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    Brighid's Quest
    Brighid's Quest
    Brighid's Quest
    Ebook576 pages9 hours

    Brighid's Quest

    By P. C. Cast

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook


    Rather than follow her family's restrictive rules, centaur Brighid chose to set out on her own to make friends and form relationships with humans as well as centaurs.

    Now she's facing her toughest challenge yet. While helping guide home a grieving human –– Cuchulainn, her friend Elphame's brother –– Brighid finds herself beginning to care for him. An emotion forbidden by her clan.

    To add to her troubles, the Great Goddess has awoken the power of the Shaman within Brighid –– the first centaur so blessed in ages. And just as she's torn between taking up a power she never expected and a love she's afraid to admit to, Brighid receives a vision of a tragedy that might destroy everyone she's ever cared about…
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers Australia
    Release dateMar 1, 2012
    ISBN9781460804537
    Brighid's Quest
    Author

    P. C. Cast

    P.C. Cast is the author of the House of Night novels, including Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, and Untamed. Ms. Cast is a #1 New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling author and a member of the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame. With more than 20 million copies in print in over 40 countries, her novels have been awarded the prestigious Oklahoma Book Award, YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Prism, Holt Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, Booksellers’ Best, and the Laurel Wreath. Ms. Cast was born in the Midwest and grew up being shuttled back and forth between Illinois and Oklahoma, which is where she fell in love with Quarter Horses and mythology. After high school she joined the United States Air Force and began public speaking and writing. After her tour in the USAF, she taught high school for 15 years before retiring to write full time. She now lives in Oregon surrounded by beloved cats, dogs, horses, and family.

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    Reviews for Brighid's Quest

    3.5/5

    118 ratings26 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is a later book in a series. This review may contain spoilers for earlier books.At the end of Elphame's Choice, the New Fomorians were free from the curse of madness, and Elphame's brother, Cuchulainn, was leaving to lead them back to Partholon, the home of their mothers and grandmothers. As this book begins, Brigid, Clan MacCallan's Huntress, sets off after him to assist in leading them home. When she joins Cu and the New Fomorians, she discovers that she will need to learn how to use the Shaman powers that she inherited from her mother, but until now has used only for tracking game.This is a much more satisfying book than Elphame's Quest. The first book in this series had a love story, and one other plot: the undoing of the curse on the New Fomorians. The second has a love story (and a more mature one at that- the characters actually know each other and come to know each other better, as opposed to just showing up and realizing they are destined to be soulmates), the plot about leading the New Fomorians home, a plot about repairing Cu's wounded soul, a plot about Brighid fully realizing her Shaman powers, and a plot about the Centaur Plains being on the brink of war.Unfortunately, Brighid's Quest is more of a second book in a trilogy than Elphame's Choice was the first book in a trilogy. As EC ended, the story could have been over. The readers would have assumed that Cu brought the New Fomorians home, that he grieved for Brenna for a while but eventually got back to the business of living as people tend to do, and that everybody lived as happily ever after as people ever live. At the end of BQ, the big evil things for the third book are already on the loose. This is probably typical, in that authors often write a first book that is self-contained because publishers may not want to commit to a series until they have seen the sales, but when the second book is written the third one has already been agreed upon. Unfortunately, as of my latest reading of the author's web site and blog (Oct 14 2007), it's unknown when or by whom Ciara's Destiny, the third book, will be published. I don't think that the ending of BQ makes the book significantly less satisfying, however. It's just too bad that strings are left to be tied when there's no guarantee that we will get the third book.
    • 4/5
      This is a later book in a series. This review may contain spoilers for earlier books.At the end of Elphame's Choice, the New Fomorians were free from the curse of madness, and Elphame's brother, Cuchulainn, was leaving to lead them back to Partholon, the home of their mothers and grandmothers. As this book begins, Brigid, Clan MacCallan's Huntress, sets off after him to assist in leading them home. When she joins Cu and the New Fomorians, she discovers that she will need to learn how to use the Shaman powers that she inherited from her mother, but until now has used only for tracking game.This is a much more satisfying book than Elphame's Quest. The first book in this series had a love story, and one other plot: the undoing of the curse on the New Fomorians. The second has a love story (and a more mature one at that- the characters actually know each other and come to know each other better, as opposed to just showing up and realizing they are destined to be soulmates), the plot about leading the New Fomorians home, a plot about repairing Cu's wounded soul, a plot about Brighid fully realizing her Shaman powers, and a plot about the Centaur Plains being on the brink of war.Unfortunately, Brighid's Quest is more of a second book in a trilogy than Elphame's Choice was the first book in a trilogy. As EC ended, the story could have been over. The readers would have assumed that Cu brought the New Fomorians home, that he grieved for Brenna for a while but eventually got back to the business of living as people tend to do, and that everybody lived as happily ever after as people ever live. At the end of BQ, the big evil things for the third book are already on the loose. This is probably typical, in that authors often write a first book that is self-contained because publishers may not want to commit to a series until they have seen the sales, but when the second book is written the third one has already been agreed upon. Unfortunately, as of my latest reading of the author's web site and blog (Oct 14 2007), it's unknown when or by whom Ciara's Destiny, the third book, will be published. I don't think that the ending of BQ makes the book significantly less satisfying, however. It's just too bad that strings are left to be tied when there's no guarantee that we will get the third book.
    • 4/5
      In the final novel in the Parthalon series, Centuar Huntress Brighid embarks on a quest to retrieve her friend and chieftain's brother, Cuchulainn and repair his soul after the loss of his betrothed. Brighid must choose to embrace the shaman powers she's been denying in order to save her friend. She must also struggle with her desire for the human man, and her guilt over betraying her late friend by loving him. Cast's world of Partholon is so vibrant and well built, leaving open myriad possibilities for future stories set there. Her characters are strong and capable, both male and female, and overcome both internal and external conflicts. Even the "villains" aren't always completely beyond redemption. I highly recommend this whole series.
    • 3/5
      This book in the Parthanon series felt very different than the rest of the series for some reason. It was sort of slow and it jammed all the action in the last tiny bit. Ms. Cast stays true to totally and brutally exposing her characters to emotions, which is a great thing, it makes them feel way more real.

