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The Cursed Kingdoms #3
The Blood Curse
Those who drink the water shall thirst for blood. They shall be as wild beasts.
A blood curse is ravaging the Seven Kingdoms. Fugitive Osgaardan prince, Harkeld, is the one person who can destroy it. Guarded by Sentinel mages, pursued by Fithian assassins, he begins the final—and most dangerous—stage of his quest: entering the cursed kingdom of Sault, where drinking even one drop of water means madness and death.
But the mages aren’t the only travellers heading east. Princess Brigitta, abducted by Fithian assassins, is also bound for Sault—unless she can escape. And in close pursuit is her loyal armsman, Karel.
Young orphan, Jaumé, is also headed for Sault—where he will be forced to make decisions that will change the fate of the Seven Kingdoms forever.
A blood curse is ravaging the Seven Kingdoms. Fugitive Osgaardan prince, Harkeld, is the one person who can destroy it. Guarded by Sentinel mages, pursued by Fithian assassins, he begins the final—and most dangerous—stage of his quest: entering the cursed kingdom of Sault, where drinking even one drop of water means madness and death.
But the mages aren’t the only travellers heading east. Princess Brigitta, abducted by Fithian assassins, is also bound for Sault—unless she can escape. And in close pursuit is her loyal armsman, Karel.
Young orphan, Jaumé, is also headed for Sault—where he will be forced to make decisions that will change the fate of the Seven Kingdoms forever.
447 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 23, 2015
72 people are currently reading
524 people want to read
About the author
Emily Gee
5 books167 followersEmily also writes historical romance novels as Emily Larkin.
Emily grew up in a house full of words and books – her mother was a librarian and her father a novelist – so perhaps it’s not surprising she became a writer.
She loves to travel and has lived in Sweden, backpacked in Europe, and journeyed overland in the Middle East, China, North Africa, and North America. She enjoys climbing hills, yoga workouts, and watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.
Emily writes fantasy novels as Emily Gee, and historical romance novels as Emily Larkin.
Emily grew up in a house full of words and books – her mother was a librarian and her father a novelist – so perhaps it’s not surprising she became a writer.
She loves to travel and has lived in Sweden, backpacked in Europe, and journeyed overland in the Middle East, China, North Africa, and North America. She enjoys climbing hills, yoga workouts, and watching reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.
Emily writes fantasy novels as Emily Gee, and historical romance novels as Emily Larkin.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
September 16, 2015
The Cursed Kingdoms is what I like to call Travelocity. In this series the characters are always on a quest and moving camping and going to a destination. This is the third book in this series so I should be used to it. But where only one or two story lines were traveling before now EVERYONE is traveling and it is hinted that by the end all PoVs will meet up.
This added a nice bit of tension as I wondered ‘when will everything collide?’. But at the same time travelling FOR ME in books can get tedious and dull. There is all the camping and packing and walking and scouting….It isn’t really my favorite sort of fantasy.
Princess Britta, she and I get along well. She was mostly a pretty face but she has become so much more since The Sentinel Mage. Now I know this series is supposed to be more about Harkeld and his journey but Britta’s story line is the one that I liked the best. She has been kidnapped by Fithian assassins and they have a plan to use her against her brother so the curse will not be cured. Karel her loyal armsman and maybe more *wink, wink* is hot of their trail.
I couldn’t wait for Karel to finally find Britta but at the same time I was glad she wasn’t just sitting around waiting to be rescued. Still when they do meet up I had to bite my fingernails because it was pretty intense. Still these two had some great moments and I enjoy the VERY slow romance that is building between them.
Harkeld and the Mages honestly didn’t have as many scenes in this book as I think they had in the others. Harkeld has not been my favorite character in the series due to his prejudice and anger towards the mages who are helping him. Even in the beginning of the Blood Curse I struggle with him but FINALLY we get some character growth here and by the end I did really care about wither or not he would have to give his life to break the curse.
Where Innis was a main PoV in prior books she doesn’t get a lot of page time but at least by the end it is finally resolved as to what she and Harkeld will be to each other in the future. The only problem with the mages story arc is that it was a bit predictable and honestly I was so used to people dying that it lost any shock value. That curse is mean and it took its toll on their party but I was like…’oh look someone else just died’. I didn’t care about them enough to really ‘care’ that it was happening most of the time. Just a bunch of fodder.
