Daughter of the Gods

A Novel of the Picts

By: Bryan Canter

Narrated by: Diana Croft

Summer, 367 A.D. In a land of mystery and enchantment, in an age of Celtic gods, Highland warlords, Roman legions, and powerful druids, a young Pictish healer finds herself embroiled in an epic struggle between gods and men.

The Celtic tribes of the lands we now know as Scotland and Ireland conspire to assault Hadrian’s Wall and drive the Romans out of Britain forever. But in order for the warriors to achieve victory in the military campaign, the druids must first gain ascendancy over the new Roman god.

Amid clandestine preparations for war, Flora is yanked out of her peaceful, ordinary world and thrust into a spiritual battle of mythic proportions. In order to save her family, her clan, and her people, she is called upon to sacrifice not only her life, but her very identity. Feeling trapped in a web of manipulation and deceit, she struggles to discover the true reality of who she is and who she will become.

Set in the Scottish Highlands, this story brings to life an age and a people that have remained veiled in the mists of time. Based on extensive research into the archaeology, culture, and geography of fourth-century Scotland, Daughter of the Gods explores the mysterious people knowns as the Picts - a collection of tribes so determined to retain their freedom that they dared to defy the mightiest army the ancient world had ever known. This is not, however, primarily an action adventure tale, but a profoundly provocative saga for readers who like to think deeply about their own individual role within the interpersonal, cultural, and spiritual realities of our world.

©2021 Telikos Publishing, LLC (P)2021 Telikos Publishing, LLC

The Roman enemy

A girl is forced to choose her fate as her country fights the stranglehold of the Roman empire. It seems everyone has something to gain from her situation as she faces betrayal and manipulation.

Daughter of the Gods

The author sure did his research which really helped bring this story alive. There are so many details that usually draw you in deeper. I could have done without the scene where the sister grills her after she is found. Narrator only helped bring the story alive.

Very Interesting!

This is a well researched story about a young girl living in the Scottish Highlands. Flora an apprentice to a healer, becomes lost while looking for herbs and gets tangled up in her thoughts and fears. Diana Croft is an excellent narrator who really brings this story to life. If you enjoy descriptive stories about Celtic Gods, Druids and the Scottish Highlands you will enjoy this story. It is a bit slow at times but worth the listen. I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Historical Fiction Meets Twilight Zone

This is not an easy listen. I suppose the out-of-balance, abnormal-is-normal quality could be the product of a skilled writer. The protagonist endures hallucinations which make no sense to her and she feels like she has slipped through to an alternate dimension. The reader gets the same sense of vertigo and reality distortion as she does l. All questions and very few answers, and those provided ring so false they cannot be trusted.

Flora struggles to keep her wits even though she is given psychoactive “elixirs of the Gods”. She endures cruel, sadistic rituals and has essentially been abducted and held prisoner. Her only choices are a toss up between which is the worst.

As soon as she is out of one trial, she is pushed into another that is more harrowing than all before. People around her act strange and respond with the same automatic script. It seems everyone is in on the abuse of this pitiful, sweet young girl who loves and only wants to heal and share in nature’s beauty and goodness.

This isn’t trifling. It is evocative and could be triggering for sensitive souls and survivors.

Great!

I absolutely love stories of the old world, and this book is just that, a tale of the old world and the gods our ancestors worshiped. I wish that the author would have went into more detail in the ending, but I'm hoping it was left open for a second book. The narrator really did an amazing job at bringing this book to life. For those who love tales of old, this book is a must.

Daughter of the gods

An very good story and the performance reading where the best I’ve heard on this subject

Fantastic read

This was excellently done by the narrator as she brought the story to life and Bryan really did his job researching and getting the story created

late nights

wonderfully written and the performance by Miss Croft was outstanding. well worth the late nights

DAUGHTER OF THE GODS

A GOOD STORY.. NARRATOR DID A GREAT JOB WITH THE CHARACTERS. GOOD LISTEN.

Keep Listening

It took me a little while to get into this title, but it was definitely worth the listen. The first part was a bit confusing as the lead character experiences some pretty weird stuff. At first, I didn't know where it was going. But all that stuff ended up getting explained later in the book. It turned out to be important setup material.

I'm no expert on medieval Scottish history, but the material seemed pretty authentic. A lot of Celtic mythology was woven throughout the plot. I particularly liked how that played off of what was going on in the British lands to the south of the wall.

From the description, I almost expected this to be a novel about the big raid on Hadrian's Wall. It turns out, that is really more of the historical backdrop. This book deals with things going on in the spiritual background in preparation for the military campaign.

The narrator is absolutely delightful. The base narration is in an English accent, with a lot of Scottish, Welsh and Irish accents thrown in for different characters.

The language seems sort of modern in some places. I suppose I expected something that sounded a little more medieval. But then, I have read the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English, and no one would be able to listen to something like that. And, of course, the original language would have been some form of Gaelic, I suppose. So I suppose it is easier to listen to in some form of modern vernacular (even if it did tend more toward American English than Scottish or British).

IN the end, this novel dealt with some really compelling themes, like spiritual faith, personal identity, and cultural compulsion. I definitely need to go back and re-read it to catch the symbolism that was expertly woven throughout the story. I picked up on some of it, but expect there was much more that I missed the first time through. Having gotten to the end, I would also like to go back through and see if everything holds together correctly or if the author forced things to fit.

The book definitely didn't end the way I expected it to. I won't throw in a spoiler and ruin it for you. Let's just say that initially, I was a bit put off. But even after I finished listening, I could not get the ideas out of my head. I kept mulling over what happened. Then I guessed that this was what the author was trying to get me to do. If so, it worked out brilliantly. I am definitely hoping for a sequel!

I received a free copy of the audiobook and was asked to provide an honest review. These comments reflect my honest opinion of the book and audio production.