Choose Your weapon - Curses

 

(Sofia Boutella) awakens in “The Mummy.” (Universal Pictures)

What do Egyptian Mummies, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White have in common? 

That's right. The curse!

Today we are talking about curses, the words intended to "inflict harm'. They can be a more dangerous weapon than you might imagine, specifically because they are so darn hard to undo.

Curse

noun

1.

a solemn utterance intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something.

"she'd put a curse on him"

Ramped throughout history, across all cultures and all times, the curse has packed a potent punch. In Fantasy fiction, it has an even more powerful presence. From Heart's Blood by Juliet Mariellier to The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh, and Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones to Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake and Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury, let's look at some of the most complex and deadly curses ever uttered.

Just remember that curses can be used as protection (against tomb robbers and thieves, for example) and often they have a personal note that runs deep, possibly even generational. What launches the curse in the first place isn't always filled with evil intent...

Heart's Blood by Juliet Mariellier is a stand-alone historical fantasy for adult readers. Within the pages, you will no doubt recognize elements of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, but there is an interesting twist. 

What is this curse that plagues Anluan, or is it the entire surroundings that are touched? Is it the young scribe Caitrin herself whose life has been changed forever?

When you discover the why of this curse, all will fall into place, unless you've run out of time...

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh is a retelling of the Korean story of Shim Cheong. Here we have some similarities to the ancient Greek tale of Psyche and Eros only this curse is much deeper than first assumed. While deadly storms, war and misguided sacrifices drive the plot, a deeper sense of love, family, community and soul grows.

Like Psyche, Mina has a choice to make, though that's where they part ways. Mina is no damsel in distress but a force of nature not afraid to pave her own way. 

Higher powers may have forged this curse, but that won't stop a young girl from trying to break it in two!

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a YA book made even more popular by the 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film by the same name, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. 

Within the pages, and the movie version, lies a string of curses around which the plot twists. What moves the story along so well is not only the curse itself but the goal of breaking it... or 'them' as we find more than one MC is labouring under these deadly weapons.

Let it be known that there is far more to Howl and the elderly Sohpie than first meets the eye! 

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake is a straight-up YA horror not to be read alone in the dead of night. The main characters are twisted, revengeful and angry, perfect for each other, or so it seems. 

The curse in this book comes alive as it is discovered, making for an edge-of-your-seat experience you won't ever forget. Cas may be bent on breaking the curse, but when he finds out why it was cast in the first place, the whole plot turns on its head.

The question is, where will you be standing when it does?

Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury starts out intimate and personal, full of black girl witch magic, hope and promise. But that all goes down the drain when a terrible choice appears. Voya must choose correctly, or her family line will lose their power, forever. 

Unfortunately, making strong choices is not Voya's forte, and in this case, right or wrong will lead to innocent deaths.

An urban fantasy not to miss; a curse to avoid at all costs.

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Do you have a favourite fantasy fiction curse?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments. 

Choose Your Weapon Series

Poison

The Perfect Storm

The Sword

Firearms

Ranged

Spells

Unarmed

Curses

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About Kim Falconer

Kim Falconer, currently writing as AK Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series. Currently, she is working on the third book, out in 2024.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Throw the bones, read your horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site

Sophie Jordan's "Paranormal Heroines vs. Paranormal Heroes": From The Backlist

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Sophie Jordan first posted Paranormal Heroines vs. Paranormal Heroes as a guest of the equally wonderful Kerrelyn Sparks -- and we're thrilled to feature it again today. 

Especially as Sophie has an exciting new book, A Fire In The Sky (tagline: Magic lives...) due out on September 24!

Coming very soon!

But here's what Sophie posted when her Firelight trilogy (recently released with new covers) was new-out: enjoy!

Paranormal Heroines vs. Paranormal Heroes

As we slip into fall and near Halloween, nothing excites me more than talking about the paranormal!

Recently on tour for my latest novel, FIRELIGHT, a reader brought to my attention the fact that my heroine in FIRELIGHT is the paranormal “figure” in my book -- not the hero as is the usual case. Yes, I know this, of course, but I hadn’t really considered it very hard. Before now (see me tilting my head thoughtfully here).

Those new covers!

