Posts Tagged ‘The Curse Giver Review’

A New Review of The Curse Giver

Monday, September 30th, 2013

By

Beverly S. Mcclure

Have you ever felt as though your life has been cursed, that whatever can go wrong will?

Perhaps you’re right.

What if there is such a thing/person/whatever that casts curses on a person or even a whole nation?

A scary thought, right? It may just be possible.

Award Winning Author Dora Machado’s latest fantasy novel, THE CURSE GIVER, deals with curses, betrayal, trust, family loyalty, and love. Lusielle, on the brink of death by being burned alive because her husband turned her in as a practitioner of forbidden arts, is rescued by Lord Brennus, a highborn. He has ulterior motives for saving her life, however. Lord Bren (Brennus) has been cursed to die a horrible death. To save himself and his people he must find the woman with a special birthmark and kill her. Lusielle has that mark, and she also may be the only one who can defeat the curse giver and give Bren hope.

The author has created characters with good points and bad, like real people. They seem realistic for the time period they live in. Lusielle faces her uncertain future with bravery and cunning, surprising Bren more than once. I found myself hoping that Bren would change his mind about killing her. No, I’m not saying what happens between them. You’ll find out when you read the book. Minor characters, and there are a lot of them, add to the suspense and conflict of the story, making the reader, this reader anyway, anticipate their next actions. Thankfully, the author provides a glossary at the end to help keep track of the characters.

THE CURSE GIVER should appeal to fantasy lovers and to readers that enjoy a battle or two with swords swishing. And for those that like a good romance, you might just find it here. Dora Machado has written another winner, so pick up a copy or add one to your eReader and spend the evening, lost in another world.

http://beverlystowemcclure.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-curse-giver-review.html

CurseGiver_Front Cover Final

The Curse Giver on Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/13oVu2P

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Dora Machado is the award-winning author of the epic fantasy Stonewiser series and her newest novel, The Curse Giver, available from Twilight Times Books, July 2013. She grew up in the Dominican Republic, where she developed a fascination for writing and a taste for Merengue. After a lifetime of straddling such compelling but different worlds, fantasy is a natural fit to her stories. She lives in Florida with her husband and three very opinionated cats.

To learn more about Dora Machado and her novels, visit her website at www.doramachado.com or contact her at [email protected].

For a free excerpt of The Curse Giver, visit  http://twilighttimesbooks.comthingsTheCurseGiver_ch1.html.

Subscribe to her blog at http://www.doramachado.com/blog/

Sign up for her newsletter at http://doramachado.com/newsletter.php,

Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

A Review of The Curse Giver by Bibliotica.com

Monday, September 9th, 2013

Here is a new, unique and delicious review of The Curse Giver by Bibliotica.com. And to think that sharp cheddar cheese is my absolute favorite….

Enjoy!

D.

It’s been a while since I’ve read any real fantasy. I mean, yes, I’m slowly working my way through George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, but that world is reasonably similar to our own medieval history, with only a few ‘fantastic’ elements. I was in the mood for escapist reading this summer, however, so when the nice folks and Pump Up Your Book offered me the chance to read an epic fantasy novel, I jumped at the chance.

The problem with epic fantasy is that very often the fictional world feels as flat as a movie set, with no real depth or history. Dora Machado’s The Curse Giver, on the other hand, plunges us into a world so rich, and so well constructed, it feels almost as if we could step sideways into it. One of the early sections, particularly, when Lousielle and Bren are crossing the bog, had me squirming as much as if I was actually there with them avoiding creepy crawlies.

Her main characters are three dimensional, and Lousielle especially, was so smart and spunky that I wanted to be her best friend. Herb lore is something I’ve always been quietly interested in (witness the collection of herbals in my Word Lounge), so her affinity for plants and potions really drew me in.

Likewise, while Bren could have been Generic Quasi-medieval Noble #17, Machado made him complex and interesting (and gave him a great body, which we appreciate vicariously through Lousielle).

The other characters, good and evil alike, were, similarly, sketched with fine lines, not the broad strokes of generic fantasy.

I’ve read that Ms. Machado is bilingual, having grown up in the Dominican Republic, and I think some of the charm of The Curse Givercomes from her – probably unconscious – Spanish-influenced rhythms. It’s nothing you could point your finger to and say, “Look, that’s not typical English phrasing,” but a quiet undercurrent that makes the writing really SING.

(I am not bilingual, but I grew up in a New Jersey Neapolitan family where an Italian-English hybrid was the norm. As well, I’m a natural mimic, and my parents retired to Baja Sur, Mexico, about a decade ago, so those Latin-tinged rhythms are familiar to me.)

Overall, I thought The Curse Giver was a delicious read, and it’s compelled me to seek out more of Machado’s work. I think it’s an especially good choice for women who like epic fantasy, but have gotten out of the habit of reading it.

Goes well with… a mug of steaming chai and sharp cheddar melted on toasted rustic wheat bread.

http://www.bibliotica.com/2013/09/review-the-curse-giver-by-dora-machado/

The Curse Giver from Amazon