WARRIOR
RISING – P.C. Cast
Goddess Summoning Series, Book 6
A Perfect 10
Berkley Sensation (Trade Paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-425-22137-2
May 2008
Paranormal Romance
Tulsa, Oklahoma –
Present Day; the City of Troy during the Trojan War
Goddesses have all the luck in the world -- men at
their fingertips, beauty, power, and ambrosia whenever they want
it. But Hera, Athena, and Venus are fed up to their perfectly-arched
eyebrows with the Trojan War, which, thanks to rumor and speculation,
is being blamed on them. Achilles, son of Thetis, has led a bloody
battle for the Greeks and is doomed to die by the age of thirty
without knowing the love of a woman. It was his choice to live
a battle-filled life that would ensure fame. If the goddesses
could stop him from fighting and end the battle, they may change
fate, but the war would finally be over.
Venus concocts a plan that is sure to work after
visiting modern-day Tulsa, Oklahoma. Venus decides the mortal
woman, Katrina Campbell, would be just perfect and could help
Achilles with his berserker tendencies, keeping his mind off of
the battlefield and focused on other pursuits of a…well,
lusty nature. Just as Venus is about to rush off and tell Athena
and Hera, Kat and her best friend, Jacqueline, die in a car wreck,
and it’s up to the Goddess of Love to become a hero, saving
both women’s souls and zapping them to Olympus.
Now, what’s a goddess to do? Throw in the towel
and call it quits? Um, no -- weren’t you paying attention?
These are goddesses, after all, and they have just enough clout
to do things such as, oh, I don’t know...finding host bodies
for the poor souls of Kat and Jacky? Victims of a recent clash
in one of Hera’s temples, the battered bodies of Princess
Polyxena (daughter of the Trojan king, Priam) and her handmaiden,
Melia, are just perfect for placing Kat and Jacky’s souls
in. So, with a little wow, a lot of zap, mixed in with some goddess
abracadabra, Polyxena and Melia are brought back to life and have
now been taken over by two mortal women’s souls from Tulsa,
Oklahoma.
And you thought Merlin was a bad-ass…?
Now it’s up to two mortal women to stop a war,
cure Achilles, and look as if they belong on Mount Olympus. Well,
actually, Kat is the one to help Achilles; Jacky’s just
here for the ride.
Let’s face it -- when we were in school and
had to study The Iliad, it wasn’t the most riveting piece
of work, right? If only I had known then what I’ve learned
now, I would’ve paid more attention. If the names and places
in WARRIOR RISING confuse you, it’s an easy skip through
the internet to do some of your own research, since, after all,
a lot of the story is mythologically accurate. But, honestly,
why bother? P.C. Cast weaves her own magic and has created yet
another delightful novel that is sure to cure whatever ails you.
I never would have equated Achilles with a romance novel hero,
but he becomes that and more. He’s not immortal; he has
no special powers of his own beyond the battlefield, and carries
the scars of a man who has seen too much -- but he becomes so
much more when around Kat, er, Polyxena. And trust me, he’s
not perfect by any means. But to Kat, he is. Achilles becomes
more than a battle-hardened warrior and actually grows up quite
a bit in WARRIOR RISING.
I’d not be doing my job if I didn’t mention
some of the other characters beyond those already listed in this
review. What’s interesting is that these folks are actually
straight from the pages of my huge collectible mythology book
and comprise some of the most fascinating reading I’ve done
in a long time -- Paris, Helen of Troy, Priam, Agamemnon, Hector,
Patroklos, Odysseus, and let’s not forget Zeus.
It’s an honest-to-goddess feat to take on the
Trojan War, but Ms. Cast does a stellar job at creating a riveting
page-turner that’s sure to cause a stir. WARRIOR RISING
is a shining example of just why this author is on the top of
many readers’ favorites lists. Simply put, it’s a
Perfect 10 for this reader.
Amy Cunningham
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