Dark Moon Defender (The Twelve Houses, Book 3)

by Sharon Shinn

Book Overview

In this story of hidden magic and forbidden love, the King's Rider Justin befriends Ellynor, a young novice at a convent-only to discover that she is a mystic being manipulated by the fanatical... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441015379
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Ace
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 1.3" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

A Follower of the Night Goddess

Dark Moon Defender (2006) is the third fantasy novel in The Twelve Houses series, following The Thirteenth House. In the previous volume, Kirra blurs the Regent's memories of her and goes home with Donal to recuperate. There they open a special clinic for people with red-horse fever. In this novel, Justin is assigned a different sort of job: spying on the Lumanen Convent. He gets work in a stable within Neft, the nearest town to the convent. As a King's Rider, he is not used to working alone. A courier comes by periodically, but the occasional visits by Kirra, Donal, Senneth, Cammon and Tayse help fight off his loneliness. Ellynor Alowa is a Lirren woman, who has accompanied her wild and passionate cousin Rosurie to Lumanen Convent. Ellynor is an adherent of the Dark Watcher -- a sister goddess to the Pale Mother -- and a healer. She has never heard of mystics and doesn't consider herself one. She doesn't think that the healing and hiding that she does is really magic, only a gift of the goddess. Justin saves Ellynor from a drunken merchant and develops a fondness for her. She enjoys his presence and the new experiences that he brings into her life. She dresses as a boy and eats at a tavern for the first time. Most of all, she enjoys moving around town without chaperone or her brothers warding her. Naturally, they grow very close and Ellynor experiences kissing for the first time, but so many things are new to her. When Justin learns that she can heal, he reckons that she is a mystic and urges her to leave the convent. After he tells her a few facts about the activities of the convent guards, she is horrified and becomes more cautious, but still doesn't consider herself as a mystic. Then she hides the two of them in plain sight from convent guards who look right at them without noticing their presence. It is just a little talent that most Lirrenfolf can use as needed. Justin tries even harder to get her to run away from the convent, but she can't leave her cousin alone. Then he discovers that the moonstones that she is wearing are burning her skin and he becomes frantic. He even thinks of carrying her off by brute force, but knows that their friendship can never survive such action. He does begin to elicit some doubts in Ellynor, but she stays on with her cousin. In this story, Ellynor doesn't tell Justin that she is Lirrenfolk, for fear that such knowledge will drive him away from her. Of course, Justin doesn't tell her that he is a King's Rider. They both know that the other is keeping secrets, but accept the other's secrecy as natural under the circumstances. Of course, Senneth has lived among the Lirrenfolk and recognizes Ellynor's background from Justin's first description of her. She keeps Ellynor's secret, but makes contact with Ellynor's father and brothers and lays the foundation for acceptance of Justin's courtship. Senneth challenges Ellynor's brother Torrin to a friendly duel and beats him, but declares t

Shinn's New Series

All three books are good, altho' I liked the first and the third more than the second. The third books lets us see the growth of one of the characters and the expansion of his relationship with his world and the people he meets. I really liked it and am anxiously awaiting the next volume of this extended adventure of the small group of comrades.

Best of the Saga of the Twelve Houses so far

Dark Moon Defender is the third book in the Saga of the Twelve Houses. The second book in the Saga, The Thirteenth House, was such a disappointment to me that I've been anxious for the next installment to redeem the series. After months of waiting for the local library system to get the third book, it finally arrived. Like a chug of hearty soup after taking a swig of milk gone bad, the bad taste left by the last book was washed away and replaced with something truly satisfying. In short, I liked it. Justin has been sent to spy on the Lumanen Convent, the stronghold of a group of religious fanatics bent on overthrowing the government of Gillengaria and eradicating all those endowed with magical abilities, the mystics. While performing his clandestine duties he falls in love with Ellynor, a convent novice who could only love him in return if she abandoned religious and family bonds. The situation is further complicated when Ellynor is exposed as a mystic and must fight for her life. Once again, Ms. Shinn successfully weaves deeper themes into the story without allowing them to dominate the story. This episode emphasizes the true self, the essence of who we are regardless of our setting or our position in life. Neither Justin nor Ellynor are living as their heart would lead them - Justin is cloaked in his clandestine role, while Ellynor's path in life has been chosen for her. In spite of the apparent incompatibility of their stations, and even though they both know the other is keeping secrets, they come to trust each other. Each senses who the other is at the core. Their confidence in each other's true character is what allows their relationship to blossom and eventually grow into complete devotion. It's interesting to me that I liked this book so much. It has so many of the same characteristics I didn't appreciate in the previous book. Like episode two, the main story line is an undercover romance between two people that would be wise to avoid a relationship. Not only that, but the one thing that saved the second book is nearly absent in this one, namely the advancement of the overall saga (well, that's not quite true - there are some potentially significant alliances forged between various groups, but you can only guess at the future importance of those alliances). With so much in common with the previous book you might expect a similar reading experience, yet in this case I really liked the result. Can't wait for book four...

