Customer Reviews

Warrior Rising (Goddess Summoning, Book 6)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am sad to say that I was disappointed in this book. I absolutely adore P.C. Cast and her Goddess Summoning Series, but I felt that this book did not live up to my expectations.

The major plot of the book was good. I enjoyed seeing Kat and Achilles build a relationship and try to work around the berserker. I did not enjoy much of the banter between Kat and her BFF Jacky, though. It was amusing at times, but after a short while, it became aggravatingly repetitive.

The side stories with Jacky and Patroklas, and Athena and Odysseus do not add anything to the book. As far as I'm concerned, the first is pointless for the majority of the book, though Jacky and Patroklas do have their roles to play to move the action to the final climax. Otherwise, I found their story distracting and annoying. Athena's story also has a role to play in moving the action forward, but it comes out of nowhere near the end of the book. There is no build up; it just happens.

Then there is the ending. I have come to expect the end of P.C. Cast's books to be tear-jerkers. There is suspense at the end of her other books that lead the reader to wonder if there actually will be a happy ending, and give the characters room to show even more depth and feeling. This is something that I really love about reading P.C.'s novels. In Warrior Rising, though, there is no suspense. There are some abbreviated, almost tear-jerker moments near the end, but they are over quickly and do not have the punch her other books have. And the very end of the book is, well, a train wreck. She should have stopped short of where she did. I won't ruin the ending, but I advise readers to stop at the end of the scene that involves a flaming arrow and Paris. For those of you that have read the book, I just have to say: Kirk, really?! Worst ending ever.

I do look forward to P.C. Cast's next Goddess Summoning book. I hope she is able to recreate the magic of her other books in this series, magic which was lacking in this latest installment.

A light-hearted romantic version of the Trojan War? Why not?! Olympians run amok, Achilles goes berserk, Odysseus gets some divine lovin' and two modern mortals find their true loves in the ancient world. While there are some inconsistencies in story telling, the book still manages to whisk the reader away, much like our main characters. Two modern women, Kat and Jackie have their souls hijacked and swept into the bodies of a Trojan Princess and her servant. Tasked by Goddesses to end the war, these BFFs face an angry king, accusations of witchcraft and terrible monsters to alter the fate of Achillies and Greece.

You would think by now that Cast would tire of her Goddess series but to the contrary it seems to gain more steam with each new novel. She makes no apologies for totally changing history (as we think of it) and crafts a beautiful, if not terribly original, romance.

One thing that worries me is that she may be headed into a rut with all the soul swapping going on. I'd like to see a new take on the modern/ancient interaction in the next book. Also, she needs to watch for consistency. One moment the gods can bring back and ensoul the dead, the next they can't heal a simple wound. The boundaries are unclear as to when/where/how the gods are allowed to intervene.

Despite its flaws Warrior Rising is a worthy addition to the series; a fun, fast read.

The previous books I read in this series were great. Then I read this book a few weeks ago. I wondered why I did not enjoy it as much, why it was missing the richness of the previous ones.

Then a few days ago I read the Goddess of Love. While reading that one, I realized that what I had enjoyed most about the series was the emphasis and buildup of the central heroine. I enjoy her progression into self confidence and empowerment.

Here we get a heroine who is brought in to help Achilles. He is more the central figure in this story. We do not see the evolvement of the heroine as much as past stories.

In addition, as a previous poster commented about the "swearing" in the story, I too add my wish that with the next books Ms. Cast tamper this down to an occassional word here or there, especially those with a religious reference. It really does NOT add to character development.

I still loved the goddess references and most of all Venus, who was the one bright spot in this book.

I started reading WARRIOR RISING by P.C. Cast recently, simply because she is an amazing author that has never done me wrong. I've read everything else she's ever written, and I've loved each novel. This novel has turned out to be so much more than I ever expected.

The story is about Kat, who dies in a tragic car accident in the modern world. As a psychologist, she's used to dealing with nutcases all day, but this may be her biggest assignment yet. Venus, Hera, and Athena are all tired of the Trojan war and hate the fact that they're blamed for starting the whole thing. They decide to take it all into their own hands and end it themselves. But first, they have to get rid of Achilles. With a little movement of souls, Kat ends up in the middle of the Trojan war, acting as war-bride to Achilles. Mix in a little magic, a lot a mayhem, and you have an amazing book.

I think I took SO much more out of this book, simply because I'd recently read The Iliad. I fell absolutely and completely in love with Achilles. I rooted for Kat (even wished I was in her place a few times) and loved the secondary romance of Jacky and Patroklos.

Let's just say: P.C. Cast is still on my automatic-buy list (and I doubt she could get kicked off if she tried!).

