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jessicafee86's review against another edition
3.0
"Welcome to Holtur..."Sonja said menacingly. "The gods had forsaken us long ago." She raised her claymore. "We create our own blessings here."
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. There were parts that I liked and even enjoyed reading, but the parts I didn't enjoy were really difficult for me to get through. I'm a character driven reader, and the characters in this book were hard to enjoy at best, and unrealistic at worst. But I'm getting ahead of myself, first I'll start by telling you what The Holtur Curse is all about and what I liked about it.
The story focuses around a bi-sexual Captain of the guard names Sonja, and her home city of Holtur. Every day Sonja and her group of slayers/guards have to go outside the walls and battle monsters (like vampires) that attack the city. But one day a group of barbarians (called the Brothers of Eternity) threaten to destroy the city of Holtur. They claim that they will pillage the town and rape all of the women if they aren't given an item known as the Eternity Grail. But there's a problem, Holtur has no idea what the Eternity Grail is, or how to find it.
After the whole barbarian ultimatum thing, we finally get to see more of the vampires and things start to get more interesting. The vampires we encounter are exactly like the stereotype and also very much not like the classic at all. I really loved the whole idea behind them, and the city of Holtur in general, but I can't go into more detail without ruining the story.
Now for the the things that I didn't like about this book. I'm all for strong female characters and I also love the idea of more lgbt friendly characters, but Sonja's sexuality felt forced and completely unnecessary to the story. Like it was only there to give the reader an excuse to see some possible girl on girl action, not because it actually added to the story.
Two scenes really stood out for as examples of this, one is near the beginning when Sonja is forced to wear a dress that doesn't really fit. This dress is so horrible that she ends up struggling with it all night. Sonja is so muscled and awkward that her boobs keep almost popping out of the fancy dress and she can't get them to stay put. At one point she has to go to the cellar for some alcohol, but on the way there her breasts break free of her crazy dress, and she decides to let them jiggle around until she's able to find the bottle she needs.
Another point was when Sonja is given shelter for the night and gets hit on by her host's wife. After Sonja very clearly tells the wife no, the wife asks to watch her bathe, and Sonja agrees even though she doesn't want to. This has zero relevance to the story. We never come into contact with the host or his wife again, and Sonja doesn't come away changed, just a little creeped out for a second.
"Thank you for the offer," Sonja said,"but I'm not in the mood right now." Nor did Sonja like women almost double her age!
"That is fair enough," Oddette said. "You won't mind if I watch you prepare though, would you my dear?"
Sonja rolled her eyes. "If you must." Dressing as quickly as possible became Sonja's immediate goal. Oddette watching her - drooling and moaning - didn't make it any easier.
Overall, the world building in this was great, and the idea was interesting, but the characters themselves were either boring, unrealistic, or incredibly annoying. I wanted to like this story and mostly I did, but the bad really out weighed the good for me on this one.
http://bookstocombattherain.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-holtur-curse-by-cameron-wayne-smith.html
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. There were parts that I liked and even enjoyed reading, but the parts I didn't enjoy were really difficult for me to get through. I'm a character driven reader, and the characters in this book were hard to enjoy at best, and unrealistic at worst. But I'm getting ahead of myself, first I'll start by telling you what The Holtur Curse is all about and what I liked about it.
The story focuses around a bi-sexual Captain of the guard names Sonja, and her home city of Holtur. Every day Sonja and her group of slayers/guards have to go outside the walls and battle monsters (like vampires) that attack the city. But one day a group of barbarians (called the Brothers of Eternity) threaten to destroy the city of Holtur. They claim that they will pillage the town and rape all of the women if they aren't given an item known as the Eternity Grail. But there's a problem, Holtur has no idea what the Eternity Grail is, or how to find it.
After the whole barbarian ultimatum thing, we finally get to see more of the vampires and things start to get more interesting. The vampires we encounter are exactly like the stereotype and also very much not like the classic at all. I really loved the whole idea behind them, and the city of Holtur in general, but I can't go into more detail without ruining the story.