      The story line is good but as I said, starts out slow and then it packs the action to the end of the story, I couldn't get a feeling about where I was in the story and the climax wasn't obvious until I actually thought about it after closing the book. I did fall in love with all the characters, Ms. Cast writes them so real that is hard to separate yourself from them and they stick with you long after you are done with the story. The charachters just seem like they can walk right out of the page and after reading the rest of the Parthanon series the world of Partanon just seemed all that more real to me as well. I hope there is another book in this series and Ms. Cast left the end totally open for one, so I guess...we shall see.
    • 4/5
      I liked this better than Elphame's Choice. Even though I did end up liking Elphame's choice in the end. In this book I thought the character of Brighid was more real and I really liked how she developed throughout the novel. I also liked that both Brighid and Cu had big issues to overcome. In many ways this book wraps up the stories of the new Formorians reintegration into the world. But of course, it leaves the door open for other books too. The only reason I'm not giving this a 5 star is because, like Elphame's Choice, it relied heavily on emotion (which was great) but I also wanted more action or tension built in beyond the primary relationship. I'd still recommend it though--particularly to the YA set.
    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed the House of Night series so I was looking forward to this different series. The story was a little confusing at first because I didn't read the first book in the series (I didn't realize that this wasn't first in the series until I received it). Once I got my bearing though I had a difficult time getting into the storyline. It wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be. I did enjoy the world and the characters though. This is a book I will probably pick up again in the future (after reading book #1 in the series first though) and give it another try.
    • 3/5
      I started this series backwards with this book first. It made me want to read all the books in this series. (SIGH) I really wish PC would write more stories in the Partholon series.
    • 4/5
      When we last left our heroes; Cuchulainn was in mourning for Brenna and Elphame had mostly defeated the evil in the blood of the Formorians (don't get me started on the issues I have with inherited evil). Now Cuchulainn is on a quest to bring the Formorians to Castle MacCallan. Brighid decides to join him, along the way she discovers more about herself and about her future and as she goes she has to make some very hard decisions.It's not a bad story and the shaman stuff was actually interesting to me. I do have issues with inherited/inborn evil and she does set up for the next book. Not deep but diverting.
    • 2/5
      not really my jam, i like her other books ( the house of night series ) but this one was just a little too unrefined, maybe it was because i came into the series too late i dont know
    • 3/5
      I received an e-copy of Brighid's Quest here on LibraryThing and unfortunately, it was several months before I got into it. Now I have a Kindle and it's much easier to read e-books. This was my first intro to P.C. Cast. The story was a lovely fantastical romance with plenty of adventure thrown in. Having not read any of the previous Partholon novels, there was a bit of haziness at the beginning as I learned about characters that had previously been introduced. However, once I got into the novel, it was a delightful read that I couldn't put down.
    • 3/5
      I hadn't read the other books in this series prior to this one. Therefore it was a little confusing in the beginning. Once I understood what was going on it got a lot more entertaining. I wasn't really a big fan of the story so I most likely will not be reading any of the others but overall it was well written and good enough to read through.
    • 4/5
      I have never read the other books in this series and really when I requested this book I didn't know that. But I have read several of PC Cast's books previously and figured what the heck. I'll give it a go.I was a little confused in the beginning as to what was going on, but soon everything kind of fell into a place where I could understand it. Brighid is a centaur and it seems that with everything that has happened she has decided to go against the wishes of her species and of her becoming the High Shaman, has fallen for a human. This book seems to have it all, romance, adventure, action. What more could a reader ask for. Now I find that I have to go back and read the other parts of this series so I can really get a full view of this wonderful world that has been created. Wonderful book. I can't wait to dig into some more of this fantastical storyline!
    • 3/5
