades old fans of Kushiel's Legacy will froth at the mouth getting to return to realm of Terre d’Ange created by Jacqueline Carey- her voice so captivating, unique and beautiful. There are some fans who will wonder what is the point of treading over old ground, the POINT my friends is that the world that boldly declared "Love as thou wilt" deserves to be introduced to a new generation of fantasy readers. And following Joscelin is such a perfect way into this world. His devotion to Phèdre is legendary, basically he is the perfect book boyfriend. Period.
Reading his perspective and journey fills in nooks and gaps I didn't realize were there. Cannot wait/hope for more.

I read Kushiel's Dart when it was first published 20+ years ago (and still have that hardcover copy on my shelf) so I was incredibly excited for this new installment. It was great to connect with the characters again, and see a different POV on some of the pivotal events in the original series. And of course to learn more about Joscelin behind the stoic, Casseleine mask that caused some mystery in book 1. I think I would have enjoyed even more of his backstory but I was glad that I remembered enough detail from the series to follow along without knowing exactly what was coming next.

I feel like this would have been better as a prequel novella, just focusing on Joscelin's training with the Cassiline Brotherhood, than as a companion novel to Kushiel's Dart.

I've been chewing on this a bit. This book isn't *bad*. It's competent. But most of it feels totally unnecessary. I loved the first part, but as soon as Joscelin meets Phedre, I often found myself skimming sections. I already knew what happened, after all, and Joscelin's POV wasn't adding enough to keep me fully engaged. I didn't feel like I was learning things about him that I didn't already know. The prose also lacks the lushness that was so much of what I loved about the OT. And that's a good thing in some ways, because it's written from such a different point of view! It would feel very odd if Joscelin's voice had the same lyrical intensity as Phedre's. The lack didn't bother me in the first part of the book, when I had no point of comparison -- but as soon as we get to the Dart portion of the book, it just felt thin and watered-down.

I really do try not to judge books for not being the book I would have rather read, but in this case, Carey did make a very deliberate choice to write a companion novel to a story she'd already told, so I feel a little more justified in it. This book would have been more interesting from the POV of someone who *doesn't* spend almost all of Dart glued to Phedre's side. Ysandre, for example, would have been a great choice -- then you get to show more of the D'Angeline court, dive even further into the politics, see her grow into her role as a leader and dance carefully around the demands placed upon her. Seeing the book from Joscelin's perspective doesn't really add anything, either to the plot or to his character. Ultimately, I'd... rather just re-read Dart.

That said, this book might be a good way to start the series for someone who isn't sure they're up for the intensity of the OT, either because they don't love lush prose or because they're hesitant about the erotic qualities. If they read this, they'll get the plot, they'll get the general worldbuilding (although it does feel less immersive and less detailed), and they'll get a general sense of what the world of Terre d'Ange is about.

HIGHLIGHTS
~the Cassiline Brothers are so a cult
~who’s gonna tell them pride is a sin???
~Skaldia was a lot worse than we thought

*spoilers abound for anyone who hasn’t read Kushiel’s Dart!*

I read Kushiel’s Dart and Cassiel’s Servant back-to-back, and I’m still not sure if that was a good idea or not. Cassiel’s Servant does not compare well – but in fairness, what book could? And yet Servant seemed to be written expecting the reader to be very familiar with Dart indeed – some conversations, and some entire scenes, were glossed over with quick summaries rather than giving us a play-by-play, presumably because we already know how this conversation or that scene goes. So if you haven’t read Dart for a while, you may be a little lost in those moments – or feel a little cheated out of the story. Despite the heavy page-count, those glossing-over moments – which start when Joscelin meets Phedre – made Servant feel rushed to me, as if Carey didn’t really want to linger over the same story she’d already told in Dart.

Which I would normally think is pretty fair, but if you didn’t want to write the story again, why write a companion novel like this?

