The Women of Fantasy

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.

Posted by Jen at Monday, April 28, 2008