Cursed [Mass Market Paperback]

Dave Duncan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 1995

War had killed Gwin's husband, and a plague of star sickness carried off her babies. Desolate, she nursed her stricken neighbors. But the few who would survive the sickness were doomed anyway.
Every survivor would be cursed, and each would become outcast, for the curses were more deadly than the plague itself. Some survivors would gain powers of healing--and equally the power to inflict disease at the merest touch. Some would see the future--and it would drive them mad. And some curses were even worse . . .
Under the law, no one could shelter the Cursed, but Gwin took in a young girl. Who could predict that her simple act of outlaw kindness would change her life--and her world--forever?
THE CURSED is an epic tale of mortals swept up in the maelstrom of destiny, of unforgiving fate, and of new beginnings. Journey with Dave Duncan into the world of THE CURSED.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This pleasant empire-building fantasy follows Gwin Nien Solith, an Innkeeper with the proverbial heart of gold, through her various political troubles, romantic alliances and fantastic escapades until she discovers her destiny. Gwin lives in the former empire of Quolia, whose inhabitants desperately await a Renewer, someone with the strength to bind together the local kingdoms being ransacked and decimated by petty squabbling and outbreaks of plague. Gwin has decided to take one of the Cursed?victims of the "star sickness" who have developed psychic powers?under her wing: a girl who has been transformed into an Ivielscath (one who can cure, or kill, with a touch). She also meets other Cursed, including Shoolscaths (who live backwards through time) and Awailscaths (who are shapechangers). When Gwin is threatened with a disastrous political marriage and the destruction of her livelihood, she escapes into the aged arms of powerful farmer and patriarch Bulion Tharn, foreseen to be the Renewer. Together, Bulion and Gwin must bring the reviled and feared Cursed to safety among their own kind and forge a new and better life for all their people. While his prose is pedestrian, Duncan (A Handful of Men) offers an amusing and well-proportioned blend of religion, prophecy and magic, as well as a touch of intellectual good humor in a lively, earthy tale.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

After losing her husband and children to the dreaded "star sickness," which leaves its few survivors cursed with strange, uncontrollable powers, innkeeper Gwin Nien Solith casts her lot with a semibarbaric family whose ancestors once terrorized the old Qolian empire and whose legends tell of the coming of a powerful hero, the Renewer. Fantasy series writer Duncan (The Living God, LJ 4/15/94) embarks on a new epic set in a world filled with unpredictable magics, fickle gods, and warring kingdoms. The author's unique vision reinfuses an often cliched genre with freshness and gentle wit. A strong purchase for fantasy collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Del Rey (December 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345389522
• ISBN-13: 978-0345389527
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,583,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dave Duncan is a prolific writer of fantasy and science fiction, best known for his fantasy series, particularly The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word, and The King's Blades. He and his wife Janet, his in-house editor and partner for over fifty years, live in Victoria, British Columbia. They have three children and four grandchildren.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Captivating, October 15, 2008

By 

Miranda Wrights - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cursed (Mass Market Paperback)

Cursed is a great one-shot read. It's a little confusing at first but once you understand more about the story you just keep reading; wondering what's gonna happen next; who you're gonna meet next; why was that moment so important? Personally, I thought it was a wonderful book and I just kept going back and reading the parts I like the most, found fascinating, didn't quite get until later. It's one of those books you'll think about later and just want to pick up and read through again. The Cursed, absolutely loved them. The tragedy, the quirkiness of their personality, the gift and curse. If you like a good book with a great plot I highly suggest this one. I've reread it four times and I still keep thinking about it and wanting more.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why? Why, oh why?, February 22, 2012

By 

C. Keane (Deer Park, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Cursed (Kindle Edition)

Oh Dave Duncan. Why do you do this to me? I must have singlehandedly made you a millionaire author by now, just based on my own purchases of your excellent stories. More importantly, how do you do it? You have become the yardstick against which I measure the worth of other authors. You are both prolific and supremely talented.

Sure, there are other authors out there who write a good book. But it's also usually a long time between drinks as they labor furiously into their keyboards, dripping equal, agonized measures of sweat and blood. Or, (I'm looking at you, RJ and GRRM), they just lose interest and leave us hanging for years as they visit every comicon in the world, twice.

You, on the other hand, Dave Duncan, it seems that you sit down on a Saturday afternoon, rip out a highly readable, brilliantly constructed novel, have a beer then watch the rest of the game. Every book of yours I've read has deeply constructed characters that I care about, a storyline that transports me to strange alternate worlds (or the far distant future, having just finished Pock's World) and your rate of delivery of new work exceeds that of any other quality author that I read. You might just be the perfect author for recreational readers.

Despite the somewhat off-putting cover art (yes, I do judge books by the cover sometimes), The Cursed is an excellent read. It's a great adventure on the surface with a good dose of commentary underneath. I deeply cared about the characters and for a while it looked like this was setting up to be the first in a series, which I would have welcomed. I guess that's not definitively off the table, but the book was conclusively finished and in the absence of a follow-up book stands alone without issue.

I recommend this book to all avid fantasy readers. Also check out Dave Duncan's catalog and tell me I'm not imagining things.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an unusual and excellent stand-alone fantasy, June 25, 2009

By 

Margaret Johnston (Seabeck, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cursed (Mass Market Paperback)

Many have died from the star sickness; those who survive become Cursed, the holders of mysterious, double-edged powers conferred by the stars, or fates. It is unwise to have contact with the Cursed and illegal to shelter them, yet after the death of her husband and children from the sickness, innkeeper Gwin Nien Solith does just that, taking in a girl cursed with the power to heal or kill. When farmer Bulion Tharn and some of his family come to Gwin's inn, a quest begins which will change the destinies of Gwin, Bulion, and their whole world.

I had a hard time getting into this, but I'm glad I kept on. The worldbuilding is excellent; the curses and their ramifications and implications are very well worked out. Duncan's characters are vivid and their dialogue witty and fun to read. There are many hints of prophecy and destiny, but he manages the plot adroitly so that there are still surprises along the way.