Joscelin’s voice is very different to Phedre’s, but while that is good writing craft – in the sense that it would be odd if two such different characters had similar voices – it made for a much less enjoyable reading experience for me. One of the things I love about Dart is the lushness, the decadence, the beautiful language – and with Servant, there’s none of that, because of course, Joscelin thinks things like decadence are…not ‘sinful’ exactly, but definitely not something to be encouraged. His descriptions of things, then, are much simpler and less ornate than Phedre’s – and that does not make it a bad book; it just makes it one that is unappealing to me specifically.

What I think is genuinely odd about Servant is that, I’m not sure we actually get much more insight into Joscelin as a character than we had before – and some of what we do get feels very forced. For example, we learn that during his training as a Cassiline, Joscelin had a best friend he was incredibly close to; arguably the most important relationship he’d ever had with anyone up to that point, up to and including his family (who, after all, he left when he was ten years old). But this is pretty jarring, because if this friendship was so important, was this important, how is this the first time we’re hearing about it? How did it never come up in Dart, or Chosen, or Avatar? And the reading experience of Servant is made strange by it, because – why doesn’t he mention it now? Only he can’t, because he never did in Dart, and although Carey does give us a few conversations and smaller scenes between Joscelin and Phedre that didn’t make it into Phedre’s account, in order to keep things believable those conversations and scenes have to be pretty minor and unimportant, or else why wouldn’t Phedre have talked about them in Dart?

I’m not sure if this is bad writing so much as it is an inevitable trap of writing this kind of a companion novel. Carey’s hands are tied by what she wrote decades ago for Dart. There’s no way around that.

(So perhaps it’s better to go into Servant not having reread Dart first? Because it might read better, if you don’t quite remember how everything is going to go already.)

Going in a very different direction: wow do I hate the Cassiline Brotherhood. Like, violently hate it. Their – philosophy? faith? both? is hateful and appalling and in direct conflict with, you know, everything else about Terre d’Ange. As in, the Brotherhood literally thinks D’Angelines shouldn’t exist, and are definitely sinning (or something – still not sure sinning is the right word) by enjoying beauty and sex. Oh, and that women, specifically, are Wicked But Weak. (One of the great things about Servant is that Joscelin is clearly narrating from many years later, and is not shy about calling out his past self’s misogyny or hypocrisy, or that of the Brotherhood. This is a great relief, and sometimes wryly funny.)

And from a worldbuilding perspective… I don’t understand how the Brotherhood exists. I really don’t understand how their faith evolved out of Cassiel’s existence. If I were imagining what a group of people who sought to emulate Cassiel might be like, the Brotherhood are absolutely not it. They’re basically a tiny cult within Terre d’Ange who believe everyone else is – not damned, but fundamentally wrong in their very existence, and that someday Cassiel will save everyone, including Elua, by convincing them all to go to the quasi-Christian Heaven instead of the paradise realm that is the D’Angeline afterlife.

What even.

I was expecting – waiting for, even – for the Brotherhood to be great advocates of platonic love, and for some discussion or debate about the merits of platonic vs romantic or erotic love. But that didn’t happen. And we already know Cassilines swear celibacy, and that that’s in emulation of Cassiel – but I wasn’t prepared for the disgust with which the Brotherhood views sex itself. You can be celibate without thinking sex is disgusting and sinful, and given, you know *gestures at the whole of Terre d’Ange* the sex-negativity (is that a term?) feels so impossibly out of place.

To be clear, these are things I, subjectively, did not like about the worldbuilding – but I also think that, objectively, they make very little sense.

On the other hand, we know the Brotherhood is dying out, and maybe this – the fundamental conflict between the Brotherhood’s views and everyone else’s – is a big part of why? But if that’s the case, then I would have liked for that to have been stated, and discussed. It could have made for some really interesting discussion! Instead, there’s only talk about how the Brotherhood has become less fashionable, which doesn’t seem to be the same thing.

Obviously, Joscelin’s life before meeting Phedre is the biggest difference – plot-wise – between Servant and Dart. That’s a given. So…what does Joscelin’s perspective on events we already know add to the familiar story?

