Cursebird on a Wire (The Alchemist’s Agent: A Novella) by E.M. Burnham
The wine’s gone off
The ale’s musty
The cheese turned green on the spoon
How do you solve a curse when it’s no more than they deserve?
Ibram Ucalegon is an arm-for-hire with a slight problem. He’s committed the mortal sin of working for one noble while poking through the house of another. Worst of all, he was caught!
In return for his freedom, Ibram swears to supply Lord Halfrey with an introduction to his employer, Lady Azadiya Hobon, alchemist extraordinaire. All Lord Halfrey has to do is let Ibram out of his cage.
But on the day of Halfrey’s introductory gala, a cursebird flies in the face of everybody’s plans. Can Lady Azadiya discover the culprit and save the party before Ibram trades in his smooth sailing for another hard landing?
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My Review
The description for this book caught my attention. A curse that people deserve but in a humorous way—sign me up and color me intrigued. I am here for all the fantasy books that subvert the genre.
All in all, I enjoyed this. I never got as hooked on the story as I hoped, but it was still very much worth a read (and an excellent Author Discovery Project book, as well). The cursebird was definitely the most interesting part. If you’ve read any of my reviews, you know how I feel about spoilers, and this is the part where I tell you to just go read the book. The characters are quirky but realistic, and the world feels like it expands beyond what I see on the page, which is always a plus in the fantasy department for me.
I do wonder if reading the main series first would have helped me feel a bit less disconnected from this, so if anyone’s considering this book, I’ll suggest reading the main series first as an option. Regardless, if you read this, let me know your thoughts. Always love swapping notes. 😊 3.5 stars
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