Jaume was actually the most interesting story line to me. He didn’t get a lot of page time in the prior books but he plays a major role in this one. Practically adopted by a Fithian he ends up right in the middle of this mess and he is actually one of the characters I grew the most attached to over the course of the series. An orphan who doesn’t want to see Harkeld killed or the princess used against him. He has a major role to play and I felt his anguish over what he should do. Trust the man who has become like a father to him OR help Harkeld and Britta when the time comes.
I do have a slight complaint. This ends a bit abruptly for the end of a series. I would have loved an epilogue a few years later after everyone has settled. I really didn’t know it was the ending when I came to it I thought there were a few chapters left still.
Overall this is a good series if you don’t mind traveling. Some of the plots were a bit predictable but overall it is a grand and epic journey to save the world.
This added a nice bit of tension as I wondered ‘when will everything collide?’. But at the same time travelling FOR ME in books can get tedious and dull. There is all the camping and packing and walking and scouting….It isn’t really my favorite sort of fantasy.
Princess Britta, she and I get along well. She was mostly a pretty face but she has become so much more since The Sentinel Mage. Now I know this series is supposed to be more about Harkeld and his journey but Britta’s story line is the one that I liked the best. She has been kidnapped by Fithian assassins and they have a plan to use her against her brother so the curse will not be cured. Karel her loyal armsman and maybe more *wink, wink* is hot of their trail.
I couldn’t wait for Karel to finally find Britta but at the same time I was glad she wasn’t just sitting around waiting to be rescued. Still when they do meet up I had to bite my fingernails because it was pretty intense. Still these two had some great moments and I enjoy the VERY slow romance that is building between them.
Harkeld and the Mages honestly didn’t have as many scenes in this book as I think they had in the others. Harkeld has not been my favorite character in the series due to his prejudice and anger towards the mages who are helping him. Even in the beginning of the Blood Curse I struggle with him but FINALLY we get some character growth here and by the end I did really care about wither or not he would have to give his life to break the curse.
Where Innis was a main PoV in prior books she doesn’t get a lot of page time but at least by the end it is finally resolved as to what she and Harkeld will be to each other in the future. The only problem with the mages story arc is that it was a bit predictable and honestly I was so used to people dying that it lost any shock value. That curse is mean and it took its toll on their party but I was like…’oh look someone else just died’. I didn’t care about them enough to really ‘care’ that it was happening most of the time. Just a bunch of fodder.
Jaume was actually the most interesting story line to me. He didn’t get a lot of page time in the prior books but he plays a major role in this one. Practically adopted by a Fithian he ends up right in the middle of this mess and he is actually one of the characters I grew the most attached to over the course of the series. An orphan who doesn’t want to see Harkeld killed or the princess used against him. He has a major role to play and I felt his anguish over what he should do. Trust the man who has become like a father to him OR help Harkeld and Britta when the time comes.
I do have a slight complaint. This ends a bit abruptly for the end of a series. I would have loved an epilogue a few years later after everyone has settled. I really didn’t know it was the ending when I came to it I thought there were a few chapters left still.
Overall this is a good series if you don’t mind traveling. Some of the plots were a bit predictable but overall it is a grand and epic journey to save the world.
March 20, 2022
This series has been a light, easy read, despite a gruesome curse and a lots of deaths. Gee was not afraid killing characters. It's not graphic at all, and plot, world-building and other intrigues are kept at a light level. It's a classical fantasy adventure. Though I wish Gee had given me some tougher meat to dig my teeth into, all in all not a terrible series.
June 16, 2016
This is old school fantasy, it's light and they are on a journey.
First we have Harkeld and the witches. Sometimes I just wanted to hit him. The witches are good! They are trying to help! Do not be an ass about it. It's the whole, oh you lied to me, Innis is not a man! Get over it Harky boy. But then again I can understand his anger, I'd be totally embarrassed too.
Also, the witches have been dying like flies so far, they do not seem that powerful.
Another POV is Britta who has been taken by assassins. She had courage. She truly has grown.
And then there is the little POV of Jaume and Brennick. They are hunting Hark.
This world is so messed up. There is a curse who turns people into sorts of zombies who kill and kill. It's really bad and the whole continent is going under. They are also bigots who hate witches, and that had me so mad DO not kill those who are helping. But then everyone always has to hate someone.