Hera, Venus and Athena are tired of masculinity stupidity as the Trojan War is over thirteen years old. The three goddesses conclude that the fighting is all about male penises, the prime organ in man's superego. Worse the female trio is sick to hear these dumb braggarts claim the goddesses or Helen started the combat and that they fight in their honor. The poster boy for inane masculine pretentiousness is Achilles. So the goddesses decide the only way to end the war is to get Achilles to stop fighting; the only way to get him to stop fighting is occupy his penis with a woman who will keep the blood rage from turning him into a berserker warrior.

Venus visits modern day Tulsa to see if she can obtain the services of a specialist sex siren. When their car crashes, psychologist Dr. Kat and her best friend trauma nurse die. Venus brings the pair back to the Trojan War to entice those brutes Achilles and Patroclus with a lifetime of making love not war.

Only this author could cast a modern day romance in an ancient Greek mythos and make it seem real and fun. With a nod to the Trojan Horse tale and Lysistrata, P.C. Cast provides a strong Goddess tale starring spirited intelligent twenty-first century women battling the invincible Achilles (whose heel proves not to be his vulnerable body part) and his best buddy in a gender war that supersedes the Trojan War.

Harriet Klausner

I love P.C. Cast, she's an author who's finally getting the romantic fantasy genre on the market and making it so much fun. I've enjoyed the ride, from being a mermaid to all the countless goddess switcheroos. Her imagination has been vivid and wonderful and no matter if I hadn't heard what the next story was going to be about I'd go out and buy it anyway, that's how much faith I had in her books.

After this one, I seriously doubt I'll be doing that again. To say I was only disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it. Where to start. First you have two foul mouthed women, the heroine and the secondary player her friend, who's even worse than her. Now I'm not squeamish about swearing, but I prefer that if my books are going to be littered with swearing that at least they add some punch to the story, like maybe they're in a fight sequence and swearing their heads off...Fine, I get that, but to just cuss for the sake of cussing and to do it with constant regularity it's done with did nothing for me. That's just me, maybe someone else won't mind.

Second, before with any type of P.C. Cast novel she'd always have these incredibly tortured heroes, IE: Hades, The Beast, a berserker Achilles should have been right at the top of that list for me, and to be honest I'm not sure what it was that bothered me this time. Achilles was tortured and there were moments when I really felt I could fall in love with this one too, maybe it was the fact that unlike her other novels this one danced that fine line of romance/erotica from the word go. The problem with eroticas for me has always been that I haven't read one yet where the overabundance and frequency of sex doesn't wind up overshadowing the romantic element of it.

There are some really, really great moments in the book, but in the end just not enough for me to rate this book higher than a two.

I guess my problem was I expected different than what I got and that is your feel good amazingly ROMANTIC tale of a human woman and a tortured god. That "le sigh" factor I like to call it.

It wasn't my cup of tea, but if you're a fan of erotica it might just be yours. :)

When the goddesses get utterly fed up with the Trojan War, not to mention with all the inaccurate information that myth, legend, and history have recorded about it, they decide its time to intervene. Since Achilles is the key to stopping it, they decide what he needs is a good woman, and thanks to Venus' time in the modern world among mortals, Kat, a twenty first century woman in the prime of her life, is chosen to go back to the time of the Iliad and tame a berserker warrior. Before she can though, she and her best friend, Jacky, are killed in a car wreck. While that's disconcerting, it's no problem, really. The goddesses simply transplant their souls into the bodies of a Trojan princess and her maid. As the princess, Kat combines a younger, more beautiful body with her intellect and skills to easily win over her "master." Yet, though Achilles loves her and longs for peace, he lives under a curse and fate seems determined to carry out his doom. Only a great sacrifice might have a slim chance of stopping that, if Kat is willing.

**** Most Trojan epics can be summed up in the phrase long and boring. No wonder Venus, Athena, and company got their fill of it. This is the exception to the rule. With snazzy, snappy wit and loads of humor, Ms. Cast has made the epic interesting again. Her spin on things is far different than most, but that is what makes it wonderful. ****

Amanda Killgore for Huntress Reviews.

P. C. Cast does it again. She make the goddesses of Olympus jump off the page. She makes them seem just like other women of our time, but with powers of course.
Bravo! Can not wait for the next chapter in the lives of the immortals of Olympus.

This book is interesting in that it suggest what we all know, that the Trojan War was not cause by Helen of Troy, it was man's greed and lust for power. Sure she was a beautiful woman, but her husband was a selfish jerk (notice I did not say pig, I would not insult a pig that way). His male ego was hurt. Great excuse. b

I have to admit this was my favorite. Despite other reviews, the book did come together. It wasn't predictable like the others. Now, I'm off to read the next one, hopefully it's just as good or better.