Divine Beginnings

Partholon #0.5

by P.C. Cast

Go back in time, fifty years before the events of New York Times bestselling author P.C. Cast's Partholon books...

Something isn't right at Guardian Castle, and Aine can't figure out what. As Healer, she's supposed to be making things better, but there's a darkness that can't be brightened. And then Aine finds an injured Fomorian--winged, dark, blood-thirsty and inherently evil. Or is he? Because there's something about Tegan that Aine can't resist...and once they've shared blood, Aine realizes that everything she's always believed is going to be cast aside....

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Mythology, Ebooks, Paranormal Romance, Magic

65 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

PC 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 (at about the same time). 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. PC is a #1 New York Times and #1 USA Today Best-Selling author and a member of the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame. 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. PC is an experienced teacher and talented speaker. Ms. Cast lives in Oregon near her fabulous daughter, her adorable pack of dogs, her crazy Maine Coon, and a bunch of horses. House of Night Other World, book 4, FOUND, releases July 7th, 2020. More info to come soon about the HoN TV series!

Reviews

[Lilsue Torrez-hutcherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The begining of a beautiful saga. I am glad that I was able to read this book. I have already read the other books, and reading this short book really melts my heart, and makes me want to reread the whole series all over again. I am not sure if this story is e-book only or if it is out in paper back, but it is well worth the money.

This whole series is very refreshing

[Brittney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have some issues with this story on a number of levels. As a prequel, it doesn't entice me to read the rest of the series. I am aware that this was written after the first book in the Partholon, but it holds no information on the setting, nor does it allude much to the tone of the series. Instead it left me confused as to what this series was even about. However my biggest problem with this is actually an issue I had with Cast's writing in a previous book I had read of hers. The issue I have is that the courtship between the two main characters appears instantaneous. They go from being unaware of each other to in love so quickly that it's a bit of a shock. Now in the previous book I read, because it was a full novel, and not just a novella like 'Divine Beginnings' the courtship felt rushed, but it was still somewhat believable, in this the courtship happens in a matter of hours. Aine goes from believing Tegan killed her friend to lusting after him and unable to live without him all in the same night. This, supposedly after she has been raised to fear his kind all her life. It makes no sense, and the attempt to explain it as part of a mating bond between the pair of them because they shared blood just sounds like pseudo-rape to me, because she was forced into it by him.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up really just for laughs as I don't like her House of Night series. I also wanted to see how she handled "adult novels".

I think I was too generous with three stars. I know it was a short story but it was missing so much! And the dialogue!!! The editor in me was crying! There was so much useless information in the dialogue that she could have done without or rewritten. And...SPOILERS... I shook my head at the end where Aine and Tegan watch Shannon? take the urn. Her comment sounded silly and a very poor homage to the name of the first book in the series: Divine by Mistake.

The whole novelette seems like it is still written for the young adult audience despite the love scene. And to be quite honest....I felt like I was reading a piece of fan fiction (which is not a good feeling for a published work.)

[Amanda Weidensjö · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throughout the story, I was desperately craving more of the backstory. Just telling us that there is this magical place called Partholon and that Darkness is trying to invade it is not enough. This prequel did make me wanting more which I understand is the motivation to start reading the first book but I would have appreciated a better layout of Partholon other than it is filled with colour and happiness.

Cast is an amazing writer because even though she didn't include a lot of detail she is still able to captivate her audience.

Full review: https://amandaweidensjo.blogspot.com/...

[Ashlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't know this was a prequel when I was reading it. I like it for the most part but it felt too rushed and on the Nook not all the pages were complete so that kinda sucked. I do plan on reading the actual series though, so maybe that'll make it a little better.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st PC Cast book. It was good- not long enough but my understanding is her other books do go into more detail. Think I will continue on with this series to get a better idea of how I like PC Cast!

[Jenny Koch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I had read the series before reading this prequel short story. Everything - particularly the "romance" - moved at lighting speed. One moment the heroine was convinced the hero was a evil demon and the next they were professing their everlasting love. It was just so bizarre.

[ReadToBreathe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
I had read a series from this author before and I loved her books so I'm happy to start my journey in a new world from her.
Although I loved the story in this short book but I still felt that it needed more explanation so I can love the characters cuz it was really fast but I did enjoyed it and can't wait to start.

[Bookworm With a B · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for a fantastic intro. This short story is the perfect lead-in to the main series without giving anything away. I've been wanting to reread the series for a while, and I'm always happy to start with Divine Beginnings.

[Julie Ditton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short story prequel for the Partholon series, made me smile. It has shades of Raphaim from the HON series.

[Tennille Covington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all of Pc's work...totally an author I recommend

[Michelle (Witchy Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stars: ★★★

It was okay

[Eleni Konstantine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jessica Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I read this one third as I missed it was the first of the series. Was an unfaithful book and filled in some gaps. Very well written.

[Sarah Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite series of all time. Is always go back to reread these.

[Anna Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing series

I loved this series and I am sad that it has ended but definitely worth reading. I highly recommend checking this series out.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love the partholon series by the talented author PC Cast. This book was no exception I absolutely loved reading this book. It’s a prequel to the events that occurred in divine by mistake where we are introduced to the story of Shannon and clanFinton. In this book we are introduced to the healer Aine and a kind fomorian Teagan this is their story that connects to Shannon’s journey. This book was highly entertaining and enjoyable book to read and a great addition to the series.



