Brie‘s review of Sea Lord (Children of the Sea, Book 3) by Virginia Kantra
He was born of the sea…
Selkie prince Conn ap Llyr denies his deeply sensual nature to rule over the immortal Children of the Sea. But when the Children of Fire threaten the Selkies’ Sanctuary, Conn must obey his haunting visions—and seek a woman thousands of miles away…
She was born on land…
Schoolteacher Lucy Hunter knows nothing about her Selkie heritage or the prophecy that drives Conn to find her. She is content with her life on the quiet Maine island of World’s End. That is, until a proud, compelling stranger appears to challenge her assumptions and awaken her desires…
Their love will tear them between two worlds…
To combat Fire, Conn needs Lucy’s magic—even if this means stealing her away to Sanctuary. As the demon threat grows, so does their passion, overcoming Lucy’s fears and Conn’s guarded heart. But soon they face a devastating choice. Will their love be enough to save them?
Conn ap Llyr is prince of the Selkies. With his people, the children of the sea, steadily declining in numbers and losing their magical abilities, he looks for their prophesied savior: a daughter of Atargatis. The prophesy says that a daughter born of selkie Atargatis’ line holds the key that will save the children of the sea. Knowing that Atargatis’ human daughter, Lucy, might hold that key, Conn leaves his people on Sanctuary and goes to find her in Worlds End, Maine.
Lucy Hunter knows nothing of her selkie background, not even that one of her older brother’s is a selkie and the other is married to one. Often left out of the loop, Lucy lives the quiet life of a schoolteacher by day and caretaker of her alcoholic father by night. When a mysterious man appears on Worlds End with ties to her brother Dylan, Lucy is curious about who Conn is exactly. But as usual, her family dis-includes her in the strange business that Conn brings with him. That doesn’t stop Conn from seeking her out, though. And with him comes desires that Lucy had thought long gone.
When Conn takes Lucy from her home on Worlds End to his on Sanctuary, Lucy is thrust into a world that she knows little of. Secrets about her families past shock her and she quickly learns that there is more to her than a quiet, awkward schoolteacher. Slowly, Lucy comes into her own and opens her eyes to who she really is. But while Lucy is traveling the path of self discovery there is evil lurking. She and Conn realize that her new abilities may be just what Conn needs to save not only his people, but humankind as well.
While I liked most of Sea Lord, I did have a few issues with the story, mainly Lucy who was a shrinking violet for half of the book. After a while, her woe-is-me attitude became grating and I wished that she would come out of her shell and get some spunk. When she did become a stronger character, the story picked up. There was also the issue I had with the claidheag that Conn made of Lucy to take her place while she was gone from Worlds End. The claidheag was simple minded and, in my opinion, not a good replacement for Lucy, but for some reason her father was able to bond with faux-Lucy better than he ever had with real Lucy, which seemed to be written as a big accomplishment form him, but annoyed me to no end.
Though it was not without its problems, Sea Lord (the final book in Virginia Kantra’s Children of the Sea Trilogy) does exactly what the last in a series should do – and that is round out the whole series and bring about a satisfying conclusion. Lucy and Conn’s story was, to me, the best of the trilogy. And even though I didn’t connect with Lucy right off, I did connect with her “coming of age” story and the love story between she and Conn, and that more than made up for my issues with Lucy. The end of the book did leave a few questions unanswered, but I think that is just leaving the door open to re-explore the world in future books. Overall, I enjoyed Sea Lord, it was a good resolution to the Children of the Sea trilogy and a worthwhile read.
4/5
This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here.
Read more from Brie at Musings of a Bibliophile.
Hmmm, I liked Lucy in Sea Witch, but I didn’t like the book enough to continue with the trilogy and I don’t think it’s going to happen… but good review Brie! 🙂
Sea Witch is a candidate over at this year’s competition for best cover.
Wow awesome post!! I’ve not read this series and need to! When I read about this Children Of The Sea Trilogy, I knew I wanted to read, so going to have to shop SOON.
Hi Nath, Thanks!
M, Really? I didn’t know that.
Thank you, Caffey. I hope you enjoy the series. 🙂