Phedre is a young woman specially trained in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber. Once before, she gave up everything held dear to save her homeland, but the gods are not yet finished with her. For while their young queen is well loved by her people, there are some who believe that other heads should wear the crown. To protect and serve, Phedre must once again leave her beloved homeland. Moving from the sun-drenched hills of La Serenissima to the wilds of old Hellas, she will meet old friends and new enemies...and uncover an earth-shattering plot that is masterminded by the one person she cannot turn away from. 'Carey dismantles standard notions of both magic and mortality to produce a long, complex saga worthy of the field's best writer on such a scale, George R. R. Martin' Locus 'Kushiel's Chosen is elegant, intricate, sensual, and captivating. Once you pick it up you won't want to put it down' - Robert Jordan.