Fortune and Fate (Hardcover)

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Key Phrases: twelfth house, mystic boy, training yard, Sharon Shinn, Forten City, Ryne Coravann (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Following 2007's Reader and Raelynx, which wrapped up the original Twelve Houses fantasy quartet, this rousing sword-and-sorcery romance introduces Wen, a former elite warrior Rider haunted by her failure to protect King Baryn during a rebellion and heartbroken by her lover's marriage to another. After Wen saves teen heiress Karryn, daughter of one of the rebels, from kidnapping and ravishment, Karryn's uncle and guardian, Jasper Paladar, rewards Wen with an offer to train a cadre of bodyguards. Reluctant at first, Wen gradually faces her fears and falls in love with Jasper, the soul of sexy scholarly gallantry. Despite the tweeny dialogue and predictable derring-do, Shinn combines a substantial range of appealing characters with a solid reinforcement of women's capabilities in peace and war, making the story comfortable, if not profound. (Nov.)
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Product Description

The compelling new novel in the national bestselling “superior fantasy series” (Publishers Weekly).

National bestselling author Sharon Shinn’s “lyrical and entertaining” (Kirkus Reviews) Twelve Houses books have captivated readers and critics alike with their irresistible cocktail of fantasy, romance, and adventure. Now Shinn returns with a new novel set in the same world, where a troubled Warrior Rider named Wen faces her greatest challenge in the last place she ever expected: behind the walls of a great family estate known as Fortune, where Wen has been hired to guard the young heiress. Once there, she will find that fate has other plans for her…

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1 edition (November 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441016367
• ISBN-13: 978-0441016365
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #360,012 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Angieville: FORTUNE AND FATE, November 19, 2008

By	Angela Thompson "Angiegirl" (Rocky Mountains) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a huge Sharon Shinn fan. Archangel (Samaria, Book 1) is one of my very favorite comfort reads and so is Mystic and Rider (The Twelve Houses, Book 1)--the first in Shinn's Twelve Houses series. Her characters become friends so quickly I forget what life was like before I read them. That's why the Twelve Houses series is so much fun. It follows a disparate group of six travelers who, despite differences of rank, temperament, and fundamental beliefs, become first allies and later friends. Shinn tracks this six of them through four books, eventually wrapping up each thread of the overarching story. Or so we thought. FORTUNE AND FATE is a companion novel to the Twelve Houses series. An unexpected and delightfully welcome fifth volume.

Wen was a King's Rider, one of fifty elite guards dedicated to protecting the king with their lives if necessary. Until the king died. On her watch. Shortly after, Wen resigned her post and rode out of the capital city forever. Two years later she is still roaming the countryside, searching for people to save in a futile attempt to atone for her sins. For failing to save her liege. Determined not to connect with anyone ever again, Wen finds herself reluctantly accepting a post as captain of the guard at House Fortunalt after saving the young serramarra's life. Answering to the serramarra's guardian, the bookish Jasper Palladar, Wen promises to stay for a month at most. Long enough to train a rough guard. Not long enough to form any attachments or find any reasons to stay. Meanwhile, the queen's consort wends his way through the southern Houses on a journey to sound out the new Thirteenth House nobles as well as the upcoming generation of marlords and marladies.

The story alternates chapters between Wen's sojourn at Fortune and Cammon's journey through Gisseltess, Rappengrass, and Fortunalt. But this is essentially Wen's own story. And I was pleased to find myself soon attached to this tough young woman so intently bent on self destruction. It was naturally extremely pleasant to spend time with Cammon, Senneth, and Justin again as well. But Ms. Shinn does a good job of extending her readers' affections to Wen and her particular set of troubles. The secondary characters are well-drawn and sympathetic, especially Jasper, Karryn, and Ryne--the young lordling from Coravann. This is a quieter, more self-contained novel than the previous Twelve Houses books. It unfolds slowly as Wen struggles to retire her ghosts and maintain some distance from those who would try to keep her. As Jasper quietly works to rebuild a house in disgrace and extend Wen's stay at Fortune. As Karryn learns who she can trust and how to differentiate herself from her parents' failures. A very fine coda to a simply wonderful series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellently written companion to the Twelve Houses series, November 11, 2008

By	Tracy M. Nichols - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While the main 6 from the other Twelve Houses books (Senneth, Tayse, Justin, Cammon, Kirra, and Donnal) do make appearances the primary focus of this book is on Wen, a former Rider who felt that she disgraced her king by letting him die. She flees Ghosenhall and spends years wandering the countryside until fate causes her to cross paths with the heir to one of the Houses that had revolted against her king. Over the course of the story she comes to love the House and, while I won't spoil the ending, it is a delightful outcome for her and everyone else.

The romance between her and a scholarly (in our modern language, nerdy) noble is a delightful feature. The tough and burly swordswoman and the aristocrat is a very nice role reversal from the traditional pairing of warrior man and damsel-in-distress so common to fantasy stories. It was refreshing and I found it satisfying.

I do recommend this book although it definitely isn't a stand-alone novel...while Shinn does explain some of the backstory it would be better for the reader to read all the other Twelve Houses books first.

I liked this one a lot and I look forward to reading more in this series.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A relaxing read for a new or seasoned fan of the "Twelve Houses" series, November 11, 2008

By	E. Mennemeyer - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a spinoff of Shinn's previous series "Twelve Houses." It is set in Gillengaria two years after Amalie take the throne after a bitter civil war and features the former King's Rider, Wen.

The first question regarding this book is if it can stand alone as a novel or if it is too dependent on the previous story line. After much consideration, I think this book can stand alone as an independent novel. It is much like 'Dark Moon Defender' in the sense that the story is independent enough to enjoy without previously reading the "Twelve Houses" books. Granted, some of the subplay in the text would be lost on a new reader but Shinn does a reasonable job filling in the missing bits of information. Further, this book focuses on a character that we only met briefly before and takes place in a place in a part of Gillengaria that wasn't visited in the previous books.

This book is easy to read with a nice story. I've only given it 3 stars, however, because it feels somewhat disjointed. 'Fortune and Fate' is very much a story independent of the other tales - even Wen's "demons" could be explained without reading the other books - but it seems that an effort to link this story with the other books, and that effort falls short. Fans of the "Twelve Houses" know Cammon, Senneth, Tayse, Justin, Kirra, and Donnal quite well by now. In this tale, Kirra and Donnal's appearance lacks depth and purpose - they seem to stop by for the sake of stopping by without adding any dimension to the tale. Much is made in the whole series of Senneth and Tayse's aversion to being apart but Senneth is casually directed to travel with Justin without Tayse's presence or even opinion. [I actually reread that part, thinking I had missed something.]

This is not a book about magic in the way that the other "Twelve Houses" were. This book is about loyalty, power, strength, and commitment. It is not a bad book, it just suffers from being tied too closely to the previous stories. 'Fortune and Fate' also has the same problem I found in 'Reader and Ralynx' - the ending is rushed and feels edited. As if key paragraphs were left out in favor of shortening the book. My sincere hope is that these books were the victims of editors and that this is not Shinn's trend in writing!

Overall, I liked this book despite it's problems. Wen is quite a capable character. I would recommend this book as both a stand alone book and as part of the series. In keeping with her style, Shinn wraps up the story into a nice little package for us.