Jeweled Fire by Sharon Shinn

Rapidly following upon the events of the previous Elemental Blessings novel, Princess Corene decides to run away from home, and boards the ship of the Empress of Malinqua with her bodyguard, Forey, and her friend, Steff, who happens to be the long lost grandson of the dowager Empress. There are three princes already in line for the throne some day, and the Empress appears to be auditioning wives for them. Corene thinks it might be a good idea to join the crowd, albeit a small one, vying for their affections.

Shinn, as always, does a masterful job of telling the story and broadening our view of her world with a series of deft data dumps, first as the ship is entering the harbor in a new land, another as the carriage bearing the party travels through a vast city on the way to the palace, and again later on when all of the princesses in waiting take a shopping trip into the city.

Each of the princes, it turns out, have certain flaws. The youngest and most handsome of them is not very bright, and has a tendency to conduct serial affairs with the ladies of the court. The oldest and wisest one of the three was crippled in a horseback accident, and it is rumored that he may be incapable of siring an heir. Speaking being unlikely to sire an heir, the third prince, though quite charming,good looking, and intelligent, prefers the company of men to women, which is considered quite scandalous in Malinqua.

Conspiracies abound in the politically charged palace, and it becomes apparent that someone with skin in the game is eliminating both contenders for the throne and contenders for the privilege of being the Emperor's wife. Corene and Foley must keep their wits about them to survive this mess.

Royal Airs by Sharon Shinn

 I'm beginning to sense a pattern here, we'll see if it gets out of hand eventually. Country bumpkin comes to the big city, finds out that they're the heir to something or other important. This second book in the Elemental Blessings series is the story of Rafe Adova, a handsome and devil-may-care professional gambler in the slums of Chialto. It takes place several years after the conclusion of Troubled Waters, and Zoe is happily married to Darien, the regent, with a child of their own to raise.

One night while Rafe is plying his trade, one of Zoe's sister-princesses, Corene, shows up, on the run from unknown pursuers, in the dive where he plays cards and rents a room (there ought to be a way to adapt Bogart's "Of all the gin joints..." line here). After chasing off some random thugs who just want to have some fun with the little lady, he offers her sanctuary, and hires a messenger to get word out to her relatives what has happened to her. The other sister, Josetta, runs a shelter for the homeless, hopeless and helpless in the slums, and she arrives shortly, then they both await the arrival of Darien while resting in Rafe's room. He's evidently mostly harmless.

As one might imagine, there's a bit of a spark between Josetta and Rafe, despite the vast gulf between their social stations, and they begin to spend time together, as Rafe visits her shelter and helps out with the cooking and serving there, when he's not busy fleecing innocent gamblers. He's not a card shark or cheater, just a very savvy natural card player, with an odd sense of honor - he'll advise young country bumpkins to go have fun elsewhere before they lose all their money to him.

There's an odd mixture of technology and elemental magic in Shinn's most recent world, with perhaps a bit of steampunk flavor to things - it's surprising the cover artwork doesn't reflect it. With the reward that Rafe received from Damien for rescuing Corene, he is able to invest in the factory owned by mad inventor and elemental Prime Kayle Dochenza -Josetta introduces them, where instead of the usual elaymotives (horseless carriages) Kayle is building Chialto's first flying machines. Rafe is fascinated by this, and soon takes a job as a test pilot at the factory, giving up his gambling career for something a little more risky.

A fun plot, sympathetic characters, nasty politics and some interesting twists, as Shinn reveals more and more of her world. Hope she keeps 'em coming.

The Shape of Desire by Sharon Shinn

I have pretty much loved everything I've ever read by Sharon Shinn, from her Twelve Houses fantasies to the Angel series, as well as a couple of stand alone novels, but I guess it was only a matter of time before she disappointed me. The Shape of Desire turns out to be a very thinly paranormal paranormal romance. And you know how much I despise romance novels.

Maria Devane has been involved with a man named Dante since she was in college. Dante is a shape-shifter, whose shifting is not really under his control, so he turns into a random animal of his approximate body weight at irregular intervals, which are gradually growing longer and more frequent, so that, fifteen years later, he is only human for three or four days at a time, and then gone for several weeks, as he roams the wilds in his animal shape.

Maria has never told anyone about Dante and her love affair, not even her family or coworkers. When one of her coworkers is being victimized by her abusive husband, Ritchie, and there is a confrontation between he and Dante, and then Ritchie turns up dead, later, mauled by some unidentified wild animal, Maria fears that her lover is to blame. A very mild tension builds in this book over whether he will be found out, and what will happen to the two of them.

