The Women of Fantasy

As part of her Goddess Summoning series, P.C. Cast is releasing Warrior Rising. It's a good time to return to the Summoning series, a light and airy romantic fantasy collection perfect for summer. I'll be doing more reviews of these when I can, but in the meantime check out this excerpt from Warrior Rising. All of the books in this collection are great stand alones - don't worry about the order you read them in (unless you are picky about stuff like that;)

P.C. Cast has long been one of my favorite authors. She has many books out, most with a goddess/feminist/fantasy theme to them, and also a few vampire-type books that I haven't read. This post will focus on my favorite world built by Cast, the world of Partholan.
I am organizing the books here the same way Cast has them on her website.

First is Divine By Mistake, which is the same as Goddess By Mistake only renamed and published by Luna books. This is the story of Shannon Parker, who is magically transported to the world of Partholan and made the Goddess Epona's Chosen. It's a fun, mostly light and entertaining read that is easy to get into and captivates.

Second is Elphame's Choice (Luna) which takes place in the world of Partholan but in a completely different time with different characters. It was enjoyable and I'd like to see more Partholan books written in this time period.

Third is Brighid's Quest, which is like a sequel to Elphame's Choice with the secondary characters becoming main characters in it. I liked this one a lot too.

Fourth goes back to the first book's character Shannon Parker with Divine By Choice. It wasn't an enjoyable read for me but was important for the storyline. I disagreed with a lot of Shannon's decisions and some of the content was overly graphic for me. I skipped over those parts and got through it.

Fifth is Divine By Blood (Partholon Novels), the third (and final?) installment in the story of Shannon Parker. It focuses on Rhiannon's daughter and I really liked this one. It had a really terrific ending and the main character was human and likable.

Overall, P.C. Cast is still one of my favorite authors. I don't always agree with or like everything she puts in her books, and sometimes stories get repetitive, but there are more winners than losers here.

For Christmas I received a variety of books, including some new faves by Robin McKinley.
The Outlaws of Sherwood, a new take on Robin Hood, was a terrific read, with great character development. Maid Marian is featured as a strong secondary character with all the female-empowered traits I've come to expect from McKinley.
Spindles End is a new variety of Sleeping Beauty with a twist of an ending. A fun read, though I may of wished the ending to be more traditional. But it was realistic, if a fairy tale should ever be called that.
Some other favorites by McKinley are Deerskin, which I've noticed she subtly ties into some other books, The Hero & the Crown & The Blue Sword. I find I need a long stretch between each book or the characters & plots become to similar.