The Goblin's Curse

Scions of Shadow Trilogy #3

by Gillian Summers

With the help of her elven friends, Keelie Heartwood should be able to heal the cursed tree she planted at the High Mountain Renaissance Faire. But rumors of a gathering goblin army make the elves question her loyalty. And when Keelie loses an important book of magic in a peculiar fire, the elves―including her boyfriend Sean―turn against her. Ultimately, it’s up to Keelie and a motley group of humans, dragons, and fae to save the faire from the most dangerous enemy of all.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairies, Elves, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2012

About the author

A forest dweller, Gillian was raised by gypsies at a Renaissance Faire. She likes knitting, hot soup, costumes and adores oatmeal, especially in the form of cookies. She loathes concrete, but tolerates it if it means attending a science fiction convention. She's an obsessive collector of beads, recipes, knitting needles and tarot cards, and admits to reading InStyle Magazine. You can find her in her north Georgia cabin, where she lives with her large, friendly dogs, obnoxious cats, and an occasional fairy.

(Gillian Summers (Georgia) is the pseudonym for co-authors Berta Platas and Michelle Roper. Both are ardent renaissance faire groupies.)

Reviews

[Brenda . · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the story and I am just obsessed with these books! I am sad I only have one more to read.

[Cherif Thioye · Rating 5 out of 5]

**spoiler alert** The Goblin's curse by Gillian Summers is the third and final installment of the scions of shadow trilogy. It marks the end of the mixed-blood Keelie Heartwood's fight against the main antagonist of the trilogy, Peascod. Keelie returns with her father to the High Mountain Renaissance Faire, the place where her story commenced in the Faire Folk trilogy. She takes responsibility for a corrupted tree sapling, a baby goblin, and an ancient magic book. After a series of foreshadows, her father's workplace and home burns down by unknown circumstances. The three things under her responsibility are also lost in the fire. She sleuths for clues and stumbles upon a malicious army of goblins led by Peascod and an unknown adversary threatening to destroy the faire. It leads her to thwart their plans by amassing an army of magical allies and faire folk.

Gillian Summer's mixture of literature and lightreading really helped me stay engaged with the book. The imagery gave me a small feeling of appreciation for keeping up with the Faire Folk saga for this long. It especially does well when the romantic subplot kept consistent with Keelie's character development into an adult. The writing had a fine quality of expressing each main character's emotion and personality. Overall the book is a very easy read for people not wanting to pay close attention to small important details placed in literature-heavy books.

I do however have a few problems with the amount of characters present. It results in making the plot feel crowded with the authors focusing on the main characters while the secondary characters just orbit around them until they’re needed to progress the story line. It ruins the world building that the previous book, The Quicksilver Faire, setted up along with its better management of character spotlight and introductions. The main antagonist ,who was just a side character in the first book, The Shadows of Redwood, reintroduced felt self-inserted making the second book feel like the real finale to the saga. Another problem is Keelie's mixed-blood potential, eliminating most of the suspense in the climax due to her mostly finding magical solutions to all threats that oppose her.

Beside those problems, I believe that the Goblin's curse is still a good book to read for most people, so I give this book a five star rating for keeping going on this book series.

[vicky anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome



Awesome book. Love Gillian Summers books. Wished there were more in the The Scions of Shadows. Fantasy books are best.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My reviews have been kind of negative, but I did love this series. This book was just as crammed in with different races and spells as the others, with the same impossibly strong 16 year old girl there to save the day. I like the idea of a girl who sees the potential in everyone, that she recognizes that there are good and bad people in every race, that no one race is bad just because. The elves don't get that. Even at the end, most of them just don't understand this most basic truth that she knows at 16. I liked how things were wrapped up with a little bit of an opening for another series to come later. I'm glad she gave up on the relationship she had, but was mature enough to want to be just friends. She seemed to have grown up and that others were finally starting to listen to her. I just don't like that it had to take "phenomenal cosmic powers" for them to do it.

But I bet a lot of 16 year olds think that's what it takes, too.

[Leo]

With the help of her elven friends, Keelie Heartwood should be able to heal the cursed tree she planted at the High Mountain Renaissance Faire. But rumors of a gathering goblin army make the elves question her loyalty. And when Keelie loses an important book of magic in a peculiar fire, the elves--including her boyfriend Sean--turn against her. Ultimately, it's up to Keelie and a motley group of humans, dragons, and fae to save the faire from the most dangerous enemy of all.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appropriate for: age 14+
You will like this book if you like: Magic, renaissance fairs

Would be great for younger readers except for a couple of a words which had no point. I really like these books, but the formula is the same old same old for this trilogy. Keelie is strong and wants her Dad's help, but he can't help her because he's in meetings, or sick, or some other excuse. Thus Keelie must ifgure it out somehow.

[Suzanne Toon]

ARRRGGHHHH!! I thought this was the end of the series, but now I think I'll see more of Keelie in the future. I hope so, because there's so much more that could happen. But this book was epic! I loved the plot twists and the events I didn't see coming. So read the series, folks, and enjoy it. Happy reading, everyone!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly enjoy the adventures of Keliel Heartwood. She's a spunky young lady with amazing gifts and the ability to unify elves, fairies and dwarves. I still think this trilogy was a bit dark but still worth reading. Looking forward to the next adventure!

[Valarie Kinney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was intense, exciting, and just plain well written. I'm sad my library doesn't have the next book in the series. I've got to find it somewhere, because I have so enjoyed reading Keelie's story.

[Otessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished...review forthcoming!

[Rasma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11281281

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice conclusion. Glad to see the main lead having a spine and not needing a boyfriend to make her happy.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved the book. I'm so sad that it was the last.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third in this trilogy wraps up the series' loose ends and clearly points toward future books. The ending was almost too warm and fuzzy, but the humor of the book saves it.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book in a series about elves, fairies, and humans - she tells a good story and wraps up each one while letting you know there will be more to come!

It's a good escape from the Real World!

[Mary-kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the darkest out of both series. Keeps you interested though. A lot happens.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! Really great story. Loved how you thought the story would go in 1 direction, but ended up where you least expected it to end. What will be Keelie's next adventure?

[Leia Skywalker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing, I idolize Gillian Summers!

[Toni Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this whole series