It was light, it was a fast read and then in was over. I do like a good trilogy
First we have Harkeld and the witches. Sometimes I just wanted to hit him. The witches are good! They are trying to help! Do not be an ass about it. It's the whole, oh you lied to me, Innis is not a man! Get over it Harky boy. But then again I can understand his anger, I'd be totally embarrassed too.
Also, the witches have been dying like flies so far, they do not seem that powerful.
Another POV is Britta who has been taken by assassins. She had courage. She truly has grown.
And then there is the little POV of Jaume and Brennick. They are hunting Hark.
This world is so messed up. There is a curse who turns people into sorts of zombies who kill and kill. It's really bad and the whole continent is going under. They are also bigots who hate witches, and that had me so mad DO not kill those who are helping. But then everyone always has to hate someone.
It was light, it was a fast read and then in was over. I do like a good trilogy
January 23, 2016
Great finale for The Cursed Kingdoms Trilogy and it was well written. Great ending for the main characters, especially for Prince Harkeld and Innis as well as Princess Britta and Karel and young Jaume...
March 2, 2017
Guess what, everybody? If you drink lots of opiates, getting raped won't bother you! At all! In fact, not only will it not turn you into a drug addict, getting raped while high on drugs will give you confidence!
This message is brought to you by the same author who thinks getting beaten while trapped in slavery has no emotional effects and those who abuse opiates can simply stop doing drugs whenever they want without major therapy and support.
Appalling.
The rest of my review before the woman-hating author angered me with her cheap, meaningless ending:
I did run into a new problem. The author uses a lot of characters. A lot. Dozens. And she names all of them. And now she's running out of names. I counted eleven names used elsewhere. I wouldn't call it plagiarism. There's a wide variety of sources and it's just one per source. But it ruins the spell the author is supposed to cast on readers. Running the names through Google would have been a good idea. I can't believe the editors didn't catch at least some of this, though.
The names:
Groot - To be fair, this book was published in 2015, and the movie came out in 2016, but the reminder of Guardians of the Galaxy is unfortunate.
Linus - A character from the Charlie Brown comics.
Dag - A main character from Lois McMaster Bujold's The Sharing Knife series.
Cora - A modern day name, which is jarring.
Rosa - A modern day, Spanish name.
Justen - One letter away from Justin, a modern day name. Now that there's so many other names from other sources, I couldn't help but notice this one, too.
Cree - A name of a North American Native tribe.
Rand - One of Robert Jordan's main characters from the Wheel of Time series. And the author, Ayn Rand.
Tomas - A main character, who was also a prince, from Raymond E. Feist's series.
Vermeulen - A Dutch surname.
Gretel - A fairy tale character from the story of Hansel and Gretel.
Krey - This one is hilarious. You see, this character is described having ice-blue eyes with an edge of madness to them. "You're kray-kray," is a way of saying, "You're crazy," among some people. Unfortunate coincidence.
Otherwise, things that bothered me included the absolute waste of characters and buildup. The author introduces characters, sets them up as dangerous and tough, only to have them slaughtered. "Oh. That's all?" could be written on their gravestones. The Fithian Assassins are still unrealistically super human. That ruins any tension. But for being superhumans that can kill entire armies, they sure have trouble keeping a handle on one, dinky, little woman.
The author also uses a lot of descriptions which aren't really descriptions. Cheap shortcuts that shunt the work of imangination onto the reader. "Her feet were braced to run." All right, so that looks like what? "His eyes were full of intelligence." What colour is intelligent? And did you know that a person can carry their sword with ease just by standing still in one spot? And silences can be filled with hostility and fear? It's not an egregious problem, but it stood out to me because I wasn't hooked into the story.
I see that the author comes from New Zealand. But I also see that she has lived in Sweden. So perhaps she is acquainted with how snow works, perhaps she is not. Either way, "Snow drifts" is something she might want to look up. She may have inadvertently doomed all her main characters. https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Bj... https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.QP...
http://www.saugeentimes.com/483%20Liz...
And if Karel gets described one more time as having "Hawk-like features" one more time, I'm gonna.....
This message is brought to you by the same author who thinks getting beaten while trapped in slavery has no emotional effects and those who abuse opiates can simply stop doing drugs whenever they want without major therapy and support.
Appalling.
The rest of my review before the woman-hating author angered me with her cheap, meaningless ending:
I did run into a new problem. The author uses a lot of characters. A lot. Dozens. And she names all of them. And now she's running out of names. I counted eleven names used elsewhere. I wouldn't call it plagiarism. There's a wide variety of sources and it's just one per source. But it ruins the spell the author is supposed to cast on readers. Running the names through Google would have been a good idea. I can't believe the editors didn't catch at least some of this, though.