Mostly, the whole story reads like an cross between Sex and the City and The Office, without the humor, and the final "reveal" of the killer is pretty anticlimactic. I certainly hope Shinn returns to her strengths, soon!

Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn

I was a little irritated when I picked up Troubled Waters. I've been so looking forward to something new in the Twelve Houses series by her, and instead of taking me back there, she heads out to a whole new world.
On the positive side, Shinn's writing and imagination are so wonderful that she took me to a place full of enjoyment and wonder, as always.

Zoe Ardelay has lived in a small, remote village ever since her father was disgraced and exiled from his position in the king's court a decade ago. When her father dies, Zoe is surprised when an emissary from the capitol, Darien Serlast, arrives with a mission to return her to the king's court in Chialto, there to become his fifth bride. Griefstricken, Zoe makes no objection, and travels with Darien in the king's elaymotive, a recent mechanical innovation, much like a land train.

When their elaymotive pauses in the heart of Chialto, however, Zoe takes the opportunity to escape Darien's gentle and solicitive clutches, going into hiding with naught but her wits (and some gold pieces she had sewn into her scarf) and her memories of life in the city. She ends up with the rest of the homeless, vagrant population, on the banks of the river, Marisi, in a large semi-permanent encampment.

The population of Shinn's latest world is divided up into five main families, more or less corresponding with traditional elements, who each have their hereditary virtues and vices and sources of power. Zoe's dominating genes are coru - water/blood, while others have the character of elay - air/soul, hunti - wood/bone, sweela - fire/mind, and torz - earth/flesh. Each of the five families have a Prime, who is the embodiment of their powers, head of the family, and important member of the king's council.

Zoe, being coru, thrives in the riverside encampment, making friends, finding a job with a local cobbler's shop, and spending time in the local marketplace getting her bearings amidst the gossip and political maneuvering in Chialto. But the city is not always safe, and Zoe is chased by a group of young thugs one day, robbery and rape on their minds. When she is trapped against the edge of a canal, she leaps into the water, and the water embraces and protects her, whisking her under its surface to safety far down the banks. Curiously, she feels no need to breath while underwater, and when she finally surfaces she knows something unique has happened.

She visits the blind seer sisters in the marketplace, and - how surprising! - we learn that Zoe may just be the missing heir to the Lalindar family, who has been chosen from birth to be the Prime. Zoe first travels with friends to her grandmother's estate in the country, and is there recognized as the heir and Prime. Next she must enter the political arena, full of plots and conflict, in the capitol of Chialto - this time not as a penniless waif, but as a power in her own right.

Fun stuff, sympathetic characters, and we're left with a burning curiousity to see where else Shinn's imagination might take us next.

Short Takes

(5/20/09) Finished Dime Store Magic, by Armstrong, and started Industrial Magic. Just plain old entertainment, nothing special.

(5/29/09) Stayed up late to finish reading Fortune and Fate, by Shinn. She always tells such a good yarn.

(6/3/09) I picked up the first three Lemony Snickett books. Finished 1.5 of them last night; they're quite cute.

Dark Moon Defender by Sharon Shinn

Dark Moon Defender is the third in the Twelve Houses books by Shinn. As I read this series, it seems to me that they fall somewhere between the "buddy movie" and the "questing fellowship". The band of characters established in the first couple of books just float in and out of this one, as needed. The main focus is on Justin, a King's Rider with a rough past. He was the illegitimate son of a prostitute, lived as a thief on the streets, but met his match when he tried to rob Tayse, a King's Rider. Tayse saw something in young Justin and recruited him to the Riders, and now Justin is fiercely loyal to the Riders, King Baryn, but mostly Tayse. "If he ever had to chose between saving the king's life or saving Tayse's, he would save the king's, but only because it was what Tayse would expect of him."

Justin is sent on a clandestine mission to the town of Neft, which is close to the Shrine of the Pale Mother, where Coralinda Gisseltesse runs a cult which persecutes and kills any mystics it finds. Coralinda is also suspected of plotting rebellion against King Baryn with her brother, Halchon, so Justin's instructions are to keep an eye on things and report back any suspicious behavior.

One night, Justin saves a young initiate of the cult from being assaulted by a drunken thug, and finds himself inexplicably drawn to her. He begins to meet with her, telling himself that it's another way to gather information about Coralinda's plots, but it's obvious there's a bit of romance in the air.

