The Master

Enjoyable, but not enthralling. I liked it while I read it, but I wasn't itching to get back to it, once I had put it down... Still undecided on whether to continue the series: I know I will have to buy them to read them, as my library has very limited copies available.

Nice. It takes a lot of tropes - some standard, some stupid, and some both - and clothes them in very interesting people and situations to make them actually (more or less) make sense. Male slave bought for sex, secret child, both believing they're the only one in love...Dominor, who was kidnapped, ended up as a war slave; Serina, a powerful mage, needed a powerful male mage to share a Tantric (sexual) ritual with her, and thereby produce a child, to complete some very high-level magic. Misunderstandings, my absolute least favorite trope, are rife - but even that is made almost reasonable. And a happy ending, of course. But this "ending" is the beginning of a lot more. We also learn quite a bit about this world, outside Nightfall Island show more and its inhabitants; and the author managed to keep track of who knew what when, as many fail to do. So - excellent story, both as a romance and as the next step in the series; this review is on my second or third read, so I already know the rest of the series is also great, but it definitely lured me along on the first reading too. And this is my second or third read (I forget if I reread it when I found the last books in the series); even though I knew the story, it was definitely still worth reading. And I expect I'll read it again. No disposable romance here!
Latest reread:
Funny. I hate the trope of misunderstandings, and that's the primary one in play here, but this is still my favorite book of the series. I covered it pretty well in my first review.
Another reread:
Funny - I like this book as one of my top two in this series, despite the incessant sex scenes and the main trope being my least favorite, misunderstandings. I like Dominor, I love Serena, Mikor is a lot of fun, the situations in both places are very rich. There's not much advance to the series arc, since Dominor's adventures cover close to the same times as Wolfer and Alys's. Though there is the reveal of the Fountain, and a few advances - Selina's arrival, and Mariel's planned one. Still highly enjoyable. show less

The Third of Sons shall meet his match:
Strong of will and strong of mind
You seek she who is your kind
Set your trap and be your fate
When Lady is the Master’s mate


This book was pretty good and the matching between Dominor and Serina was good. I like series books cause you get caught up on the past characters. So we got to glimpse into the other brothers lives and it was pretty funny at times :)


Author Website: http://www.jeanjohnson.net/

Kidnapped and put on the auction block, Dominor is sold to Lady Serina, arithmancer extraordinaire. Initially outraged, he is soon curious as she explains that she needs him not as a slave but as an assistant. An inadvertent spell cast hundreds of years ago is the root of the battle between the sexes and the war that is ravaging her world. She has found a way to reverse the spell, but she needs a strong male mage to help. Dom has yet to back down from a challenge, and he finds the lady to be as pleasantly challenging as the task itself. Johnson turns up the heat in her third outing in the Sons of Destiny series (The Sword, The Wolf, 2007) as Dom and Serina not only engage in their own battle of wills but also relish practicing the show more tantric skills needed to cast their spell. Johnson's quirky, modern-touch sense of humor is a keynote in her historical fantasy, and the series grows more intriguing as each brother fulfills his part of the prophecy. (Booklist, vol 103, number 22, p52) show less

The Third of Sons shall meet his match:
Strong of will and strong of mind
You seek she who is your kind
Set your trap and be your fate
When Lady is the Master’s mate

This book was pretty good and the matching between Dominor and Serina was good. I like series books cause you get caught up on the past characters. So we got to glimpse into the other brothers lives and it was pretty funny at times :)

Eight brothers, born in four sets of twins, two years apart to the day-they fulfill the Curse of Eight Prophecy. To avoid tempting their destiny, the brothers are exiled to the Isle of Nightfall, where women are forbidden. But when the abducted third-born brother is taken by a powerful and beautiful mage, he wonders if she is his own Prophesied Disaster, his foretold wife-to-be

Kidnapped from the Isle of Nightfall, taken captive by slavers, Dominor is sold to a lovely mage, who promises freedom. But Lady Serina has plans for him; she needs another powerful mage to re-enact a mating ritual, to help reverse a Tantric spell cast centuries ago. Agreeing to help her, Dominor doesn’t suspect the secret she holds back from him: there is show more more to this magical mating than the Arithmancer has revealed.

Once the ritual is complete, he will be returned to Nightfall. But when that secret finally shatters, baring the truth behind the misunderstandings now separating them, Dominor is determined to retake possession of the woman who is his Destiny. show less

Great book. Jean is a great writer. I love Dom's twisted mind to snare his bride. But her's is more wicked.