Fortune & Fate; Sharon Shinn

This is the most recent in Ms. Shinn’s Twelve Houses series, released in November of 2008 by Ace Books. I do not recommend reading this without reading the previous books in the series. This is the first book in the series that deals with a person outside the initial group of friends featured in the previous titles. The Twelve Houses series is a fantasy with an overarching plot that continues through all of the books, one that involves the political and ruling classes of Gillengaria. Riven by religious strife and political sectarianism, Gillengaria is tentatively making peace within it's own borders. Young Queen Amalie sits uneasily atop her throne overseeing the mending of her country.

Former King’s Rider Wen has fled the capitol after King Baryn’s death and the subsequent war for the throne. Suffering from survivor’s guilt, she has determined to roam Gillengaria saving those in dire need. In a tiny inn in an even smaller village, Wen comes across Karryn Fortunalt, teenage heiress in the ruling family of the province of Fortunalt. Wen rescues Serramara Karryn from a kidnapping and returns her to her court appointed guardian, one Jasper Paladar. Paladar, seeing Wen’s training and military prowess, hires her on a month to month basis for the purpose of hiring, equipping and training new guards in the Serramara’s force.
Wen is wary of forming any kind of attachment to people or places since the King’s death. She reminded me of a half feral animal- wary and easily spooked by people yet longing to be befriended. Jasper Paladar manages to convince Wen to stay in part by nightly playing an ongoing warlike strategy game, similar to chess. They have daily meetings and frequent skirmishes over the game as Wen manages to find and train Karryn’s new guards. Wen’s inner wounds are slowly, finally beginning to knit together- just a little. Meantime, odd things happen to Karryn. Jasper and Wen must work in concert to protect her.

Fortune and Fate is as much the story of Karryn’s coming of age as it is the story of how Jasper becomes Wen’s healing agent. It has less to do with the political situation in Gillengaria than previous Twelve Houses titles. Predominantly Fortune and Fate deals with the Fortunalt household: Karryn and Jasper and Wen- whose full name is actually Willawendiss. Like Sarah Monette’s short story A Gift of Wings in The Queen in WInter, F&F is a love story that explores the quality and healing power of a relationship when one of the parties suffers with post traumatic stress and survivor’s guilt. Between the academic Jasper Paladar and the prickly, increasingly bewildered Wen a tentative and fragile relationship grows.

It was interesting to read the interactions between Jasper and Wen. I almost felt as though the male and female character traits were reversed. Meaning simply that Jasper is very very different from the men Wen has known well in the past & this difference works to their advantiage. Jasper is attuned to his feelings, and Wen’s. He has the deeper education and the longer vision necessary to a man whose life requires him to stay a step or two ahead of the rest. Wen is literate but as a professional soldier is a physical thinker, whose view of life is colored by her training and military experiences.

There were several scenes which really resonated with the romantic part of me: the scene where Jasper coaxes Wen to dance with him in the hall, telling her that waltzing is far easier to learn than fighting; when they have sex for the first time they savor each other tenderly and slowly, respectfully and knowingly; and in one of the most wrenching scenes involving Wen’s past catching up with her present Jasper doesn’t burden her with his own emotional needs and fears, instead he asks about her well being and healing and what she’s thinking. A mature man who realizes that to hold the woman he loves he must help her to feel free.

Overall, a very satisfying addition to the Twelve Houses series. As I mentioned above, I don’t recommend reading it first or alone, it won’t translate well and the depth of the character relationships won’t seem as deep.

Image found on Fantastic Fiction

Reader and Raelynx; Sharon Shinn

Ok, I’m officially a slacker. I read this a month ago, but am only now getting around to writing up my thoughts. At this rate, my poor neglected blog will wither away from lack of posts. Summers are my hibernation season, though. It’s hot and humid and oppressive. And the Tour de France is on tv every morning. All of which combine to induce extreme lethargy.

Anyhow, Reader and Raelynx is the fourth book in the Twelve Houses series. Link in title above goes to Ms.Shinn's webpages devoted to this series. Like the other books, the little band of friends reappears. This time assisting Princess Amalie and Lord Regent Romar with a little matter of suppressing a small rebellion. Burying Amalie’s father and rallying the troops. Despite the resolution of certain plot points and the murder of heroes and villains there are plenty of issues in Gillengaria to feed books to come. Speaking of which, the next Twelve Houses book is due late this coming fall and is titled Fortune and Fate and is the story of one of the King’s Riders who refuses to serve under Princess Amalie.

