Tempt the Stars

**Tempt the Stars** (2013) — book #6 of the Cassandra Palmer series.

## Brief Synopsis

**From the book jacket for Tempt the Stars**:

Being a goddess is a lot less fun than you might think. Especially when you’re only a half goddess, and you only found out about it recently, and you still don’t know what you’re doing half the time. And when you’ve just used your not-so-reliable powers to burglarize the booby-trapped office of a vampire mob boss.

Yeah, that part sucks.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Cassandra Palmer, aka the Pythia, the freshly minted chief seer of the supernatural world. After all, Cassie still has to save a friend from a fate worse than death, deal with an increasingly possessive master vampire, and prevent a party of her own acolytes from unleashing a storm of fury upon the world. Totally just your average day at the office, right? ~ Take A Chance: Books ~ Tempt the Stars

Read the first two chapters of **Tempt the Stars** **here**.

## World Descriptions

* **Midgard** — how Earth and Faerie are connected with the description of Hells and Heavens and their locations.
* **Zarr Alim**:

## **World-Building**: Characters, Groups, Supes, Places, etc.

### **Characters**:

* **Cassandra Palmer**: (Cassie) Pythia, Clairvoyant—worlds leading seer—intent on rescuing John Pritkin;
* **John Pritkin**: aka Emrys; War Mage/half Incubus—sworn to protect Cassie—was taken by Rosier. Accepted a one-way ticket back to Dad’s to save Cassie's life at the end of *Hunt the Moon*.
* **Mircea Basarab**: Master Vampire, Senator—Cassie's lover; in charge of negotiations for the Vampire Senate; very powerful both personally and politically; brothers: Radu, Vlad (aka Dracula);
* **Caleb Carter**: Silver Circle War Mage—John Pritkin's friend and sometimes partner—goes with Cassie into Hell to rescue John;
* **Carlos Casanova**: Vampire, host to an Incubus, runs Dante's Casino—possessed by Incubus Rian; joins Cassie against his will on .her mission to rescue John Pritkin from Rosier in Hell;
* **Rian**: Incubus demon—goes with Cassie on rescue mission into Rosier's court in Hell as a sort of guide, to get John Pritkin;
* **Rosier**: Lord of the Incubi, a ruler in Hell—John Pritkin's father: took John to Hell with him; He’s been trying to kill off Cassie and get Emrys back to Hell and his capital city, Zarr Alim, for years.
* **Billy Joe**: Ghost—Cassie's sidekick— lives in her necklace, helps her when he feels like it
* **Artemis**: Greek Goddess, the huntress.—aka: Elizabeth O'Donnell: Cassie's mother; Cassie attempts to find her back in time to learn how to get into Hell to save Pritkin; heir to Pythia throne who was killed by car bomb when Cassie was a small child by Antonio Gallina; (p. 36); aka Hel, Goddes of Death
* **Elizabeth O'Donnell**: aka Elizabeth Palmer, aka Artemis—Cassie's mother and Roger Palmer's wife.
* **Roger Palmer**: aka Ragmar Palmer, mage with the Black Circle—Cassie's dad, Artemis/Elizabeth Palmer's husband & protector—a sort of mad inventor, invented ghost-powered automatons; Almost killed in same car bomb that killed Elizabeth Palmer; his soul was trapped in a paperweight by Antonio Gallina, along with Elizabeth Palnmer's (aka Artemis), Cassie's mom; (p. 36)
* **Marco Carales**: Master Vampire—works under Mircea; charged with keeping Cassie safe—former gladiator, 1500 years old; guards Cassie with style and a certain amount of affection.
* **Jonas Marsden**: Leader of the Silver Circle—goes back in time with Cassie to locate a certain object;
* **Tony**: aka **Antonio Gallina**, mafia-boss vampire—Cassie grew up in his court;
