Shrine of Light (Daughters of Bast, The)
The Daughters of Bast are women who tend the shrines in Celtic Ireland, all of whom descend from a long line of worshippers of the ancient Egyptian cat-goddess Bast. Damona, a devout worshipper of Bast, is plunged into a cycle of violence and revenge by Bast’s evil sister Sekhmet. Damona becomes Sekhmet’s unwitting pawn when the lord of her land and his Christian cronies kill her husband and children. Sekhmet seeks to make Damona her own, and to cause a rift between the Christians and the Druids so deep that only blood will fill it.
Unfortunately, this premise doesn’t hold together. The author presents us with an incongruous mix of ancient Egyptian mythology, Druid worship, and early Christianity. This might have worked had she not decided that the Egyptian goddesses are real and speak to their worshippers, while the Christian God is silent and impotent, and the Druids remain uninvolved. This leads to a great many inconsistencies in the actions of the characters. The final straw is the talking cat.
While most of the basic historical facts are accurate, that is all they are: basic facts. Don’t read this looking for any deeper understanding of Celtic Ireland. This is basically empty-headed, fluffy fantasy. Perhaps her first book in this series was better. I hope so.
Alexandra Ceely
