The Chosen

by J.C. Owens

Mikon is pulled into a nightmare of the past. Many lifetimes ago, his soul had been Kei-the god's lover-and now the god wants him back. Mikon is pulled into a lust-driven nightmare, part of him remembering and longing for the god's carnal touch, the other crying out for freedom. There is one who stands between the mad god and his merciless nature. Satarin, the Chosen, a mage whose body is used by the god to take Mikon. Bound by oaths and devotion to his deity, Satarin strives to protect his people and Mikon, until his god demands full surrender. Both Satarin and Mikon are trapped, both long for freedom and in each other, they find love and desire. If the god discovers their bond, they stand to pay the ultimate price.

Genres: Fantasy, M M Romance, Romance, Science Fiction, LGBT, Gods, Aliens

202 pages, Paperback

Published August 5, 2014

About the author

Also known as J.C. McGuire.

J.C Owens lives in small town, rural Alberta and is a self confessed writing-a-holic. In the absence of help for this affliction…

I do indeed love to write and have now completed thirty published stories, along with over twenty books sitting idle in my computer, waiting… I love the genre of male/male stories and conflict in what a person thinks they want, versus what they truly need to become themselves. I think any writing that shows the beauty of men loving men is worthwhile.

I love to hear from my readers and always appreciate suggestions and comments for future books. Sharing a love of reading and good, hot sensuality between men is always a cause for celebration!

Reviews

[M'rella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't fret, spoilers are in the spoiler tags at the end of the post. Read away.

A caravan master and his brother are kidnapped by the very prisoners they are trying to transport over Deadlands (I think that's what the name was) to the bordering country.

The former prisoners deliver brothers to their God who identifies Mikon, the caravan master, as his lover's reincarnation. Mikon has no recollection of such an atrocity. The God then possesses the body of his Chosen - Satarin, the prisoners' leader, and proceeds non/dubconning (I'll have to remember that one, he-he) Mikon. Turns out Satarin has no control over the God - surprise! - and is a slave himself.

What a tearjerker that was! I have to admit I used a tissue. A Tissue, people. One. I am not the one to lose it. Ever. But this was a special occasion, Mikon's pain too beautiful a thing to ignore.

So, why four stars instead of five?

The boys, Mikon and Satarin, couldn't stall long enough, apparently, what's with all the love and googlie eyes and "please don't die" thingie going on, and picked the most inconvenient time to crash their ship's OS mess with their God. WTF? Seriously? *rolls eyes*
Let your God OS deliver you first to your destination and then proceed with planting deadly bugs and formatting the hard drive. Honestly! *throws arms in the air*

[Simsala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darn book made me cry...
Well done Ms. Owens that`s a tough job!

A surprisingly tame (for an Owen`s), well thought-out slow burner in a fantasy/science fiction setting. A character-driven tale of sacrifice and eternal love with a depht of emotion that was haunting and moved me to tears.
My only niggle is the open question in the end....what happened to Kei?

Some scenes in this book may be considered non-con. Not in my book - it is...and it isn`t.
You have to read it to find out what that means...

Highly recommended!

[Eliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

After J.C.'s last book I was nervous to read this one. But... my faith is restored! Great book with a strong plot and deep emotions. Happy reader/fan.

[justanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. My least favorite of all of Owens' books. It grieves me to write this review because I've always enjoyed Owens' stories till now. The Chosen lack the emotional depth that is present in other Owens books. The Mikon / Kei dynamic needed more clarity. If Kei and Mikon share a soul then Mikon and Kei are one and the same. The Difference is that the soul had 600 years to mature and grow out of its selfishness, an experience it was denied while being contained on the ship. The soul known as Kei matures into Mikon, therefore; even if Mikon detested his past selves he should still be the fated mate of the first God. I understand Sataran's role since he is the Chosen therefore he is a puppet. He and the God do not share a soul. They are two seperate/ different entities. This is not the case for Kei / Mikon. Keeping that in mind while reading the story killed the entire premise and romance of the book for me since it made no sense.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever had an author that you've loved everything they've written to the point that you will wait and read their book last cause you don't want it to be over even before you started? JC Owens has joined that very small club of authors I read that fall into this category. I will literally clear my Kindle of every other book first cause I know I'm going to love this book and be disappointed when it's over so I want to postpone that for as long as possible. Like with Taken I fell in love with this book and the characters. I won't go into too much detail but when Satarin and Mikon's time together looked bleak I cried and I hardly ever, like seriously almost NEVER cry when I read. It was so powerfully written up to that point and I was so invested in what was happening that I felt their devastation in my heart and couldn't help it. I had to stop reading for a minute to collect myself. And later, at the end I cried too. Such a happy surprise to read such a good book but again, I loved it so much I didn't want to leave even though it ended well. Thank you again JC Owens...

[Jaye McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love J.C. Owens stuff... this is one of the best.

[Lo-Lo · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, I finished this one and think I'm desperately in need of a brain enema.

That is all.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of J.C. Owens and liked the book overall. The mix of magic and sci-fi was interesting; the world building in the beginning was vivid and there seemed to be an intriguing (bizarre) love triangle forming... but in the end the story abandoned some of its originality and devolved into a mushy romance.

3.75 stars

[Riayl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love J.C. Owens. I think there has only been one book before this that I really had issues with. I don't remember the exact details of the problem but I am pretty sure it was because I felt one MC didn't treat the other fairly but no one in the book, not even the MC being treated unfairly, blinked an eye at it. Well this one is a bit the same.

Satarin knows his "god" is crazy. All his people know their "god" is crazy. They all know that he has killed some of them in his rage. Yet they still seek out his chosen...who they all pretty much hate. Of course, it has been bunches and bunches and bunches (600?) years since their spaceship crashed on this planet and Kei's soul escaped to be reborn...and mature, which apparently he couldn't do while trapped on the space ship and connected to the god.

But let's back up a moment. The story starts with Mikon...and appears to be a fantasy story. Yep, the spaceship was a bit of a surprise to me too, Mikon. Mikon is a good guy, cares about his family, cares about others, tries to keep them safe. Does his best for Satarin and some of his people that have been captured and chained.

Then Satarin and co get free, kill a bunch of people and kidnap Mikon and his younger brother so they can take them to the spaceship and force them into a test of whether they are the chosen or not.

Oh look, it turns out that Mikon is the reincarnation of Kei (the despised, petulant little brat lover of the freaking insane god). Satarin kind of likes Mikon and Mikon kind of likes Satarin.

Satarin, however, is the something or other for his god, basically the god no longer has a body, which is how he became a god and controls the ship, etc, and so when he wants to have sex with Kei, and now Mikon, he uses Satarin's body.

So let's stop and boil that down. Satarin KNOWS his god is insane and not really good for his people any more. He KNOWS what it is like to be raped, as the god (sorry, forgot his name) took over his body to have sex with Kei and expected Satarin to cater to Kei's sexual whim's even when the god didn't control his body. He knows that Mikon is different from Kei. He knows Mikon doesn't want to have sex with the god.

And yet he still gives over his body to the god and has sex with Mikon...and despite Owens writing that Mikon orgasms, it is still rape, folks. And Satarin repeatedly does this, even as he is falling in love with Mikon.

He is willing to sacrifice Mikon's body, heart, and soul to his god, for the sake of his people.

You know, that god that has killed them in his crazy and doesn't appear able to get uncrazy.

Six hundred years and Satarin couldn't figure anything else out.

Satarin is supposed to be the hero, but I see no honor here. Are things great for his people, not necessarily, but they aren't as bad as being kidnapped, held against your will, and raped by a crazy god wearing the body of the man you are (stupidly) falling in love with. So no, I can't see this as being a trade off of sacrificing the one for the many.

