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Vevin Song #0.25
Cazorra's Curse: A Vevin Song Prequel Novella
Curse. Collapse. Prelude.
Across the four realms of Arzadel, the Vevin live in peace after the decimation of a group of assassins who had endeavoured to end the lives of those who were not pure.
But the Line of Clawed Wings was never fully destroyed.
Cazorra, a Vevin struck by a tragic event, strives to put a final stop to the Line. Livai, whose parents belonged to the group, realises that her purpose aligns with Cazorra's. Together, they discover that there are battles to be fought, relationships to be formed and secrets to be manipulated in their world and beyond.
Cazorra's Curse is a prequel novella that takes place many years prior to the events of Vevin Song.
Across the four realms of Arzadel, the Vevin live in peace after the decimation of a group of assassins who had endeavoured to end the lives of those who were not pure.
But the Line of Clawed Wings was never fully destroyed.
Cazorra, a Vevin struck by a tragic event, strives to put a final stop to the Line. Livai, whose parents belonged to the group, realises that her purpose aligns with Cazorra's. Together, they discover that there are battles to be fought, relationships to be formed and secrets to be manipulated in their world and beyond.
Cazorra's Curse is a prequel novella that takes place many years prior to the events of Vevin Song.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 8, 2024
5 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Neves Mayers
3 books21 followersJonathan Neves Mayers was born in London to a British mother and a Bajan father. As a child, he would spend many evenings engrossed in fantasy and science fiction books, which inspired him to write.
Growing up, he became more interested in music, playing the flute at a music school for several years which gave him opportunities to perform at a number of venues in London and abroad. He took a Music degree at Cardiff University, writing his dissertation on Radiohead, and then played bass guitar and keyboard in a few bands in London. The passion for reading made a return, and eventually he decided to give writing a proper go.
Jonathan still lives just outside of London with his beautiful wife Cláudia, their miracle of a daughter Megan and their wonderful, never-troublesome dog Suki. When not writing, he can usually be found trying to learn Portuguese, trying to play the guitar or trying to chase Suki.
Growing up, he became more interested in music, playing the flute at a music school for several years which gave him opportunities to perform at a number of venues in London and abroad. He took a Music degree at Cardiff University, writing his dissertation on Radiohead, and then played bass guitar and keyboard in a few bands in London. The passion for reading made a return, and eventually he decided to give writing a proper go.
Jonathan still lives just outside of London with his beautiful wife Cláudia, their miracle of a daughter Megan and their wonderful, never-troublesome dog Suki. When not writing, he can usually be found trying to learn Portuguese, trying to play the guitar or trying to chase Suki.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 10, 2024
This review was originally published on Before We Go Blog
Jonathan Neves Mayers shows off his incredibly wild imagination in Cazorra’s Curse, a short but unforgettable prequel novella introducing the chaotic world of Vevin Song. It’s a story of grief, vengeance, legacy, retribution, conflict and betrayal that sinks its dark roots into your heart and packs more twists and turns than a brutal corkscrew roller coaster.
Taking place many years before the start of Vevin Song, this prequel novella gives a deeply fascinating and slightly disturbing look into the complex history of the Vevin people before their invasion into the human realms in book 1 of the series. Through the eyes of two young and scarred Vevin women, we are drawn straight into their multi-dimensional world full of flying creatures, telepathic communication, floating towers, and dangerous energy blades. Despite their seemingly clashing motivations and backstories, they strike up the most unlikely of alliances and set off on a mission to root out the last remaining threat to their civilization; they are fully aware that it’s a suicide mission, but they are ready to die fighting for what they believe in.
Now, even though I was already familiar with many of the in-world concepts and terms from reading Vevin Song, I can’t deny that the action-packed start to Cazorra’s Curse was a bit overwhelming. Neves Mayers has an incredible gift for creating completely new cultures/races with their own rich history, lore and unique ways of life, but his ‘sink or swim’ approach to the worldbuilding can either feel deeply immersive or uncomfortably disorienting depending on your reading preferences and level of trust and patience. It helps that there’s an extensive glossary and character list included at the back (which I highly recommend checking out even before starting the novella), but I personally would have preferred for some of that context to be woven into the narrative a bit more organically.
That said, both Cazorra and Livai immediately proved to be extremely fascinating protagonists, and their strong personalities, deep-rooted convictions, and powerful emotions really kept me grounded throughout all the chaos and information overload that we are exposed to in Cazorra’s Curse. The way that Neves Mayers unfolds their tragic personal backstories and interweaves their inner conflicts with the larger external conflicts was so masterfully done, creating a sense of looming dread that just kept me on my toes the entire way through. And don’t get me started on the moment when the title’s meaning becomes clear; I don’t know if I was more excited or heartbroken by all the revelations.
