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“A great Shinn story in the world of the Twelve Houses.”—SFRevue
Fortune and Fate
Two years after civil war tore Gillengaria apart, the former Rider Wen is still aimlessly wandering the countryside, unable to find peace. In an effort to atone for one single disastrous failure, she looks for opportunities to do good and make amends. She rescues a kidnapped young serramarra, who turns out to be Karryn Fortunalt, daughter of one of the marlords who took the country to war. Karryn’s guardian, Jasper Paladar, persuades Wen to settle at the house known as Fortune and assemble a guard that can protect the serramarra from future attempts on her life. Wen finds herself drawn to the gentle, scholarly Jasper, who is like no one she has ever known before, and she grudgingly grows fond of the flighty Karryn. Nonetheless, she is eager to fulfill her contract and move on—but she cannot leave when she realizes Karryn is still in danger.
Publishing history:
Hardcover published in November 2008, mass market paperback in 2009.
Interesting tidbit:
It was a lot of fun to write Jasper Paladar, a scholar and omnivorous reader, who’s a lot closer to my own personality than most of the soldiers and mystics I’ve profiled in this series! The verse he quotes to Wen in Chapter Thirty is from a poem I wrote a long time ago for someone I’ve lost track of, who probably doesn’t even know I’ve written a book…
I hadn’t actually given much thought to the hard-rock theme music for this book until a fan asked me about it. But then I instantly knew: Wen’s unrequited crush on Justin is expressed pretty well by Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” (of course, it was an Everly Brothers song first). Linda Ronstadt’s “A Long, Long Time” is also pretty dead-on. Jasper is more upbeat, and more modern, since his theme song would be Del Amitri’s “Roll to Me.” As things start improving for Wen at the end, Heart’s “Straight on for You” would be her theme song.
My favorite scene:
I think I have to go with the extended love scene in Chapter Thirty. |