Partholon — (2004-2008) Elphame's Choice and Brighid's Quest take place 125 years after the events in the Divine series. Publisher: The most excitement teacher Shannon Parker expected on her summer vacation was a little shopping. But then her latest purchase — a vase with the Celtic goddess Epona on it — somehow switches her into the world of Partholon, where she's treated like a goddess. A very temperamental goddess… It seems that Shannon has stepped into another's role as the Goddess Incarnate of Epona. And while it has some very appealing moments — what woman doesn't like a little pampering now and then? — it also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and the threat of war against the evil Fomorians. Oh, and everyone disliking her because they think she's her double. Somehow Shannon needs to figure out how to get back to Oklahoma without being killed, married to a horse or losing her mind…
   
 Divine by Mistake (originally published as Goddess by Mistake)
Divine by Mistake was a good book and I can't wait to read the rest of the Divine series. The plot was cute and clever, the characters likable and (with a few exceptions) realistic, and it made me want to keep reading.
But throughout most of Divine by Mistake I had no idea what some of the sub-plots had to do with the main plot. It all became clear in the end when everything came together, but it was a long time in getting there and nagged at me for most of the book.
At the same time, the writing is not very engaging. It felt like reading a kid's novel that had an adult theme — it was too easy and quick.
All in all, Divine by Mistake is a fun, mindless read that will keep you entertained, but won't challenge you. —Julie Waineo
 Divine by Mistake
I was not able to finish Divine by Mistake. It flunked the Finish-able Book Test, which means that if I put it down for a couple of days and find no desire to pick it back up, I don't bother wasting my time.
Shannon, a schoolteacher from Oklahoma, gets zapped by magic into the mythical world of Partholon, where she ends up worshipped as a priestess, married to an attractive shapeshifter, and embroiled in a war with the truly nasty and evil Fomorians. I liked the premise. Unfortunately, the cover blurb was more interesting than the actual novel.
First of all, the mythology is sloppy as heck. I tried to get over this, accept that the book is a comedy loosely based on mythology, but it still bugged me that Cast can't keep her folklore straight. Priestesses of Epona are mixed with Greek-style nymphs and centaurs. The result is that the book ends up feeling shallow rather than deep, fluffy rather than rooted in an ancient mythology. I wouldn't have minded if she had made up her own mythology. It was the myth-in-a-blender that gave me a headache.
And speaking of shallow, the heroine seems unable to endure a single page of text without brooding about her weight or her hair. I can understand doing a little bit of this — it makes her seem more real at first. However, you'd think that after a few days in the mythical world, she would have figured out there are bigger concerns than whether her thighs are fat. I've already seen Bridget Jones.
I guess this book isn't bad, per se — it just didn't interest me all that much. —Kelly Lasiter
 Divine by Choice
Shannon Parker, Beloved of Epona and now living in the lap of luxury in Parthalon is suddenly pulled back into the modern world from whence she came. Summoned back by the mirror image of her centaur husband, ClanFintan, Clint Freeman a handsome and brave former Air Force pilot has been battling with Shannon’s evil twin Rhiannon.
But Shannon isn’t the only one who has been pulled out of Parthalon. The evil spirit of the demon Shannon helped to vanquish in Divine By Mistake, Nuada, has followed her into the modern world and is threatening her friends and family. Together with Clint Shannon must find a way to stop Nuada, Rhiannon, and the other evil forces that are keeping her from returning to the world she has come to love.
After the first few chapters of Divine by Choice, I was not holding out much hope for the book as a whole. The slow start had my eyes skimming passages and at times pages, waiting for the actual plot to start.
Despite the slow start however, about 50 pages in the story finally started to snowball and it continued from there culminating in a page-turning end. I think P.C. Cast sort of did herself a disfavor by not making the ending a cliffhanger, however. Don’t get me wrong, I want to read the next book in the series, but I can wait on it, I’m not rushing out to buy the book so I can start ASAP.
Overall this is another classic Cast book. Lots of mystery, good love scenes, and excitement sprinkle her fantasy novels. As I tell my students, sprinkles are no good without a yummy sundae underneath. Fortunately for Cast, her sundae is just as yummy as her sprinkles. She has a great story/theme running with the Partholon series and I find myself more drawn to her as an author the more I read her works.
