Naamah's Curse

By: Jacqueline Carey

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Far from the land of her birth, Moirin sets out across Tatar territory to find Bao, the proud and virile Ch'in fighter who holds the missing half of her diadh-anam, the divine soul-spark of her mother's people. After a long ordeal, she not only succeeds but surrenders to a passion the likes of which she's never known. But the lovers' happiness is short-lived, for Bao is entangled in a complication that soon leads to their betrayal.

©2009 Jacqueline Carey (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Carey's storytelling ability is top-notch...and [listeners] will applaud her willingness to resolve major plot threads in the middle book of a trilogy." ( Publishers Weekly)

Better than the first

I loved the first installment, but I found this one even more compelling. The conflicts are more dire for Moirin, and what happens to Bao, well you will see. Of course, if you’re gifted with unbearable beauty and magical contagious horniness, things do tend to go your way eventually. The narrator brings it home.

Great wrap-up of the story, maybe

Would you consider the audio edition of Naamah's Curse to be better than the print version?

You really need to hear this book instead of reading it. Anne Flosnik gives all the right accents to each character, the perfect inflection of each voice.

Epic & Dreamy

Another great tale by J. Carey. I am a fan who continues to search out these novels and immerse myself in them. Beautifully written and narrated by one of the best narrators I’ve ever heard. Definitely a worthy listen.

Delightful

Delightful. Makes me want to go back and re-read the Kushiel series. Adventure, romance, a kick-ass female protagonist, and a deep connection to earth spirituality... Who could ask for more?

My favorite universe!

I could give or take Anne Flasnik as a narrator, but I have and always will come back to the universe of Terre D’Ange

Lord f the Nahams

I enjoyed this follow up to Naamahs gift - its a great listen very well read. Its a bit like Lord of The Rings though with Morien saving the day where ever she goes. Its wide ranging and engaging. Good story line with some twists that are unexpected. This keeps the interest as its not always predictable.
I think the writer is making some commentary on the world as she replicates countries and religions that we can recognise.
I will be looking for the next one :)

An interesting extension of the series

Good story and world building but a little arduous at times, wish the romance had been more detailed.

Lady of Rats, Spider Queen, the Falconer!

Note: This is the second book in the third trilogy set in the Kushiel’s Legacy series. However, this last trilogy is set a few generations later and stands on it’s own. This book, as the second in this trilogy, works mostly well as a stand alone but is definitely enhanced by having read Naamah’s Kiss.

We return to Moirin’s adventures as she sets off to find Bao, her stubborn warrior love. She leaves the relatively comfortable Chi’in lands for the wilder and much colder territories ruled by the Tartar tribes. Once reunited, things don’t go as expected and some double crossing has them separated again. Moirin has to match wits with a Vralian religious zealot and later on face the Spider Queen!

It was good to be back in Moirin’s world. Her archery skills serve her well once again, as well as her small magics. For me, the beginning and then the last third of the book were more interesting than the middle part. She starts off on this solo quest to find Bao and that tests her determination and dedication to Bao. When they meet up, Bao is living with his father’s people. Sparks fly…. but then a complication becomes apparent to Moirin. The two simply can’t go off and have their own lives. The Tartars love their competitions which center mostly around horses and archery. Yep! Moirin has another opportunity to be the one that saves Bao.

The middle part sees them separated and Moirin is held captive by this man and his family as they attempt to convert her to their religion. There are a lot of good points in this section wrapped up in this story and these characters but I found that it lagged a bit. After all, I agree with Moirin 100% in this section so the arguments only reinforced my dislike for people who try to push their religious believes onto others.

The last third of the book sees us back in adventure land as Moirin befriends the Lady of Rats and has to face off against the Spider Queen and her husband, the Falconer. They have a band of assassins. Moirin is definitely in danger! Then there’s the caste system that has been strictly enforced for generations. Moirin had a real balancing act here between what she felt was right and also respecting local culture and religion. It was a tightrope walk.

Since Bao isn’t with Moirin for much of this book, he doesn’t play as big a role. He’s often in Moirin’s thoughts but she has herself to worry about as she travels from one strange land to another searching for him. One of the things I really like about them as a couple is that they aren’t a traditional couple. Throughout this book, they care greatly for each other, respect each other, but they each have other lovers along the way and they are OK with that.

Moirin often does the rescuing even though she’s not some tall, athletic warrior. She has certain skills (archery, summoning the twilight, etc.) and she uses them wisely and quite well. She often uses her compassion and patience to win people over. Also, she doesn’t shirk her fair share of the tougher chores be them tending to her horses or taking out enemy scouts.

While I enjoyed the first book in the series a bit more, this was a pretty good adventure tale. I look forward to seeing what Bao and Moirin get up to in the third and final book.

The Narration: Anne Flosnik keeps on impressing me. In this book she takes on even more accents as Moirin travels out of Chi’in (Chinese accent), into Tartar lands, then Vralia (Russian accent), and finally into Rasa (Indian accent). She manages to keep all the characters distinct even though this book has a sizable cast. Her male voices are believable. One of her greatest strengths is nailing the nuanced emotions of the main characters – truly impressive!

A Good Continuation

For the second book in the trilogy, Naamah's Curse did a decent job keeping my interest. Even though it didn't do a lot to progress the overall arc of the trilogy, it brought together a plethora of exotic Asian cultures that were a lot of fun to explore. I'm excited to see what the final book has in store.

Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller

Story was touching and entertaining I recommend this series to anyone looking for a great story and love affair, with dark twist and turns.