boeklogboek: Jean Johnson

The eighth book in the Sons of Destiny series, published April 7, 2009.
Genre: fantasy romance
Cover: nice

Eight brothers, born in four sets of twins, two years apart to the day – they fulfill the Curse of Eight Prophecy. Though no longer trapped in exile, their growing family faces new problems. The worst of those problems now fall upon the last of the Sons of Destiny …

Hope, Morganen’s foretold bride, has finally arrived. But she hasn’t been entirely truthful about herself, and the consequences will stretch further than even she anticipates. Just as Morg gets used to Hope’s revelation, new enemies arrive on the Isle, seeking to steal away the brothers’ chance at creating a new nation. During the attack, an old foe resurfaces and strikes amid the confusion, kidnapping the final bride-to-be.
Either Morg will rescue Hope and help his family complete the Prophecies of the Seer Draganna and the last Duchess of Nightfall, carving out a new kingdom in the process … or their enemies will be free to slaughter them all…

This last book in the series is really filled with action. Hope has finally come to Nightfall, and now she reveals that she is the former Duches Haupeana, who was sent through time and space twohundred years ago at the shattering of Aiar. Morganen is not happy that she kept this secret from him, and he decides Hope needs to court him now, to win back his trust. For Hope only 5 years have passed, living the life of another woman on Earth, magicless. But she did make a new life for herself, and has no intention whatsoever to take over the rule of Nightfall Island from Kelly. She never wanted to be the Duchess in the first place, she was/is a Seer, and she loves her Goddess. Hope did bring back a lot of stuff with her though, she plans to become the first chocolatier in this world, if the cacao plants she had Morganen plant for her, will survive here.

Bad mages are still trying to steal the Living Fountain, which means it has to be extracted from Rora soon, so she will be safe. Something Rydan really does not want to happen as Rora needs to die for that. But the priestess/darkhana witch Ora promises to keep her safe. They also need the second fountain to open the Convocation of the Gods, so it can not be allowed to “grow roots” someone will have to keep moving it around the Underground caves and hallways at all times. Which means the brothers and their wives are all getting shifts doing nothing but “walking the dog”. Or rather, the crystal filled with the Fountain’s power.

So when enemies infiltrate the island, their time is up, and things need to start happening. But then Duke Finneg kidnaps Hope, Morganen’s Bride to be, and Morganen has no choice but to go to Katan and ask the King and Council for help recovering his bride, and punishing Finneg. When the King refuses, and orders an attack on Morganen, he will regret it, as Morganen is more powerful than the King and all his mages together. And Katan is traditionally ruled by the most powerful mage of all… This means that Morganen suddenly is the King of Katan, a job he never wanted, but can use to make the council do his bidding. He has to find Duke Finneg and Hope, before something bad happens to Hope. Somehow Finneg has hidden her from his sight.

The Convocation of the Gods was very impressive to read about, and fun as well, when Kelly has to call them all into being, and invite them to sit down. She even has to fight and conquer one! And when that has all been done, finally, the time starts for the requests. For all the gods who are worshipped on this world, one or two of their priests/priestesses had to be brought over, so they can talk to and petition their gods for favors in person. And with over 300 gods and goddesses, this will take weeks.

It was a good last book in the series, everything is going fine on the island, and Dominor and Serina are the proud parents of newborn twins. Jean Johnson told me, if I want some more Koranen and Danau, I will have to read “Bedtime Stories, a collection of erotic fairy tales”. I do have the book, but have not read it.

I liked Morganen and Hope together; they have been courting for months now through the mirror, only able to communicate in writing. But with this new secret, Morganen wants to be courted by Hope, which she does with chocolate. And although they do agree to go slowly, they just can’t stay away from the other. So, even though this book is filled with action and lots of other characters, there is time for some hot love scenes, with chocolate and other foodstuffs involved …

When Hope is kidnapped, Morganen does everything in his considerable power to get her back. Hope knows that when word gets out that the old Duchess is back, this will mean trouble for Kelly and Nightfall Island, if their enemies think they can use her to get control back over the Island. So Hope uses an old ritual to make Kelly her older sister, and as such, the heir to the Dukedom. As Kelly was already her best friend on earth, she is glad to be real sisters now as well.

I liked Kelly and Saber in this book as well, they don’t hesitate to do what has to be done, and Kelly is tireless in invoking the Convocation of the Gods. Yes, I am repeating myself perhaps, but that bit is amazing and awesome. I have never read something like that before. She does accomplish her goals, of a nation free to worship whomever they want.

I did not expect the Katani to act like they did, and I admired Morganen for how he handled them. I think they can use a bit of humility. Even if they did not like loosing Nightfall Isle to the Corvis brothers, they should have helped rescue an innocent woman from a clearly mad duke Finneg. Morganen was the only one protecting the Queen during the magical battles, as she was not a mage. Those magical battles were fun to read too.

If you have read my interview with Jean Johnson last week, you know there will be more books and series set in this universe, and I am looking forward to reading them all.

The eight Son shall set them free:
Act in Hope and act in love
Draw down your powers from above
Set your brothers to their call
When Mage has wed, you will be all

I shall probably re-read this series again in a few years time, I do love the writing style and worldbuilding of Jean Johnson.

9 stars.