Honestly? Not a lot, in my opinion. As previously mentioned, there are a few small snapshot-scenes that are original to Servant – and I was amused to see that very occasionally, Phedre and Joscelin remembered conversations just a little differently – but some of the ones I was hoping for are missing: for example, Joscelin summarises for us the night he spends entertaining Morhban’s soldiers as a storyteller – we don’t actually get to see how that night went. We never hear the story Joscelin came up with to explain how a Mendicant came to possess Cassiline daggers and vambraces – which particularly crushed and frustrated me; it was something I was so looking forward to hearing, and what’s the point of this kind of companion novel if you skip over the things that Phedre wasn’t around for?

And what I said about the change of voice (Phedre -> Joscelin) affecting the prose – well, Joscelin’s worldview strips away most of what makes Dart – and all three trilogies set in this world – unique. Without the sensuality and sexuality of Dart, we’re left with a story that is…not dull, because these are objectively exciting events. But it’s Phedre’s perspective, and the D’Angeline culture as a whole, that transforms Dart from an interesting High Fantasy into something really groundbreaking and special. Joscelin’s perspective and culture (because he really was effectively raised in another culture entirely) not only does not offer that – the D’Angeline view – specifically; it offers us nothing new in exchange. If anything, it takes away from the story and world we know, rather than adding anything to it. It diminishes it.

It takes something that was breathtaking and beautiful, and reduces it to…just another fantasy novel. Not bad. But nothing special.

That line from the blurb – ‘The lush epic fantasy that inspired a generation with a single precept: “Love As Thou Wilt.”’ That book was Kushiel’s Dart. Cassiel’s Servant would not, could not, and does not, inspire.

As a standalone, Cassiel’s Servant is perfectly fine. Not mindblowing, not terrible, just – fine.

But the Perfect Companion, it most certainly is not.

I will preface this review by saying that no matter how much I tempered my expectations for this novel, Kushiel’s Legacy was formative for me as a person - particularly protagonist Phèdre, who was one of the first bisexual heroines I read about who had her own agenda, agency, and didn’t exist for the male gaze. To undertake a retelling in such a beloved universe as Kushiel’s Legacy is no small feat, and I commend the attempt. However, Cassiel’s Servant really did not work for me on any level and was, unfortunately, a huge disappointment.

Getting to know more about Cassiline lore and ritual in the beginning of the novel was a welcome addition to the texture of this universe. Also, there were several scenes from Kushiel’s Dart that remained as or more poignant when told from Joscelin’s perspective, which were a delight to read. There were also adjustments to certain ableist language used previously in the series that I appreciated.

The first and most glaring issue with this retelling in my eyes is that it is STILL Phèdre’s story, even from Joscelin’s point of view. Not everyone can have main character energy, but the main character of a book should absolutely have it, and Joscelin just… does not in this novel. As a result, a large portion of the novel reads more like a Wikipedia summary of Kushiel’s Dart rather than as a unique, innovative retelling from a fresh perspective. The reader, much like Joscelin, is just sort of along for the ride - which does not make for an entertaining or engaging read.

Structurally, Joscelin and Phèdre are in close proximity for almost the entirety of Kushiel’s Dart. He is, after all, her bodyguard charged not to leave her side. What this means is that there are few opportunities to fulsomely dive into who Joscelin is and what he experiences independently of Phèdre and still adhere to the canon events of a novel written 20 years ago. Aside from the notes on his upbringing in the Cassiline Brotherhood, very little new perspective was added.

Normally, I try not to compare the works of authors to each other, but when an author writes a re-telling, they are inherently inviting conversation with and comparison to the source material. What compelled me about the initial trilogy in addition to Phèdre’s je ne sais quoi was the sex-positive, kink-positive, queernorm universe. Sexuality and eroticism are not only accepted in Terre d’Ange, they are sacred.

However, from Joscelin’s point of view, the reader loses all of that magic, only to have it replaced by a very generic, sexist dude with a sword fantasy story. And no offense, but if I wanted to read one of those, I have thousands to pick from. While I understand Joscelin grew up in a repressed, celibate environment (and that in fact is one of the draws of his romance with Phèdre for many readers), I was left confused by the complete tonal shift. He is still D’Angeline and therefore should still hold some of those values, but his external and internal monologues are full of sex-negative, judgmental, misogynistic, and possessive commentary, which undermined what little appeal I was getting from the novel.

