Master of One was a very weird book for me to review, partly because it turned out to be something totally different from what the synopsis had led me to anticipate. It has been blurbed as a heist story with the elements of a dark fairytale thrown into the mix. This was a description that was enough for me to develop very high expectations of this book, and that ultimately made my disappointment in it even more profound. The thing is, the story turned out to be neither of those.
Master of One follows Rags, a skilled thief, who has been picked out by the sinister royal sorcerer Morien to break into a heavily guarded fae ruin, and steal an ancient relic. However, soon Rags discovers that the treasure he’s been looking for is actually a fae warrior called Shining Talon. He vows to guard Rags at any cost, and that there’s also a fae prophecy that demands Rags bring together a team of six ‘masters’, the owners of the six pieces of an ancient fae weapon, so that the weapon can be whole again. Thrust into the quest against his will, Rags would have liked nothing more than to run away, but as time passes, he realises he has fallen for his annoyingly handsome fae protector.
The first 25% or so of Master of One is mostly enjoyable, although a bit perplexing. And then the story suddenly turns into chaos with a whole bunch of new characters being introduced and too many parallel storylines where nothing really makes sense, if you pause to think about it. This was largely due to the fact that there was a lack of worldbuilding. We’re thrown into a world where humans have killed off the fae and taken over their kingdom, and that’s basically all we know about it. There’s no history or background to this world; in fact, the kingdom in question doesn’t even have a name. This raises a lot of glaring questions regarding the plot that really should have been answered for a reader to connect to or understand the story.
Similarly, the magic system wasn’t explored very well either. The sorcerers in the book, including Morien, frequently use ‘mirrorcraft’, a magic trick that they have stolen off of the fae. However, while we do see this mirrorcraft in action, we never get told how it works, or what its limits are, resulting in some more plotholes.
As for the characters, none of them appeared to be very well fleshed out, not even Rags or the love interest, Shining Talon. The story starts with Rags as the main POV character, but about thirty percent into the book, the narrative suddenly starts switching over to the other masters as they are introduced. I felt like this kept hindering the flow of the story, because each of the chapters were too short, and just as you start getting hooked on one of the storylines, you are immediately hurled into another. As a result, we don’t get to spend a lot of time with any of the characters, which makes it really difficult to care for or connect with them.
One more thing that irked me is that one of the main characters has a disability, which has been explained as the result of a curse his mother has to bear; one side of his body is repeatedly called ‘withered’ throughout the book. While I’m definitely not an expert on this matter, I do think that it’s one of the aspects of the story that could have been handled much better.
In the end, the only thing I liked about Master of One was the relationship between Rags and Talon. It was an extreme slow burn, and I really wish it had been given a little more focus.
If only there had been some more in terms of worldbuilding and characterisations, I do think Master of One had the potential to become a good story; but ultimately everything about it just felt sort of incomplete and vague, as if there were pages missing in between. That being said, if you’re a fan of epic slow-burn romances, you might still want to give this one a try!
Master of One is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of November 10th 2020.
Will you be picking up Master of One? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Sinister sorcery. Gallows humor. A queer romance so glorious it could be right out of fae legend itself. Master of One is a fantasy unlike any other.
Rags is a thief—an excellent one. He’s stolen into noble’s coffers, picked soldier’s pockets, and even liberated a ring or two off the fingers of passersby. Until he’s caught by the Queensguard and forced to find an ancient fae relic for a sadistic royal sorcerer.
But Rags could never have guessed this “relic” would actually be a fae himself—a distractingly handsome, annoyingly perfect, ancient fae prince called Shining Talon. Good thing Rags can think on his toes, because things just get stranger from there…
With the heist and intrigue of Six of Crows and the dark fairy tale feel of The Cruel Prince, this young adult fantasy debut will have readers rooting for a pair of reluctant heroes as they take on a world-ending fae prophecy, a malicious royal plot, and, most dangerously of all, their feelings for each other.
