Join me as I review The Clandestine Circle by Mary H. Herbert, live! Share your thoughts on this first novel in the Dragonlance: Crossroads series released on July 1, 2000 by Wizards of the Coast. You can buy a copy here: https://amzn.to/3F8pBB4
About The Clandestine Circle
Rose Knight Linsha Majere, working undercover for the Solamnics’ Clandestine Circle, earns a place on the elite bodyguard of Hogan Bight, the mysterous lord governor of Sanction. She quickly learns the governor is not the only one who needs protection in a city threatened by an active volcando about to erupt, a death ship filled with an unknown plague, the ever-watchful Legion Steel, and the subversive Knights of Neraka. But who will protect Linsha from her own heart?
Review
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Kirinor, Brookgreen the 22nd. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my Spoiler review of The Clandestine Circle by Mary H. Herbert. I will be spoiling the story, so if you don’t want to know it, stop watching now! I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this YouTube channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. This is my perspective only, and if you have any thloughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.
I have to start by saying it is so refreshing to read this novel. I am a third of the way in and I can confidently say that Mary Herbert is a fantastic author. Her way of describing a scene and adding character and backstory while simultaneously propelling the narrative forward is talent I wish all Dragonlance authors had. I have no connection to Linsha Majere but now, I love her character. That being said, we begin the novel with a ship coming into harbor with goods to Sanction. Sanction is now controlled by Lord Hogan Bight, a mysterious and effective governor who takes great care of the city and its people. Sanction is being held off from Sable’s influence, the Knights of Takhisis, The Legion of Steel and the Solamnic Knights. There are clandestine circles of the Legion and Solamnics that we are aware of, and I have no doubt the Dark Knights and Sable have their own spy systems here as well.
The boat that arrives sees an unmanned ship floating toward the dock. The ship is filled with the dead and a couple of living but plagues sailors. As the ship runs into another, sailors and the harbormaster investigate it. The plague begins to spread unknown to those investigating. Lynn, Linshas front, is part of the city guard, placed there by the Solamnic Knights Clandestin Circle to attempt gathering some information on Hogan Bight. She is instructed to inform the Lord Governor about the ship and the dead aboard. She finds him surveying one of the Lords of Doom, listening to complaints from the City Council and Farmers Guild about a potential eruption that seems imminent. This is all forgotten once Linsha shares the news.
They all go to investigate the ship and they discover a sailor below decks who when uncovered flies up to the crows nest, delirious and terrified from the plague. He falls to his death as Linsha attempts to rescue him, impressing Lord Bight. She is summoned to the Clandestine Circle and told to enter Lord Bights service immediately and find information about him to discredit him. She is hesitant to behave as such, as she is a Rose Knight, but since this is the order, she must follow it. She is summoned as the guards are trying to contain the contagion and find all the sailors that were on the ship, who are out on the town. She is offered a job and accepts it. They immediately go to burn the ships and Linsha hears about one missing sailor from her landlord, and they all find his corpse having died of the plague behind an inn.
They burn the inn, place the proprietor and patrons in the quarantine zone, and burn the ships. Linsha rescues a cat and the ship logs as Lord Bight calms the citizens who are understandably freaking out about the plague. Youths spurred on by a mysterious person start a riot and nearly kill the commander of the guard, and Linsha rescues him after he falls unconscious into the bay. This impresses everyone, and they all return to the lord’s manor, where the evening passes. Linsha has a talking owl named Varia which at first bothered me, as I have never heard of these before, but it’s used in a clever way in the story so I kinda dig it now. The cat also has taken to her and they both stay in the stables with her horse Windcatcher. Being an animal lover myself, I really appreciate that this often overlooked trait is highlighted here.
Linsha is attracted to the commander of the guard but intentionally sours their growing affection because she can’t have him close to her with her overall mission. I am enjoying this cloak and dagger setup and the way Linsha is struggling with appearances. It makes her a real character rather than an emotionless superhero. You get a real sense of place making Sanction truly fascinating in the Fifth Age as the Dragon Overlords are doing their own thing, mortals have their own problems. It seems obvious to me thus far that the Dark Knights are behind the plague, and I suspect without any proof, that Lord Bight may be a legionnaire or knight that has defected or something like that. I like how they present the knights as well. They are multidimensional characters who have their duty, but are also regular people with flaws. I hope the story stays this good.