Make no mistake: I still fully recommend the original Kushiel’s Legacy trilogy and am excited for the traction this novel and the paperback re-releases may bring to it. With the stratospheric rise in appreciation for “spicy” fantasy romance lately, a trilogy with a bisexual submissive masochist spy as a protagonist seems like it would do quite well. But I cannot in good faith recommend Cassiel’s Servant.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

It’s been ages since I read the original trilogy and after reading the ARC of this book I kind of want to go back and reread that series. I think this one would stand well on its own though and it might actually be a better choice for some readers, it cuts it all down to 1 book and if the details of a courtesan’s life who is gods touched to like pain would be a bit much for you this book has just a couple of brief and much gentler scenes. I really enjoyed it quite a bit and the author really is good and complex stories.

Cassiel’s Servant by Jaqueline Carey

Some retellings are boring. This isn’t one of them.
I devoured this book with the same ardor as Kushiel's Dart, which I have read numerous times in my life, always with joy. Reading Cassiel’s Servant was a lovely way to return to Phédre’s story, but with extra embellishment.
I really loved the first part of the book, which sees Jocelyn leave his family and start Cassiline training. Those were some of the parts wholly missing from the first trilogy that were the most fun to read. Those moments allowed the author to develop characters, places and mythos that had not yet been revealed. We have seen glimpses of Terre D’Ange from Naamah’s disciples, and Kushiel’s, but never Cassiel’s. It added another layer to the world, even in a story we all know so well.
In fact, knowing what was going to happen made it more stressful and torturous at times, since I was mentally preparing for the upheavals but the main characters had no idea what was coming.
Besides the early training, I enjoyed when Joscelin first arrived at the City to take up his first post. The scenes just with him and Alcuin, or Delaunay, or Hyacinth were the side alleys in the story that readers are going to love exploring. My only critique of the book is that I wish there were more of them! It was fun trying to remember whether a particular scene or bit of dialogue actually appeared in Kushiel's Dart, and made me want to go re-read it to check. Overall, a delightful return to the story we originally loved, with the added depth of the Cassiline lore and a deeper understanding of the inner strength needed to overcome obstacles. I hope you are all excited. 5/5 stars.

Will be published on review website just before publication date.

What a joy to be back in the world of Terre d'Ange from a new but familiar point of view! I am always hesitant about these kinds of books that retell a story from different POV, but I was well-rewarded for going into this one in good faith. I absolutely adore Joscelin, Phèdre, and their love story, and Joscelin definitely had new insights to offer into that love story. Honestly, I hope we get the rest of the trilogy from his point of view, as there are many places and conversations that he has access to that Phèdre does not. Give me more of the Perfect Companion!

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Tor Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this companion fantasy novel to a beloved series, that looks at the story from a certain point of view.

There is a quote by an older Jedi gentlemen, "Many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view." A known story can be enriched be bringing another voice into it, sharing things that were missed, were wrong, or fixing plot points that later didn't make sense in a story or discrepancies that later made for awkwardness. Another view allows familiar characters to have a more lush interesting life. Incidents once explained can now be shown, drawn out more. And these incidents can show more about the character, what formed and shaped them, what made them stong, and why readers care. Cassiel's Servant by novelist Jacqueline Carey is a companion story to the earlier trilogy Kushiel's Legacy, this time focusing on the character of Joscelin, and Joscelin's version of what happened in the first book Kushiel's Dart.

Joscelin Verreuil is the middle son of a family that is strong on tradition, loyal to the ideals of what wealthy families should do. To them it means the giving of the middle son, Joscelin, to the Cassiline Brotherhood, a group of priests and warriors who swear an oath of celibacy and loyalty. This happens at the age of 10 and Joscelin is both scared and fascinated, but he is a Verreuil, and honor and keeping promises is in his blood. For now. Two members of the Brotherhood arrive, and Joscelin is told that his first task will be to care for and repair the armor and sword of his Uncle, who died in service to the Brotherhood. Soon, much too soon Joscelin says his goodbyes and leaves his family and everything Joscelin knows to start training. And find his destiny.

