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Title: Brighid's Quest
Author: P.C. Cast
Publication Info: Luna Books 2005
ISBN: 0373802420
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
I took Brighid’s Quest with me to the hospital when I was induced, but I didn’t remember a page of what I read due to the wonders of labor, and the even deeper wonders of post-episiotomy percocet. Mmm. Percocet. But it is a testament to PC Cast’s writing that what fuzzy details I did remember, I wanted to get back to and reread as soon as I returned to my somewhat-normal self. I usually do not reread the opening pages of books if they prove to be forgettable. Brighid’s Quest is not forgettable in the least. It’s marvelous.
Brighid is a centaur, which, for the mythologically uninitiated, means her back end is a horse. She’s human from the waist up, equine from the waist down. And according to the descriptions and passing comments from other characters, either half of her is pretty hot. She is the Huntress for Clan MacCallan, which means she is the official hunter providing game for the clan’s keep. Brighid is fiercely protective of her clan, her position within the clan, and her friends, specifically the clan Chieftan, Elphame, last seen in the prequel to this book, Elphame’s Choice. Brighid left the Centaur Plains to escape the Machiavellian machinations of her mother, High Shaman of the Dhianna Herd. Brighid was expected, as eldest daughter, to follow her mother into the position of High Shaman after her mother’s death, but the increasingly militant and anti-human beliefs of her herd, coupled with the cruelty and abuses of power committed by her mother and brother, led Brighid to find her own life outside of her home and family.
That’s more than enough for a story, right? But wait! There’s more!
Brighid has become an essential part of the Clan MacCallan. As Huntress, she holds a position of respect within the clan, and as close friend of the Chieftan commands her own share of personal respect as well. It doesn’t hurt that, as I mentioned, half-horse or not, she’s pretty hot.
The Clan MacCallan has been left in a state of upheaval by the events told in Elphame’s Choice, and as this book begins, Elphame’s brother Cuchulainn has journeyed to the Wastelands to bring back the New Fomorians, a group of half-demon, half-human hybrid people whose lives were saved by Elphame. Elphame is worried for her brother, who is in deep mourning for his lost love, killed by one of the half-demon Fomorians. Brighid volunteers to journey to the Wastelands to accompany Cuchulainn as he leads the New Fomorians back to the clan castle in Partholon.
When Brighid arrives in the Wastelands to meet the hybrid New Fomorians, she finds that Cuchulainn is a fragment of his former self, and realizes that part of her assignment, though unspoken, is to lead Cuchulainn back to himself as she and Cu lead the New Fomorians back to Partholon to be a part of the Clan MacCallan.
And that is more than enough for a story, right? But wait! There’s more!
Brighid must also learn to embrace the part of herself that is her mother’s daughter, that is, the part of her that is a High Shaman and has a connection to the spirit realm. Having rejected her herd and her responsibility to follow her mother into the position of High Shaman, Brighid has also rejected the spirit world and tries to resist the signs, messages, and premonitions she receives. Unfortunately, resisting one’s destiny is not easily done.
Brighid’s Quest hinges neatly into two halves: Part One is the tale of Brighid’s first quest: leading the New Fomorians into Partholon with Cuchulainn, and realizing how she alone can help Cuchulainn heal himself from the grief that has literally fragmented his soul. Part Two is the tale of Brighid’s second quest, as she realizes her destiny and tries to find a balance between her new life in Clan MacCallan, and her destiny as High Shaman of the Dhianna Herd.
The unifying element to these two halves is Cuchulainn, the hero of the story. PC Cast has set up quite a challenge for herself, in that it is very difficult to make a hero out of a grieving man who has just lost his love. Often the lost love is too good to be believed, shallow, one-dimensional, or revealed to be evil. Brenna is none of these, and, to make matters more challenging, was a friend of Brighid, who is mourning her loss along with Cuchulainn. But on the journey from the Wastelands to Partholon, which parallels Cuchulainn’s journey back to himself, Brighid and Cuchulainn realize they have feelings for one another, and both must struggle with their attraction as well as their guilt over betraying Brenna’s memory. And all of this emotional acknowledgement has to be managed without turning the reader off entirely, especially readers who are coming from the prequel and who “know” Brenna.
The other challenge is that Brighid, by virtue of being a centaur, well, to be blunt, she’s half a horse! I read this book the first week home from the hospital, bit by bit between feedings, rocking, and figuring out a baby’s nap schedule, and it was really freaking difficult to put the book down and go tend to anything else. Not only is this a wonderfully told story, but dude, she’s half a horse and there’s some serious attraction between Brighid and Cuchulainn, who’s a human, i.e. not half a horse. The possible logistics of the love scene were dinner discussion between Hubby and myself, because, did I mention, she’s half horse?!
I won’t spoil the answer as to how the happy-happy happens, don’t worry.
