ShannonC’s review of The Song by Jean Johnson
Fantasy romance published 5 Feb 2008 by Berkeley
Just lately I have been embracing my inner Jean Johnson fangirl. I still couldn’t tell you why I love these books, aside from the fact that the author’s voice is so refreshing. She is not writing the exact same story with the exact same plot and the exact same characters in book after book, and her characters, while sometimes beyond irritating, are distinct and distinguishable and fun.
I didn’t like Johnson’s latest book as much as I’ve liked some of her others, and it’s very much a transition book, but the elements that work work really well.
The Song tells the story of Evanor, the fourth of the brothers of Nightfall Island. For the sake of full disclosure, I will confess that I adore Evanor and he is my favorite of the brothers, because I lurve me a beta hero and Evanor is just way too sweet and cute. Plus he’s a musician, and while some girls may go ga-ga over Navy S.E.A.L.’s or vampires, I will take a man who can sing any damn day.
Ahem. Right. Where was I? Oh yes, the plot. Evanor lost his voice saving one of his sisters-in-law from a villain in a previous book, and this has left him depressed and frustrated. The brothers can’t seem to get a competent Healer out to the island until Mariel, the best friend of Serina from the third book, agrees to try the complicated regeneration of Evanor’s vocal chords. Meanwhile, the Mage’s council of Katan, where the brothers came from originally, are starting to get suspicious of all the odd activity going on around Nightfall, which poses a potential problem for the brothers.
This book resolves a lot of the dangling story arcs that have been left hanging in the other books while setting up new ones. This is primarily what happens, and while the external plotting was a lot of fun, I thought that the romance suffered.
We know, pretty much from the beginning, that Evanor and Mariel are going to fall in love. They made moony eyes at each other at the end of the third book, so it’s pretty much inevitable. Both of them are very even-tempered sorts, and the main barriers to their romance are external. Mariel’s a widow who, thankfully, loved her first husband, but he’s been dead a while and she knows from the start that she’s destined to find love twice. Her son Mikor wants a stepfather, and so a lot of the major obstacle to the romance involved winning the kid over. Mariel does have a few fleeting thoughts that the Healer/patient relationship is probably one that doesn’t involve random booty calls, but she never really sticks to her guns on that one. And Evanor decides right from the first that he’s in love, Mariel’s his destiny, and he just has to bring her around to his way of thinking. Being a beta sort, this involves a lot of subtle gentle seduction that was fun to read about, and when they finally got to the first sex scene… All I can say is that it’s one of the most tender and yet passionate scenes I’ve read in a while.
One of the other things I liked was the treatment of Mariel’s son. He wasn’t just a cute kid designed to make the reader go “aww.” He’s moody, curious, always into things, and has a tendency to embarrass his mother. I liked that Johnson accounted for him quite a bit. He didn’t just disappear when he wasn’t needed, and he was, in fact, pretty instrumental in the plot.
As usual, it’s nice to see the other Nightfall brothers and their fated mates. As usual, Kelly irritated me because there is nothing this woman doesn’t know about. (I had a huge eyerolling moment when she started commiserating with Mariel on the concept of “childus interruptus” because, dude, she was set up to be virtually lonely and friendless when she shows up in the first book, so when has she had the time to witness firsthand the kind of pains in the ass little kids can be when parents need grown-up time? Plus, Kelly is a modern woman in her mid-twenties, as am I. And I know that neither I nor my friends would articulate a phrase like “childus interruptus.” We just wouldn’t.) Also as usual, the boys continue to be a loving and supportive family except when it involves Rydan, and I still stand by my theory that Rydan is, indeed, an empath. And while I am mentioning minor niggling details that caused my WTF-meter to ping, why is Mariel described as middle-aged at 29? I have three years to go before I reach that magic number, and I will not be calling myself middle-aged until I’m at least 40, thankyouverymuch!
I think I’d have liked the plot a lot better if it hadn’t taken so much time away from the romance. Nightfall’s breaking away from Katan was interesting and will provide a lot of questions that need resolving in the next book. I particularly liked that Katan’s department of defense was called the Department of Conflict Resolution, because it seems like such an appropriately mealy-mouthed bureaucratic name for it. But there were some elements, like the invention of a Nightfall-style cell phone, that I thought were maybe not as relevant as they could have been.
I enjoyed this story, despite my quibbles, so much so that I read it in one sitting. And I am definitely looking forward to Trevan’s book. Given that Trevan is supposed to be the acknowledged lover, there better be some pr0n is all I’m saying.
Grade: B
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 Nightfall Island , where women are forbidden. This presents a challenge for the brother whose magic has been destroyed…
Evanor, fourth-born of the Sons of Destiny, lost his voice—and with it, his powers—in the violent battle that freed his family from their greatest enemy. Thankfully, with the safe return of his twin, Evanor now knows precisely who can bring his songs back to life.
She is the enchanting widow Mariel, a Healer brought to Nightfall to help the brothers in their hour of need. For Mariel and her young son, that means leaving their beloved homeland for the unfamiliar island of Nightfall and its still-forbidden shores…and with it, risking the passion she stirs in her intriguing patient’s heart.But a new danger looms when the Council of Katan learn there might be women on the Isle…
Read an excerpt here
Previous reviews for this series:
I enjoyed watching their romance as well. I love musician heroes as well. Kelly did annoy me some with her know it all thing going on. As far as the middle age thing, it could be that the life expectancy is shorter there so she is middle aged. In your basic low tech world the life expectancy is usually shorter than our 80 years. But that is just speculation. I cannot wait for Ryden’s story.
I don’t buy the middle age thing because given that these people seem to have a lot of magical modern amenities, I don’t see how the life expectancy would be all that much shorter.
Then again, some people say I overthink things. *G*