The Thirteenth House is the second book in the Twelve Houses series following the excellent Mystic and Rider.Halchon Gisseltess, Marlord of one of the twelve houses, is fomenting rebellion in the south having pretty much admitted to Senneth that he wants to be king and, oh by the way, he wants to kill his wife and make Senenth his queen. His Sister Coralinda has named herself Lestra (a kind of Mother Superior) of the Daughters of the Pale Moon a Convent/cult that reveres the Moon Goddess and despises mystics. She has her own army that she sends around to kill mystics. People whisper that King Baryn's new wife is a mystic who has ensorcelled him and that his daughter, young Princess Amalie would be unfit to reign should he die.The band of six friends, Tayse, Senneth, Kirra, Donnal, Justin and Cammon have returned from their journeys and reported about the unrest in the realm to the King. They have separated, reluctantly, and gone on about their business. Tayse and Justin back to the elite King's guard. Cammon has settled into the royal city to learn new Mystic Skills. Senneth had been ordered by the King to reunite with her family. She does so but she drags her lover Tayse along. Kirra has been summoned by her father, the powerful Marlord Malcolm Dannalustrous to come home. So she and Donnal return to Dannan Hall.Once there Kirra learns that her father has decided to name her younger sister Casserah as his heir. Kirra as the eldest would normally be expected to rule, but she has incurable wanderlust and wouldn't be a good ruler. But Casserah, though capable of ruling, is quite reclusive. She hates to leave Dannaloustrous lands and in these troublesome times, they need to strengthen diplomatic bonds and Casserah needs to marry. So Malcolm, Casserah and Kirra hatch a plan. Kirra will travel during the summer entertainment season shape-shifted as her sister to have people meet Casserah and possibly catch a husband. Donnal, never far from Kirra, will also accompany her.In the meantime, The King has decided that his queen Valri and his daughter Amalie must also travel around to the twelve houses during the Summer entertainment season so that people can see them and meet them and it may allay some fears about the queen and the succession. He taps Senneth to accompany them along with the man he appoints as Regent in the case Amalie should need to rule, Romar Brendyn, and a large security detail that includes some of his elite Riders (Tayse and Justin included, natch). Cammon, having been shown to be quite valuable as a reader also accompanies them.So the six friends find themselves once again on the road in the service of the King. Only this time instead of riding and camping in stealth, they travel in high style to go to parties and balls. And as a bonus we catch up on the friends and watch their relationship ties deepen even further. It is also nice to see the queen and the princess as characters and not just people that were talked about like in the last book. They are quite surprising characters too.While the last book was unmistakably Senneth's story, this one is Kirra's. We learn a lot more about the sunny, feckless, fiercely loyal Serra Kirra. I enjoyed her story but I also turned each page with a bit more romantic trepidation. Not because it is a bad story, but because as a reader you sit back and watch tragedy unfold as Kirra embarks upon an ill-fated romance. As I was reading I just knew that it would not end well. I kept waiting for the shoe to drop. Shinn does yet another good job to letting the story unfold, letting the stakes pile up so that the consequences will be even greater.I highly recommend.
In this second installment of the Twelve Houses series, Ms. Sharon Shinn writes a lovely, though ill-advised love story. The heroine, Kira won my interest in book one so I was happy to jump into the pages of her story.Kira is a shape-shifter and healer but most importantly, she is a daughter of one of the Twelve Houses. She is viewed by others as beautiful and restless. But for me, her intelligence and courage are what makes Kirra's such a natural heroine. Kirra is very loyal to her family, friends, and House. So it is no surprise to see her in the thick of things as war looms over her country and danger comes to the Mystics who are those gifted with magic. The story starts with Kirra participating in the rescue of the Regent, Romar. He surprises Kira from the start as she is wowed by his determination and willingness to take responsibility for those around him. He is a rare noble in that he has a big heart and is willing to die for his King and niece the Princess. He is perfect in every way except he is married.Kira is not the type of woman who would screw around with someone’s husband so I was anxious how Ms. Shinn was going to make this work. As it turned out, Ms. Shinn knew Kira better than me so she had the story well in hand every turn of the page. My heart went out to these two. I wondered how it was going to work out. I also ached for Donnel, Kira’s childhood friend who is also a shifter. They are so close and it was always clear that he loved her but he was born in the wrong zip code of the kingdom. Kira was in a bind no matter which way she went. She didn’t want to fall in love but she did and it was glorious. I felt this story was very mature based on the subject matter but Ms. Shinn kept it pretty much PG-13 if not less.Most of the book was about Kira and Donnel’s activities but eventually the band got back together. I enjoyed having Suneth, Tayse, Cammon, and Justin join the story. I love this ensemble of characters because they feel very real. The land of Gillengaria is full of adventure, political intrigue, and backstabbing nobles. There is no heavy-handed fantasy aspects that bogged down the story. I found there was plenty to stimulate this read’s imagination although some readers may want greater detail about the varied cultures that make up the realm.At its soul, this story is about friendship for me. The relationship these characters share is a bond that many times is the difference between life and death. Of course, there are the necessary ‘tea and sympathy’ chats that further revealed the ease in which they care for one another. As soon as I read the last few lines, I immediately went to the library to grab book three which is about Justin.
