Master of Circumstance (Living Ice Book 7): A Portal Progression Fantasy Series

Living Ice #7

by Dmitry Sheleg

The next books of the series!
Power Speaks Loudest (Living Ice Book 8):
Frostbound Power (Living Ice Book 9):

Ten years have passed since the story began. Ivan Morozov is no longer the prey—he has become the hunter. He’s done adapting to circumstances—his goal now is to rise above them and shape the world to his will.

But will his newfound power test the limits of his humanity? Can he resist the allure of absolute authority?

Genres: Fantasy

363 pages, Paperback

Published August 18, 2025

Reviews

[Akshay · Rating 3 out of 5]

★ 3.5/5 — The underdog phase is over. Ivan is the problem now.

This is the book where everything flips.

No more scrambling. No more barely surviving. After a 10-year time skip, Ivan steps in as a prince, power broker, and emerging force—and for the first time in the series, other people should be afraid of him.

If you’ve been waiting for the moment where the MC stops reacting and starts controlling the board… this is it.

🔥 Why this hits so hard

Payoff, finally: This is what 6 books of buildup were leading to—Ivan making moves, not excuses
Real power, real consequences: Vassals, alliances, and political leverage actually matter now
Darker tone: Betrayal isn’t petty anymore—it’s monstrous, and the response feels earned
Ruthless pressure: Mentors aren’t training Ivan to survive—they’re pushing him to become a weapon


⚠️ Not for everyone

Hard time skip: You’re thrown into a more mature Ivan immediately
Heavy politics: Strategy > constant action
Big cast: If you forgot names… good luck

This isn’t a story about getting stronger anymore.

It’s about what happens when someone finally is.

🏁 Verdict

Not a jumping-on point. But if you’ve made it this far? This is one of the most satisfying progression payoffs you’ll get.

Ivan isn’t surviving the system anymore.

He’s starting to shape it.

[Murphies_law · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book of the series

The MC is expanding his businesses in the Republic of Koga, where the demon worshippers coincidentally try to create a new wasteland. He gets involved in local intrigues and manages to find himself a lovely bride.

The book is more focused on business, high society intrigues and young love than fights. In my opinion there could have been more duels and infiltrationmissions.

Criticism and comments

I found it very stupid that so many people would know Cebollin's position in the demon worshipping society. It goes against everything stated before.

[Dantegideon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this book went in exactly the wrong direction for me. All the boring business acquisition stuff, which is just pages of them talking about it as that's pretty much all there is to it. Boring, boring. The fun adventure continues to take a backseat, this time to some extremely ham-handed 'romance', which doesn't come across as romantic at all. These books do tend to suddenly go off at a tangent (remember when he abruptly got bored with Galina? Or the long-foreshadowed Imperial coup by the unstoppable order that wasn't? Resolved off-screen, of all things. Remember when he was going to be a demon hunter and we had all the different demons and now they're just background pests, barely worth mentioning except for their influence on real estate prices?) and I didn't like this one. I didn't bother finishing it as you know he always comes out smelling of roses, so why bother if it's not fun to read? These books aren't free and I think I've had as much of Ivan as I care to. It's more like a soap opera these days.

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this arc on the same day that the book came out. I'm all caught up on the series now though so that's good news. some more good news is I only found one mistake, so the editing was excellent on this one as far as I can tell. now I'm not a professional editor so I could have missed some mistakes and if I did you can report them to magic though and they will fix it.
this book mostly focuses on the MC's dating life. there is a little bit of Kingdom building and a little bit of politics but it mostly focuses on his dating life. there is a feeling I have that book 8 is going to have the church focused on the MC as if he's a bad guy or something. I'm looking forward to see to it to see if I'm proved right or wrong.

9/10 because for some reason I was actually interested in the MCS dating life and was impressed with the lack of errors in the arc itself.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a review copy of this book.
Master of Circumstance is book 7 in this series, and there sure is a lot happening here. The main character is getting into (and out of) all kinds of trouble. Assassinations abound, love is in the air, and demons are appearing in places they shouldn't. What's a guy to do?
If you're following this series, you won't want to miss this one.

[Grace Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just keeps raising the stakes—by book seven, Ivan’s journey has shifted from survival to dominance, and the moral tension around power vs. humanity makes it especially gripping. Dmitry Sheleg does a fantastic job blending action, progression, and character growth in a way that feels fresh even deep into the series. A must-read for fans of portal progression and anyone who enjoys watching a hero wrestle with the cost of power.

[Grant Merrifield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic book seven.

Don't open the box.
Great storyline.
I highly recommend this series.
I love visiting this universe.
I can't wait until November to read the next one.
It's so good I wish I could read it now.

[Ray Ritchey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attention Grabbing!

Ivan is progressing building his business and other power. Lots of action in a new locale that nicely closes some threads.

[Michael Burnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Great book I can't wait to read the next book in the series I would recommend this author to anyone

[Tony Hinde · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series impresses me more and more. Who would have thought Sheleg to be such a deft hand at romance?

[Anthony Wyatt]

Great read.