Book Review: Cazorra’s Curse

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.

-Goodreads

Book Information

• Title: Cazorra’s Curse
• Series: Vevin Song #0.25
• Author: Jonathan Neves Mayers
• Page Count: 138
• Genre: Fantasy
• Rating: 4.5/5.0
• Date Read: October 16th, 2024

Opening Thoughts

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.

Pacing

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.

World Building

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.

Character Development

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.

Roundup & Recommendation

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!

Scoring

World Building 4/5
Pacing 4/5
Character Development 4.25/5