What do You think about The Thirteenth House (2007)?
I have to say that this one was a pleasant surprise. Still high off the re-read of the first book, I dived into this book and while I didn't expect to like Kirra as much as Senneth, I ended up liking her a lot. While Kirra is not overly complex, there is a depth to her character that I did not expect to find. She struggles with true moral issues and holds herself accountable for her own actions, a very refreshing trait in a character. The premise of the novel, Kirra visits the noble houses masquerading as her sister, the heir to their homeland who refuses to make the necessary tour that leads to political and possibly marital alliances. Along the way, Kirra falls in with her company of the previous novel and the reader is back in somewhat familiar territory before as many shake-ups as the author can throw at you. I really enjoyed watching Kirra grow as a person as she struggled to define and justify herself and her relationships. Her shifting abilities combined with her healing provide a unique set of skills that end up solving a unique problem and in the end, she makes a wrenching personal decision to solve a major issue of the novel. I really enjoyed the fleshing out of other major characters in this novel (and is it just me, but I cannot wait for Cammon's book. I kind of want to skip Justin's… I know I won't, but just saying…) Seeing Kirra live so enthusiastically and freely and yet be able to balance complex political and social issues while still fighting with human emotion makes her a character readers can relate to and empathize with. My expectations are getting higher with each book. I wonder if the author can even cause Justin to grow on me. I guess I am about to find out…
—Kelcey
Reread on May 30, 2015. I'm actually a little embarrassed I said I read this a while ago because I think I never actually finished the book. I'm pretty sure I read 70% and then dropped it. Only picked it back up because I wanted to finish out this series. Regardless, this book is a continuation of Senneth's merry ragtag band o' misfits, focusing mostly on Kirra. She is roped into playing undercover spy for her sister to discover suspicious plots from the Thirteenth House. But along the way, she finds a spark with a married man.Yeah. I know. A married man. Obviously the whole romance angle is doomed from the beginning and there are a lot of moments where I just have to close my eyes and go "gurrl, you're making a huge mistake". Kirra is a bit of a selfish character, but she does not actually have that much growth in this novel. Her decisions lack a lot of foundation in her character.The plot is nothing crazy. Just some typical intrigue, political wrangling, undercover acting, mad dashes and escapes. But it's all very within expectations for fantasy and this series.Overall, I thought it was okay. I liked it for the group, not for the book itself.I agree with my previous rating of 2 stars.
—Lark
The second in the Twelve Houses series, of which Mystic and Rider is the first. This is a series that is definitely best read in order. While Shinn explains enough of the backstory that it would probably make sense, it is much better when you already know the characters and have more of an interest in what happens. This is certainly as good as Mystic and Rider, although I found it less pleasurable. It is basically the story of Kirra. (view spoiler)[ Is is a bad relationship spiraling into disaster. It is very well told, and rather painful to read. Kirra falls in love too late with the already married regent, and if their affair were to be made public, it would have terrible implications (possibly even resulting in war). Kirra knows this, knows also that he is married, and yet continues on because of love in spite of her friends' advice, ignoring Donnal in the process. It becomes more fascinating as Kirra is forced to make further difficult decisions, such as saving the life of a young girl, but by going against everything she was taught about the ethics of magic, and possibly endangering those who use magic. She also makes the decision to end the affair, yet she does so by wiping any emotion the regent had for her from his memories. I am definitely continuing to read this series, and quite enjoying it. (hide spoiler)]
—Kate