Six hundred years (maybe I am wrong about the time *shrug*) and you couldn't give up on going back to space? You couldn't have actually made a home and a life for yourself where you were? You held onto this out of control insane being and then stole an innocent person (two actually) away from all he knew, all he loved, to be shoved into a life of slavery to a mad god.

And I kind of felt sorry for Kei. He was basically chained to this "god" and his soul wasn't allowed to mature, just kept the same, over and over for who knows how long. How was he supposed to grow? How was he supposed to know right from wrong? And it left me wondering, was Kei the way he was out of defense? Was the "god" already going crazy, or was it just selfishness on his part that wouldn't let Kei grow and mature?

And Kei and Mikon are the same soul...but Kei is hated and Mikon is loved. If there were nothing good in Kei, then there would be nothing good in Mikon. Kei became Mikon after his soul escaped, so that says to me that it was the "god" and Satarin, and all his people that were more to blame for how Kei was.

Meh. *waves hand around* Anyhow, I just couldn't get over Satarin condoning the rape of Mikon, repeatedly, so his people could go back to their old ways. Satarin was selfish, his people were selfish, their god was selfish. And I was pissed at Mikon for not giving Satarin some hard truths, for not even thinking that Satarin should ask for forigiveness. And I was pissed at everyone for hating Kei, who had been taken as a young man and made The Chosen and no one seemed to think anything of what that must have done to him to make him the way he was.

[Lada · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story combined fantasy with sci-fi. It started interesting enough, but it couldn't hold my interest long. The romance was okay, I guess, but the emotion didn't reach me.

The moral of this story is:
“Why did we have to go through so much pain?” Mikon whispered.
“Because what is fought for, what is lost, is treasured the most, appreciated the most. Pain is what motivates a soul to reach higher, to a level they would never achieve if they were not desperate. It is a sad fact, but true. I wish it could be otherwise, but in the end, it is about choice. I may be a god, but you have free will to create your path. I can only attempt to guide you, to offer the choices.”

[Juxian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't really get into this one. Because I didn't feel any sympathy towards the Masaari and Satorin from the beginning. Mikon and Jacob showed nothing but kindness to them and they took them away from their world, denied them any choice. Especially Jacob who isn't even involved with any gods, and there he is forced jnto a "marriage" he didn't choose, with the alternative being everybody's whore, and the author says it's all right because he "doesn't mind".

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
Honestly, I wanted the childish god to win out. I guess I'm just loyal like that.
Revelations came much too quickly which left me astonishingly disbelieving of the events in the novel. I had the thought "riiiiight" consistently throughout, which made a less than enjoyable read.
It had a promising premise, but unfortunate execution.

[A.B. Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some fabulous quotes in J.C.’s books. Ones that beautifully express the concepts and themes being explored in her narratives. Here’s a couple from “The Chosen” which explore physical freedom, freedom of choice and destiny (amongst other things)

“Many seek to discharge their own humiliation on those around them, as though it makes such a thing null.”
“Then they are fools. To spread a wrong only makes a greater wrong, a furthering of shadows upon the soul.”

and

“I believe in destiny. We are meant to walk the paths we do. What happens on those paths, is, for the most part, meant to be, meant to change us in ways to suit what purpose we have.”

These typical value statements/thoughts are not ‘authorspeak’ even though they may reflect the author’s values. They are very much in tune with the character’s attitudes as developed in the book. Then finally

“Because what is fought for, what is lost, is treasured the most, appreciated the most. Pain is what motivates a soul to reach higher, to a level they would never achieve if they were not desperate. It is a sad fact, but true. I wish it could be otherwise, but in the end, it is about choice. I may be a god, but you have free will to create your path. I can only attempt to guide you, to offer the choices.”