In divine beginnings Aine is a healer who is warned by her dying centaur huntress friend of the dreaded Fomorians. She is contacted by the horse goddess epona who leads her to a wounded fomorian a winged, fanged humanoid looking creatures that are compared to demons. His name is Tegan and she’s torn between helping an enemy or not, but she’s drawn to his unusual kindness and love for nature and Epona that she does help him. He loses control and feeds on her than has her drink his blood to heal her creating a shared bond they can feel each others pain but it’s also how his kind love and choose mates. They grow closer together and make love. She keeps him hidden from the others in guardian castle she’s kidnapped by Nuada the leader of the fomorians to treat heavily pregnant woman that they’re trying to breed new species aine kills them painlessly to stop the births and Tegan rescues her but his wings get cut off. Epona comes to them as a reward for their heroism she sends them to the world outside of partholon. Fifty five years later in Oklahoma in an old mansion that is having an auction they watch a red haired woman buy Epona’s urn she is Shannon Parker the one who will be tasked to stop the fomorian invasion. The old couple watching the events unfold are aine and Tegan. They are happily called home to the goddess eponas meadows after a long happy life.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't comment much on this, as it's the first bit of the series I've read, under 70 pages (which is somehow valued at $2.99 on Amazon?!) and featured a Partholon named Aine at "Guardian Castle" which is supposed to act as some kind of barrier between Partholon and it's Goddess (who is quite chatty and actually shows up) and the Fomorian wastelands, but obviously not is all it appears.

Or, actually, it is, grey, washed out, "evil" verses Partholon forest and vibrant colors, I guess.

Tegan (the Fororian) isn't evil, and Aine has her blood drained from him in a forced/accidental mating/seduction thing that let's them each feel what the other does. In other words he's sort of a demonic winged vampire. Who's skin glows under the light of the moon and who is hurt by the light of the sun.

No real comment on what Aine looks like, so I assume human enough. Tegan calls her "goddess" though.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am such a huge fan of the other Partholon books, but really wasn't keen on this one. It just felt like the author had knocked it out in a single afternoon. Yes, it was a short story, but it was just so lacking in the detail and personalities that made her other stories shine. In my oh-so-humble opinion, the plot covered in this short story really should have been developed further. I think I would have liked it a lot more if she'd fleshed it out into a full-length novel so that I had a chance to learn to love the characters instead of, "Here they are, this is how you should feel about them, then this is what happened, the end". I wouldn't recommend it as a starting point for this series at all.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novella-length prequel to Cast's Parthelon series. I have not yet read that series, but I was a bit disenchanted with her House of Night books, after initially liking them a lot, and so decided to begin here as it wasn't too big of a commitment. This is a nice introduction to the Parthelon world, easily understood without prior knowledge, although I expect, due to the ending, that it would be more poignant to one who'd already read that series. I enjoyed Cast's writing more here than the House of Night series which suffers from an attack of unrealistic teen-speak. It's good to know that she doesn't always write like that and I'm now interested in reading more of her work

[Jasmyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really cute prequel to the Partholon series. We get to see a bit more about how the Fomorians began their invasion and how they initially sunk their claws into the land. It also lays the groundwork for the vase and antique show - which actually does clear up a handful of questions that I just gave up on from book one.

The romance is very quick. It's a down and dirty novella so there isn't a lot of time for courting here. But it is still a very sweet one that is quite unexpected. The devotion in the relationship is great and I really enjoyed seeing how the whole realm jumping began.

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the beginning of the Partholon series. I mistakenly picked Elphame's Choice from the library and felt very lost. So after a bit of research, I think this is the book I should be reading.

***
Yep, that felt like a beginning. Though there is a creature similar to a vampire and I am not sure if the main character is human. I am not used to reading books about other humanoid beings. I did pick up that the MC's best friend was centaur. It was an okay read. I am going to find the sext in the series to continue the story.

[Ria · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a prequel, this is a fast read and gets straight to the point. I was left feeling confused at the sheer pace of things, Aine goes from hate to intrigue to lust to love in the(seeming) blink of an eye. I wasn't expecting a whole lot, but I did think it would be a bit longer. All in all, a very quick, mildly good read that felt really rushed. Unfortunately, it did little to interest me in the rest of the series; however, I will read it all anyways. :)

[MountainKat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just OK for me, not bad, but nothing that good either. I read it as a freebie to get a feel for the authors style and knew that I would have to overlook some things because it was a short story, but it still didn't do much for me. Oh well.

Finished 9.8.11, date removed so it wouldn't count in the total reading challenge.

[Beno · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a re-read and I can't believe how harsh of a critic I was at 17 or maybe books were a lot better back then. I don't know but this book was really good and am excited to continue re-reading the whole series.


This might be my third reread. I had readjusted my star rating. Just saying they don't write books like these anymore. I sound like a grandma but so true.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the books of the Partholon and this was no exception as a short story. It was nice to see another side of the Formarians who aren't *all* evil...just like any group of people/beings, there are good and bad.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a very short very to the point story, paid about 2.54 i believe for it wasn't worth that.. but it was a interesting very fast love story, it being the PRE quel to the others i assume thats why it was so short

[Marcella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all P.C. Cast's books in the Divine series, the story was great. My only problem with it, was that it was not long enough. It read more like a short story than a novel. That was a little disappointing.

[Aine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that the main character has my name. It's my pagan name, and it's what most people call me. I've only ever seen it in Celtic mythology. So the fact that it was used in my favorite series by a favorite author... very exciting.

[Sade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really like it!!! Just hoped it was a longer!!! But still one of the best prequel stories I have ever read!!! I totally recomended to everyone who like a good story about imposible by society love!!! =D