With the spreading of the plague, Lord Bight decides to take off on a secret errand and brings Lynn with him. She is just a squire but he trusts her. They enter the Temple and go into the tunnels beneath it where the shadow people live. Lord Bight has a relationship with them, and they allow him access. They enter Lynn’s mind, relaying that she has a lot of secrets but that she is a good person and she may go as well. They travel the underground tunnels, and Lynn nearly falls from a cliff into lava but is saved by Lord Bight. They finally come out of the tunnels and are past mountain ranges when the lord summons the Dragon Overlord Sable with a whistle. He trades her a rare insect specimen for some information about the plague, but Sable isn’t very forthcoming, only giving clues, then leaves with the insect. They return to Sanction through the tunnels to find a fire raging in a warehouse and the inner city sealed off.
It looks like the city council closed the inner city once the hospital became overrun with the sick. The plague started spreading more and then the fire happened. It definitely seems like it is all a setup. Lord Bight collapses the ground under the warehouse, sinking it and extinguishing the fire as the people revolt. Lynn discovers the person who instigated the revolt at the docks earlier and he says it was knights who told him to do it. Lynn isn’t sure which knights and is suspicious of the Solamnics as much as anyone else. The man is knocked into the hole with Lynn and Durne, which kills the strange man, and Durne confesses his love for Lynn. At this point I am pretty sure Durn is a Dark Knight as Lynn reports to the clandestine circle about what has happened and they tell her a Dark Knight has infiltrated Bight’s inner circle.
They insist they need to overthrow Bight to install a Solamnic government, but it is all so underhanded for Solamnic Knights, that it’s not sitting well with Lynn. She returns to work as Bights guard, and her relationship with the guard troops continues to develop and her affection for Bight grows. At a council meeting the Lords healer, Mica, is leaving to the temple in search of a cure, and Lynn is assigned to go with him. After stopping looters and checking in on her old tenant and friend, they find the scribe’s house and collect the books. Lynn has been given a bronze dragon scale by Lord Bight for protection, so she is not concerned about getting the plague. They collect the texts and when Lynn returns to the palace she discovers Commander Dewalt dead. It turns out Dewalt was an informant for Lady Knight Annian of the Clandestine Circle, and his secret lover Shanron who had befriended Lynn of the guards asked Lynn about a codeword. Once Lynn admitted to it she was given a parcel that was meant to go to the Knights of Solamnia.
Lynn hooks up with Commander Durne which no one is good with, but she listens to her body which wants him. As a side note, this novel is written with such care and tenderness, I am really digging this author. So it turns out that the late Dewald knew about the dark knight, and a secret about the Knights of Takhisis posing as pirates to invade the city when the volcano erupts. Lord Bight wants Lynn with him for protection as he suspects foul play and trusts her. Mica uses mysticism to talk to the spirit of the captain and learns that Dark Knights started the plague with old magic somehow. On his way to report it he was murdered. The next night when Lynn and Durne hook up, she sleeps in and he leaves, sending two knights to tie her up. She calls out to her owl which brings Shanron to rescue her. She now believes Durn is the Dark Knight but isn’t fully prepared to admit it to herself. As Shanron flees to the volcano to warn Lord Bight who is there ready to shift the flow of lava and smoke upon eruption, Lynn warns the city guard of the impending Dark Knight attack.
She then races to the volcano to see Durne with Shannon who cuts her throat and attacks Lynn. He truly does love her, as she loves him, but they are both loyal to their orders and must try to stop one another. He is stunned to learn her true identity as Linsha Mejere, Rose Knight, and Veria the owl scratches his eye, wounding him as they battle. They fight for an hour, and both are nearly falling down from exhaustion when the owl attacks again but is wounded. Linsha lunges at Durn burying a dagger in his back and is knocked out. Then a bronze dragon flies past the volcano and kills Durn, then flies to the harbor where the Dark Knights entered and destroys all their ships.
There is a treaty with Sable and the metallic and chromatic dragons, so they can only fight if they enter Sanction, not outside of it. The dragon returns to Linsha and protects her until Lord Bight can take her to the palace. She wakes and is being attended to, as the owl is healing. All the while Linsha knows she will be banned from the order as she went against their direct orders to stand down and let the Dark Knights kill Bight. She heals up and the Bronze dragon takes her to Sancrist to argue her case, and Sanction is once again safe.
I cannot recommend this novel enough. It is filled with love and passion, action and adventure, mystery and intrigue. It was such a joy to read and proof that Dragonlance novels CAN be multidimensional and great! Thank you to the individual who recommended it, and I can’t wait to dive into the Linsha Majere trilogy now. If you are a fan of Dragonlance, or the Majere family, hell, even mystery novels, you will love this one. I have to say, I did know Durne was the Dark Knight before they started sleeping together, but even though it let you know the mystery before the reveal, it was still worth it.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of The Clandestine Circle by Mary H. Herbert. Did you enjoy the setting of Sanction? Do you wish they would have explained more about Lord Bight? You can email me at info@dlsaga.com or comment below.
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