Brighid’s Quest contained some of my very favorite romantic elements: an emotionally wounded hero who is afraid of risking his heart a second time; heroine who can heal him, though at great personal cost; and a journey that has to bridge two very different cultures – that last one happens multiple times in multiple combinations, between the New Formorians, the Clan humans, the centaurs, the spirit realm, and the Goddess Epona, the ruling deity over the entire group. But even as I frothed at the mouth (ha) to find out how Brighid and Cuchulainn would find happiness and how the New Fomorians would find a way to live with the distrustful human Clan members, I had to ask myself: is this a romance, or is this a hybrid itself?
While there are strong romantic elements to the story, I would have to argue that it is not a romance entirely. It’s more of a hybrid between romance, fantasy, and, if we readers were members of the Clan MacCallan, an epic tale as well.
My one disappointment with the story is something of a spoiler, so as usual, if you don’t want to know, you know what not to do.
Cuchulainn spends chapters struggling with his grief, his feelings of guilt over Brenna’s death, and then further feelings of guilt over his growing regard for Brighid. But when it comes time for him to admit that he cares for Brighid, and that he can choose a future with her, he arrives quickly at a state of acceptance over his feelings and his intentions toward Brighid. For someone who struggled emotionally through the entire first part of the novel, Cuchulainn admitted his attraction to Brighid and acted upon it a little too fast for me, not only because I thought he would have to struggle with it a bit more (and not just because, hello, she’s half a horse!) but also because the shift in his feelings for Brighid and vice versa mark the hinge between parts 1 and 2 of this book, and I felt the transition went too quickly. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there wasn’t quite enough angst for an already angst-filled character.
The most telling sign of my fondness for this book is that I keep stalling as I write this because my copy is sitting next to me, and if I pick it up to check a plot point or the spelling of a name, I start reading again, even though I finished the book a little over a week ago. I don’t even skim the pages; I start reading it in detail like I’ve never seen the words before. Brighid’s Quest is definitely a combination of several different and equally strong genres, but it also manages to be a hardy example of each one. I could recommend it to readers of romance, or readers of fantasy, with no hesitation.
Unless they want to borrow my copy. Ha. Mine.
oo, now i have to go get that! i read elphame’s choice, but i’ve kinda forgotten about it until you wrote this…woohoo!
oo, now i have to go get that! i read elphame’s choice, but i’ve kinda forgotten about it until you wrote this…woohoo!
This sounds awesome. I’ve never read P.C. Cast, but I’ve got Goddess of Spring sitting here and I can’t wait to read it after I finish my own editing. And clean the house. And do the Xmas shopping.
And, P.C., am I making this up, or do you live in Tulsa?
This sounds awesome. I’ve never read P.C. Cast, but I’ve got Goddess of Spring sitting here and I can’t wait to read it after I finish my own editing. And clean the house. And do the Xmas shopping.
And, P.C., am I making this up, or do you live in Tulsa?
This book is so great! I am *thisclose* to finishing it, and was so entranced by it last night that I read straight through Survivor. And for a reality TV nut, that is saying something!
This book is so great! I am *thisclose* to finishing it, and was so entranced by it last night that I read straight through Survivor. And for a reality TV nut, that is saying something!
I saw the ad for the book here, and I’m looking forward to reading my own copy, especially after your glowing review.
I saw the ad for the book here, and I’m looking forward to reading my own copy, especially after your glowing review.
I managed to read a few chapters of your copy over Thanksgiving…oh I cannot wait to read the whole thing!!!!
I managed to read a few chapters of your copy over Thanksgiving…oh I cannot wait to read the whole thing!!!!
Since I’m cheap as hell, this one is already winging it’s way to my home via PBS. Can’t wait to read it.
Though I admit I nearly bought it last week, but Waldenbooks didn’t have it.
Since I’m cheap as hell, this one is already winging it’s way to my home via PBS. Can’t wait to read it.
Though I admit I nearly bought it last week, but Waldenbooks didn’t have it.
Wow! What an amazing review! God(dess) I adore the Smart Bitches. Sarah – I agree with your one point of dissatisfaction. I would have loved to have spent more angsty time on that particular “item” (I’m trying not to spoil, here), but the book was a MONSTER – it ended up a full 150 pages longer than Elphame, and I was in trouble with my editor. Some day when I’m Goddess of Fantasy/Romance/WhatthehelleveritisIwrite my books will be as long as I want them to be. Sigh.
