I thought I'd enjoy this, even though it's historical which is not my usual genre, because it's zombies, which very much is my usual fare. Unfortunately, I didn't. Despite being set some months into a Zombie outbreak - which has not spread out of India for no reason I can see - this reads more like the first half hour of a zombie movie, when no one knows exactly what's going on. Some characters know there's zombies, some don't seem to, and life is mostly going on as normal for most people.

The characters are confusing, there are long periods of nothing happening, and - although with this being a proof, this could very well have changed before publication - the punctuation and spelling aren't great, with things like people being waived to go in certain directions.

I'm sure some people will enjoy it, but it's not for me.

i actually really enjoyed reading this book, I liked that it was different from the typical zombie book. I enjoyed that it was set in the past which made it a unique read.

This is a book in a interesting age, and interesting place, the plot was good, but somehow It didn't got much of my attention and sometimes made me gave up on this book, maybe this wasn't what I was really expecting.
Thanks Netgalley for this ARC

History meets horror in the character-driven novel Enemy Rising (The Cursed Chronicles Book 1) by C.J. Fisher.

A curious twist to the zombie genre, Enemy Rising mixes Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith with the historical English occupation of 1800's India. C.J. Fisher has put in the work to bring forward the rich tapestry of the culture during that period.

The addition of zombies does not diminish the plot. It incentivizes the characters and enlivens the action. The historical setting does wonders to lift the well-known zombie drama, but don't be fooled that this is all horror and no story. Following four distinct POVs, an orphan girl, a Prince, a Princess, and an English soldier, Enemy Rising is all about storytelling as each character tries to survive and find a cure.

C.J. Fisher succeeded in creating an immersive beginning to a series and lifting a common horror trope to new heights.

Interesting historic fiction / zombie mash up. Enjoyed the premise and the characters, although it wasn’t clear where Sarah’s superpowers come from. This is part one of a multi-book series and it sets up for subsequent books in the final chapter.

For the most part, I did enjoy Enemy Rising - the historical setting for a zombie apocalypse was original and refreshing. However, there are a lot of errors in the text (punctuation and missing words) which made parts difficult to read. Also, the book just sort of ends.... With the first book of a new series, I expect some kind of cliff-hanger. Enemy Rising finishes on a resolution, and then adds an epilogue as an after-thought, making me think that the author's publishers had a similar problem with the ending....

Enemy Rising by C.J Fisher
Enemy Rising is based in India focusing on the royalty within the palace and the British army who are both under attack by the cursed. The King and his two children are battling with political pressure and rebels whilst keeping the city safe from the flesh-eating forces.
Sarah is an eleven year old girl who is orphaned and kidnapped, taken to the city with the intention of being sold as a slave before being saved by the Kings guard. She then embarks on a training programme with the intention for her to become the personal guard of the princess.
Although this book has the underlying threat of zombies throughout the main theme is the relationships of the main characters and the other trials which impact their lives. The characters are well written and I was rooting for the Princess, Sarah, the monkey Prince and the young British soldiers throughout the story.
This book will have a second part, so it did not answer all questions fully, however it gave enough of a close ending with minimal ‘cliffhangers’. I will look to read the second part when it is released as I really did enjoy this story and I would like to know more about Sarahs background.
4.5/5

Enemy RIsing is set in the Regency period of the British Empire, a time period which I absolutely love, but it is set in India, a location that is generally referred to but not actually part of novels set in the Regency era (characters often have returned from business or military action there, but most of the books I'm familiar with are actually set in England) There are three entangled plotlines. Sarah, an eleven year old English girl who is referred to as "half-caste" and is hiding the fact that she has at least one noble parent (both are dead) was captured by a slaver who wanted to sell her into sexual slevery, and rescued by a palace guard of the Indian king (?) who offers her the chance to train as a guard and to be the personal guard to his daughter the princess. Charlie is a young working-class man who is a private in the British military. His unit has been fighting "boogies" or "curseds" which are some kind of zombie-like creature. They are exhausted and expecting orders to return home. Charlie is promoted during battle and goes to the Indian king's palace with the colonel of his unit and the colonel's son, Blakely, who are more socially highly placed. Charlie and Blakely soon find each other vying for the attention of the princess. The princess, Jasimini, has just been told by her father that she, and not her older brother Badri, has been chosen as heir to the throne., and that this will make the British, who are leaving the country because of the "curseds" happier. Badri doesn't really have interest in the job but is frustrated to have it taken away. Badri and Sarah are very taken with each other.

