I am a voracious reader and am always on the look out for new books that I can read. I tend to gravitate toward the same kinds of books however, and am trying to expand my horizons beyond historical ficiton, vampire novels, and Harry Potter.
A friend of mine recently recommended the Divine series by P.C. Cast. I enjoy P.C.’s House of Night Series immensely so I thought this would be a safe bet. I borrowed the books and started reading. Once I started them, I was reading long hours into the night. Which of course came back to bite me in the end, but it was worth it. The novels tell a great story.
The series consists of four books, one of which is a prequel/short story entitled Divine Beginnings. I haven’t read this one and haven’t been able to find a printed copy. It seems to be only available as an ebook. The other books in the series, Divine by Mistake, Divine by Choice, and Divine by Blood, tell the story of a school teacher from Oklahoma named Shannon Parker. An unusual antique catches her eye at an auction, she purchases it, and before she gets home she has been transported to another realm named Partholon. Our world is a mirror of Partholon. There is a doppelganger of everyone, though they by no means have the same personalities. Partholon is replete with goddesses andgods, centaurs, nymphs, and other magical creatures both good and bad.
Divine by Mistake tells the story of how Shannon is switched with her double from Partholon named Rhiannon, who happens to be the Goddess Incarnate of Epona. Shannon is suddenly thrust into being the spiritual leader of her people and into a country on the brink of an invasion. She must deal with the threat to her new people and fulfill a handfast ceremony with a local shaman, who just happens to be a centaur.
In Divine by Choice, the next story in the saga, Shannon suddenly finds herself transported back to Oklahoma and being helped by Clint, who is the spitting image of her husband in Partholon. She comes to realize that Rhiannon is still there and up to no good. She and Clint must come together to stop Rhiannon and send Shannon back to Partholon.
Divine by Blood tells the story of Morrigan Parker, an orphan being raised by her grandparents. What she doesn’t know is that she is the daughter of Rhiannon, the former Goddess Incarnate. In this tale, Morrigan comes into her own powers while she is looking for a place to fit in and has to decide who she will follow Epona or the dark God Pryderi.
All three novels were heavy on the fantasy but also told excellent stories with well developed and intricate characters. This was a great fantasy read and made me anxious to try more from this genre.
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If you like these then you might want to check out her Goddess Summoning books. I’ve read all but Sea, and only because my library didn’t have it, and found them all a little bit different & enjoyable.
I’m hesitant to try these books because I hate hate hated her House of Night series. I enjoy YA fiction on my own but also buy a lot for my teenage niece and I always read the books first before I send them to her to make sure they’re appropriate. The HON series was heavily focused on sex rather than character development, the characters behaved oddly and erratically, there was a LOT of girl-on-girl negativity and just an overall feeling of superficiality that rubbed me the wrong way. There were aspects of the books I enjoyed (the main characters relationship with her grandmother for instance) but overall felt they set a bad example for young women.
While these books did not have a lot of sex, there is a graphic scene in one of them, I think the second one, involving Rhiannon and an initiation into service kind of ritual. I didn’t care for that part of the book. Having said that, I don’t know if I would let my own daughter read these until she is in high school.
I read the HON series too and yes, there was a lot of negativity between the “good guys” and Aphrodite etc. There was also more emphasis on sex than the Divine series I thought. I didn’t like the fact that Zoey is all virginal and then apparently goes crazy and has sex with a teacher. That part bugged me. Again, I probably wouldn’t let my daughter read HON until she is in high school either. I have been reading things before she does too, and I think that is a good idea in general so you can discuss things with them.
If you like these then you might want to check out her Goddess Summoning books. I’ve read all but Sea, and only because my library didn’t have it, and found them all a little bit different & enjoyable.
I’m hesitant to try these books because I hate hate hated her House of Night series. I enjoy YA fiction on my own but also buy a lot for my teenage niece and I always read the books first before I send them to her to make sure they’re appropriate. The HON series was heavily focused on sex rather than character development, the characters behaved oddly and erratically, there was a LOT of girl-on-girl negativity and just an overall feeling of superficiality that rubbed me the wrong way. There were aspects of the books I enjoyed (the main characters relationship with her grandmother for instance) but overall felt they set a bad example for young women.
While these books did not have a lot of sex, there is a graphic scene in one of them, I think the second one, involving Rhiannon and an initiation into service kind of ritual. I didn’t care for that part of the book. Having said that, I don’t know if I would let my own daughter read these until she is in high school.
I read the HON series too and yes, there was a lot of negativity between the “good guys” and Aphrodite etc. There was also more emphasis on sex than the Divine series I thought. I didn’t like the fact that Zoey is all virginal and then apparently goes crazy and has sex with a teacher. That part bugged me. Again, I probably wouldn’t let my daughter read HON until she is in high school either. I have been reading things before she does too, and I think that is a good idea in general so you can discuss things with them.
Thank you..really informative!!