The necessity of Amalie’s marriage resurfaces, as does the fact that Amalie is not submissive to her advisors’ thinly veiled demands. So we have virgins, political plots, dynastic marriages, kidnapping, and a new type of magic that may prove to be the downfall of the entire kingdom. Senneth has serious troubles all her own, and this time there is little Tayse can do to protect her except offer his love and companionship. Some of Valri’s mysteries are solved, but the triangle between Kirra and Donnal and Lord Regent Romar does not seem so neatly wrapped up after all.

Reader and Raelynx does not stand so easily on its own and I think it better to read the previous three titles (Mystic and Rider, The Thirteenth House and Dark Moon Rider) first. I've read all of the titles in this series, including the short story, click author list to the right to read about the others. Excellent continuation of the series. Highly recommended.

Thursday 13 #42: Dark Moon Defender; Sharon Shinn

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Thursday 13 originated here. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Click link in the title above to go to a list of other Thirteeners, compiled by Technorati. If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in the comments. It’s easy and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well. I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things.

1.Dark Moon Rider is the third book in the Twelve Houses series written by Sharon Shinn. Available in both hardcover and mass market formats.

2. First title in the series is a Mystic and Rider. Second title in the series, The Thirteenth House.

3. While the first two volumes touch on the religious intolerance sweeping Gillengaria, this third novel delineates it much more clearly. Like our contemporary world, a combination of true belief, keeping up appearances, fear and apathy combine to spread a belief system which feeds our basest behaviors and turns us against each other in a time of need.

4. Into this cheery scenario toss two young ladies, sent off to the Daughters' Convent, far from their home and with no one to look out for them but each other. The language is different, the customs are different, and it appears that there may be odd events going on in the convent and nearby town. You can always depend on the blood ties of kinship to keep one safe though. Right?

5. King's Rider Justin has been sent to the little town to spy on the activities of the Daughters. Find a good cover, hunker down and keep his ears and eyes open. Stay out of trouble, don't cause trouble, send reports back to the capital city. Er..and keep away from the ladies. Especially THOSE ladies.

6. Question: if you don't really believe what they're trying to teach you, will the Goddess know and get her revenge? Or will your true Goddess protect and keep you? Even if you're far from her?

7. Is it possible for young soldiers to follow orders all the time? Even if they've no supervising sergeant/officer nearby?

8. Coralinda Gisseltess, sister to one Halchon Gisseltess, who happens to be one of those Marlords trying to overthrow the king, is the equivalent of the abbess at the convent. The fact that she actively advoctes racism greed and intolerance beneath honeyed words is distrubingly overlooked by many of those who ought to be paying attention.

9. Actually, the spread of the belief system in this book reminded me of Nazism in the 1930's and WW II. The Balkans. Sudan. Rwanda. Human beings the world over seem to think,"So long as those people (whoever they might be), aren't my neighbors or my family, who cares what happens to them?? I've bills to pay and a life to lead. Let someone else help them."

10. The thing that I noticed immediately, that is- when I read the short story in A Queen in Winter and it came up again in this book: why didn't Coralinda's enemies, like Justin or Senneth or Tayse or any number of others who watched her hunt for magic, realize that Coralinda herself was one of those she purportedly wanted to get rid of? What made her gift better or different than that of those she perecuted?

11. And another thing: it should have been obvious to a thinking character that Coralinda and her brother Halchon were working in tandem, with similar gifts and goals, to acheive a political end: putting one or both of them on the throne. It seems that this was doubted though. That the prevailing outlook was to hope that Coralinda and Halchon presented two separate problems. At the same time.

12. Love blooms in the most unlikely of situations.

13. Excellent book. Will stand alone, but would be best appreciated in the context of the series.

The Thirteenth House; Sharon Shinn

This is the second in the Twelve Houses series, the first is Mystic and Rider and the third title is Dark Moon Rider. Link to Ms. Shinn's website in the title above. Ms. Shinn is well known for her Samaria series, but I’ve not read any of them yet. I think it would be easy to pick up the Twelve Houses series with this book, each book stands on it's own. Although be prepared to want the the rest of them!

The set up is as follows: small group of spies, made up of professional soldiers and mystics, is information gathering and going on missions for the king in the kingdom of Gillengaria. The kingdom is made up of twelve feudal lords under their overlord the king. Several of the lords are fomenting political and religious dissent, thus the king’s concern causes him to form this intrepid group.