The names:
Groot - To be fair, this book was published in 2015, and the movie came out in 2016, but the reminder of Guardians of the Galaxy is unfortunate.
Linus - A character from the Charlie Brown comics.
Dag - A main character from Lois McMaster Bujold's The Sharing Knife series.
Cora - A modern day name, which is jarring.
Rosa - A modern day, Spanish name.
Justen - One letter away from Justin, a modern day name. Now that there's so many other names from other sources, I couldn't help but notice this one, too.
Cree - A name of a North American Native tribe.
Rand - One of Robert Jordan's main characters from the Wheel of Time series. And the author, Ayn Rand.
Tomas - A main character, who was also a prince, from Raymond E. Feist's series.
Vermeulen - A Dutch surname.
Gretel - A fairy tale character from the story of Hansel and Gretel.
Krey - This one is hilarious. You see, this character is described having ice-blue eyes with an edge of madness to them. "You're kray-kray," is a way of saying, "You're crazy," among some people. Unfortunate coincidence.
Otherwise, things that bothered me included the absolute waste of characters and buildup. The author introduces characters, sets them up as dangerous and tough, only to have them slaughtered. "Oh. That's all?" could be written on their gravestones. The Fithian Assassins are still unrealistically super human. That ruins any tension. But for being superhumans that can kill entire armies, they sure have trouble keeping a handle on one, dinky, little woman.
The author also uses a lot of descriptions which aren't really descriptions. Cheap shortcuts that shunt the work of imangination onto the reader. "Her feet were braced to run." All right, so that looks like what? "His eyes were full of intelligence." What colour is intelligent? And did you know that a person can carry their sword with ease just by standing still in one spot? And silences can be filled with hostility and fear? It's not an egregious problem, but it stood out to me because I wasn't hooked into the story.
I see that the author comes from New Zealand. But I also see that she has lived in Sweden. So perhaps she is acquainted with how snow works, perhaps she is not. Either way, "Snow drifts" is something she might want to look up. She may have inadvertently doomed all her main characters. https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Bj... https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.QP...
http://www.saugeentimes.com/483%20Liz...
And if Karel gets described one more time as having "Hawk-like features" one more time, I'm gonna.....
May 30, 2015
This is a well-written story filled with interesting characters, magic and the world building is well-executed. Those who enjoy epic fantasy will like this and with the final novel to be released on June 24th it is the perfect time to start the series if you haven’t already so that you can read them back to back. This is the final book in this series and it tied the loose end up nicely. Overall I enjoyed the entire series though I did have some issues with it; I read many different genres, including YA but I like to know when I buy the book what audience it is aimed toward. The first book seemed to be for adults., the second books writing and content seemed more like YA (14& up) and this final book continued that trend. The reason I was a little disappointed is I expected the series to be in the same manner as the first.
I enjoyed the way the author did the POV’s, following the prince and the shape-shifters story, the alteration between Britta and Karel and Jaume’s POV telling the Fithian’s POV. I found all the characters to be well-drawn and the world-building and magic system was well done. I thought that the Prince was a selfish brat for way too long; hating that he had magical blood because the Sentinels had engineered it to happen so that the curse could be broken. If he found it so distasteful he could have killed himself and the Sentinels could have retrieved the items needed to break the curse. I found there tolerance for the most part to be unbelievable; people cannot help disliking someone who repeatedly treats them like crap just because they are mages. He sees way too late that they left a comfortable safe life, left their family and friends so that they could save his world, not theirs. The way that he is written makes it difficult for this reader to care if he survives or not. His life is not necessary to destroy the last stone.
Overall, this is an entertaining series that readers of fantasy over 14 should enjoy. The books flow well and I found them to be a relatively quick read.
**3.75/5 STARS: Receiving a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley did not influence my rating or review of this book; all opinions are mine. I wish to thank the author and/or publisher for allowing me to review this novel.**
I enjoyed the way the author did the POV’s, following the prince and the shape-shifters story, the alteration between Britta and Karel and Jaume’s POV telling the Fithian’s POV. I found all the characters to be well-drawn and the world-building and magic system was well done. I thought that the Prince was a selfish brat for way too long; hating that he had magical blood because the Sentinels had engineered it to happen so that the curse could be broken. If he found it so distasteful he could have killed himself and the Sentinels could have retrieved the items needed to break the curse. I found there tolerance for the most part to be unbelievable; people cannot help disliking someone who repeatedly treats them like crap just because they are mages. He sees way too late that they left a comfortable safe life, left their family and friends so that they could save his world, not theirs. The way that he is written makes it difficult for this reader to care if he survives or not. His life is not necessary to destroy the last stone.