      Brighid is asked by Elphame to go find her brother and the other New Femorians to bring them back to Pathalon. As the huntress makes her way to Cu, she begins to wonder what she will find. She also is interrupted by her mother. In this book we find out a lot more about Brighid's family. Her mother is a shaman, so Brighid has a link to the spirit world even if she chooses to avoid it, much like Cu. I think that begins to bring the two of them together since they both avoid the spirit realm as much as possible and ignore their goddess given gifts. However, Cu's soul has been split in two and Brighid has to find a way to bring it back together while also bring the New Femorians through the warrior pass and back home. I really didn't like this book as much as Elphame's choice. It took a very long time for me to get through it because I never just wanted to sit and read the whole thing. That's not usual for me and P.C. Cast books. I usually enjoy her character development and side stories. This was just a really long book that I didn't grab onto. I think part of it was because I didn't like the love story between Cu and Brighid. Cu's heart should stay belonged to his first love and Brighid should be with someone else.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as an Early Review copy and didn't know it was a romance/Harlequin Teen novel. I was reluctant to read it but, as with some of the other books I've received, I decided to give "Brighid's Quest" a fair chance. While "Brighid's Quest" is a "typical, old school fantasy" (to quote another reviewer) and not particularly literary, I don't think the author intended it to be anything more than what it is. This novel is escapist entertainment and geared for teens/young adults. Melodrama comes with the territory! Cast writes in a way that I can compare to Stephenie Meyer, but Cast's female characters appear to be stronger, more independent and more self sufficient. As is expected with a Harlequin Teen novel, this one includes more naughty bits than Meyer's books but is no more graphic than what can be seen on T.V. I think there is enough variety in Cast's characters that this storyline won't become as repetitive and tiresome in its progression as the Twilight series. If I were to place this novel on a scale of teen fantasy I would place it somewhere between the Twilight novels and the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. None of these novels are what I would call literary, but they are entertaining and fun to read. I think there is value in books that are purely for entertainment. While the first novel in the series may have helped me understand the characters' personalities more deeply, I don't feel like I missed anything by reading this mid-series. The book was a fairly easy read but, because of some of the more mature subject matter, I wouldn't place it below Young Adult. Reading abilities vary greatly and the fact that this book is an easy read does not detract from the entertainment value of the story.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed the book it took me awhile to read it. As a Young adult book is was very interesting. She explained the characters very good. I was a little confused at first not knowing about the first book in the series. Then our library got them both and I was able to read it and understand it a lot better.
    • 1/5
      I've read other books by PC Cast (House of Night series) and enjoyed them, so I had high hopes for Brighid's Quest. This book, however, just didn't work for me. I haven't been able to read more than about one hundred pages into the book, it's an incredibly sluggish read for me and I don't care about any of the characters particularly or where the story might be going.I do have to say that I think it's soem fo the writing style/actual reading of it that's a problem for me so I may, some day in the future try an audio version of the book.This story does build on Elphame's Choice (I wasn't able to finish that book, either though--for the same reasons). So this book gets a 'Did Not Finish' from me, sadly.
    • 5/5
      It's a story of love and life, but also about death. There are many things that get in the way of life, but you have to learn to move on. This book shows that very well.
    • 4/5
      This was a great story. I haven't read anything in the fantasy genre in quite sometime so it was refreshing to me. I will definitely continue to read this series as I can't wait to see what happens with these characters next. Plus the cliffhanger in the epilogue definitely left you wanting to see what happens next. This was the first PC Cast book I have read and I will definitely check out some of her other stories.
    • 2/5