The level of layered world building and rich character-/relationship development that Neves Mayers is able to pack into so few pages is truly astounding, proving that his ambition and imagination are just out of this world. Whether or not you have read Vevin Song already (which you should), I think Cazorra’s Curse is an unmissable novella for anyone who loves their fantasy to be dark, character-driven, innovative and thought-provoking; this genre-blendy story might not feature any humans, but it truly just speaks to the human soul.
3.5/5 stars
Get Cazorra’s Curse for FREE by signing up to Jonathan Neves Mayers’ newsletter.
Jonathan Neves Mayers shows off his incredibly wild imagination in Cazorra’s Curse, a short but unforgettable prequel novella introducing the chaotic world of Vevin Song. It’s a story of grief, vengeance, legacy, retribution, conflict and betrayal that sinks its dark roots into your heart and packs more twists and turns than a brutal corkscrew roller coaster.
Taking place many years before the start of Vevin Song, this prequel novella gives a deeply fascinating and slightly disturbing look into the complex history of the Vevin people before their invasion into the human realms in book 1 of the series. Through the eyes of two young and scarred Vevin women, we are drawn straight into their multi-dimensional world full of flying creatures, telepathic communication, floating towers, and dangerous energy blades. Despite their seemingly clashing motivations and backstories, they strike up the most unlikely of alliances and set off on a mission to root out the last remaining threat to their civilization; they are fully aware that it’s a suicide mission, but they are ready to die fighting for what they believe in.
Now, even though I was already familiar with many of the in-world concepts and terms from reading Vevin Song, I can’t deny that the action-packed start to Cazorra’s Curse was a bit overwhelming. Neves Mayers has an incredible gift for creating completely new cultures/races with their own rich history, lore and unique ways of life, but his ‘sink or swim’ approach to the worldbuilding can either feel deeply immersive or uncomfortably disorienting depending on your reading preferences and level of trust and patience. It helps that there’s an extensive glossary and character list included at the back (which I highly recommend checking out even before starting the novella), but I personally would have preferred for some of that context to be woven into the narrative a bit more organically.
That said, both Cazorra and Livai immediately proved to be extremely fascinating protagonists, and their strong personalities, deep-rooted convictions, and powerful emotions really kept me grounded throughout all the chaos and information overload that we are exposed to in Cazorra’s Curse. The way that Neves Mayers unfolds their tragic personal backstories and interweaves their inner conflicts with the larger external conflicts was so masterfully done, creating a sense of looming dread that just kept me on my toes the entire way through. And don’t get me started on the moment when the title’s meaning becomes clear; I don’t know if I was more excited or heartbroken by all the revelations.
The level of layered world building and rich character-/relationship development that Neves Mayers is able to pack into so few pages is truly astounding, proving that his ambition and imagination are just out of this world. Whether or not you have read Vevin Song already (which you should), I think Cazorra’s Curse is an unmissable novella for anyone who loves their fantasy to be dark, character-driven, innovative and thought-provoking; this genre-blendy story might not feature any humans, but it truly just speaks to the human soul.
3.5/5 stars
Get Cazorra’s Curse for FREE by signing up to Jonathan Neves Mayers’ newsletter.
October 23, 2024
This was such a fun quick read for fans of Vevin Song. I really loved diving back into this world as it’s so different and refreshing from anything else I’ve read. This novella takes place before the events of Vevin Song and gives you an insight on what to expect.
The novella was action packed & had a great storyline throughout that kept me wanting more!
The novella was action packed & had a great storyline throughout that kept me wanting more!
October 29, 2024
I still remember my first reading from Jonathan Neves Mayers which was book one Vevin Song in March of last year. I knew nothing of this author or this book but took a chance on it and was so pleasantly surprised. It ended up being a favorite read from last year. I've been wondering what's being going on with this series and do get the ocassional newsletter emails from him. I was excited to hear he was going to be releasing a novella in October of this year as a prequel to Vevin Song.
The timing for reading Cazorra's Curse couldn't have been better as I'm facing a bit of dark epic fantasy burn out and needed a break. A couple of novellas sounded like the remedy so here we are in mid October diving into hopefully some shorter or more light hearted reads.
The pacing in this short read was good. The only real issue I personally had was a flashback or recap late in the story that was so very similar to a scene earlier in the read I was starting to think it might have been an editing miss. It did however end up adding more to the scene and did become apparent that it was a lookback in more detail. It just had me scratching my head for a couple of minutes. Other than that this seemed like a very solid story told in shorter number of pages than a typical novel read would. I continue to be impressed with the ability of so many authors that can pull this feat off.
The worldbuilding was nicely done as this added some nice depth to the series from book one previously mentioned above. I was a bit rusty on this world when I began reading but quickly settled in with the races, creatures and magic. I am still struggling to connect these characters to those in Vevin Song. That is completely on me though. I can certainly recognize the importance of these moments and characters in Cazorra's Curse even without that connection simply from remembering the world in general in book one.
