The Book of Curses

by Conor Kostick, J. O'Callaghan (Illustrations)

The Book of Curses is full of dark, wicked magic. Open it only if you dare! Alex Zwick never does what he is told. So when he finds a magic book, he just can't stop making wishes: even when they go horribly wrong. Can Alex and his friend Emily outsmart the book? Or will the chillingly evil laughter of the book ring out in triumph yet again? With new illustrations throughout by award-winning artist J O Callaghan.

74 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2007

About the author

Conor Kostick was a designer for the world's first live action role-playing game, Treasure Trap. He is the author of many historical, political and cultural articles. Epic was his first novel and was awarded a place on the International Board on Books for Young People Honours list for 2006 and on the Booklist Best Fantasy Books for Youth list for 2007. Set in a fantasy MMORPG, Epic can be considered an early example of LitRPG. The sequel to Epic, titled Saga, was first published in Ireland in 2006. Conor received a Special Merit Award from the Reading Association of Ireland in 2009.

In 2018, Conor joined Level Up as commissioning editor to publish LitRPG books.

https://www.levelup.pub/what-is-litrpg

Reviews

[natercopia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ah, new are you. Welcome to the desert of lost souls."
"The desert of lost souls? What's that?"
"It's a place for the dead and the undying, a place for everyone who wrote in The Book of Curses."

A book that grants curses. How about that? Long time ago, a god with two faces wrote two books - The book of wishes and the book of curses. Alex found the book of curses in his school library after being banned from a class trip to the museum. He wrote his wishes in the book but everything he wished for didn't go exactly the way he wanted it to be. A fast read with an interesting take about the saying, "be careful about what you wish for".