Kushiel's Legacy

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Name: Kushiel's Legacy
Abbreviation(s):
Creator: Jacqueline Carey
Date(s): June 2001 - June 2011
Medium: Book
Country of Origin: U.S.A.
External Links: Kushiel's Legacy Wiki
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The Kushiel's Legacy fandom is based around a series of nine epic fantasy novels written by American author Jacqueline Carey, published between 2001 and 2011.

Canon Overview

The series is broken up into three trilogies, each of which has its own arc and a different protagonist. The first trilogy, composed of Kushiel's Dart, Kushiel's Chosen, and Kushiel's Avatar, is told from the perspective of Phèdre nó Delaunay, a courtesan and spy; the second trilogy, composed of Kushiel's Scion, Kushiel's Justice, and Kushiel's Mercy, is told from the perspective of Imriel de la Courcel, Phèdre's foster-son; the third trilogy, composed of Naamah's Kiss, Naamah's Curse, and Naamah's Blessing, jumps forward in time approximately one hundred years, and is told from the perspective of Moirin mac Fainche. The main antagonist through the first six books is Melisande Shahrizai.

The books take place in an alternate-Europe during the Renaissance; the primary setting is a country called Terre d'Ange, which is a France-analogue. Its people practice an invented religion whose primary tenet is "Love as thou wilt" - as a result all forms of lovemaking are sacred, and in canon most characters are assumed to be bisexual and there are multiple examples of relationships involving BDSM and polyamory.

Fandom Overview

Kushiel's Legacy has been a Yuletide fandom for many years. In 2013 ivy and kmo ran a fandom-specific gift exchange called Midwinter Masque. It is also a frequent fusion fandom in the same way His Dark Materials is, where the setting is borrowed for characters from a larger fandom.

Cover for Kushiel's Dart by AngelaSasser

Tropes

Due to its presence in canon, BDSM features heavily in fanworks. Canon-Divergent AUs are also popular. A sizeable minority of fanfics are written in first person, to mimic the first person perspective of the novels.

Characters and Pairings

The character who appears most often in fanworks is Phèdre nó Delaunay, followed by Melisande Shahrizai and Joscelin Verreuil. However, many fanworks explore secondary or even minor characters from the novels, or use Original Characters in order to focus on world-building.

There isn't a One True Pairing in the Kushiel's Legacy fandom; most fans are multi-shippers who ship both canon and non-canon pairings. The largest pairings are both canonical, to a certain degree: Phèdre/Joscelin and Phèdre/Melisande are tagged in approximately 1/7 and 1/9 of the fic produced on AO3 respectively. Other popular canon pairings are Amarante/Sidonie and Anafiel/Rolande. Popular non-canonical pairings are Phèdre/Ysandre and Imriel/Mavros. Het and Male Slash fanworks are slightly more popular than Femslash, Gen, and Poly fanworks, but all types of relationships are common.

Communities

Example Fanworks

Fan Fiction

Canon-Based Fics

Fusion Fics

Fan Art

While Jacqueline Carey prefers not to know about any fan fiction written for her books,[1] she does encourage and highlight visual fanworks. Her website has a page showcasing fan art for her novels and fan tattoos inspired by the Kushiel's Legacy series.

Several fan artists have created designs for the coats of arms of the major D'Angeline noble houses and the houses of the Night Court, based on descriptions in the books. Beyond that, many fanartists create pieces that highlight Phèdre's marque, a back tattoo that is featured prominently in the cover art of the first three novels, or works highlighting a romantic pairing.

References

  1. ^ Professional Author Fanfic Policies, accessed 6 May 2014.
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