Date published November 2008
ISBN 978-0-441-01636-5
Fantasy
Hardcover
Reviewed by Saje
Wen was once one of the king’s riders, the elite force that protects the royal house of Gillengaria, but her failure to protect the late king has left her guilt-ridden and lost. She wanders the land, helping strangers in need, because she believes she must find redemption for her failure.
But aiding one such stranger puts her in the position of doing something she never thought she would—linking her destiny with the fate of others, taking on a role of a protector of one of the noble houses. She only steps into the position temporarily, until she can find a replacement. The house heir is under a grave threat from a mysterious source and it may be all that Wen can do to keep her safe.
Sharon Shinn is a world-class fantasy author by anyone’s lights. She does high fantasy and romance as well as anyone on the planet. This novel is one of those in her Twelve Houses series, and well worth the effort and price to read in this reviewer’s opinion. No one who appreciates well-written fantasy should bypass this novel, even if never having read any of the others in the series. Best case would be to go back and pick up the others, but this novel is a fine stand-alone as well.
The world-building is prime, the characters well-realized and fully alive, the romance utterly believable, with humor and humanity in abundance. Sharon Shinn is, in this reviewer’s opinion, an author not to be missed.
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