Curse of the Tahiera

It has been a shameful amount of time since I last posted. But here! New review.

Curse of the Tahiera is an elaborate and profound story which takes place in what we come to know is an alternate reality. It follows the character Rom, a young man despised for the Tzanatzi half of his heritage, as he journeys through the Northern forest. On the way, he meets Yldich, a wise Einache leader and healer, who teaches him about swordfighting and, more importantly, dream-walking. Through the Einache culture, Rom discovers a dark truth--about himself, and about his destiny.

This book takes a little while to get into, but once I got into it, I was hooked. The action scenes are shorter than I'm used to, which was nice. A writer doesn't need to incorporate huge, gory action scenes to get a reader excited. And Gillissen certainly does get us excited--there was a scene at the end which had me biting my nails the entire time. The character development is so-so, except in the case of Yldich. I was indifferent to him at first, but I really found myself warming to him as the story and his character progressed. One thing I can say for Gillissen--she gave a complex portrayal of the Tzanatzi-Einache war. The evil sorcerer didn't start out evil, and the Einache victims realistically committed atrocities themselves. The good and the evil in humanity are shades of grey. She leaves us with several thought-provoking messages, one of which has stuck with me even after I finished the book--when you fight, it's not truly your enemy you're fighting, it's death. Make peace with death, and you have nothing to fear. Na'Heach. Overall, I'd give this book four out of five stars, and I am eagerly awaiting a sequel.