This is a companion book to Kushiel's Dart, like I stated earlier, but one does not have to be familiar with Jacqueline Carey previous books to enjoy this, though it might be a more enjoyable read. The book is avery solid fantasy story with a lot of good ideas, some beautiful writing and a lot going on. I originally read these years ago, and remember them enough, but had no trouble reading the book without looking things up and going who is that, what is that. The book does take a bit of a turn when certain characters meet because suddenly the focus is not on Joscelin but on the character of Phedre things suddenly go from a making of a hero, to another character taking over the narrative. Which is fine, as that is why many fans are reading this. Carey has a real skill for making readers care about characters, and making these characters seem so real. An interesting return to a classic series.

Recommended for fans of the series without a doubt. This might be a good starting off point for people who have heard of the series, but the page length of the original series scares readers. Carey has lost none of her skills in making fantasy series, that stays with the reader long past the last page. A nice visit with old friends.

Words cannot describe how excited I was when I first saw that this book was coming out. I absolutely adored Jacqueline Carey’s “Kushiel’s Dart” trilogy when I first read it (one of my earlier memories of very adult fantasy that I read outside of the classics like Tolkien). I went on to re-read the original trilogy several times and read all of the other books that are set in this world. So, yes, I’m a fan. And, if nothing else, this is definitely a book for the fans!

While I do have some questions about what place this book really holds in the general readership, overall, I think it stands on its own feet as a stellar work of fiction. There’s simply no understating the mastery of language and philosophy that Carey is able to weave throughout her works. This latter point, especially, stood out as an important aspect of this work. As a re-telling, a lot of the second half of the book is a re-tread of the plot from the first book in the original trilogy. But woven throughout the entire book is the ongoing arc of Joscelin’s understanding of the order that he has devoted himself to and how that fits into the greater world that he is exposed to throughout this story. From the original, Joscelin very much came across as one of those “still waters run deep” type of characters, so he is an ideal character for a work like this that can really dive into what was going on within him throughout these events.

I will say, as far as the actual plotting and story goes, I did enjoy the first half of this book more than the second. I loved getting to see a bit of Joscelin’s childhood with his family (making his later interactions with them that we saw in the original work hit that much stronger when we come across those plot points again here), but I really enjoyed the portion that was dedicated to his training as a servant of Cassiel. In the original, it was easy to dismiss his upbringing in this group as slightly naïve, rigid, and lacking in the flexibility of thought necessary to exist within “modern” society. So I found it incredibly refreshing to see the positive impacts and positive relationships that Joscelin formed in his early years. Of course, this made the heart-rending nature of his choices later in the book, again, hit that much harder.

However, I will say that meeting Phedre (something every fan I’m sure goes into this book greatly anticipating) and picking up with the plot from “Kushiel’s Dart” is where I did start to question the role of this book. There’s simply no denying that even when reduced to the non-POV character, Phedre is still the driver of all of the action in this story, with Joscelin is reduced to a very passive character. And, of course, there’s really no way around this, as that’s the nature of the original story. But it does position this one awkwardly as its own work of fiction. While the world is introduced in a manner that is approachable to new readers, I’m not sure the story itself, especially this second half, would hold up as well. Instead, the joy is largely found for fans of the series who are already “bought in” to this story and have the background knowledge of the original to add context and intrigue to a plot that, for Joscelin himself, becomes quite passive and reactive.

Overall, I think this is the sort of book that will give a huge pay off to the original fans of this world and this series. Those of us who would do almost anything to simply get more, more, more. As a huge fan of this couple, I was more than happy to retread a familiar story if only to get the glimpses into Joscel’s head regarding when and how he fell in love and experienced this relationship. However, I don’t think it stands as well on its own. Readers should really check out the original trilogy before reading this one to truly appreciate these characters and story.

Rating 8: For fans of the original trilogy, this is a must! For new readers, the original story still needs to come first.

