Warrior Rising by PC Cast

Anyone who’s read this series knows that Ms. Cast likes to take Greek mythology & tweak it for her own purposes. I have no problem with that. J

Hera, Athena, and Venus (she hates the name Aphrodite, which cracks me up) are sick of the Trojan War. It’s been going on for ten years and they’re fed up. They’ve been trying to figure out a way to end the war & are stumped, until Venus (who’s a genius in a blond bimbo disguise) comes up with a great idea.

The main reason why the Trojan War has been going on for so long is due to Achilles. Back when he was a lad of 16, he was given a choice of a long, peaceful life where he would die in old age or he could have a life of fighting. He would die young, but his name would be known forever. Being an impetuous youth, he chose the latter.

The Trojan War is escalating & it’s all because of him. The three Goddesses decide to get together & come up with a way to keep him out of the war. Venus decides that a mortal 21st century woman would be their best bet. She proposes that they “borrow” one, tell her what they need and basically have her seduce Achilles to keep him away from the fighting.

Once that is decided, Venus starts looking for the perfect woman for this task. She finds her in Katrina (or Kat as she prefers to be called). Kat is a psychologist & she specializes in dealing with married couples. Venus watches over a girl party Kat has with a bunch of friends and sees that, though Kat is single, she does like men and would someday like to have a man of her own.

Venus is excited because now she knows what to do. Unfortunately, before she can bring the mortal to her, Kat & her best friend are killed in a car accident (this is eluded to in the back blurb, so I’m not telling you some big secret). Venus panics & snatches their souls away before they can move on. She holds them in stasis & calls the other 2 Goddesses to come help her figure out a way out of the mess she finds herself in.

That gets resolved in a neat little package, but now she has 2 mortal, 21st century women that she needs to convince to take on Achilles.

So, that’s the basic plot idea for the book. This all happens quite quickly, so I’m not giving a whole lot away. Basically, the women agree & the fun ensues! J

What I liked about the story was Ms. Cast’s writing. I’ve been a fan of her writing since I read her first book. Warrior Rising wasn’t as angst-ridden as some of her other books. In fact, there were quite a few instances where I busted out laughing. There was still angst, but the humor helped alleviate that.

The characters were well written as always. You feel for Kat and her best friend. They’re uprooted from everything they know & their lives are changed forever. Achilles is a hottie & his cousin isn’t a slouch either.

The landscape is written in a way that almost takes you there. That’s one thing I’ve always enjoyed about Ms. Cast’s writing. Her descriptions & the way she writes are so clean and clear, that you can’t help but “see” what’s going on.

What I didn’t like. The resolution of the story seemed…I’m not sure how to say it, but it seemed almost to pat to me. I can’t really explain it, but it seemed almost too simple. Maybe that’s just me though.

Agamemnon was also written as almost a caricature of himself. The way he was described made me think of Xerxes in the movie 300. It was bizarre.

All in all though, I greatly enjoyed this book. It was a fun romp through “history” and as always, Ms. Cast is a great writer. If you love Greek mythology like I do, I’m sure you’ll enjoy her creative twist on the stories we all know and love.


My Rating: B-