Don’t be scared off by the intensity of these quotes, firstly they match the seriousness and sincerity of the plot and speakers, but the book (and her others) are not filled with things like that. These come as intense spotlights in a stage full of interesting world building, consistent characterisation and realistic dialogue.
Love this book and recommend it (and her others) for those who enjoy love stories set in imaginative worlds.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Hard to rate this one since I dislike the harem theme, which she used again but thankfully not with the main characters.
After being captured Mikon learns some interesting truth about himself and his destiny. Mikon is supposed to be the lost soul of Kei, a slave and lover to a god of an alien race, who is always to be reburn, as to appease the god. That god is very, well lets say, bratty and selfish, somewhat insane and doesn't exactly care for his people. The god's Chosen One, Satarin, cares for his people a great deal, but has sworn to be the gods avatar,to give him his body and fulfill his wishes, so his own wishes and desires are sacrificed for his calling, that is untill he meets Mikon, who is not the typical reincarnation. Mikon is not Kei and he doesn't love the god but begins to feel quite a lot for the gods Chosen One.
I wish the relationship was explored more, they went from enemies and not carring to lovers pretty fast.

[Clovernmax · Rating 4 out of 5]

The changes that Mikon went through to accept the changes in his life were immense. He starts out as a free man, forced into slavery and finally the beloved of a god. He was in interesting man and the way he maintained his strength and self respect was wonderful. The love that developed between Satarin and himself started with admiration and grew. I truly enjoy the strength of characters through adversity and the perseverance and growth they show. Of course the love that developed between the two main characters was a joy to read. I have read and re-read the book and it never gets old.
I definitely recommend this book.

[Ayanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I rather liked this better than some of Owens' other books, but it's still not quite ideal. I do agree that the dual-sense-of-self dynamic needed to be explored more and better.

I feel like I always say the same thing. The worlds Owens creates are fascinating, unique, amazing in their own rights, but the main characters are almost always lacking...something. (That "something special"? I also feel like they lack just a little bit of credibility. Something about them just almost seems unbelievable.)

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just balled my freaking eyes out reading this, but that ending was so worth every tear! Owens didn't disappoint and as usual wrote an amazing story. The story was so cool and different, I loved it! Mikon and Satarin are just so amazing <3 !! I loved it Miss Owens, I don't know why it took me so long to read this one.

[Sherry F · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars The blurb explains the story pretty well although it is more sci-fi than anticipated (which is fine). My only niggle - w/o giving anything away - is how quickly Mikon supposedly acclimated from almost Death Valley western existence to the sci-fi aspect.

[Moniqee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I enjoy the story of Mikon and Satarin but somehow theirs seems to be overwhelmed by my curiousity on Janizar and Kei. I would love to read a story about Janizar and Kei ( the past that will link to their future happiness )

[Cile · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's lack of development for their love to each other.. but the depth of their love made me cry in the end.. I will give it 5 star if only there is epilogue to their future.. Personally, I don't really like the ending..

[Saskie- · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started beautifuly and it was just very interesting and captivating! I was really happy and then I just loved how everyone hated Kai and how Mikon had to endure what was happening and hated it, but then it suddenly turned to a sappy & sweet romance -_- .
And it ended that way.
,_,

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic!

I loved this book! Love and sacrifice come together in a beautifully woven tale. I only wish it hadn't ended. I need more Satarin and Mikon! I will definitely be reading more by J.C. Owens.

[Thuly Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always love j.c Owens' books

[Kallunnah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just could not get into this one. The premise was just to stretched out and it kept getting creepier without redeeming qualities.

[AE · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dafuq did I just read?


*still reeling*

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been really good if it was longer. Pun absolutely intended.

[rachel igoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another brilliant read from J C

A bit of a slow start but once you get further in its another great read from J C Owens. Now hoping a sequel is to follow!

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I AM EMOTIONAL.


That god forsaken bad ending though. It was just....bland. Just bad. It lowered the book from 5 stars to 4. And I am being generous.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.5 stars ⭐️

[llv · Rating 3 out of 5]

rating: 3 stars