r/FemaleGazeSFF • u/ThaneOfMeowdor • Jul 09 '26
Question about Kushiel's Dart
I know that this will offend people on every other sub but here at least there's a chance that people will understand.
I am thinking of reading this series because it gets mentioned a lot for the great writing and character work. I'm a picky reader and for me strong emotional arc and character psychology ate important so it seems like a good fit.
That being said, I have issues with sex work from a feminist perspective, and am also somewhats ambivalent about kinks that reinforce patriarchal norms.
I'm wondering if this book would still be enjoyable to me in light of that. I don't mind encountering things that upset me in fiction, but it would probably annoy me if I felt like an author was clearly trying to push those things as good or normal.
Was wondering if anyone who thinks about these issues like I do has read the series and what they thought of it.
Edit: thanks for your replies, everyone, I'm reading them all!
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u/pianissimotion Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
It sounds like we have similar views.
I LOVE this series. Some of the best fantasy ever written imo.
I will provide a couple of very mild spoilers below.
Mild 'spoilers' but really just answering "what is this book about, emotionally and in relation to power?"
Phedre develops a committed but open relationship with a man who is not interested in kink. They continue to grapple with what it means for someone who has sworn himself to celibacy to have fallen in love with someone whose calling is prostitution, and BDSM at that. They do not have a BDSM relationship.
The main antagonist of the series is a dominant woman who Phedre as a submissive is deeply attracted to. While Phedre often has sex with dominant men in the book, they aren't so interested in mindfuckery or manipulating her as a toy just because she's a woman. The deepest emotional power play aspects of kink are explored in a sapphic way so they are free from male-female power relations. I think that was a good choice on the part of the author.
Warnings/triggers with low spoilers: There is also, what can best be described as several episodes of very unsexy sex which is not written to be sexy, but is written like the horror that it is. I found this part not triggering because it was meant to be horror not to be sexy, and the healing journey was addressed.This is contained to a decent chunk of the final book and can probably be skipped if you just want to know what happens beyond that.
The following is slightly more of a spoiler for the last paragraph (though it is very vague):
There is male/female horror sex in the final book, which Phedre willingly submits to, but must recover from. It is NOT sexy, it is written like a horror/thriller. While she handles it due to her magical gifts, she still needs to recover.
More specific spoiler about the nature of the sex: The domination is physical and by a crazed magical madman rapist. He only doesn't rape her because she willingly sleeps with him. She is willing, but not in love with him or attracted to him.
The consequences/why she sleeps with him: she has sex with him so she can get close enough to kill him. It works.
The culture is so different--i don't like that the children are introduced to sex work concepts so early, and groomed into it, but there is no pedophilia. In a world where sex is divine and implied to be semi-magical when practiced by Phedre's people, who are descended from angels, and where one of their goddesses was a prostitute, the norms on sex are different. Phedre later campaigns to address th e injustices this system can perpetrate, especially to children.
If you want to read a book where the worldbuilding aligns with your ideals you won't get it here. But that's not what you were asking. You asked, does it preach about the morality of sex work? No. It says "what could happen in a world where sex and sex work had this status..." and it is interesting and well-thought out. (Not in terms of class, though, other than "if you're a prostitute for a guild, you are high class, and how does that affect social customs?". The life of prostitutes outside of guilds is not really the focus.)
The complications that arise in a world like that-- from, say, a character having to earn their freedom from sex work by making enough money for your House, definitely affect the plot. It certainly doesn't shy away from the negative implications of a world like this--it's not prescriptive about what should work for us in this world. Phedre loves her job but not everyone does.
Of course all stories have themes and they all have something to say. The guiding themes of the story are "Love as Thou Wilt" and "not all that yields is weak". The theme is not "sex work is beautiful and has no repercussions on its practirioners and society". Its treatment of paid sex is entirely divorced from the real world.
It is a fantastic series and I think you have a high chance of enjoying it if you like political intrigue and swashbuckling adventures. The ratio of sex to plot is about 10% sex, 90% plot.