Now for the the things that I didn't like about this book. I'm all for strong female characters and I also love the idea of more lgbt friendly characters, but Sonja's sexuality felt forced and completely unnecessary to the story. Like it was only there to give the reader an excuse to see some possible girl on girl action, not because it actually added to the story.
Two scenes really stood out for as examples of this, one is near the beginning when Sonja is forced to wear a dress that doesn't really fit. This dress is so horrible that she ends up struggling with it all night. Sonja is so muscled and awkward that her boobs keep almost popping out of the fancy dress and she can't get them to stay put. At one point she has to go to the cellar for some alcohol, but on the way there her breasts break free of her crazy dress, and she decides to let them jiggle around until she's able to find the bottle she needs.
Another point was when Sonja is given shelter for the night and gets hit on by her host's wife. After Sonja very clearly tells the wife no, the wife asks to watch her bathe, and Sonja agrees even though she doesn't want to. This has zero relevance to the story. We never come into contact with the host or his wife again, and Sonja doesn't come away changed, just a little creeped out for a second.
"Thank you for the offer," Sonja said,"but I'm not in the mood right now." Nor did Sonja like women almost double her age!
"That is fair enough," Oddette said. "You won't mind if I watch you prepare though, would you my dear?"
Sonja rolled her eyes. "If you must." Dressing as quickly as possible became Sonja's immediate goal. Oddette watching her - drooling and moaning - didn't make it any easier.
Overall, the world building in this was great, and the idea was interesting, but the characters themselves were either boring, unrealistic, or incredibly annoying. I wanted to like this story and mostly I did, but the bad really out weighed the good for me on this one.
http://bookstocombattherain.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-holtur-curse-by-cameron-wayne-smith.html
alexiacambaling's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
The Holtur Curse was a pretty fun read. I enjoyed the characters, their motivations, and their relationships and the development thereof. While I haven’t read a lot of old pulp fantasy, this is what I imagine reading a Sword and Sorcery tale would be like. The book is the second in a trilogy but can be read as a stand-alone. I haven’t read the first one and the story held up well.
The world building pretty much does its job. It’s set in a place where people called slayers protect their home, Holtur, from beasts. That is, until they had to kill men like them. That conflict was very interesting because I can really see how reluctant the slayers are to kill people. Reading from Sonja’s point of view shows how conflicted she was and how she ultimately decided that she had to do it.
The writing is also functional being a bit jarring in places and it does have some moments where the dialogue felt a bit modern. While it was noticeable, it didn’t really hinder my enjoyment too much. The pacing can also a bit off, sometimes going too fast that I can get a bit confused as to what was happening.
I also liked how the book starts alternating between the present and the past. It was a neat presentation and I liked how it was handled.
Sonja was a great protagonist. She cares about her family, her friends, and her home and I can really see her determination in fighting to preserve it. She’s also human and can make some decisions she regrets. Mostly, she’s portrayed as a strong, female protagonist and I enjoyed her POV.
The only real problem I have would be the villains. They were introduced a bit late and I felt like they could be better developed. One of them did have an interesting motivation which could have been expounded upon more.
Overall, I liked The Holtur Curse. Its Sword and Sorcery feel sets it apart from the other books I’ve read so far and it’s highly entertaining.
The Holtur Curse was a pretty fun read. I enjoyed the characters, their motivations, and their relationships and the development thereof. While I haven’t read a lot of old pulp fantasy, this is what I imagine reading a Sword and Sorcery tale would be like. The book is the second in a trilogy but can be read as a stand-alone. I haven’t read the first one and the story held up well.
The world building pretty much does its job. It’s set in a place where people called slayers protect their home, Holtur, from beasts. That is, until they had to kill men like them. That conflict was very interesting because I can really see how reluctant the slayers are to kill people. Reading from Sonja’s point of view shows how conflicted she was and how she ultimately decided that she had to do it.
The writing is also functional being a bit jarring in places and it does have some moments where the dialogue felt a bit modern. While it was noticeable, it didn’t really hinder my enjoyment too much. The pacing can also a bit off, sometimes going too fast that I can get a bit confused as to what was happening.
