Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn

Fantasy

I talked in an earlier post about how much I had enjoyed hearing Sharon Shinn at two Science Fiction Conventions. At that time I had never read any of her books. I started with one of the books in her Archangels series and I just read Mystic and Rider the first book in her Twelve Houses series.

This promises to be a delightful series. Mystic and Rider sets the stage for additional books. The king has sent Senneth one of his mystics on a journey to find out what is causing the unrest in the Southern region of the kingdom of Gillengaria. Five others join Senneth on the journey. Justin and Tayse are King’s Riders, highborn Kirrea is a healer and shape shifter, lowborn Donnal is another shape shifter and Cammon is a young mystic they rescue at the beginning of the story. As they start on the journey there is a tension between the members of the group. Each new situation highlights their individual strengths and they start to operate as a strong team. They find new unrest and meet old enemies. I loved the characters and hope to meet them again in future volumes. The journey has adventure and suspense and builds a vivid picture of the kingdom of Gillengaria. The characters are well developed and their interaction lends texture and diversity to the story. The book can stand-alone but there are many unanswered question that leave room for future volumes.

Mystic and Rider was published by Ace in 2005. If you had not tried any of Sharon Shinn’s books Mystic and Rider is a good place to start.