Overall, this is an entertaining series that readers of fantasy over 14 should enjoy. The books flow well and I found them to be a relatively quick read.
**3.75/5 STARS: Receiving a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley did not influence my rating or review of this book; all opinions are mine. I wish to thank the author and/or publisher for allowing me to review this novel.**
November 13, 2015
OK, so let me start by throwing this in the honesty box, I’ve got a bit of a sentimental attachment to Emily Gee and this excellent series. A while back, after being a 10+ year reader of Mass Movement I got the opportunity to start reviewing books for them, they were short somebody who loved to lose hours at a time to monsters, myths, swords and sorcery and I just so happened to fit the bill, well, at least on the side of interest, if not writing skills.
When Tim Mass Movement handed me my first pile of novels to read and write up the top one of the pile happened to be ‘The Sentinel Mage (The Cursed Kingdoms Trilogy Book 1) by Emily Gee’ the reality of what I had agreed to set in but was very quickly followed by the relief of being immediately drawn in to an excellent novel.
I did not get the follow up through any time but loved the first so much that I bought a copy to keep up to date with the unfolding tale anyway, again, the second novel in the trilogy ‘The Fire Prince’ was killer. Packed full of interesting developments, both in character growth, and in events taking place in the kingdom.
Right, now onto the novel at hand, this picks up dead on where the predecessor leaves you with a lot going on, I love it when that happens. Gee does not let up and straight from the first word in I was gripped, the three groups of interest all split still and with their missions building in intrigue and importance equally, you really do need to read what came before this, if you don’t, you will not only have no idea of what is at hand, but also be missing out on something any fantasy fan will enjoy. Gee does not disappoint at all in this one, there is no fat to trim from the tale and there is no attempt to do so, bare bones, rock solid fantasy at it’s best. Well crafted characters in a well built setting living through a very well thought out and executed plot line.
As a final novel in a trilogy ‘The Blood Curse’ ties up all loose ends and serves it’s purpose to the full potential I was hoping for. Emily Gee, take a bow, your work here is done.
When Tim Mass Movement handed me my first pile of novels to read and write up the top one of the pile happened to be ‘The Sentinel Mage (The Cursed Kingdoms Trilogy Book 1) by Emily Gee’ the reality of what I had agreed to set in but was very quickly followed by the relief of being immediately drawn in to an excellent novel.
I did not get the follow up through any time but loved the first so much that I bought a copy to keep up to date with the unfolding tale anyway, again, the second novel in the trilogy ‘The Fire Prince’ was killer. Packed full of interesting developments, both in character growth, and in events taking place in the kingdom.
Right, now onto the novel at hand, this picks up dead on where the predecessor leaves you with a lot going on, I love it when that happens. Gee does not let up and straight from the first word in I was gripped, the three groups of interest all split still and with their missions building in intrigue and importance equally, you really do need to read what came before this, if you don’t, you will not only have no idea of what is at hand, but also be missing out on something any fantasy fan will enjoy. Gee does not disappoint at all in this one, there is no fat to trim from the tale and there is no attempt to do so, bare bones, rock solid fantasy at it’s best. Well crafted characters in a well built setting living through a very well thought out and executed plot line.
As a final novel in a trilogy ‘The Blood Curse’ ties up all loose ends and serves it’s purpose to the full potential I was hoping for. Emily Gee, take a bow, your work here is done.
October 3, 2018
So that sucked. I'm sorry Green but I just didn't like it. Honestly this whole trilogy was if-y.
I didn't like how the book just ended. I mean, the author could have done so much more with these books. Now, this is just my personal opinion but I didn't like how she just tied up all the loose ends and stopped writing. She could have gone so much more in depth with these books and didn't. She could have even added more books to the series, and you know what, I would have read them because I've already gotten myself this far in the series. Why not ready another book or two about what happens when Putrus, Innis, and Harkeled get back to the Allied Kingdoms. I'm not even going to mark that as a spoiler because we all know it happens. This book is so predictable.
