- Mass Market Paperback
- Publisher: Ballantine Books Inc.; Reprint edition (1 May 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345389522
- ISBN-13: 978-0345389527
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.7 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,485,270 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
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.
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.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I have read just about everything Dave Duncan has published under his name and others and this is definitely my favorite. Fantasy is at its best when it has an appealing plot and is well polished. This is an example of its best.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Dave Duncan has done it again! This is a superb mini-epic packed with love, honor, gods, adventure and LIFE. Mr. Duncan crafts rich characters and sets them in sumptuously designed worlds made real through complexity and clarity of detail. I won't reveal the plot, but I enjoyed this so much I couldn't put it down--and had to read it again, for the third time in a year!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Interesting and Captivating
16 Oct 2008
Format: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
Why? Why, oh why?
23 Feb 2012
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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
an unusual and excellent stand-alone fantasy
25 Jun 2009
Format: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.
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.
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