I have to say that the weaving of magic with science and technology was brilliantly done! It also made the story unique and refreshing, not to mention it added a high level of excitement, tension, and awe to the experience. If you like Sharon Lee & Steve Millers "Liaden Universe" novels, or Selina Rosen's "Queen Of Denial", you will definitely enjoy this book! It's going on my "keeper" shelf, the place for my special comfort books and the ones that I know I will read again and again for years to come. Don't miss this one! I HIGHLY recommend it!
She has also written Wintertide (prequel to An Accidental Goddess), and Gabriel's Ghost. And she has three other novels as well, written as Linnea Sinclair. They are Command Performance, Finders Keepers, and Destiny's Game. And now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to order the rest of her books, and embark on more fabulous adventures! *happy grin* Enjoy!
Admiral Rynan "Make It Right" Makarian, Mack to his friends, is the youngest and newest Admiral in the Khalaran Fleet. His reputation for perfection and excellent track record land him on Cirrus One, the preliminary project for the Rim Gate Project, or a gate that will link the remote corner of the galaxy with the rest of the Khalaran Confederation. Everything that could go wrong seems to, from the civilians refusing to cooperate with the Fleet personnel, the magefather having delusions of grandeur - and the dratted parrots that no one can seem to get rid of! The last thing he needs is the beautiful Gillie, whom he mistakenly assumes is a smuggler, distracting him from his duties.
Mack first hangs around Gillie because he is suspicious of her, but quickly falls in love with her. When Mack proposes to Gillie after she has been on Cirrus One for a week, Gillie is shocked - but very, very tempted. For the first time in her life, Gillie starts to imagine what it would be like to be just plain old Gillie - not the Kiasidira, not a Raheiran sorceress, but just a woman who loves a man. For a short time, it seems that Gillie's dream will come true, but then Gillie discovers that the magefather is Melandan, the ancient enemy of the Khalarans. When Carrick Blass, a mageline sorcerer of the Melandan people arrives on board Cirrus One, Gillie knows she has to make a choice - protect the Khalarans, as she swore an oath to do and risk losing Mack's love or to let the Khalarans be destroyed, which is no choice at all...
An Accidental Goddess is the far future sequel to Wintertide, Baker's excellent fantasy novel and is just as entertaining. Gillie was a great character and I could totally empathize with her tough decisions. If she revealed who she truly was, the Kiasidira, she would disrupt centuries of religious worship in the Khalaran culture and knew that the people would never look at her the same. Mack was a great hero, very intelligent and able to figure out a lot of Gillie's history on his own, but not really wanting to believe what he found out. Mack's crew were also wonderful characters, as was Simon, Gillie's sentient computer/ship who was one of my favorite characters - I would love to see him in a story of his own! Anyway, the characters were fabulous and well developed, even the wretched villains, and the setting was great. I felt that the story had a good sense of history (because I read Wintertide first, I understood a lot of the religious connotations better, but it is not necessary to read Wintertide first) and a very developed world with all aspects of life covered - food, healing, religion, military, politics, etc. The cost is a bit steep for Megan Baker's books, but I can assure you that they are well worth the cost! (If you want a cheaper copy, look to buy them in ebook format.)
Although the book is a sequel to "Wintertide", you don't need to read the latter to follow the story (I did read it afterwards, however, out of curiosity for all things Raheiran - and loved it, but maybe not as much as this one). Apart from the great adventure the book unfolds for the reader, retrospectively speaking I particularly liked the fact that the author managed to maintain the coherence of Rahieran culture, and built on it to include technological elements in a quite original manner.
Despite the fact that, apart from Gillie and Simon, all the other characters are a bit stereotypical (the good guys are very good, the bad guys are ... well... very bad), this is one story in which these stereotypes play really well against each other. What holds the story together is Gillie's incessant (and quite funny) telepathic scheming with Simon, which manages to give the impression that everything is narrated from Gillie's perspective, while in fact the story is told in the third person. It's a nice trick, and it gets the reader to really like the main characters. Another nice thing is that the supporting characters get exactly the amount of attention needed to spice up the plot, but not to clout the story unnecessarily. Overall, the book conveys the impression that it was written in one breath, and that's precisely how it makes us read it. I regretted it when the story was over, and I truly hope we'll see a sequel.
Gilliane Devre is the Kiasidera, a sorceress whose mageline has been dedicated to watching over and aiding the Khalar people for thousands of years. Gillie was involved in a space battle with enemy wizards, and when she destroyed them, she and her sentient crystal ship got thrown in a time warp forward 340 years. When the sassy, down-to-earth Captain awakens, she is horrified to learn that the Khalar people now worship her as a Goddess!
She tries to hide her identity and fit in, clashing several times with the handsome Admiral Rhynan Makarian, who has suspicions that she is a smuggler. Complications ensue--sparks fly between Rhynan and Gillie, treacherous plots are uncovered, and ships clash in space, as Gillie again finds herself nearly sacrificing everything to fulfill her role as protectress of the Khalar people.
This books has a fascinating mix of SF and Fantasy elements, and has more than enough action to please any SF fan. The characters come alive on the page, which seems to be true of all her books. This lady really knows how to create memorable characters. This was just an incredibly fun book to read!
A note: While this is technically a sequel to Wintertide, it stands alone nicely. I did enjoy the "historical" references to events that happened in Wintertide. Reading it first is not necessary, but it would enhance your reading experience. Plus I know that once you read any of her books, you will want to read them all!