And I’m so glad the horse sex thing worked. Okay, so it wasn’t REALLY horse sex, but you know what I mean. I so needed my readers to adore the characters so much that you were with me on whatthefuckever kind of sex they had. Naturally my dad, who raises running quarter horses (he gave me the idea for the rape scene with Brighid from “real” breeding techniques for horses – yeesh) and is a biologist wanted to give me all sorts of technical advice about how The Deed could be done if I did, in fact, want to go there. I swear listening to my Dad’s advice about that was a lot like viewing the tub girl. (shudder/gag) Uh, any of you writers who want a biologist’s advice for inter-species sex scenes just email me. I’ll give you Dad’s number. Please. It’ll keep him too busy to give me “pointers” about my next Partholon book…
Oh, yes, I do indeed live in Tulsa.
Wow! What an amazing review! God(dess) I adore the Smart Bitches. Sarah – I agree with your one point of dissatisfaction. I would have loved to have spent more angsty time on that particular “item” (I’m trying not to spoil, here), but the book was a MONSTER – it ended up a full 150 pages longer than Elphame, and I was in trouble with my editor. Some day when I’m Goddess of Fantasy/Romance/WhatthehelleveritisIwrite my books will be as long as I want them to be. Sigh.
And I’m so glad the horse sex thing worked. Okay, so it wasn’t REALLY horse sex, but you know what I mean. I so needed my readers to adore the characters so much that you were with me on whatthefuckever kind of sex they had. Naturally my dad, who raises running quarter horses (he gave me the idea for the rape scene with Brighid from “real” breeding techniques for horses – yeesh) and is a biologist wanted to give me all sorts of technical advice about how The Deed could be done if I did, in fact, want to go there. I swear listening to my Dad’s advice about that was a lot like viewing the tub girl. (shudder/gag) Uh, any of you writers who want a biologist’s advice for inter-species sex scenes just email me. I’ll give you Dad’s number. Please. It’ll keep him too busy to give me “pointers” about my next Partholon book…
Oh, yes, I do indeed live in Tulsa.
Sorry. . . off topic!
Oh, yes, I do indeed live in Tulsa.
Cool beans. I’ll tell my mom to go out and buy some P.C. Cast books, pronto! She still lives there (Jenks) and I went to high school and college there. (Union & T.U.) Thrills like this are hard to come by in old TulsyTown. Thank God for the Vince Gill Christmas special every year!
Sorry. . . off topic!
Oh, yes, I do indeed live in Tulsa.
Cool beans. I’ll tell my mom to go out and buy some P.C. Cast books, pronto! She still lives there (Jenks) and I went to high school and college there. (Union & T.U.) Thrills like this are hard to come by in old TulsyTown. Thank God for the Vince Gill Christmas special every year!
Am I a bad person because, well: no. I’m just not interested in a story about a woman who is half horse. I’m glad you liked it so much, really, but I can’t work up any enthusiasm.
Everybody seems to love this subgenre, and I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s like being color blind. Maybe it’s genetic.
Am I a bad person because, well: no. I’m just not interested in a story about a woman who is half horse. I’m glad you liked it so much, really, but I can’t work up any enthusiasm.
Everybody seems to love this subgenre, and I just don’t get it. Maybe it’s like being color blind. Maybe it’s genetic.
Victoria – have your mom come to one of my signings this month in Tulsa (the launch is tomorrow @ the 41st Barnes & Noble, 2:00-5:00). She can check out where all I’ll be at my website, http://www.pccast.net Yup.. Big Excitement in T-Town.
Victoria – have your mom come to one of my signings this month in Tulsa (the launch is tomorrow @ the 41st Barnes & Noble, 2:00-5:00). She can check out where all I’ll be at my website, http://www.pccast.net Yup.. Big Excitement in T-Town.
Victoria, Goddess of Spring is a marvelous book. My keepers list is relatively small, considering what a book fiend I am. Goddess is one of the few I won’t part with.
Victoria, Goddess of Spring is a marvelous book. My keepers list is relatively small, considering what a book fiend I am. Goddess is one of the few I won’t part with.
Ooooooooooh! I’m SO excited about this book. I reviewed Eplhame’s Choice for FAR and just adored it. I wanted this one too, but some OTHER reviewer beat me to it.
Dammit, my Christmas budget is gonna have to stretch a little more for this one. I simply MUST know what happens.
I wonder how long it will take for B&N online to get me one of these bad boys, um girls, um whatever…hmmm.
Ooooooooooh! I’m SO excited about this book. I reviewed Eplhame’s Choice for FAR and just adored it. I wanted this one too, but some OTHER reviewer beat me to it.
Dammit, my Christmas budget is gonna have to stretch a little more for this one. I simply MUST know what happens.
I wonder how long it will take for B&N online to get me one of these bad boys, um girls, um whatever…hmmm.
Thanks Celeste, and thank you P.C.!
I told my mom to go out and buy some of your books right now! Do it, woman!
Thanks Celeste, and thank you P.C.!
I told my mom to go out and buy some of your books right now! Do it, woman!