      I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program. I'm going to have to give it a "DNF" or "Did Not Finish." I'm about 150 pages in and quite frankly, bored out of my skull. Not to mention, slightly grossed out when I read the other reviews and found out this is a romance between a female centaur and a human male.There is nothing about this book that makes me want to KEEP reading. Over a hundred pages in, thirteen chapters in, and there is no conflict. I don't especially care about any of the characters. Also, every so often the author throws me out of the narrative by using very modern language suddenly out of nowhere in this very high fantasy type world. For example, Brighid says to another character: "Oh, don't go all happy on me." Hello?Lastly, I downloaded this book and put it on my Sony Pocket Reader. The font was small so I pumped it up to the next size. The formatting is absolutely awful. Sentences and words run into each other. Spacing means nothing. You'd think a professionally put together ebook would have better support, especially when I can read a PDF file I converted and not have a single one of these formatting issues. This leads me to think the problem is with the publishing company and NOT the Sony Reader.
    • 4/5
      The writing for this book is typical P.C. Cast. If you enjoy her House of Night series this should follow suit. It is definitely suggested to read the first book in the series first, though. The characters are true to their legendary counterparts. Get past the beginning of the book and you'll be fine.
    • 4/5
      Following swiftly on the heels of Elphame's Choice, this book opens with a broken Cuchulainn, a swarm of winged children, and a conflicted centaur huntress. The story is well written and exciting. Cast did a great job of fleshing out the characters from the last book and creating a story of love and what it means to be a family.
    • 4/5
      This is the second installment from an exciting fantasy/romance/adventure series. Although published by Harlequin Teen, I believe the content may be more appropriate for older teens/young adults. The Quest follows Brighid, a first-born Centaur Huntress as she searches for her place in a world that is new to her. She has spent her life rejecting her heritage and family line because she has seen and been victimized by the power that corrupted her mother. Leaving her life and fellow Centaurs behind she travels to McCallan Castle, and a clan led by Elphame, a half centaur half human chieftain, who is trying to create a land filled with equality and tolerance of other groups. As the Huntress for this new clan and Chieftain, Brighid helps provide for the people loyal to Elphame and work to protect them as necessary. Brighid's nature and magical heritage have made her an exceptional Huntress, able to track and take down animals with incredible ease. This tracking ability extends to the people around her and she is able to locate Elphame's Warrior brother who has fled the compound after a tragedy. Slowly, a relationship grows between the Huntress and the Warrior Cuchulainn as they attempt to save a misunderstood group of beings and return them to their ancestral homeland. Beginning with grudging acceptance and respect, their feelings blossom into friendship and eventually to a seemingly impossible romance. Eventually, with the love and protection of the Cuchulainn, Brighid must return to her own homeland and accept her destiny as High Shaman of the Dhianna Centaurs
    • 3/5
      This book was really hard for me to get into. I couldn't understand the characters very well. I realized a little later that this story is in the middle of a series. I kept putting this book down at the beginning because I didn't know what was going on at all. I think a recap of the previous book would have been nice. Other than that, the story grew and the characters became more fleshed out, it was just the beginning that made this a tough read.
    • 4/5
      Starting a series with the middle book isn't a great idea, but I enjoy the House of Night series, so jumped at the chance to read this one for free. It took me some time to get into the book, but I eventually did.The story, world and characters are well written and interesting.
    • 4/5
      I didn't think I'd like this book at all but it was surprisingly compelling. The characters were enjoyable and really what the book is worth reading for. The plot starts slow and resolves to easy. Its not much of a plot to begin with really and at time the book is a bit overly introspective. That being said I read the whole thing pretty fast so clearly it maintained my interest despite this.
    • 4/5
      I have not read the first in the series for this book. I thought that would possibly hinder the story for me, but the story was well done and reading the first book in the series is not necessary to enjoy and understand this story line.Brighid's Quest is an intriguing and heartfelt fantasy story. This is a good read for someone who enjoys a great fantasy story with some romance. The character and relationship developments are well written, and make you want to know more about everyone in this world. The interaction between Cu and Brighid are odd at times, but those moments do not detract from the overall story and feel of the book. I am anxiously awaiting the next in the series, but in the mean time, I enjoyed this book so much that I will go back and read the first in the series, Elphame's Choice.

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    Brighid's Quest - P. C. Cast

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