* **Kit Marlowe**: Vampire—master spy for the Vampire Senate; Cassie overhears part of a conversation between him and Mircea back in time in Tony's court;
* **Agnes**: aka Lady Phemonoe, former Pytha—deceased; died before she could train Cassie; once lover to Jonas Marsden;
* **Eugenie**: vampire, Cassie's former governess—took care of when she was growing up in Tony's court;
* **Tammy**: (Tamika Hodges) Null witch—Cassie lived with her while hiding from Tony's goons.
* **Augustine**: part fey mage—fashion designer of magical clothing
* **Fred**: Vampire—part of the crew of guards keeping watch over race in her suite—seeks food for impatient coven of withe waiting to see Cassie; takes Cassie's bag of take-out to give them; leaving her hungry after a hard night; he is afraid of the witches and their spell casting power;
* **Jules**: Vampire—One of the guards on Cassie-guard-duty; got hit with a bad spell when trying to take clothes from Augustine's back room for Casie's meeting with the witches.
* **Rico**: another of the vampires assigned to Cassie’s security;
* **Zara**: aka Jasmine—of a group of witches that forced a meeting with Cassie.
* Jasmine: aka Zara, Witch—one of a group of witches that forced a meeting with Cassie. She looked like "Jasmine" the Disney character, so Cassie gave her the name Jasmine in her own thoughts. Hair cut in a short swinging style, red lips. Marco was talking to her by the bar.
* **Beatrice**: the "Short Witch"—one of a group of witches that forced a meeting with Cassie; about 4'8" or 4'9", huge afro, green muumuu, lots of chains and rings, gold painted nails. Had to stand on a stool to make a pool shot. argues with Caleb about Earth Magic vs. Alchemy, keeping hitting him with her wand-like stick.
* **"Valkyrie"**: Witch—aka Evelyn  Cassie calls her "Valkyrie" because she looks like an aging valkyrie—part of a powerful coven that is unaffiliated with the Silver Circle; They're mad with Cassie for not inviting them to the coronation or calling on them.
* **Evelyn**: "Tall Witch" with short gray hair; She is the one Cassie calls her "Valkyrie";
* **Rhea Silvanus**: senior initiate (not an acolyte) —young girl dressed in long with high-neck gown (name on p. 279), assumed to be one of the witches when Cassie first meets her.
* **Asag**: Asag of the Asakku, Demon Council member—spoke most vehemently against Artemis and Cassie at the Demon Council meeting. Asag is the Demon lord with with oversight of Earth; a mass of tentacles and pustules;
* **Adra**: A shortened name for Adramelech—a title for the Speaker or the President of the Council. Adra seemed to be the most reasonable Council member present.
* **Myra**: former Pythia candidate—crazy, tried to kill Cassie several books back; deceased;
* **Laura**: Ghost of a child — haunts Tony's estate; used to play with Cassie when she was little; Cassie tries to get information from her but she plays hid-n-seek instead; Billy Joe has to find her and get the answers;
* **Alphonse**: a Maro-like vampire—he was Tony's second in command; Cassie grew up around him.
* **Daisy**: Ghost inside a Homunculus, a kind of automaton or magical robot; real name is Gertrude after her hated grandmother; created by Roger Palmer along with Big Red—her husband in life called her Daisy because she love's them; her husband's name was Ralph;
* **Big Red**: aka Sam or Colonel — A large ghost-powered automaton created by Roger Palmer; an ex-marine colonel’s ghost from the Spanish-American War;
* **Ares**: god—
* **Honeybun**: Cassie's pet rabbit as a child.

