The Twelve Houses series is a fantasy novel series by Sharon Shinn. These books are notable for their marriage of two distinct genres: Sword and Sorcery and Romance. They take place in the mythical kingdom of Gillengaria which is ruled by good king Baryn.
The land of Gillengaria is an island divided into twelve semi-independent fiefdoms each ruled by a great house. King Baryn has only one child, believed by many to be unfit to rule. The Twelve Great Houses are jockeying for position to be ready to contend for the throne when King Baryn dies. This jockeying is tearing the kingdom apart, and has brought it to the brink of civil war.
In addition the general population is angry at the king for defending the mystics which they fear and despise. The mystics are people born to magical powers, usually of a quite limited scope such as being able to change shape, or being able to start fires. Any family of any rank can produce a mystic. Usually if the family is prominent the child is cast out.
In addition to the Mystics, and the Twelve Great Houses, there is a third power group, the King's Riders. The King's Riders are a band of fifty bodyguards who are fanatically loyal to the king. They are depicted as being extraordinary fighters, skilled with all weapons.
It currently consists of these books.
- Mystic and Rider (Ace Books, 2005)
- The Thirteenth House (Ace Books, 2006)
- Dark Moon Defender (Ace Books, 2006)
- Reader and Raelynx (Ace Books, 2007)
- Fortune and Fate (Ace Books, 2008; new story arc)
The first four books complete a story arc. The fifth book starts a new story arc.
Read more about The Twelve Houses Series: Relevance of The Title
Famous quotes containing the words twelve, houses and/or series:
“I went back to my work, but now without enthusiasm. I had looked through an open door that I was not willing to see shut upon me. I began to reflect upon life rather seriously for a girl of twelve or thirteen. What was I here for? What could I make of myself? Must I submit to be carried along with the current, and do just what everybody else did?”
—Lucy Larcom (1824–1893)
“Men will say that in supporting their wives, in furnishing them with houses and food and clothes, they are giving the women as much money as they could ever hope to earn by any other profession. I grant it; but between the independent wage-earner and the one who is given his keep for his services is the difference between the free-born and the chattel.”
—Elizabeth M. Gilmer (1861–1951)
“There is in every either-or a certain naivete which may well befit the evaluator, but ill- becomes the thinker, for whom opposites dissolve in series of transitions.”
—Robert Musil (1880–1942)