I started mentally checking off a lot of paranormal books – many favorites of mine – and realized the observation in point is rather true. I’m not saying there aren’t books with paranormal females in them, but so many books feature the male figure as the paranormal figure while the heroine is simply human. Why is that? I’m not saying one is better than the other … but I’m interested in your opinion today. Do we, as readers, simply want our male heroes more feral? More dangerous? Does making our heroes into a paranormal creature accomplish that? What does that say?

The original

In Firelight, my heroine Jacinda is a draki, which is a species that has evolved from dragons. She’s the only one of her kind that can still breathe fire. She’s a very strong female, and being so “unique” opens up a world of conflict for her. And what would a book be without conflict? Jacinda is constantly surrounded by danger because of what she is. Since I wrote the book solely from her POV, I had fun with this. It wouldn’t have been nearly as fun to write had she been the human and Will, her love interest, the draki. But that’s just my take. What’s your take?

...

To read the full post, including some great comments, click here.

To find out more about Sophie Jordan, click here.

Secret Villains: The Year of the Villain in Fantasy #8

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No discussion of villains in fantasy fiction would be complete without considering those "big bads" that work behind the scenes.

I can think of no better place to start than with the Black Ajah in Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time fantasy series (completed by Brandon Sanderson and now adapted for television.) 

In Wheel of Time, Aes Sedai are an order of power users, all women, sworn to protect the world from the Dark One (the supreme "Big Bad") and divided into suborders or "ajahs", denoted by color. The Black Ajah are Aes Sedai secretly pledged to serve the Dark One rather than oppose it, who operate as a fifth column within the ranks of the other ajahs. 

Liandrin Sedai -- Black Ajah masquerading as Red...

Argued by many not to exist at all, finding and exposing them is a major part of the early work undertaken by three young adepts, Nyneave, Egwene, and Elayne, when they first join the Aes Sedai order. 

Egwene, Nyneave, Elayne -- hunting Black Ajah

The work they and others do end up revealing that the Black Ajah are numerous and operating at every level in the order. But secrecy and working from the shadows remains the Black Ajah's modus operandi throughout -- just as deception and betrayal, torture, murder, and insurrection, are their hallmarks.

Channeling the one power (saidar)

Among the ranks of fantasy's secret villains, I can think of few more compelling than Taravangian, in Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. Ostensibly an elderly and mildmannered king of limited intelligence, he has secretly dispatched an arch-assassin to murder his rivals, and exsanguinates patients in the charity hospitals he is publicly praised for founding. 

He also professes political support for Dalinar Kholin (one of the story's main protagonists), while all the time plotting to overthrow him. And although Taravangian does lift part of his veil of secrecy when necessity demands, he does so purely to survive and continue plotting and conniving another day.

Sometimes, the secret villain may present as a friend to the hero, in order to win their trust, learn their secrets, and ultimately betray them -- which is exactly what the young man called Flor does in my novel, Thornspell. Although there is a clearly recognized "big bad" for the hero to focus on, all the while Flor is at his side, smiling and winning his confidence...

Although when it comes to secret guises, my personal favorite is Deth in Patricia McKillip's The Riddlemaster of Hed series, who appears to be first one person, then another. His motivations and actions are one of the story's most constant and enduring riddles -- and he may not, in the final analysis, even be the betrayer and villain other characters think him. To find out for sure, though, you'll have to read the book and unravel its riddles, including that of Deth, for yourself. J

© Helen Lowe

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About the Author

Helen Lowe is an award-winning novelist, poet, and lover of story. With four books published to date, she is currently completing the final instalment in The Wall Of Night series.
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Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.

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Previous “Year of the Villain” Posts:

January:      Ushering in 2024 -- & the Year of the Villain

February:    The Year of the Villain #1: The Lord of The Rings Pantheon

March: The Year of the Villain #2: Ursula Le Guin & “Earthsea”

April: The Year of the Villain #3: Tigana and Brandin of Ygrath

May: The Year of the Villain #4: Elidor and Formless Evil 

June: The Year of the Villain #5: When the Hero Is Really A Villain

July:  The Year of the Villain #6: When the Author Messes With Your Mind

August: The Year of the Villain #7: The Evilest Of Them All