On a positive note Green was able to do something many writers have failed to do. She create characters that you don't instantly love. Innis was too shy for my liking. Petrus became friends with Harkeled even though he's in love with Innis. And Harkeled, well, he changes. But there is still a part of you that's afraid he'll turn around and become that arrogant "whoreson" was in the beginning of the series.
I didn't like how the book just ended. I mean, the author could have done so much more with these books. Now, this is just my personal opinion but I didn't like how she just tied up all the loose ends and stopped writing. She could have gone so much more in depth with these books and didn't. She could have even added more books to the series, and you know what, I would have read them because I've already gotten myself this far in the series. Why not ready another book or two about what happens when Putrus, Innis, and Harkeled get back to the Allied Kingdoms. I'm not even going to mark that as a spoiler because we all know it happens. This book is so predictable.
On a positive note Green was able to do something many writers have failed to do. She create characters that you don't instantly love. Innis was too shy for my liking. Petrus became friends with Harkeled even though he's in love with Innis. And Harkeled, well, he changes. But there is still a part of you that's afraid he'll turn around and become that arrogant "whoreson" was in the beginning of the series.
January 2, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this series and the last book did not disappoint.
It was very well written; each chapter gave just enough detail to keep you up to date with each different characters struggles, maintaining interest throughout the book so I could never put it down.
I really liked how Britta's character developed through the story; becoming a true heroine with determination and resolve.
There were a lot of characters killed in this book, with very little time to process each massacre; drawing comparisons with the Game of Thrones.
A perfect ending, bringing all the characters paths together to the final conclusion.
Fantastic writing, but I would expect nothing less from Emily Gee.
It was very well written; each chapter gave just enough detail to keep you up to date with each different characters struggles, maintaining interest throughout the book so I could never put it down.
I really liked how Britta's character developed through the story; becoming a true heroine with determination and resolve.
There were a lot of characters killed in this book, with very little time to process each massacre; drawing comparisons with the Game of Thrones.
A perfect ending, bringing all the characters paths together to the final conclusion.
Fantastic writing, but I would expect nothing less from Emily Gee.
August 2, 2015
I really enjoy Emily Gee and I was so happy to find this book in my local bookstore the other day! I enjoyed The Blood Curse, but found that it was slightly to long for my taste. I just wanted to know what happened, alright. Everybody basically dies in horrifying ways as well, and I didn't super enjoy that but it was a good story, and I love my happy ending.
I thought that it took Harkeld way to long to change his perspective on the mages. I greatly enjoyed Britta and Karl, and Innis was loverly. Of course. Going to have to read them all over again!
I thought that it took Harkeld way to long to change his perspective on the mages. I greatly enjoyed Britta and Karl, and Innis was loverly. Of course. Going to have to read them all over again!
August 9, 2015
This book redeemed anything that irritated me about the first two books.
Harkeld?! Turned out I actually liked him in this book!
Such a truly satisfying end to the series with all the loose ends tied up.
Dare I say I kind of want to know how Karel, Britta and Jaumé end up? I want to know what happens to the kingdom! Then again, the best stories are those we don't know all the details, I think.
Very happy I picked this one up :)
Harkeld?! Turned out I actually liked him in this book!
Such a truly satisfying end to the series with all the loose ends tied up.
Dare I say I kind of want to know how Karel, Britta and Jaumé end up? I want to know what happens to the kingdom! Then again, the best stories are those we don't know all the details, I think.
Very happy I picked this one up :)
April 23, 2016
harakeld is BAE!! okay so i would have liked to hear his proposal to innis but np...its alright, I also would have liked to know what happens with osegeard but hey "the world is not a wish granting factory!" loved this book especially the jokes I mean ...Where is the whore with the sore tooth...." I died laughing!!
August 15, 2015
I wish I could give more than 5 stars!!! This book was FANTASTIC!! It is the third book in a trilogy, The Sentinel Mage was book 1, The Fire Prince was book 2, and The Blood Curse was the end. If you like fantasy, sorcery, and derring do...this is the one for YOU!!
June 26, 2015
Absolutely adored this book and the trilogy. Fantastic characters, ripping story, never shied away from telling a tale that rang of truth. Loved it.
December 14, 2019
I didn't expect to enjoy this series as much as I did. The first book pulled me in with the cross-dressing mage protecting a prince on a dangerous quest. Unfortunately, I was very much put-off by the very mature adult treatment of women and children of the set time period. But I came to recognize that while the things that occurred to some characters were hard to stomach, they were relatively accurate to the time period and Gee did a tasteful job of portraying these events without excessive blood and gore. I found myself curious as to what happened next.
I read the second book and loved its pace and content, so I immediately read the final installment, The Blood Curse. And I really enjoyed it too. It was a very strong conclusion to everything and all stories were wrapped up well.
Jaume was probably the most heartbreaking to watch through the whole story, but he managed to live his life the way his parents would have wanted him to, which I think was really important - it demonstrated his internal strength.
Harkeld portrayed such realistic character growth. There were moments throughout the series that I was annoyed with him, but his epiphany that other people don't always do things because they wanted to, but because they had to, was what made the difference. When he started to realize that the mages were people that deserved respect and had families that they love and want to go back to really made his character and the last book even better.
Britta and Karel were my favorite to watch grow together throughout the entire series. I was really worried that their story would end tragically, but it didn't. And that left me very satisfied and happy. Britta grew so much as a person; she matured into a strong adult who didn't need her crown or guards to protect her. And Karel was simply exceptional. We got enough of his point-of-view to understand where he came from and what made him into the man he is. And then we see him make extremely difficult decisions, the moral decisions (even if it put loved-ones at risk), because he knows what it is to suffer and it needs to be done to set things right. I loved his character.
The only thing that I really wished for the series was that I would have loved for more of the extra characters to have survived, but I understand the reason as to why they didn't.
I will definitely be re-reading this series. It is NOT something I can recommend to everyone though. It is very mature, with some very graphic and adult scenes that I personally don't think that is appropriate for younger audiences.
I read the second book and loved its pace and content, so I immediately read the final installment, The Blood Curse. And I really enjoyed it too. It was a very strong conclusion to everything and all stories were wrapped up well.
Jaume was probably the most heartbreaking to watch through the whole story, but he managed to live his life the way his parents would have wanted him to, which I think was really important - it demonstrated his internal strength.
Harkeld portrayed such realistic character growth. There were moments throughout the series that I was annoyed with him, but his epiphany that other people don't always do things because they wanted to, but because they had to, was what made the difference. When he started to realize that the mages were people that deserved respect and had families that they love and want to go back to really made his character and the last book even better.
Britta and Karel were my favorite to watch grow together throughout the entire series. I was really worried that their story would end tragically, but it didn't. And that left me very satisfied and happy. Britta grew so much as a person; she matured into a strong adult who didn't need her crown or guards to protect her. And Karel was simply exceptional. We got enough of his point-of-view to understand where he came from and what made him into the man he is. And then we see him make extremely difficult decisions, the moral decisions (even if it put loved-ones at risk), because he knows what it is to suffer and it needs to be done to set things right. I loved his character.
The only thing that I really wished for the series was that I would have loved for more of the extra characters to have survived, but I understand the reason as to why they didn't.
I will definitely be re-reading this series. It is NOT something I can recommend to everyone though. It is very mature, with some very graphic and adult scenes that I personally don't think that is appropriate for younger audiences.
October 20, 2018
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. The premises was interesting, the plot was exciting, (some of) the characters were likable. I was just very fed up with plot armor that the main characters had while side characters dropped dead like flies, sometimes soon after they were introduced.
June 2, 2017
I read all three stories in this series back to back, and within about 2 weeks. I like fantasy, and especially when the characters are well drawn and there is a good mixture of action and slow-building tension, as there was here.
There were also multiple story lines. Often when that is the case, I prefer one to the others and am annoyed or bored when the story switches lanes. In this case, they were all equally interesting and contributed to the whole picture.
If you like fantasy, stories with magic, or quests you will probably enjoy this one.
There were also multiple story lines. Often when that is the case, I prefer one to the others and am annoyed or bored when the story switches lanes. In this case, they were all equally interesting and contributed to the whole picture.
If you like fantasy, stories with magic, or quests you will probably enjoy this one.
June 26, 2018
The third book in The Cursed Lands Trilogy moves Prince Harkeld and the Sentinel mages to Saul where the third and last Curse stone is located. The new king of Osgaard has commissioned the Fithian assassins, a legendary group of extremely efficient outcasts welded into a brotherhood, to keep Prince Harkeld from fulfilling his quest to destroy the last stone. The interrelationships between the members of the Prince’s allies, the plots of the Fithians, and the movements of Princess Britta and her loyal arms men intertwine into an amazing story. I highly recommend this trilogy.
January 26, 2021
Amazing conclusion to a great series. Wow. I'll say it again, but this seems like such an underrated series. This epic conclusion to the series and the journey to destroy the final anchor stone has everyone pushed to the limits, physically and mentally. We see strain and relationships ending while others start anew. I loved the long-awaited final chapters where all paths led to.
I only wish that there are several spin off stories or an epilogue so I can truly know what happens to all our favorites after the end. Thank you Emily, for sharing these stories with the world.
I only wish that there are several spin off stories or an epilogue so I can truly know what happens to all our favorites after the end. Thank you Emily, for sharing these stories with the world.
December 20, 2021
A bit on the fence about this rating, but what the heck, I liked it and had no real major issues. It's an inventive plot, there's some compelling characters, some of it is a bit predictable over the entire arc, but it was satisfying with a lot of growth and I never felt like any characters really had plot armor. A little issue with the very very ending but sure. After how hard hitting the rest of the book had been, on top of the way the series built, I was okay with allowing it. The series was a fast and pretty interesting read.
May 20, 2018
Pretty anticlimactic, and not too many threads ACTUALLY wrapped up in the end. Also, I resent trilogies where they give you a bunch of suspense about whether or not two people will bang, and walk you through them banging other people, and then at the end when it's high time for them to bang, it is merely IMPLIED that they banged or will bang. And I didn't think it was necessary to kill Bennick. And I don't think Jaume could have done it anyway. And Jaume is a stupid name. There.
June 12, 2022
Great ending to this trilogy. For a short while I thought it was a little repetitive - more cursed people trying to kill them, more assassins trying to kill them- but the pace pushed you on fast enough that I got past that bit. I wanted to know what would happen with Princess Birgitta, and the boy Jaume- he had to have a role to play or he wouldn’t be there… How many would survive?
I really must find out if Emily Gee has written anything recently.
I really must find out if Emily Gee has written anything recently.
November 21, 2017
3.5 stars. Thankfully, the final book in the series concludes the issues introduced in the previous 2 books. Again, the narrative suffered from over-writing in several places (was it really necessary to have only one survivor in the assassin's ambush?). Also a bit of a cliché having the Princess fall in love with her bodyguard.
January 9, 2021
It's been a while since I read books one and two of this trilogy so my memory of previous events was a bit shaky but I'm glad the author reminded me of the salient points with going into recap info-dump mode. I was gripped by this story and glad it had a happy ending though like all good books I want to know what the characters do next
September 1, 2017
Love it
An excellent conclusion to a fun and fast moving series. I would definitely recommend it. Now I am going to try her other novels and fingers crossed they are as entertaining.
An excellent conclusion to a fun and fast moving series. I would definitely recommend it. Now I am going to try her other novels and fingers crossed they are as entertaining.
November 19, 2017
The best of series
It was nonstop action in this conclusion to the tale. The characters have become clear snd chiseled, love interests crystallized and commitments followed, magic was more potent, battles bloody and brutal. In one word it was great!
It was nonstop action in this conclusion to the tale. The characters have become clear snd chiseled, love interests crystallized and commitments followed, magic was more potent, battles bloody and brutal. In one word it was great!
April 12, 2018
Wonderful series
This was a very good read. I thoroughly enjoyed the trilogy. Well thought out characters, good pacing and one of those books you want to read in one sitting. Well done Emily Gee.
This was a very good read. I thoroughly enjoyed the trilogy. Well thought out characters, good pacing and one of those books you want to read in one sitting. Well done Emily Gee.
December 30, 2018
Satisfying end to the series. I liked how the curse had its own twist at each location. There was a lot more of Britta’s and Jaume’s stories in this book. I also liked how Britta’s character became fully realized- not just a pretty princess waiting to be rescued.
April 1, 2021
Good finale. Good story alla round
Creative cliffhangers. Interesting story line and great characters. Sorta odd how the long term rape was brushed aside and no addiction to "poppy juice " but other than that I felt the story was very interesting, and well developed.
Creative cliffhangers. Interesting story line and great characters. Sorta odd how the long term rape was brushed aside and no addiction to "poppy juice " but other than that I felt the story was very interesting, and well developed.
February 9, 2022
I just just finished the last book of the series. Overall the whole series was a quick enjoyable read. As other commentators have stated, it was a bit predictable but all in all I enjoyed it. I wish it had an epilogue as a little more closure would have been nice.
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