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My Take in Brief: I really enjoyed listening to this one, and plan to continue with the series. The characters make the story (as Shinn herself says in the opening intro), and the narrator made the audiobook. But I’m not feeling inspired to say much of anything about it. So I’m going to talk a bit about other reviews of it.

Series?: Yes, this is the first book in the Twelve Houses series. Click on the book cover above for more info.

Audiobook note: Jennifer Van Dyck’s narration is fantastic. If I continue with the series, I will definitely continue on audio with Van Dyck.  I think this is the best audiobook I have heard in the third person except for Jim Dale’s Harry Potters.

Plot synopsis from Audible: “The fire mystic Senneth crosses the country of Gillengaria on a mission for the king, trying to discover if noble marlords from the Twelve Houses are planning an uprising. She is accompanied by the soldiers Justin and Tayse, two King’s Riders who are unswervingly loyal to the crown. Also on the journey are the shape-changers Kirra and Donnal, and a young mystic named Cammon who can practically read minds. It’s soon clear that not only are marlords planning a rebellion, but that they are being aided by Daughters of the Pale Mother, a fanatical religious sect that hates mystics. While Senneth can clearly take care of herself, Tayse finds himself unable to stop watching her – determined both to protect her and to uncover her secrets.”

Word on the Web:

SFRevue, Sam, positive (but note the underlined text)

What makes it work is not the plot, which is basically the story of how a mix of mystics and Riders learn to trust each other, and even find love, while on a mission exploring the kingdom for signs of discontent. It’s not the setting, which is your standard fantasy medieval kingdom (new-style, meaning that there are female warriors, spies etc.). And it is certainly not the generic title, a strange failing from the creator of such coinage as, The Alleluia Files, Wrapt In Crystal, and even Jenna Starborn. What makes this book special are the characters. In your typical fantasy, the reader is lucky to find more than two characters who are truly three-dimensional. Here, all the characters on the quest have their own personalities, their own secrets, their own motivations, and their own quirks.

My comment: I agree about the characters, but what does this mean, “new style”? Tolkien had women warriors in Middle Earth, CS Lewis had them in Narnia. My spy from another genre tells me that Anne MacCaffrey had them, Jon Norman’s  Chronicles of Gor had them. Jeepers, even Robert E. Howard, Conan the Barbarian in the 1930s had them ( “Queen of the Black coast”). It has always seemed to me that a hallmark of fantasy was the warrior woman. She may be marginalized, she may have other stereotypically gendered traits (she’s kick ass, but she really wants the hero to settle down and make babies), but she’s still a woman and a warrior. Am I wrong about that?

Dear Author, Jane, A

I don’t think I am giving anything away by saying that I have read few books with as moving and romantic a declaration as Tayse makes to Senneth.

Your unique skill is using simple words to create rich characters, settings and emotions. It makes your work accessible and allows the reader to effortlessly slip into your world.

My comment: This is funny, because I thought the declaration Senneth makes to Tayse was the most moving and romantic! Jane’s second sentence is exactly right, IMO.

AAR, Rachel, B

And they are talented. Especially Senneth. She has got a cool magic power, that girl. She can make fire, tame fire, control fire, set things on fire. Living or dead, she can make it burn. This is a prodigious talent – both protective and practical. It’s hard to imagine a situation she would be at a disadvantage in. Yet, she remains ethical and devoted to protecting other mystics.

Her foil in this adventure is Tayse. He is rock solid, stone to her fire. A lifelong warrior, trained in every type of fighting and defense, he is very leery of her to begin with. His utter loyalty to his king demands that he protect her, but as he comes to know her, he takes his mission personally. Tayse is interesting as a romantic choice for Senneth. Their relationship works, partly because he is so stalwart and supportive. Like stone contains fire, his personality helps Senneth control and contain her engulfing power. But also like stone, he is somewhat inscrutable and slightly dull. Despite this, Shinn still manages to pull some touching emotions from him.

