War had killed Gwin's husband, and a plague of star sickness carried off her babies. Desolate, she nursed her stricken neighbors. But the few who would survive the sickness were doomed anyway. Every survivor would be cursed, and each would become outcast, for the curses were more deadly than the plague itself. Some survivors would gain powers of healing--and equally the power to inflict disease at the merest touch. Some would see the future--and it would drive them mad. And some curses were even worse . . . Under the law, no one could shelter the Cursed, but Gwin took in a young girl. Who could predict that her simple act of outlaw kindness would change her life--and her world--forever? THE CURSED is an epic tale of mortals swept up in the maelstrom of destiny, of unforgiving fate, and of new beginnings. Journey with Dave Duncan into the world of THE CURSED.