LOVED IT!

First off I want to say that I'm a major Sharon Shinn fan. I have all her books. I loved this book because she shows more insight into the great characters she has created for this world. Before this book, Justin was just someone who seemed to be following Tayse around, not believing in magic and having no use for anyone who could do magic. Here you get a better look into who he is, what moves him, and how he's changed since this series started. I loved being able to look into the life at the Convent as well as the Lirrens! Although it just leaves me wanting more! This series is definitely not over yet. There are (I'm sure) hints in this book as to where she might write about in the next one. I'll just wait to see if I'm right. I love this series and I would read them all if she wrote a dozen more in this world.

This is a keeper for me

This is the third in the Gillengaria series. I loved Mystic and Rider which introduced us to 6 disparate characters brought together for a journey into southern Gillengaria. The story focused primarily on Senneth, the most powerful mystic in the land, and Tayse, a leader of the King's Riders. The second story, Thirteenth House, told the tragic love story between Kirra Danalustrous, a noblewoman, and married man of the Thirteenth House. I was a bit distraught at the end of Thirteenth House. I suffered through so much emotional turmoil for that book only to arrive at an unsatisfactory conclusion. I still feel that Kirra's life is unfinished, that she is not yet complete. But DMD is such an utterly romantic book that it makes up for the 13th House. Justin is a King's Rider. A King's Rider is one of 50 men handpicked by King of Gillengaria for their strength and loyalty. One character describes the riders and the mystique around them as follows: "Fifty men and women whose lives are dedicated to protecting the crown. They train all day--on foot, on horseback--they practice with swords, with crossbows, with daggers, with bare hands. It is said that it takes two men to hold a Rider at bay, three men to kill him, four men to find the courage to drag his body to a grave. And a whole battalion to run in fear from his fellow Riders who come to avenge his death." He grew up on the streets, robbing and assaulting when one day he picked the wrong man to mark. That man was Tayse. Tayse saw something in Justin and brought him to Goshenall, the seat of the King, to train with the Riders. Justin's whole focus in life is to be a Rider, worthy of the opportunity that Tayse gave him. Justin is ordered south to spy on Coralinda Giltesess and the Lumen Convent. The Lumen convent is run by Coralinda Gisseltess. She is a fanatic bent on eradicating mystics from Gillengaria. She is gathering a huge army and together with her brother, Halchon Gisseltess who has aspirations for the throne, will set brother against brother in a Gillengarian civil war. Ellynor is a Lirren girl. The Lirrens, politically, reminded me a bit of the ancient Scottish clan system. There are smaller clans that are part of a larger family of clans. There are alliances and sworn enemies. For a girl to marry outside of her sebahta-ris, her lover must fight and kill one of the girl's family members. The reason Ellynor is at the convent is because her cousin, Rosarie, fell in love with an opposing clan member, and she was shipped off to the convent to quell those rebellious feelings. You can tell a Lirren girl by her hair. The Lirren women paint the family heraldry in their hair. If anyone were to come across Rosurie, lost or ill or dead--unable to speak-- he could unpin her hair and know exactly to which family she belonged. Even if she was found by one of the warring sebahta, one who hated the Plesa family, she would be returned to them, safe from further harm. The conflict is immediate a