There are so many problems with this book, but the biggest one is Sarah's entire background and plotline. First, there is the problem of how she got into the hands of the Indian slaver if she is obviously English and the child of a noble. Then there is her being eleven years old (it is explicitly stated that this is her age). This isn't obvious in the first chapter she appears in, where the slaver and his acquaintances make sexualized comments about her and suggest publicly taking her virginity right there in front of them. There is no place in the book where Sarah is treated like she is eleven. Then the likelihood that she would be rescued from a slave market and taken to the palace where a palace guard would tell the king she should be trained as a guard is pretty minimal, and her frank manner of speaking wouldn't be doing her any favors. Certainly she would not be allowed to develop a personal relationship with the crown prince.

Forms of address and word choice also are problems.. Sarah is referred to as "Ms. Sarah" throughout by all characters, despite her much lesser social position and the fact that the term "Ms." didn't come into usage for at least another 160 years. These are just a few of the problems with her story and with the book overall. The actions and language of the characters overall did not match the forms and expectations of the time they were living in. The "curseds" were not the main focus and while they were pretty awful and vividly described, they seemed like a macguffin more than anything.

Finally, and this may be because it was an ARC, the punctuation and paragraphing were terrible, making the book almost unreadable. Between these errors and the historical and language issues this was just not what I hoped it would be. The idea and setting were so promising, but the execution is really disappointing.

This book was a very interesting twist on the zombie apocalyptische stories. It's set in the 1800's in India and told from 4 different pov's. An english soldier, a Princess, a Prince and a 11 year old orphan girl. Their lifes are interwoven in the fight against the curseds and search for a cure. I loved the fact that every character is not completely good of evil but each one of them is flawed in some way. Understandably flawed, but still. The intrigue and storyline kept me wondering, the main characters are interesting and I am invested in their fate. I can honestly say I am eager to read the next book in the series. Pick this one up and you will hopefully be just as pleasantly surprised as I was.

***An ARC was provided by netgalley in exchange for a honest review. ***

A thoroughly enjoyable book based in early 1800's India. Even though it is classed as a Zombie "cursed" story I found that part of the story to be incidental at this stage. By that I mean that the story focuses on four characters and develops them through the story with their various interactions. The zombie theme is the underpinning of the book but at this stage of the story it focuses more on the characters. It is not all about the action and gore but has enough action for me to keep those pages turning. Overall it is well written book that left me wanting more! Can't wait for the next book.

I could not put this book down! I'm not usually a historical fiction person, but you add zombies and I am there! The only thing I didn't about this book was that I forgot it was a trilogy when I started reading and it ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. I MUST read the next one. I have got to know what happens!

This is one of those books that has an interesting idea that is full of potential--zombies in an alternate-universe Colonial India--but needs a lot more work before going out into the world. The dialogue is just not good: it changes tone frequently, is full of random emotional changes, and is stilted and tells too much. Overall, it needs more showing and less telling, and each chapter could benefit from outlining for clarity and plot. followed by rewriting. I'd love for this to get a big developmental edit and a copyedit--there are punctuation issues galore--before being published. I can read the book it could become in this version, but it needs a lot of work to get there.

So I want to start off by stating how unimpressed I expected to be with this zombie book and how pleasantly surprised I was to find I was very wrong in my assumption.

The story is easy going, filled with a lot of adventure, and struggles. The characters are constantly debating with themselves, second guessing their morals; is this the right thing to do or not. It made me question whether if I would make the same decisions in those situations. Also the story is set in an incredibly unique place, India + jungle + zombies = one hell of a page turner.

The story itself is very intriguing, it's written in a way that makes you wanna get the answers to all your questions. You get scared, suspicious, you just want more and more of it. If you enjoy action, adventure, drama, humor, and/or zombies, then this book has something for you! I can honestly say it’s worth the read and I intend to read it again. A round of applause to the author, C. J. Fisher, for making me a fan! I’ll be keeping an eye out for more of their work!

I've read a lot of zombie fiction and with the pandemic there seems to be even more lately. Every time I think I've seen it all a new indie voice comes along to prove there are still fresh spin on the rot walkers, or cursed as they are referred to in this novel.

This is more character driven than monster moved, and that works well here as it has a deeper layer exploring a culture and time I wasn't too familiar with. That said, the writing was wonderfully immersive, pulling me into the foreign setting with ease in all of the multiple perceptive it was split between.

Historical zombie fiction?... yep, and it works beautifully.