In many, many ways Curse of the Tahiera is a book I love. The way that Gillissen interweaves the importance of the dreams of the characters to their development is wonderful. The world in which the characters inhabit is both familiar, but refreshing. The only jarring sensation I had through the first half was every time Rom or Yldich used one of the made-up words, I had to go to the back [to the glossary:] to figure out what it meant. I didn't have a real sense that I would understand the words if I just kept reading through and gleening from the text the meaning.

The story begins with how Rom and Yldich meet. Which is to say, Rom gets into a bloody fight and then meets Yldich while he's recovering and not listening to common sense (which seems to be a thing he does frequently). Yldich is older then Rom, but is the more laid back one. The one who isn't worrying so much about this or that not happening. Rom is rather intense, focusing so keenly on his dreams and what they mean that it consumes him at times. They come from two different races, but don't have trouble communicating.

Occasionally the narrative was a little stiff, but this was translated from another language and even the best translations fall short of the mark. It's often hard to capture the same lyrical quality or tone that an author uses in their original language when translating to English. I see the problem often when reading manga or translated japanese novels--you can't translate it word for word (due to differences in grammar and puncuation) and if you instead translate with the 'gist' of the intent you'll likely miss important clues without even realizing it.

The climax was in fact thrilling. Rom's journey as he connected the pieces in his dreams of the past to the now of the present came together and the choices made left me feeling satisfied. Not fully, I still have a great urge to read the sequel, The Search for Tzanata (due out this autumn according to the author's website) however. ( )

In the beginning, we meet Rom, a half-blood Tzanatzi outcast young man of nineteen. From the lack of true nurturing from his mother, as she feared him and his nightmares as many came true; daily abuse from a Lord he is assigned to serve; to just learning to fend for himself, survive and lay low from the Lord's men; it is safe to say Rom can represent something in all of us.

While Rom prepares to leave for a journey to sell his goods he encounters a middle-aged man named Yldich, an Einache "yaever", or dream walker, whom warns him of trouble on his route to the north. While Rom is not too thrilled for the company as he has always preferred to be alone in his life and travels, he does end up with Yldich's company for his trip.

On their way North, we discover there is more to Yldich's reason for `dreaming' of Rom, as this was his original reason for finding him. This reason slowly unfolds, as Rom learns more of Yldich. More importantly, Rom begins to learn who he is as his true background was lost to him. Rom starts his journey as friendless, distrustful, temperamental, shy, and fearful. He finds himself in a few life endangering situations, where his new companion rescues him and he slowly learns to trust in his new friend. He gains self-confidence and self-esteem and learns to open himself by allowing the good to come in, even though he feels he is tainted, even 'evil'.

When Yldich's home, `The House of the Deer' faces adversity, the story is full of action, suspense, camaraderie and meaning, especially when Rom faces his personal demons in the Underworld and barely makes it back alive. The Einache are surrounded by the South Army for holding Rom in their home, but a darker presence from an ancient curse threatens each and every one of them. Rom learns "If you acknowledge all that is in you, if you embrace it all, even the fear, the shame, the pain, then there's nothing to be afraid of. Not even death, then you're ready to fight."

Curse of the Tahiéra is a wonderfully written fantasy novel that carries deep meaning on a few levels. The characters are amazing; the scenery and descriptions were vivid without going on for pages; and this book captured me right away! For myself, I personally related to Rom with some of my own past issues and I connected with Yldich in many ways due to his wise ways of the power of intention and healing. I am anxiously awaiting Ms. Gillissen's sequel to this powerful story. I give this book five stars and recommend it to anyone that loves fantasy!

Ya'érsi! (Well Done!) ( )

Bound for the North through the forest of Gardeth, home of unnatural evil spirits, young Rom, a half Tzanatzi and half human boy, befriends both Yldich, an Einache Shaman, and Eald, an Einache boy. But this is no chance meeting. Little does Rom know that Yldich has had several Yaever dreams about him; dreams that will entwine their fates forever. Yildich believes that Rom can free the Einache people from a rising darkness of evil that has been brewing for five-hundred years, and yet Rom is a mere boy, without a clue to who he really is. He has so much to learn if he, and the Einache people are going to survive.

Together Rom, Yldich and Eald embark on a life changing odyssey as they are thrown into a new way of life, where the veil between his world and the underworld grows thinner each day, and people depend on him. Soon Rom is to learn that this spiritual journey will gain him the courage to learn things he never thought himself capable of, but sometimes uncovering buried secrets comes at a price. Will he be able to face his fears for the final battle and overcome the weight of the world that has been put upon his shoulders?

