THE SONG

Author: Jean Johnson ISBN: 9780425219294 11/2008 PARNORMAL Publisher: BERKLEY SENSATION

Evanor lost his powers—and his voice—in a terrible battle that defeated his family's greatest enemy and gave his sister-in-law her freedom. The advanced magical healing that would restore his voice and powers is beyond their means—but not beyond the ability of the lovely healer Mariel. Mariel can restore what was torn from Evanor—and possibly repair her own broken heart in the process.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Jean Johnson sets her paranormal romance, THE SONG (The fourth in the Sons of Destiny series), on Nightfall Isle, recently unattached politically from the land of Katania, where four sets of twin-brother mages have been exiled to protect the rest of Katania from a thousand-year-old prophecy about the sons. In the prophesy, the seer says each son will become attached to a specific type of female just right for him. In the prophecy about the first son, there was a bit about disaster following them. The disaster was specifically for the brothers and not the entire land of Katania as those people feared, and in the wake of the disaster (brother number three, Dominor, was kidnapped), a healer has been found for brother number four, Evanor, a mage who performs his magic and lives his life by his voice and ability to sing. Evanor’s vocal cords were removed in a spell that saved the bride of brother number two, Wolfer, from destruction by her wicked wizard uncle. And the healer, a widow who also sings her magic, is Evanor’s destiny.

Johnson creates an absolutely magical world where each land has their own style of magic, politics, deities, dress, culture, and trade items. The prophesy for the eight brothers (all virile, young men who each have their own talents, magic, and pursuits, and who would be a suitable partner in any of my fantasies—even the ones who are not as physically enabled are specimens of masculinity in motion), is almost like another character. Everything that happens is a result of the prophesy and mage number eight matchmaking for his brothers in their turn. Evanor and Mariel were not only destined by the brothers’ prophesy, but also by her former husband’s visions. Milon was a seer of high value, and he foresaw not only his own early demise, but also the part Mariel would play with Evanor’s healing and love life as part of that prophesy. Evanor may not seem at first blush to be as masculine as the other seven brothers (and in fact, was sometimes mislabeled as a lover of men by his playmates and peers as he was growing up), because he has a love of domestic order—cooking and fashion being among his personal pursuits. He also has a very sensitive nature. Mariel’s life up to this point has seemed like a bad joke. Milon was the love of her life and father of her son Mikor, who sees a potential “next father” in every man who comes along. Even from the early days of their marriage, though, Milon was preparing her for his death and her new love. Evanor is dying on the vine, though, if they can’t find him a healer soon. His depression is beginning to affect the whole clan. When Mariel takes on his case, she explains that in order to regenerate his vocal cords, he’ll have to be completely silent for six weeks. Six long weeks where his efforts to proclaim his love for her nearly does him in.

The only issue I have with this beautiful love story (and a very erotic one it is), is the fact that it is smack in the middle of a series. I tried reading this book on its own three or four times, but the books really rely on the reader progressing along with the prophesy as it plays out in each story. I read and reread the first ten pages, thinking I could overcome this; but in the end, I had to go get the rest of the books and read them in order. Not that the book doesn’t make sense, because it does, but my heart needed to know how the other love stories had played out. I know it doesn’t make any sense. My mind could have (and should have) just plowed on, but my heart wouldn’t let it. Maybe it is the magic of love at work. Once I’d read the other books, the lock that had been placed on the door to this book was snapped open. Things that are completely obvious, now that I’ve read the earlier works, puzzled me dreadfully. To put it in the realm of gaming, it would be like playing one of the newer Zelda games without playing the older ones. I could have done it, but little (even arcane) details came to life, once I understood their history. This is the blessing (and the curse) of books in series. An author runs the risk of boring readers to tears if they have to explain too much of the earlier books in each successive story, but on the other hand, it is a risk to have books that are not dependent on each other. With the love stories in the Sons of Destiny series, the population of Nightfall Isle grows in number, beauty, strength, and capability. It also grows in complexity as any family does when new members are added. And it is exponentially affected, since each female addition to this family brings her own culture, mores, religion, food, habits, and mind sets.

THE SONG is probably the most romantic of the series so far, since Evanor and Mariel are reduced to showing their love for each other and her son, without using so many words but a lot of action. It does stand on its own well in context with the rest of the books. But I am hard-pressed to say it can be read without reading it in order with the other stories. Johnson errs on the side of not retelling the previous stories in it, but it is for the best because this gives plenty of time for each story to unfold for itself. That being said, this book, and the entire series, are fast becoming one of my favorites and one I think I will enjoy reading more than once. Fantasy readers will come to love the Sons of Destiny and their enchanting wives, as well as the whole world created by Johnson.

Susan Barton