I also liked how the book starts alternating between the present and the past. It was a neat presentation and I liked how it was handled.
Sonja was a great protagonist. She cares about her family, her friends, and her home and I can really see her determination in fighting to preserve it. She’s also human and can make some decisions she regrets. Mostly, she’s portrayed as a strong, female protagonist and I enjoyed her POV.
The only real problem I have would be the villains. They were introduced a bit late and I felt like they could be better developed. One of them did have an interesting motivation which could have been expounded upon more.
Overall, I liked The Holtur Curse. Its Sword and Sorcery feel sets it apart from the other books I’ve read so far and it’s highly entertaining.
rustymiller's review
3.0
I received this book through TBRindr. This is the first book that I have read by this author (Cameron Wayne Smith – thank you for sending this my way!).
Captain Sonja Bluwahlt is the best there is at protecting the town of Holtur from all kinds of monsters, beasts, and creatures that would seek to do them harm. She knows what weapons to use, how to attack them, and she has no fear.
However, a new danger descends on their city, and they are unprepared to handle these ruthless, blood-thirsty marauders known as the Brothers of Eternity. Sonja is given an ultimatum, and the question is whether they can meet the demands of the Brothers in time.
The places where the book is at its best are the scenes where the defenders of Holtur are fighting off a variety of monsters. It definitely has a D&D feel. The creatures are diverse, well-crafted, and the scenes are full of intense action.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t check enough of the right boxes for me. I wanted to see more character development, and was left with crazy battle scenes, but not really caring about the outcome. I also felt that there were times when the story took strange turns that didn’t make sense, were too abrupt, or that didn’t seem like it fit with what we knew about the characters.
I think there is definitely an audience for this book – primarily those who like wall-to-wall, Knock’em Sock’em action. It just wasn’t there for me. 2.9 out of 5 stars.
Captain Sonja Bluwahlt is the best there is at protecting the town of Holtur from all kinds of monsters, beasts, and creatures that would seek to do them harm. She knows what weapons to use, how to attack them, and she has no fear.
However, a new danger descends on their city, and they are unprepared to handle these ruthless, blood-thirsty marauders known as the Brothers of Eternity. Sonja is given an ultimatum, and the question is whether they can meet the demands of the Brothers in time.
The places where the book is at its best are the scenes where the defenders of Holtur are fighting off a variety of monsters. It definitely has a D&D feel. The creatures are diverse, well-crafted, and the scenes are full of intense action.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t check enough of the right boxes for me. I wanted to see more character development, and was left with crazy battle scenes, but not really caring about the outcome. I also felt that there were times when the story took strange turns that didn’t make sense, were too abrupt, or that didn’t seem like it fit with what we knew about the characters.
I think there is definitely an audience for this book – primarily those who like wall-to-wall, Knock’em Sock’em action. It just wasn’t there for me. 2.9 out of 5 stars.
utopiastateofmind's review
4.0
(Disclaimer: I received this free book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
This is like a 3.5 for me :)
What I didn't expect, was how much more I liked The Holtur Curse than The Holtur Enigma. It had the same interesting monsters (I sincerely appreciate this) and interesting world, but I loved Sonja's character. She was fierce, smart, and reminded me so much of Kara from Battlestar Galactica. What I admired was not only her battle skills, but also her genuine compassion. She makes mistakes - pretty common ones like not telling people we care about them - but she also has an incredibly stressful and demanding life. At the same time, she seems to be attracted to both men and women.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-holtur-curse-cameron-wayne-smith/
This is like a 3.5 for me :)
What I didn't expect, was how much more I liked The Holtur Curse than The Holtur Enigma. It had the same interesting monsters (I sincerely appreciate this) and interesting world, but I loved Sonja's character. She was fierce, smart, and reminded me so much of Kara from Battlestar Galactica. What I admired was not only her battle skills, but also her genuine compassion. She makes mistakes - pretty common ones like not telling people we care about them - but she also has an incredibly stressful and demanding life. At the same time, she seems to be attracted to both men and women.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-holtur-curse-cameron-wayne-smith/
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