The Flame begins with Koranen of Nightfall alone. He and his seven brothers are part of a Curse of Eight Prophecy. Koranen is a fire mage, and the one time he tried to love a woman, he left burn handprints on her body. Now he is alone, until he can find a woman that is water to his heat. So when an underwater world needs to discover how Nightfall gets is water cleansed from seawater, three aquamancers come to study the water system to aid Nightfall in the repairs and bring the technology to their own world, Koranen is excited to finally meet someone who just might be the one woman for him. Danau is an aquamancer who has given up on finding a mate and has become the butt of jokes in her world. She is very good at her job to compensate for being alone, so she and Koranen begin to work together to repair the water system of Nightfall.

THE FLAME is intriguing and a great read. The characters have depth and the brothers each have a genuine caring for each other and for their world. Koranen is engaging is his bumbling efforts to discover if one of the women are to be his destiny, and the story is enhanced by a mystery murderer unleashed in the city. I will be looking for more books from Jean Johnson.