Kushiel's Dart

I read this book because it is on the LGBTQ Resource Reading List at Worlds Without End. It features gay and lesbian relationships, but it is not very heavily emphasized. The book is really a sprawling tale of the politics and intrigue of an alternate middle ages predominantly set in a France-like country, told from the point of view of a high class courtesan who is the first in several generations to find pleasure in pain. At first, I didn't care for the politics. There were way to many names and families. In fact, the book begins with a listing of all the characters from all the houses. That overwhelmed me for about the first three hundred or so pages. Then the adventures began, which cut down on the politics and focused more on plot. With over nine hundred pages, I thought I'd eventually be bored with it, but the intrigue kept me, well, intrigued.

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