In the opener, Serra (a courtesy title similar to Lady) Kirra Danalustrous, her faithful companion Donnal and Justin infiltrate a remote manor the rescue the missing regent, Lord Romar. The king is still alive, but fears of assassination and imminent war lead the king to name a regent for his daughter Princess Amalie- just in case the worst case scenario happens. Events in Serra Kirra’s home province of Danalustrous cause her to assume her sister’s image and identity and then go on a grand tour of the kingdom with Princess Amalie, Queen Valri, Senneth, Tayse, Donnal, Cammon and Justin. It’s basically Gillengaria’s traditional social round, similar to the Season in Regency romances.

The problem is Serra Kirra and Lord Romar embark on a hot affair amid all of the intrigue. To complicate matters, Lord Romar figures out Kirra’s true identity. And he’s already married. But they don’t care. Big surprise. Adrenaline, danger and the thrill of the forbidden spur them on against all odds. However nothing is as it seems and the situation steadily gets more and more dangerous as the tour progresses. Donnal and Kirra are estranged because of the choices she’s making. The Princess is not as malleable as her protectors might prefer. Not to mention an odd disease spreading through Gillengaria, and the unusual, possibly unethical, cure discovered by Kirra.

I especially enjoyed the reappearance of all of the companions from the first novel. Their friendship and continuing character development were very satisfying. The political and social dynamics and the resulting changes and uncertainties are quite well done. Gillengaria itself is a well tended character in the story. Romar and Kirra’s torrid, urgent feelings and actions were very realistic although I thought the wrap up between Kirra and Donnal was...unfinished, I suppose. Murky. Then again that might be the romance reader in me, wishing and hoping.

The Thirteenth House is a satisfying addition to the Twelve Houses series. Highly recommended.

Mystic and Rider; Sharon Shinn

A few days ago I wrote out a short review, longhand. Then it got buried under a pile of crap on my nightstand. After that it grew weird tie dye splotches in the middle of the page. So now I have to read through the splotches and remember what I wrote the first time. If only I was less of a procrastinator or more organized or both!

I came across the Twelve Houses series quite by accident, if you really want to know. A few weeks ago I read an anthology titled The Queen in Winter to which Sharon Shinn contributed a story. Her story and her writing caught my attention, so I put requests in at the library. Eventually I had all of the Twelve Houses books sitting on my shelves.

Mystic and Rider is set in a small feudal kingdom, Gillengaria, comprised of twelve regional lords and the king. The lords are restive, deliberately fomenting political and religious unrest. The king sends a small party out into the kingdom to listen in at the taverns and at the great halls and the inns and the posting houses to try and get a feel for what’s going on, what people are saying and doing in relation to the political situation.

One of the traveling party is Senneth, a fire mystic and swordswoman. She holds her cards close to her chest, tries to live up to her ideals and is a confidante of the king. Other than that, she’s not too much for sharing confidences. And she’s defintitely not intimidated by the likes of soldiers. Independent and intelligent, Senneth is warm and caring yet also has a quality of watchfulness that sometimes marks one who has been down the road a mile or two. And not the flat easy sections either. What makes Senneth tick and why does Tayse attract her attention so?

Tayse is a member of the elite King’s Riders and specifically assigned to keep Senneth safe amid the myriad dangers inherent with travel. He is suspicious of Senneth because of her refusal to discuss her background in any detail, not to mention the elemental power in her bones. Tayse grew up in the insular world of professional soldiers in the capital city. Never needed to venture beyond his comfort zones until he met Senneth. Tayse’s first loyalty is to their king, who told Tayse to keep Senneth safe. So that’s his first priority. She puzzles him though. Very much so and very much against his will.

Although MaR is a fantasy, there are strong romantic elements. Senneth and Tayse dance warily around each other like fencers probing for the first opening. Meanwhile the political situation steadily worsens, and religious fanaticism rears its ugly head. Gillengaria and its people fascinated me. Unlike many countries, primogeniture isn’t restricted to males. First born women can inherit titles and property. Women often hold what traditionally man’s jobs, for example smithing or mercenary for hire. Yet slavery, in the guise of indentured servitude, was accepted even if not widespread. Religious fanaticism and intolerance were spreading.

Mystic and Rider is the first in a multibook arc. I have read everything available & they are all quite good, reviews coming soonest. Second title in the series is The Thirteenth House, currently out in paperback. The newest title will be Fortune and Fate , coming this November according to Locus Magazine although Ms. Shinn's website (click link in title above) says only fall 2008. Very highly recommended.