What’s most enjoyable here is Shinn’s world building. She does a wonderful job differentiating the characteristics of the various Twelve Houses of Gillengaria, and detailing the chaos that is rising out of the southern houses…

My comment: I loved Senneth — and she is ethical, almost too perfect, actually. Sometimes she tells us (by telling Tayse) that she is conflicted or worried, but her words aren’t evidenced by her actions or thoughts. Tayse is slightly dull, and not especially bright as the next comment indicates:

RomanticSF.com, Edith, recommended, with this quibble:

The hero started as a bit of a narrow-minded jerk but did get better as the book went along. I do think that as the king’s First Rider, he should have known much more; he should have been more aware of politics, the main players, their allegiances, and the inter-relatedness of their families.

My comment: Yes, although perhaps a Rider is less of counsel an more a bodyguard, in which case he can be forgiven?

Bookwomom, positive

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.

The Melander Bookshelf, 4 stars

Fortunately, Mystic is special in its own right. The conflict of choice versus destiny is emphasized throughout the book, as are the themes of tolerance and loyalty. I enjoyed how skillfully they were woven into the story without taking over. Also, the plot seems to be interesting enough to hold up through an entire series, with plenty of opportunities for unexpected twists and turns.

Purple Pens, Natalie, positive

There is romance here between Senneth and one of the Riders, Tayse, but it’s very much a sideline to the main plot, which is to find out exactly what is going on in the southern region of Gillengaria. There is chemistry a-plenty between Senneth and Tayse, but in a welcome change from most of the fantasy I’ve read lately, any consummation happens after the book comes to an end.

The religious fanaticism is frighteningly well done, but the political intrigue left me cold…

My comment: Yes, religious piece is fantastic, but the romance is very marginal. This surprised me, because typically when I find non-romance books on sites like Dear Author, the romance figures fairly prominently. If you are reading this, you have either read this 5 year old book or decided not to, but just in case, be aware that it is really not a romance dressed up as fantasy: it is fantasy. I also agree about the political intrigue. More below.

Amazon.com, 4 stars after 29 reviews

Fun factoid: A great recent interview with Shinn at Word Wenches, where she says:

To people who don’t read sf/f, I often say that a fantasy book can be viewed as a sort of historical novel, with a meticulously created sense of time and place. So in a sense, I’m writing historical romances, and those were my influences.

As to why I almost always do put a love story in my books…well, I tend to think books without romance are boring. <g>

A few more comments from me (not a full review, really): Mystic and Rider gripped me from the opening scene, in a tavern where a fight breaks out.  I loved the characters in this book. I would read an entire novel about any one of them, but as a group, they were even more interesting and wonderful.  Sometimes, it’s just a great thing to read about a group of honorable people working on the right side of good vs. evil.  It was just a really nice story.

My main problem with the book was the plot. I get simple. Simple can be terrific. What could be more simple than Fellowship of the Ring where a bunch of people have to go to point A to dispose of thing B.  But in Mystic and Rider, I never figured out why the king would send off this group to go “get a sense of what’s going on in the southern part of my kingdom”. Why doesn’t the king have emissaries, or, better yet, why doesn’t the king summon someone to come to him?  And why send this group? We know right off the bat that the unrest in the south is due to suspicion of magic, so why are half the king’s scouts magical? Does that make sense?  Also, why would the wealthy, beautiful, beloved, coddled Kirra, who adores dressing up and balls and fancy dinners, volunteer to go on this trip, which involves constant mortal danger and sleeping in the dirt in the freezing cold? And why would an overprotective father allow his unmarried magical daughter to embark on this co-ed field trip into hostile territory? So, I had to bracket a lot to get into this story.

I also felt the political piece was underdeveloped. Some of the Houses are thinking of deposing the king because they don’t like his new wife and wonder about his daughter, whom they haven’t seen in some time.  See how I just wrote that in one sentence? Well, it takes our characters hundreds of pages and hundreds of miles to figure it out.

Still, this was a nice world to enter. It raised no philosophical issues for me, except perhaps a consideration of why romance readers have adopted Shinn, but it offers pure enjoyment, and that’s nothing to sneeze at!

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