What a marvellous book. This is a coming of age, young adult tale, filled with a deep spiritual understanding, which I am positive has much to do with Wendy Gillissen's experience as a past life therapist, and her specialisation in dream-work. I found a few editing errors, such as characters "knitting their brows" one too many times, but overall the depth of Curse of the Tahiéra was so richly detailed with a structured plot, and a believable mystical setting, I found it hard to put down. It's been a long time since I've read a fantasy adventure like this and Wendy Gillissen has a style of storytelling that brims with imagination. It is layered with stories, within this story. She peppers words and expressions from the Tzanatzi /Einache languages throughout, but not in a way that distracts, as some books can. For your convenience these are explained at the back of the book, along with an artistic picture Gillissen drew of the lovable character, Rom. Personally I think this portrait is so good it needs to be moved to the front and not hidden away at the back. All in all the Curse of the Tahiéra is a clever debut novel, and the message is that with the understanding of our dreams anything is possible to achieve. ( )

http://allbookedup-elena.blogspot.com/2009/08/curse-of-tahiera-wendy-gillissen.h... ( )

Reviewed by John Jacobson, aka "R.J. Jacobs" for TeensReadToo.com

Rom is a young Tzanatzi outcast living the life of a nomad, moving around but never really finding his place. One night while staying at an inn he meets an older man, Yldich, who mysteriously follows him as he leaves for his destination in the North. When confronted, Yldich slowly lets Rom into his world and his motives, until Rom begins to learn about the magic of dreams. As they move, Rom is stopped by a group of bandits on horseback, and brought to their encampment.

The leader of these bandits, a fallen noble named Feyir, tortures Rom, bent on getting information on a leader of the Einache people in the North land. Struggling to free himself, he manages to escape the camp with an imprisoned Einache boy named Eald, who was servant to the group of thieves. When Yldich meets Rom, he begins to further reveal his magic to Rom, and Eald as well, slowly honing their gifts in preparation for the facing of a darker menace looming on the horizon. Will they manage to defeat the faceless evil? And what is the darkness enshrouding Rom's past? These are found within the pages of CURSE OF THE TAHIERA.

On the positive end of the spectrum, Wendy Gillissen is a vivid author when it comes to her characters. They each have their own personality, and the reader certainly gets to know them as if they were living and breathing beings. This was overall my favorite part of the book, as it allowed me to feel emotionally invested in the story. Rom was amazingly deep, if a bit too whiny at times, and Eald was perhaps the most entertaining character of all. His innocence really brought a lighthearted feel to the novel that was very much needed. While the age of the characters seems to either be close to the teens (Rom is 20) or incredibly far (Eald is about 8), Gillissen manages to make the characters relatable, which is definitely something to applaud.

Her descriptive passages are also very good, and day-to-day tasks are handled pretty skillfully. I managed to enjoy the descriptions of simple scavenging actions, and the bodily interactions between characters were just as fluid. The reading experience was enhanced with these subtle additions to the story, and it really made it something better than a simple fantasy novel. She also manages to bring some slight humor in by making fun of herself, though whether it's intentional or not is debatable. As not to spoil, the passage involves a frying pan and some lapsed judgment that any average reader would scoff at as being a childish misstep in the writing process; that is until they read further.

This novel is definitely one that needs attention in order to gain the full experience. One flaw in this in terms of a teen novel is that Gillissen describes a sexual scene between the hero and a love interest, which mature readers will be able to handle, but is questionable, as it describes it a little too much for the comfort level of a reader who isn't an adult and who isn't looking for that type of scene. It was used for plot development and was thankfully more of a requirement for the story than a tasteless trope, which easily allows it to be overlooked in favor of the novel's better qualities.

That being said, it also sadly does a lot of things that could have been easily avoided. The plot is very half-hearted and clich�d in so many ways, such as a nameless evil, that is was rather tiresome. This wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't at all surprising enough to keep me wanting to flip to the next page. Also, the pacing was difficult, as much of the novel is setting up the dream magic (which, while interesting, was sometimes confusingly described), and the action sequences, while written well, were too far between for reading ease. Back-story in relation the world was well-thought out, but bogged down reading a tad too much to be beneficial overall.

An interesting notion Gillissen had writing wise was rather intriguing, but is a little muddled in terms of whether or not to like it. Her technique involved a lot of implied speech, skipping over he/she said in favor of physical descriptions, which were welcome. However, this made reading slower, as she often described the other person in the conversation and made it frustrating in order to keep up with the action going on. Confusion only furthered when she used he/she said in other areas. This is not a negative aspect. It all just depends on a reader's preferences. This reviewer, as a reader, just prefers not to invest that much attention into the story.

Overall, CURSE OF THE TAHIERA was a different book for teens that had an interesting concept involving dreams, and is a welcome addition to the fantasy archives. Character development was wonderfully put, each distinct and troubled enough to allow major emotional investment. Description also followed in the same lines as to skill, although those who avoid any sexual scenes in books are warned of slight content within the description. It managed to fall into some large fantasy traps and was very slow for a casual teen reader. The author managed to incorporate a different conversation style in her writing that could either make or break a reader's love of the novel.

CURSE OF THE TAHIERA is a very good book that is worth a look at the very least, but could definitely improve with the sequel. Four Stars. ( )