The character development was strong in this prequel. Again this is impressive to me in so few pages. It was interesting to see a subtle shift in focus between a couple of characters introduced in Cazorra's Curse. Even though the story's theme and title of the book puts a spotlight on Cazorra and her situation, I felt things eventually shift more to Livai. This wasn't a bad thing though. Both were great characters and as long as the reader can keep in mind this is a prequel leading into Vevin Song it should still make sense.
Even though I might have been looking for a more light hearted read at this point in the month this one has a lot of death. Right from the start several deaths set the seen for so many of the characters we follow. The body count doesn't seem to lessen much by the end of this tale either. Just be prepared. Yet another author I enjoy to read who isn't afraid to kill their characters.
In closing I will say this novella still brought me plenty of enjoyment and the opportunity to return to this wonderfully creative world. It was nice to get some more works and I know Jonathan is hard at work still working on book two. I know that I will be patiently waiting to get my hands on that next installment when it becomes available.
As far as recommendations, I think this story is complete enough on it's own that someone new to this series and world could easily pick this up as an entry to it and the author's works. I thinking reading book one and then following up with this shortly after without the year and a half gap I had, might work better though. My memory just isn't what it once was so I struggle at times for that continuity when the gaps get more than a couple of months apart. Either way, if you haven't read either Vevin Song or Cazorra's Curse and are looking for something fresh and new in your fantasy reads, give these a try!
The timing for reading Cazorra's Curse couldn't have been better as I'm facing a bit of dark epic fantasy burn out and needed a break. A couple of novellas sounded like the remedy so here we are in mid October diving into hopefully some shorter or more light hearted reads.
The pacing in this short read was good. The only real issue I personally had was a flashback or recap late in the story that was so very similar to a scene earlier in the read I was starting to think it might have been an editing miss. It did however end up adding more to the scene and did become apparent that it was a lookback in more detail. It just had me scratching my head for a couple of minutes. Other than that this seemed like a very solid story told in shorter number of pages than a typical novel read would. I continue to be impressed with the ability of so many authors that can pull this feat off.
The worldbuilding was nicely done as this added some nice depth to the series from book one previously mentioned above. I was a bit rusty on this world when I began reading but quickly settled in with the races, creatures and magic. I am still struggling to connect these characters to those in Vevin Song. That is completely on me though. I can certainly recognize the importance of these moments and characters in Cazorra's Curse even without that connection simply from remembering the world in general in book one.
The character development was strong in this prequel. Again this is impressive to me in so few pages. It was interesting to see a subtle shift in focus between a couple of characters introduced in Cazorra's Curse. Even though the story's theme and title of the book puts a spotlight on Cazorra and her situation, I felt things eventually shift more to Livai. This wasn't a bad thing though. Both were great characters and as long as the reader can keep in mind this is a prequel leading into Vevin Song it should still make sense.
Even though I might have been looking for a more light hearted read at this point in the month this one has a lot of death. Right from the start several deaths set the seen for so many of the characters we follow. The body count doesn't seem to lessen much by the end of this tale either. Just be prepared. Yet another author I enjoy to read who isn't afraid to kill their characters.
In closing I will say this novella still brought me plenty of enjoyment and the opportunity to return to this wonderfully creative world. It was nice to get some more works and I know Jonathan is hard at work still working on book two. I know that I will be patiently waiting to get my hands on that next installment when it becomes available.
As far as recommendations, I think this story is complete enough on it's own that someone new to this series and world could easily pick this up as an entry to it and the author's works. I thinking reading book one and then following up with this shortly after without the year and a half gap I had, might work better though. My memory just isn't what it once was so I struggle at times for that continuity when the gaps get more than a couple of months apart. Either way, if you haven't read either Vevin Song or Cazorra's Curse and are looking for something fresh and new in your fantasy reads, give these a try!
December 1, 2024
Cazorra‘s Curse is a perfect opportunity to enter Arzadel, a world where winged creatures, Vevin, live and to get to know more about their background.
This novella serves as a prequel to Mayer‘s debut novel Vevin Song and no matter if you read this mix of fantasy/distopian/sci-fi before or are starting with Cazorra‘s Curse: this novella gives you important insights to the world of Vevin and prepares and/or enhances your journey of the main book.
I highly recommend this action-packed novella full of loveable and diverse characters, great mythological background and complex world-building.
🪽🪽🪽🪽🪽 - 5/5 wings because I couldn’t put this one down and it was so easy to get back into this quite complex world. Mayer‘s did a great job and I can’t wait for more!
This novella serves as a prequel to Mayer‘s debut novel Vevin Song and no matter if you read this mix of fantasy/distopian/sci-fi before or are starting with Cazorra‘s Curse: this novella gives you important insights to the world of Vevin and prepares and/or enhances your journey of the main book.
I highly recommend this action-packed novella full of loveable and diverse characters, great mythological background and complex world-building.
🪽🪽🪽🪽🪽 - 5/5 wings because I couldn’t put this one down and it was so easy to get back into this quite complex world. Mayer‘s did a great job and I can’t wait for more!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews