Cursed by Thomas Wheeler
Illus. by Frank Miller. Penguin, 2019. ISBN: 9780241376614.
(Age: 14+) As daughter of her village's chief Druid, 16 year old
Nimue would always be different from the other villagers but her
strangely scarred back and ability to powerfully experience hidden
forces further sets her apart. Dewdenn is a 'fey' village, in touch
with nature spirits and as such a target for the Red Paladins,
terrorising the countryside seeking out heresy on behalf of the
church, crucifying the fey folk accusing them of witchcraft. Tired
of being unwanted in her village Nimue decides to leave on a ship
from the nearest town but when she gets there the boat has left.
Returning, Nimue finds her village destroyed by the Red Paladins and
her dying mother charges her to take a sacred object to Merlin. The
object is the legendary 'Sword of Power' and Nimue finds she can
channel the power of the 'hidden' through the sword. Merlin is at
the court of Uther Pendragon, on her way there Nimue meets and falls
in love with Arthur, a mercenary son of a knight. The sword's legend
says that 'whosoever wields the Sword of Power shall be the one true
king' so it becomes the focus for competing powers vying for
possession. As violence escalates, Nimue's world descends into chaos
as the fey villages are destroyed at an ever increasing rate. She
responds violently channelling the sword's destructive power against
her enemies, becoming a rallying point for the fey refugees. The
struggle for the sword of power becomes tied up with the
annihilation of the fey villages by the Church, with the involvement
of Uther, leading to confusing and ultra-violent battles, no doubt
linked to the fact that the book is basically a screenplay for a
Netflix series. Other than familiar names and a magical sword the
story owes little to the Arthurian legends. The characters are
poorly developed, sometimes with the feeling that they are
placeholders for more detail in later instalments. Little effort is
spent on establishing a consistent sense of time or place, this will
probably be better realised in the Netflix version. The
illustrations have a sense of energy, in powerful compositions with
strong lines. While the wrapped and laced costumes are great,
inconsistencies in outfits make it hard sometimes to identify the
character. Where there is a double page spread, the focal point
often disappears into the book's gutter. Middle school fans of Game
of Thrones and violent fantasies might like this but be aware
that the violence is quite graphic. (It has been picked up to be a
Netflix original series).
Themes: Fantasy, medieval times, Arthurian Legends, magic.
Sue Speck