The Seer's Curse by J.J. Faulks

The Seer has his own agenda, which is kind of ironic really when you think of how so-called mediums can convince their clients to lean towards certain decisions. Self-fulfilling prophecies used on an entire village, it's quite a clever ruse. Unfortunately his plan includes having an innocent child isolated from her friends, family and village.

With a mass or herd mentality the rumour of a supposed curse gains a lot of speed and the Chinese whisper communication method helps to flame the fires of paranoia. Soon every death, every illness and the diminishing food supply is blamed upon the child born under a dark cloud of sorrow and death.

The story of Orleigh is interspersed with short tales of mythology, not of the Greek variety, but rather an entire world of mythology built by Faulks for this story. I liked the idea of the myths being told to teach morals or show an example of good behaviour. The stories within a story. However there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. The author uses the feature too often, which detracts from the characters and the rest of the story.

Aside from that this is a very strong debut. The author and the plot both have a lot of potential. The characters are memorable and I am looking forward to seeing where the author takes Orleigh and Piprin. Faulks is a natural storyteller, who isn't afraid to be innovative and follow through with bold ideas.

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