Hidden Land

Daughters of Bast #1

by Sarah Isidore

A deadly plague rips across the Celtic lands, and to appease the gods a rare black cat must be sacrificed. But Veleda, a young girl born of a line of Druids, frees the cat, a magical creature named Mau, and follows it through a dazzling jeweled forest to the magnificent temple of Bast, the ancient cat-headed goddess of Egypt. The startled Veleda has been chosen by the goddess to receive special gifts and powers that will end the killing scourge and heal her people. But these newly bestowed gifts will change Veleda's destiny forever, for Julius Caesar leads the legions of Rome unchecked across the continent, and the Celts are his next intended prize. Far worse, these implacable conquerors are protected and assisted by Bast's dark sister, Sekhmet, the lion-headed goddess of blood and death. Blessed with the wisdom of the oak and the powers of Egypt, only Veleda can unite her wild and warlike peoples in order to repel the invading Roman forces.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Mythology, Historical Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Egypt, Ancient

373 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Sarah Isidore lives in Washington state. She is a lover of history and has a Masters Degree in Library Science. She researched Egyptian, Celtic, and Roman history extensively before writing THE HIDDEN LAND, the first of the Daughters of Bast series, which was originally published in 1999 by Avon Eos. Mau, the cat in the book, was based on one of her own cats, who may not have possessed Mau's unique powers but certainly came close. Although out-of-print, THE HIDDEN LAND has remained popular and Ms. Isidore is pleased to introduce it to new readers as an ebook.

The other books in the series: SHRINE OF LIGHT and THE WORLD TREE will be issued as ebooks in the coming months.

Reviews

[Lee Bartholomew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very definition of escapism. The moment I read just a few pages I knew I would love the book. (I originally got Book 2 a few months before. ) in 2000. I hadn't read them till now. 2 more the last one I got in 2002. I had a large section period in which the reading of books was lost to me (not long after 9/11/01 :( I read few books except for the Potter series when I had a chance but reading a book off a kindle in 2018 started something I wanted to do. In so doing I've read 45 books since June this year. I've gotten what was in my way done in doing so. So I go back to reading books of Arthur and Celts. The latter came not long after Arthur hooked me. I knew of Celts being in Northern Africa long ago. I hadn't realized that this book series connected some of those dots. So I'll endeavor to read the next two at a pace. Not right away. The cat Mau will be ever present. As I've glanced ahead to book 3. I do not know if Veleda is heard from again yet. But I've read a review of book 2 of the killing of a cat. As per why someone didn't like the book. It happens. Animals and people get killed. As with most books of this nature the protagonist is either killed or crosses over nicely. This is a very well written book. Shame it isn't more popular.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid fantasy book. I appreciated the strong female protagonist and the portrayal of the indigenous people against Ceaser's legions. I gave it three stars because it fell apart for me when they only way to stay historically accurate was to have the main character have a daughter to continue on the Goddess Bast's work. It came across as very sexist and off-putting but perhaps I should not have been surprised with the series being title The Daughters of Bast.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Celtic myths, druids, Romans and Egyptian gods...

So far very interesting, although it seems as if everyone is in mortal danger. There was an interesting Eqyptian troop leader introduced but he keeps fading in and out.

It seems to be fairly historically accurate - Julius Caesar did lead the first invasion of Brittany around 55 BC, and he was definitely a misogynst.

Since Rome had conquered Kemet aka Egypt, there would quite probably have been Egyptians in Caesar's troops. For the rest, I don't remember.

Overall pretty good although for a conclusion it seemed as if the finale was worked towards the whole book then concluded in 2 pages. Of course, that's life - we rush towards our goals and almost don' see them when they zoom by!

[Shomeret · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first glance the concept seems bizarre, but when you look at the specifics and read the book it actually works very well. There were commonalities between Egypt and the Celtic tribes of Gaul--not least of which was their problem with Roman domination. I'm glad I finally gave this book a chance. The writing and the characterization were quite good. I loved the central character, her Druid aunt and several others.

Shomeret

[Mir]

I'm going to have to try this just to see how she manages to combine Druids and ancient Egyptian deities.

[Dani Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story of a culture based on Gods and Goddesses. How they accept help from a Goddess outside their experience. I enjoyed this one a lot!

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Twined Celtic and Egyptian mythology, with the invasion of Rome and Julius Caesar in Gaul. First in a trilogy.

[Rachel Friend · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried so hard to like it. The storyline was exactly what i wanted, and I'd hoped as I kept reading that it would get better... I just couldnt get into it, but I still finished it

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off slow for me, but ended rather well. I plan on reading the rest of the series.