Link will go live August 2

It has been a very, very long time since I've read the Phedre series by Carey.
This was such a pleasant dive back into that world. Getting to see things from Joscelin's point of view, learning more about his childhood and back story. I think I'm going to have to go back to the original series for a re-read!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Publishing for an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

To preface this review: I love Jacqueline Carey, and will read and love anything she writes, but I am also aware that her style and themes may not be for everyone, so take this review with that bias in mind.
For people like me, who read Kushiel's Dart, raved about it to anyone who would listen, and then received feedback that it was "too much" for some readers, Cassiel's Servant is a soften version of the original story. This is, beat for beat, a close-to-exact retelling of Kushiel's Dart but from Josceline's perspective. This is their story, with a slow burn, innocent romance rather than the many darker, spicy trysts that dominate the book told from Phedre's perspective.

For anyone who found the first trilogy too intense for their tastes but also enjoyed the worldbuilding and character development Carey offers, this is the story for you. And for anyone like me, desperate to discuss the story with somebody, but maybe reluctant to reveal your personal tastes, this is a great substitute. This story would also be more accessible to people looking to start reading Carey's work, and a reading of the first trilogy is not required, since the plot and characters are identical, with only the tone and angle of the story shifting.

While under a different author, the repetition of the first story would be annoying or feel like lazy writing, Carey's masterful command of tone and perspective gives the story an entirely different meaning. While Phedre was fully devoted to her gods and her city, Josceline's perspective as an outsider with opposing religious upbringing and views drives home the adage "there are two sides to every story".

Kushiel's Dart is one of my favorite books of all time, so I was obviously dying to read this. My expectations were high, and yet Jacqueline Carey still managed to blow them out of the water. It's hard to take a well-known and well-loved story and retell it from another character's POV without it feeling repetitive or, even worse, tedious, so I'm even more impressed by how well Carey threaded that needle, especially since I'd recently reread Kushiel's Dart. Honestly, I hope we get Joscelin's take on the whole trilogy, that's how much I loved this book!

It seems weird to describe a book that is so fraught as comforting but that is what this is. It felt like coming home and settling in with an old friend. This is not the book to begin your journey through Terre D'Ange with but if you have read and enjoyed the original trilogy or even just Kushiel's Dart, this is a must read. It doesn't offer any real surprises and it doesn't change anything about the original but what it does do is add additional context and fill out what is already a complete and satisfying story. It is especially cool to get the bits of the story from Joscelin's perspective that we missed out on in moments that he and Phèdre were separated in Kushiel's Dart. I'd really love to see the whole trilogy retold from his perspective now.

An epic fantasy following Joscelin, the warrior priest who has vowed to protect Phèdre nó Delaunay. This is my first book that I have encountered by author Jacqueline Carey.

While I enjoyed reading this book, it lacked the intensity of the earlier books in the series. It was interesting learning more about the training and history of the cassilines but there was a lot of repetition. It could serve as an introduction to the other books, but I would recommend reading them in the order they were written.

This is the long anticipated book retelling Kushiel's Dart from Joscelin's point of view. Trained as a warrior from the age of 10, Joscelin is taught discipline, celibacy and self control. When he completes his training, and takes his vows as a warrior-priest, he is astonished to be posted to Phedre, a courtesan in the city of Elua. He quickly realizes there is more to Phedre and her household, and he slowly starts falling in love.

Although I enjoyed this book, it lacked the tension between Joscelin and Phedre that made Kushiel's Dart so intriguing and special. I enjoyed getting to know Joscelin's history and back-story, but that could have been done in a novella or stand alone book. As always, Carey's writing is artful and beautifully done. Overall 4 out of 5 stars.

Having read and love the original Kushiel’s trilogy by Jacqueline Carey, I absolutely love this retelling of book one from Joscelin’s point of view. Having this dual insight to events that happened was great and gave a whole new perspective to our main character. I am looking froward to having the next two books in the trilogy and seeing Joscelin’s take on events that happened. It is highly recommended that you have already read the Kushiel’s dart trilogy to completely enjoy this title.