### **Supe Elements & Glossary**:

* **Adepts**: aka Acolytes—upper level part of the Pythia Court, possible Pythias-in-waiting.
* **Acolytes**: are the Adepts
* **Initiates**: newer trainees in Pythia Court
* **Allu**: Demon Council's personal guards
* **Homunculus**: "little man"—automaton, magical robot-like creature—created by Roger Palmer
* **Adramelec**: a title for the Speaker or the President of the Council—main function is to maintain order during meetings, organize items for discussion, keep the debates on topic; he doesn't decide on what topics are to be discussed;
* **Druid Magic**: combination of human magic: (pre-Circle) and fey magic; That combination lets witches draw directly from the Earth's natural raw power to add to their own rather than using talismans to slowly gather up power; — wilder, more flexible, more intuitive magic of nature from that of the Silver Circle's Alchemy;
* **Alchemy**: "Hard Magic", the kind the Silver Circle uses—something that can be put into test tube and experimented on—Circle prefers magic they can see, taste, and touch, something they can control. Druid magic is too wild for them.
* **"Australia"**: Vampires under Mircea's command who repeatedly fail get sent to be Cassie's guards, like criminals sent to the Australian penal colony in the 1800s.
* **Coven Witches**: **Zara**, **Evelyn**, **Beatrice**—Witches who break into Cassie’s suite include **Zara** (“Jasmine”), **Beatrice** is the pushy little witch, and **Evelyn** is the one Cassie calls "Valkyrie". They use Druid Magic: a combination of human magic—pre-Circle —and Fey magic.
* **Vampires**:
* **Witches**:
* **Mages**:
* **Nulls**
* **War Mages**:
* **Ghosts**:
* **Demons**:
* **Faeries or Fey**:
* **Pythia**:
* **Incubus**:
* **Master Vampires**:
* **Magical Paperweight Snare**:
* **Ghost Vision**: Seer's double vision, their way of seeing the world—ability to see ghosts and ectoplasmic trails.
* **Spartoi**:
* **Clairvoyant**:
* **Gatekeeper**: summons the Demn Council if there is need
* **Magic Flying Carpets**:
* **Zip Lines**:
* **Chariots**:

### **Groups & Organizations**:

* **Silver Circle**: organization or mages that practice "good" magic; largest organization of the magic workers on Earth
* **Black Circle**: covert group of mages that practice dark magic;
* **Vampire Senate**: Governing body for Vampires;
* **North American Vampire Senate**:
* **The Guild**: cult of mages who time travel and are bent on changing history to their advantage
* **Corps**: Organization of War Mages for the Silver Circle
* **Demon Council**: Held a trial for John Pritkin—speaker/president: Adramelech
* **Pythia Court**:
* **RAF**: British Royal Air Force—held on against the Nazis in WWII daily because of their airplanes, the Spitfires.

### **Places**:

* **Zarr Alim**: Lord Rosier's capital city in Hell.
* **Dante's Casino**: casino in Vegas run by Cassanova, an incubus—were Cassie lives—owned by Tony but taken over by Mircea; the Vampire Senate has taken of much of the space since M.A.G.I.C. blew up, has Casanova in a tizzy.
* **Shadowlands**: a demon world, one of the Hells, a neutral ground—where the Demon Council met for Pritkin's trial;
* **Pythia Mansion**: there was an explosion killing many young initiates.
* **Hell**: there are several help dimensions; Rosier's domain, home of the Incubus, is one of them. Shadowlands is another.
* **Las Vegas, Nevada**:  primary setting

## Plot Points Advancing the Series Story Arc (Spoiler alert)

* Roger Palmer, may not strictly be Black Circle mage.
* Roger Palmer invented ghost-piloted animatrons—only two.
* Rian betrayed them.
* Jules was cursed badly and in the process of removing the spell, Cassie regressed him to before he was turned into a vampire, making him human again.
* John Pritkin was rescued from Rosier to be captured by the Demon Council.
* The Council condemned Pritkin to a regressive spell that would ultimately erase him for good.
* Rosier blames Cassie for getting his son killed.
* Cassie made some new acquaintences, maybe friends,who are witches and not part of the Silver Circle.
* Rhea Silvanus is an initiate from the Pythia Court who goes against the grain by believing Cassie. She brings helpful information.
* Adra and the Council had a change of heart based on Cassie's actions after the trial, giveing her the antidote to reverse the spell

## Next & Previous Books

* Next Book: Reap the Wind (Expected Nov 3, 2015)
* Previous Book: Hunt the Moon (2011)

## See Also

* Dorina Basarab series
* Karen Chance
* Full Reading Order List

## Book References

1. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 1
2. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 34, p. 406
3. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 23, p. 270
4. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch.33
5. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 34, p. 406
6. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch.33, p-393
7. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 23, p. 271
8. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch.33, p-393
9. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 33 p. 397
10. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 23, p. 271
11. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 1
12. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 22, p. 264
13. ↑ ***Tempt the Stars***, ch. 1

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