Book Review: Curse of the Fallen by H.C. Newell
Curse of the Fallen was a fun, action packed, fantasy adventure which was approachable for those new to the genre but also offered a comforting familiar feeling to those more seasoned.
The reader is dropped into the action from page one, following Nerena as she desperately seeks anything that will free her from the curse placed upon her by The Order many years ago. Each time she uses her magic, the order is on her tail and she has to fight to survive. Being born of magic Nerena is labelled a demon and has spent her life on the run, but she has had enough.
Joined by her friends Loryk the witty bard and Gil a faithful shapeshifter they uncover an arune allowing Neer to utilise her magic in powerful ways. Not only that but it opened up the possibilities of completing ‘the trials’. Completing the trials would grant her freedom, a way to break the curse and free herself from the order forever. The only problem is, the likelihood of surviving them, is very, very small. The path to redemption may be more trouble than they bargained for, but Nerena will do anything to pay back the priest who cursed her.
At its heart Curse of the fallen is a revenge story tucked away nicely in a quest feeling adventure. We learn about The Order and the past fairly quickly which tells us where Nerena’s motivations lie. Breaking the curse and finding the person who did this to her. But there are a lot of other steps she must take along the way in order to seek the revenge she so desires. She will need to learn to trust, when to remain guarded and hope like hell she can survive until the end of the trials.
My two favourite parts of this book were the character interactions and the vivid world itself. The Characters had excellent banter from the get-go. Immediately I knew these characters had known each other for a long time, they had a familiar and easy way of speaking that showed how close they were from past interactions. It made me as the reader feel right at home and wanting to know more of the inside jokes our characters shared. Something I really loved between these interactions is that they never felt forced. Loryk our bard who was quick witted, and quick to get himself into trouble had a wonderful platonic friendship with out main character. It was obvious they cared very much about one another and shared a history. The other character world mentioning is Gil, the shapeshifter who knew how to get the other two out of a pinch but was not afraid to tell them off for being idiots. These conversations made the book fast and fun. It felt like a familiar family was bickering but underneath it all, they loved each other very much. I was equally impressed with conversations with the characters we met along the way that came to be bigger parts of the story as they went on.
The other thing worth mentioning here is the world. Newell has created such a vivid world that as a visual reader I could picture the areas we were travelling through as I read them. The imagery was also a way for the author to shock and really have fun with the readers. A hippie nudist colony in a grim dark book? Yeah, she went there, and it was beautiful. The landscape, not the nudists, although I am sure they have their place. This book unapologetically paints its picture and gives the reader an experience which I thought was really cool.
Although parts of this book were a little rough around the edges (remembering it was a debut) such as some lulls in conversation and middle book syndrome where we are waiting for the next action to take place, it was solid. This is a great entry into fantasy if you want something easy to comprehend that will provide a fun time. If you’re a seasoned fantasy reader that needs a pallet cleanser between all those 10+ book series you have going on, this is a great choice. I for one, am looking forward to picking up book 2 after that cliff-hanger!