Yay, just finished it—came right home from work and read, read, read! I agree 100% with the review and also thought the unnamed part should also be expanded—but I understand the page restraints issue, the book was a nice, meaty size! Can’t wait for the next one…
Yay, just finished it—came right home from work and read, read, read! I agree 100% with the review and also thought the unnamed part should also be expanded—but I understand the page restraints issue, the book was a nice, meaty size! Can’t wait for the next one…
Sara, it’s okay, I’m not sure I could handle the half horse thing either but only because the hero is human or … I’m not really sure. I have Goddess of Spring in my TBR pile so I won’t say never ever but I would be more apt to pick up the book if I knew it was more geared towards romance.
That’s just the romance ho in me 😉
CindyS
Sara, it’s okay, I’m not sure I could handle the half horse thing either but only because the hero is human or … I’m not really sure. I have Goddess of Spring in my TBR pile so I won’t say never ever but I would be more apt to pick up the book if I knew it was more geared towards romance.
That’s just the romance ho in me 😉
CindyS
I must say, I’m not surprised by the review. I expected Brighid’s Quest to be good, and you’re making me want to pull it out of my TBR pile, where it landed when it arrived in the mail a few days ago. I’m resisting, though, because things are way too busy for me to be able to concentrate on it, and I know this is one I’m going to want to savor.
I must say, I’m not surprised by the review. I expected Brighid’s Quest to be good, and you’re making me want to pull it out of my TBR pile, where it landed when it arrived in the mail a few days ago. I’m resisting, though, because things are way too busy for me to be able to concentrate on it, and I know this is one I’m going to want to savor.
Don’t hate me, but I was actually able to read the original ms that was filled with angsty, broody goodness. Yum. I swear editors can be such buzz kills.
For those of you who fear the half horse thing, I have a few words of advice: do not fear the half horse thing; for the half horse thing is good; blessed is she who does not fear the half horse thing. Behold the husband/boyfriend/one-night-stand of those who fear not the half horse thing; hear them trumpet their gladness.
There’s a seller on Amazon selling PC’s first book, “Goddess by Mistake” (the half horse originator) for $919.23.
The half horse thing is very good.
Don’t hate me, but I was actually able to read the original ms that was filled with angsty, broody goodness. Yum. I swear editors can be such buzz kills.
For those of you who fear the half horse thing, I have a few words of advice: do not fear the half horse thing; for the half horse thing is good; blessed is she who does not fear the half horse thing. Behold the husband/boyfriend/one-night-stand of those who fear not the half horse thing; hear them trumpet their gladness.
There’s a seller on Amazon selling PC’s first book, “Goddess by Mistake” (the half horse originator) for $919.23.
The half horse thing is very good.
Goddess by Mistake for 919! Wow, and to think I got it for trade.
But wow. And isn’t it being re-released later next year with a new title?
Goddess by Mistake for 919! Wow, and to think I got it for trade.
But wow. And isn’t it being re-released later next year with a new title?
Yep Nicole, GbM is being released by LUNA in September under the title, Divine by Mistake. I’ve rewritten it and updated the pop references, smoothed out the rough parts that crept in because I had no editor, etc., but it’s essentially the same book. Then in Dec 06 you’ll FINALLY get the sequel, Divine by Choice.
CindyS – I can tell you that in my mind all of my books, no matter where they’re shelved, are romances. But Sarah was right on in the review when she said it’s a hybrid – not really all fantasy or all romance or whatever. I wrote what I wanted to read. I adore fantasy and sex and issues that deal with looking beyond the exterior to the soul – so I mixed them all together. But take away the romance and the fantasy would be empty.
Yep Nicole, GbM is being released by LUNA in September under the title, Divine by Mistake. I’ve rewritten it and updated the pop references, smoothed out the rough parts that crept in because I had no editor, etc., but it’s essentially the same book. Then in Dec 06 you’ll FINALLY get the sequel, Divine by Choice.
CindyS – I can tell you that in my mind all of my books, no matter where they’re shelved, are romances. But Sarah was right on in the review when she said it’s a hybrid – not really all fantasy or all romance or whatever. I wrote what I wanted to read. I adore fantasy and sex and issues that deal with looking beyond the exterior to the soul – so I mixed them all together. But take away the romance and the fantasy would be empty.
Exactly- when I said that BC wasn’t merely a romance, I didn’t mean that it didn’t have romantic elements. There is definitely a romance plot! But Brighid’s romance is not the only storyline that creates the plot, though it is one of the top three. So it’s not just a romance story; it’s romance plus fantasy plus epic questing plus half a horse.
Exactly- when I said that BC wasn’t merely a romance, I didn’t mean that it didn’t have romantic elements. There is definitely a romance plot! But Brighid’s romance is not the only storyline that creates the plot, though it is one of the top three. So it’s not just a romance story; it’s romance plus fantasy plus epic questing plus half a horse.