The girl, Ellynor, is a member of one of the Lirren clans, who was sent to accompany her cousin, Rosurie, to the shrine, where her family hopes to keep Rosurie out of trouble, sending her away from a boy from a clan unallied with her own (shades of Hatfield and McCoy here). It's become apparent to Ellynor, though, that girls who come to the shrine are not allowed to leave later. What's not so apparent to her, but is apparent to anyone who's been following the series, is that the gift of healing that she has naturally, and some of her other abilities, mark her as a mystic. It's only a matter of time before someone in the cult figures it out and she is exposed, probably to be burned at the stake for her "crimes."

So, we have an undercover King's Rider who falls in love with a feisty, naive mystic. What could possibly go wrong? Shinn tells a great tale, as always, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

The Thirteenth House by Sharon Shinn

This book is a sequel to Mystic and Rider, which was a pretty fun read. This reminds me why I've enjoyed having my own personal massive library for so long. Books in a series end up getting put in the library, and when new one comes out, I can re-read the earlier ones to get back up to speed before I start the fresh novel. Unfortunately, this novel had no "what has gone before" section, so I was wondering throughout just who all these peeps were.


Despite that, it was a fun novel. We have a kingdom with a young female heir, and everyone is involved in political maneuvering to be ready for the old king to die, so they can grab all the power possible. The king has appointed a regent, and the beginning of the story is about his rescue from kidnappers by a group of mystics and a king's rider (see previous title). This group is more or less protegees of the earlier group, but they seem to work well together, in this and other escapades throughout.

Nothing really earth-shattering happens, as far as the entire kingdom is concerned, in this sequel to M&R, but we discover more information about the powers of the mystics, some of the factional struggles become clearer, and there's an awful lot of schemes and assassination attempts made on the regent and the princess, which are thwarted quite nicely by our little group.

So, it's a bit of mindless entertainment, which is not exactly what we've come to expect from Shinn. She always tells a good story, but usually there's some sort of deeper meaning and more poignant internal struggles for her characters. Read the first one in the series, then this one, and you'll be amused for an evening or two. Or, you can wait till the series is complete and do them all in one fell swoop.

Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn

When I picked up a copy of The Thirteenth House, by Shinn, I just had to go back and re-read the first book in the series to refresh my memory of "that which has gone before." I enjoyed it nearly as much as the first time around (perhaps it's a short term memory loss thing).

In Mystic, we have a group of people - Tayse, a senior King's Rider, Justin, a novice Rider, Senneth, a powerful mystic, Kirra, a shape-shifting mystic, and Donnal, another shape-shifter - who have been sent on a mission by King Baryn to investigate rumors of dissent in the southern provinces. Early in their journey, they acquire another companion, Cammon, whom they rescue from a somewhat abusive state of domestic servitude, and who turns out to be a sensitive type of mystic; he can sense the thoughts and intentions of those around him.

This novel does a really good job of introducing us to about half of the provinces of Gillengaria, King Baryn's realm. As the group prepares to deal with each ruler, or marlord, there's a good bit of dialogue discussing their character, strengths and weaknesses, political leanings, and so forth. Also, during one long night around the fire, we get to hear the back story for each of the companions. Tayse is the quintessential military brat; his father was a Rider, and his grandfather before him. Justin grew up as a street urchin, but was recruited by Tayse after Justin attempted to rob him, and now is fiercely loyal to Tayse and the King's Riders for giving him a home and family, of sorts.

Senneth was born to a noble house, but was disowned by her father and spent years wandering alone through Gillengaria and surrounding regions before she was recruited by the King to use her mystic powers on his behalf, and spy for him, as well. Kirra is also a noble, but her father was more tolerant of her mystical abilities, and raised her in an atmosphere of love and support. Donnal is the son of a poacher living on Kirra's father's lands, who was brought to the estate to train with Kirra in the mystic arts. Cammon is an orphan, and finds in this odd group a sense of belonging he's never had before.

This series isn't as intensely emotional and powerful as her earlier Samaria books, but the political intrigue pretty well makes up for it. The villains, as well, have believable motivations and back stories. If I got into them in any depth, I'd have to give a spoiler alert, so I won't. The primary villains are a brother and sister, Halchon and Coralinda Gisseltesse. Halchon's need for power and influence lead him to begin his plotting to depose the king, and could embroil Gillengaria in a civil war. Coralinda is a religious fanatic, leader of the Sisters of the Pale Mother, and her self-proclaimed mission is to rid the land of all mystics, whom she believes are evil personified.

Mystic and Rider is a great yarn, and a great beginning to another well-written series by Shinn. It's out in paperback now, so pick it up and enjoy.