Originally published as two separate books, Crown Duel and Court Duel - but handily combined in my edition, Crown Duel begins with a promising portrayal of the penniless brother and sister duo Meliara and Branaric who swear on their father's deathbed to do whatever it takes - even if it means going to war - to ensure that the king is removed from his throne. As joint rulers of a small province, Mel and Bran don't exactly have the means or resources to defeat the royal army in an uprising, but that doesn't stop them from trying. And despite the highly unfavorable odds Mel and Bran actually seem to be making progress until the arrival of the famed Marquis of Sheraveth, Lord Vidanric. Determined not to let this foppish lord best her on the battle-field or in the high courts, Mel vows to make things right for her beloved country even if it means working together with her worst enemy.
It's no surprise to me now why Sherwood Smith is beloved by many readers. Meliara's world of Hill Folk and court politics is extremely intriguing with hints of magic and full of complex characters. Even though she is stubborn and often blind to a fault, I still could not get enough of Mel's first-person narrative whether running for her life on a broken ankle(!) from royal soldiers or trying to navigate the equally treacherous yet more subtly dangerous parties and teas of court life. I did cringe on numerous occasions as Mel made yet another blunder, but each time, she simply dusted herself off and drove straight back into the fray. That, my friends, is my kind of heroine. As an added perk, running throughout both Parts I and II are Mel's run-ins with the famed Marquis, Lord Vidanric which gave me no end of pleasure. What a great foil these two characters are with their many differences! I do wish we could have seen more development from Vidanric, but I'll be the first to admit that his silences make him that much more compelling. Overall, Crown Duel was a wonderful book and one I'm glad is now sitting on my shelves. Your loss is very much my gain, Ruthie.
Because Everyone Likes a Second Opinion:
Avid Book Reader review
Book Harbinger review
The Book Nest review
Bookshelves of Doom review
Chachic's Book Nook review
book source: purchased
5 comments:
I think that Crown Duel is the reason why I have a big soft spot for fish out of water stories where the fish is thrown into a court-like setting. I just love it.. any story where someone has to learn how to deal with some court politicking my reaction is: oh, Crown Duel vibes, how I love thee!!
I also particularly love the secret admirer angle in this story. Sigh.
I hope Ruthie could read your review! A used, signed copy is such a great find. :) I'd say I was jealous but then again, some of my other Sherwood Smiths are signed. Yay, I'm so glad you finally decided to read this and it looks like you enjoyed it just as much as I did. I loved the scenes with both Mel and Vidanric in it. Isn't Vidanric with his court mask so very intriguing? You never know what he's thinking. Which is why I loved the outtakes that Sherwood did from his point of view (they used to be available for free over at Athanarel but can now be found at the end of the e-book version). Also, there's a book about Vidanric's training at Marloven Hess called A Stranger to Command.
Janice - Yep and yep. I just loved this story to pieces. And the secret admirer was genius. I loved those letters.
Chachic - I can't thank you enough for recommending this book to me. I need to look up those Vidanric POV stories. I think those would be very, very fun.
I have to thank you for giving my recommendations a try. :) The Vidanric POV scenes are a lot of fun, kind of similar to the Curran POV outtakes for the Kate Daniels series.
This is my favorite Sherwood Smith book by far. I have soft spot for it, too, and I'm glad you got around to it and liked Mel and Vidanric. :)
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