Curses have long plagued society across time, location, and religions. Classically, being cursed by the gods often destroyed great heroes’ and regular citizens’ lives in equal measure. Curses were something binding, inescapable, and punishing.
To be cursed was to be a living embodiment of pain and suffering. While curses are often a punishment for wrongdoing, there are many stories of people cursed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes, in the case of generational curses, that punishment is extended beyond an individual life, creating a chain of perpetual pain across families or nations.
Although curses throughout literature can carry different levels of moral weight, the act of telling stories about the kinds of people who end up cursed often acts as a lens for a societal view of fairness. If a curse can be broken, it was an unjust punishment; if a curse cannot, it is deserved.
In a continuation of that tradition, fantasy books about characters or civilizations experiencing the negative effects of curses have always been a popular way of unpacking justice. In the following novels, more often than not, characters are looking to break curses that harm the innocent more than they punish wrongdoing. Perhaps this is a reflection of our current view that heroism is enough to pay for past sins. Perhaps readers just like an underdog defeating impossible odds. Either way, we love to witness foul magic at work in these fantasy books about curses.
Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher
Cursed to live in a blade for hundreds of years, beholden to the whims of his wielder, the Dervish is done with his doomed immortality. So, when bandits attack the scholar, Learned Edmund, and he draws his blade, the Dervish reluctantly saves him. This was supposed to be Edmund’s final task before leaving the temple for good, but he never could have imagined the relic he was delivering was a magical person. Now, Edmund cannot simply hand the Dervish over. Instead, the scholar and the warrior become unlikely allies and lovers as they travel through a countryside that is doing its best to kill them on the way.
As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siege
In 1592, when a witch makes a Faustian bargain with a demon, their lives become ruthlessly intertwined. Cursed to bring disaster to everyone around her, Cybil would do anything to escape her life. So, when a dark creature like Miriam offers Cybil a chance at reincarnation in exchange for her soul, she agrees. In every life, Miriam finds Cybil and Cybil finds an escape. But the demon knows how to break Cybil’s family curse, and the rules of the game change. Now Cybil has a chance to break their immortal dance, but she may have to confront the fact that life means nothing if Miriam isn’t with her.
All access members continue below for more cursed fantasy.
A Curse Carved in Ink by Tzeyi Koay (January 31, 2027)
Zhenya and her best friend Shuhua wanted to escape their small village together, but when Zhenya is called to care for her grandmother, who has a mental illness, she lends a hand. After her grandmother dies, however, Zhenya discovers her madness was a familial curse—one that passes on to Zhenya. The curse forces Zhenya to kill her best friend and trap her soul, but she refuses to let Shuhua rot in Diyu. With the aid of the god of hell and the goddess of death, Zhenya descends into hell to complete deadly trials and free Shuhua or die trying. Koay’s Chinese folklore-inspired cursed romantasy novel is a bitingly brilliant and deeply queer examination of loyalty, lust, and determination.
Crown of War and Shadow by J.R. Ward
A healer cursed to see death hires a deadly warrior forced to live on to help her fulfil her destiny. An orphaned barmaid and illicit midwife, Sorrel finds herself at the mercy of Merc, a dangerous mercenary, when the town turns on her power over life and death. With little of value to buy Merc’s protection, Sorrel agrees to give him one night with her in exchange for safe passage to her destination. As they make an impossible journey fighting demons and dangerous landscapes, Sorrel uncovers the danger at the heart of her curse. Even more dangerously, she begins to fall for the deadly man by her side.
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
Repeating the Arthurian tradition of telling and retelling stories, a witch and a knight were cursed to fall in love and die over hundreds of lives. Simran, the witch of the woods, and Vina, the knight of the Queen’s court, want to be the first to escape their fate by telling a better tale. When Simran and Viana’s plans are interrupted by an assassin targeting people like them, their plans change. They will have to take unprecedented risks to break an unending curse in Suri’s enthralling sapphic fantasy novel.
Cursekeeper by Alexandra Christo
Thalia never chose to guard the Library of Curses when she was conscripted as a child, but when the library is looted and her brother is taken by demons, she is one of the last warrior librarians left standing. She will do anything to find her remaining family, even if it means working with Soren, a cursed, exiled Fae warrior. As dangerous as he is beautiful, Soren will help Thalia discover who was behind the library attack to stop the curses from tearing apart the realm. If these two powerful warriors don’t work quickly enough, it may be too late to stop the rising war and protect everything worth saving.
Empress of Cursed Realms by Diana Ma (February 1, 2027)
As the wicked emperor’s fourth wife, Yifan yearns for his death. At night, Jin, an attractive fox spirit, offers her bargains that get harder to ignore as her marriage worsens. Meanwhile, Nanmu, a half-mortal princess, must leave her home in the fairy world to save her banished sister. In a world where curses have the power to make and destroy lives, these two women will have to form an alliance that could collapse their respective empires if they fail in Ma’s epic Chinese-inspired Nutcracker retelling.
Wings Once Cursed & Bound by Piper J. Drake
When Peeraphan slips on The Red Shoes, she is cursed to die. If she were mortal, her fate would be sealed, but she is the mythological kinnaree, a legendary Thai bird princess, and her power gives her just enough time to break the curse with the mysterious Bennet’s help. As a vampire working for a supernatural organization containing harmful mythological objects, dealing with the shoes is Bennet’s job. But finding Peeraphan in danger turns his life upside down. Bennet will risk anything to help Peeraphan survive the supernatural world she finds herself in, even if it changes everything.
A Curse of Ashes by Sariah Wilson
In the thrilling conclusion to Wilson’s Greco-Roman-inspired romantasy series, one woman is tasked with saving a cursed nation. Princess Lia was the first woman to survive the deadly race to the goddess’s temple, becoming a temple maiden to find the object that would break the god-ordained drought. Lia must follow through on her promise even as it tests her mettle, her strength, and her heart. Although the princess is prophesied to break the curse, the goddess’s demands may end her life before she has a chance at happiness.
I hope you have a delightful time with these fantasy books about curses. If you are looking for other fantasy books to pick up, you should try 5 Excellent Mundane Fantasy Novels, 5 Fabulous Fantasy Circus Novels, and Books for Fans of PRACTICAL MAGIC.
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.