Mystic and Rider is the first book in what appears to be a trilogy. It centers around a woman named Senneth, an appointed leader of a small band of individuals sent out by the king of Gillinagaria to access the happenings in the southern provinces. Senneth is joined by two of the king's elite royal guards, a noblewoman friend and her bodyguard, and a young man they rescue from slavery in a tavern. Senneth you see, as well as a few of her companions, are mystics - a broad term used to cover those with a variety of magical abilities. Mysticism is becoming a hot button in the land, used to foster mistrust for the political machinations of power hungry nobles. Senneth and her crew have to get as much info on what's going on that they can and make it back to the king to report in one piece.
What I liked: The characters. I liked the mystical elements and the explanations for them. All the characters got some time. The main character wasn't overdone or annoying, their were lots of questions left unanswered - the perfect set up for a trilogy. I was very excited to find out what was going to happen. Unfortunately...
What could be better:
I'd have to add "the sequel" here. After reading this book and being both surprise and impressed by it, I was eager for more Shinn. Amazon showed me there was a sequel that came out in HD in March. I hoofed it over to Borders asap and started reading a bit of the book - to see if it was worth $25. Unfortunately it is centered around Kirra, a secondary character to Mystic and Rider, and one I found silly and annoying. Not only that, but this character has an affair with a married man and none of the big unanswered questions from Mystic and Rider are answered. The sequel is going unpurchased by me. Now I have to wait until the 3rd book to see if anything comes of the story. I'm suspecting we'll move on to yet another character and the promising beginning will go nowhere.
