{"id":564,"date":"2007-12-03T20:12:05","date_gmt":"2007-12-03T20:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog-test\/?p=564"},"modified":"2024-02-04T17:21:13","modified_gmt":"2024-02-04T22:21:13","slug":"shinn_02-04","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/2007\/12\/shinn_02-04\/","title":{"rendered":"Shinn, Sharon: (02-04) The Thirteenth House; Dark Moon Defender; Reader and Raelynx<\/cite>"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read the second and third books in Sharon Shinn’s Twelve Houses series in paperback a few weeks ago, and the fourth and most recent from the library recently. On the whole, I found these cozy entertainment, though nothing impressive in terms of form or content.<\/p>\n

Well, with the exception of The Thirteenth House<\/cite><\/strong>, the second book, which does two things: it explores the political situation of the twelve noble houses and their vassals, the House of the title. And it is the story of how Kirra and the potential regent—the married<\/em> potential regent—fall in love. Unfortunately the book suffers from a fundamental structural imbalance, the complete failure to do justice to Donnal, Kirra’s devoted and constant companion. This Donnal-shaped hole is a fatal distraction for me.<\/p>\n

The third book, Dark Moon Defender<\/cite><\/strong>, is a better, more balanced book. It examines the religious order that murders mystics and supports rebellion against the king, through a convent novice who gradually realizes the true aims of the order and the danger it places her in. This is a somewhat conventional story of love and adventure, but I liked the characters and found it an enjoyable read.<\/p>\n

At this point, my overall impression of the series was that the broader plot was developing very slowly. I also didn’t really think it would culminate in a war, for all that everyone kept predicting one, because it just didn’t feel like that kind of series. I also saw news on Shinn’s site<\/a> (non-linkable Flash) about a potential fifth book, and so thought there was more space for the plot to develop in.<\/p>\n

Well, Reader and Raelynx<\/cite><\/strong>, the fourth book, proved me wrong. It does wrap up the arc begun in the first book, and it does include a war. Overall, I found its answers and resolutions satisfying, particularly the mythic aspects of the final confrontation. One or two of the scenes strained my suspension of disbelief, and I’m not sure I like the very end; but on the whole I found it very good comfort reading. I should note, however, that something about these books nearly mutes my critical facilities; I don’t know whether that’s cause or effect, but readers should take these comments with a grain of salt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read the second and third books in Sharon Shinn’s Twelve Houses series in paperback a few weeks ago, and the fourth and most recent from the library recently. On the whole, I found these cozy entertainment, though nothing impressive in terms of form or content. Well, with the exception of The Thirteenth House, the … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Shinn, Sharon: (02-04) The Thirteenth House; Dark Moon Defender; Reader and Raelynx<\/cite>“<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,15,28],"tags":[383],"class_list":["post-564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-sf-and-fantasy","category-twelve-houses-series","tag-shinn-sharon"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2765,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions\/2765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steelypips.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}