Cast keeps the adventure and excitement going in Divine by Choice, a definite can’t miss for P.C. Cast fans or anyone looking for a fun and adventurous series. —Julie Waineo
 Elphame's Choice
I think I'm just not meant to read P.C. Cast. Maybe I'm just anal-retentive; maybe I just have too much trouble shutting off the "mythology geek" section of my brain. I crack open a Cast novel, and instead of sinking into the story, I find myself thinking, "Celtic mythology doesn't have centaurs," or "Apollo would make a lousy Prince Charming," or in this case, "Elphame's a place name, darn it, not a character name! It means fairyland." Elphame's Choice is so called because its heroine is named Elphame, and this never quite stopped being distracting.
Elphame is a descendant of the heroine of Divine by Mistake. She lives a cushy but lonely existence as the daughter of Epona's Chosen, and wants to strike out on her own and find her destiny. She finds it in the form of MacCallan Castle, which once belonged to her ancestors but was destroyed by the Fomorians generations ago. Elphame assembles a team of people to rebuild the castle, and soon the team becomes a family of sorts. I liked the scenes in which Elphame discovers leadership skills within herself, and those in which the ruined castle begins to shine again. But when Elphame sustains an injury in the woods, the plot switches gears. Her friends finish the bulk of the renovations during the five days she's laid up, and the true heart of Elphame's Choice — the romance — comes to the forefront.
I should say, the romances. There are two. One is between Elphame and the half-Fomorian, Lochlan, who believes she holds the key to the redemption of his people. They quickly fall in love, but Lochlan fears that the vampiric influence of his Fomorian ancestry will cause him to hurt her. I remember Divine by Mistake as being pretty raunchy and I'd been wondering why its sequel had been repackaged for the young adult market. Now I think I know. Elphame's Choice predates Twilight, and is much steamier, but I think the "boy meets girl, boy is afraid he'll drink girl's blood" aspect may appeal to some of the same readers.
The other romantic plotline focuses on Elphame's brother, Cuchulainn. Cuchulainn is something of a Casanova, but finds himself out of his depth when he falls deeply in love with Brenna, a young healer and artist who bears physical and emotional scars. I actually liked this secondary romance better than Elphame's story, at least until the very end. (Details below the spoiler alert.)
This is one of Cast's earlier books, and it's rough in places. Most noticeably, there's a ton of head-hopping and a long sagging middle in which nothing much happens except lust and bickering. Then there's the Mary Sue-ness; I felt like the book would be half as long if the narrative didn't stop so often to mention how beautiful Elphame is. The copy-editing is spotty as well. Lots of typos.
But none of this would have been so bad if it hadn't been for two plot developments that occur toward the end (if you want to know, read the spoilers below). Also, and this isn't the author's fault, but what is with the new cover art? Elphame is described as having brown skin... —Kelly Lasiter
1) The prophecy. It makes no sense. Now, I love stories that hinge on an ambiguous or misinterpreted prophecy, the "no man of woman born" kind of thing. But this one quite simply left me scratching my head. The "real" meaning of the prophecy doesn't match the actual words of the prophecy. The Goddess Epona would have had to be brainless to word it the way she did. There's no logical way that the "real" meaning follows from what she said. And the consequences would have been disastrous if the characters had interpreted the prophecy in the only way that actually makes sense. Elphame would have been dead, and the half-Fomorians left with no hope of regaining their sanity.
2) Brenna. Way to ruin a perfectly good "reformed rake" plot. Cuchulainn learns to love and to appreciate inner beauty, and Brenna overcomes her fears, and for what? Cast kills her off a few days after they get engaged, and then partners him with a strikingly beautiful woman in the next book, Brighid's Quest. So, if you're pretty, you get a happy ending, but if you're not, you get to be the vehicle for some guy's character development? Ugh. |
P.C. Cast was born in Watseka, Illinois, and grew up being shuttled back-and-forth between Illinois and Oklahoma, which is where she fell in love with Quarter Horses and mythology (at about the same time). After high school she joined the United States Air Force and began public speaking and writing. Since her tour in the USAF, she has been speaking and teaching professionally. Learn more at P.C. Cast's website.
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