I’m re-reading one of my favorite books at the moment: Kushiel’s Dart. It’s a fantasy novel set in an alternative Renaissance Europe – one with a different history and set of religions. The cool part is that on top of all the swashbuckling adventure, intrigue and romance, there’s lashings of down-and-dirty BDSM sex. The heroine is a courtesan and an anguissette – one who experiences pain as pleasure. Thus the story is often punctuated by lushly described acts of flagellation, subservience, bondage and rough sex.
More fun than your average dungeons and dragons fantasy, I have to say.
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The basic moral code of the main religion in this book is “Love as thou wilt” – a very pagan philosophy. This means that homosexuality and kink are considered to be normal, and 
prostitution is a holy act. Those who serve the goddess with sex are often marked with tattoos on their backs as a sign of their service.
Clearly I’m not the only fan of her work. Jacqueline’s site features a special gallery with photos of fan’s Kushiel-inspired tattoos. Amazing stuff, indicative of the kind of passion a lot of people have for these books.
Author Jacqueline Carey has since written four sequels to Kushiel’s Dart, and I’m rereading the original trilogy prior to delving into the second one.