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Summary: Crown Duel: The Crown & Court Duet, Book I
Review: A young Countess Melaria and her brother set out to do this impossible and take on the king without help to save a covenant created hundereds of years ago. This book has plenty of secrects and laughs. Smith has just enough details to give you a clear image of the world and its people but still leaves out enough to let you fill in things the way you want to. By the end of the book you'll be begging for more.
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Summary: Must read for any fantasy buff!
Review: Crown Duel is one of my favorite fantasy novels. The book centers around a poor countess named Meliara, or Mel. She lives in a country called Remalna where humans live side by side forests filled with magical creatures named Hill Folk. Mel and her brother, Bran, make a promise to their father on his deathbed that they will protect the Hill Folk from the evil king, Galdran, who plans on killing all the Hill Folk so that he can cut down all the precious wood in the forests that they inhabite. This promise leads Mel into a war against the king and on an adventure that will change her life forever. If you are a fantasy lover like me you will of course have read the Tamora Pierce books and the Gail Carson Levine books. I would say that they heroine, Mel, is a mixture of Pierce's Alanna and Levine's Ella. Mel is a charismatic, loveable character. Smith has done an excellent job with her character develptment. She has also made her characters completely believable. The only fault I found with this book is that there was little romance. But don't worry! There's a good amount of it in the sequel, Court Duel.
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Summary: Crown Duel
Review: Crown Duel was an excellent book. It was so exciting. After the death of their father, teenage Countess Meliara Astair and her brother must forfill their promise to him and remove King Galdran from the throne of Remalna. They revolt against the king and start a war. Meliara is captures and eludes the knig and his soldiers several times. Not only must she escape the soldiers, but also death at the hands of the evil king.
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Summary: Crown Duel
Review: Crown Duel was an excellent book. It was so exciting. After the death of their father, teenage Countess Meliara Astair and her brother must forfill their promise to him and remove King Galdran from the throne of Remalna. They revolt against the king and start a war. Meliara is captures and eludes the knig and his soldiers several times. Not only must she escape the soldiers, but also death at the hands of the evil king.
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Summary: Sherwood Smith's enchantingly magical tale
Review: I am always on the lookout for a good book, and I am usually disappointed. But when I picked up Crown Duel, I was enthralled and swept away into Meliara's world of action, drama, romance and magic. Sherwood Smith is an excellent writer, her style of writing lets the reader feel like she herself is Meliara. I'm sure anyone could relate to many of the situations Meliara was faced with in part 2 of the book. I definitely suggest that you read this book, you will not be disappointed!
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Summary: Beautiful Cover, Better Book!
Review: I could hardly put down this book once I started it. All of the characters, from the clever but at times naive Meliara and her loyal and friendly brother Bran to the intelligent and dangerous Shevraeth (what a fabulous name!), are compelling, interesting, and engaging. The world with its troubles is well-drawn, and the scope of the book allows many tantalizing glimpses into various aspects of life that Smith has imagined. Although the plot is definitely exciting with its twists and turns and high stakes of the adventure, what makes this book are without a doubt the characters. Smith never generalizes about them nor makes excuses for their problems. As the book is written in the first-person from the point of view of Countess Meliara, we see her character the most clearly. Though she can be quick to judge and sometimes incredibly wrong about others, we cannot help but be sympathetic to her struggles and to her great spunk and honor throughout. Her perceptions obviously color her experiences, but on some level that makes the journey more interesting. We see her try to start a rebellion, get injured and captured, and deal with a whole host of people outside of her provincial and fairly sheltered life, and we are able to experience her insecurities as well as her triumphs. She is a compelling character, and the circumstances in which she, her brother, and her friends find themselves force them all to live to the best of their abilities. One cannot help but be drawn in. I definitely recommend this book for lovers of good stories. As an adult, I enjoyed this book enormously, and I cannot thank Sherwood Smith enough for writing it. I'm starting Court Duel today, and I am thrilled that there is more ahead of Meliara, Branaric, Shevraeth (a fantastic character in this novel, and I can't wait to see more of him ahead), and the others.
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Summary: The Most Awesome I Have Ever Read!
Review: I have read both Crown and Court Duel. I finished both in about a month. I couldn't put it down!
It's about Meliara and the fight to save her home land, Tlanth. Crown Duel is basicly just the fight, she gets captured and has to try to escape. Court Duel is more towards the political side, but not political in our world. It's so fascinating, the magic, and a little bit of romance. If you like books with total girl power this is a great book! Its so awesome, you just gotta read it!!!!!
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Summary: Ten stars - A HUNDRED stars!
Review: Quite simply, these books are fabulous! I would recommend them to anyone who has enjoyed the works of Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley or Gail Carson Levine. Not only is the 'Crown Duel' duet an absolute page-turner, but they are also uniquely written, taking a refreshingly different perspective on the usual 'Medieval with Magic' setting that we all know and love so well. The heroine here - 16 year old Countess Meliara - is so feisty and full of anger but at the same time so wryly humourous and self-depreciating that it is impossible not to like her. Taking the duet to a whole new level however, is the Hero. To name him would be a spoiler for those who have not yet read these (in which case, what are you waiting for?) but he really is so...indescribably...obnoxious, that it is a wonder how Mel refrains from strangling him with her bare hands. Which of course, is why he's so utterly fabulous. Not even Tamora Pierce's Duke Roger can equal him for sheer slipperly sexiness. Sigh... Anyhow, I would definately count these as some of my favorites, and they now hold a space on my keeper shelf. I await anything and anything else written by this autor with baited breath.
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Summary: But I DID like this book.
Review: This book was alright, it had a pretty cool story, but she spent all of the book bumbling around half dead, or stealing meat pies. This story line is really good but I don't think the author really pulled it out to its full potential. The heroine messed up so many times, it was a real drag. I felt like instead of a hero we had this insane flake. Well it isn't bad if you're super board, but wait till it comes out on paperback so it's cheaper.
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Summary: Nearly Perfect...
Review: This is more of a note than a review: if you are even remotely interested in this book, please look for my review by Ruby Blossom also titled 'Nearly Perfect' under Court Duel (instead of Crown Duel), where I've written an extensive review that you will probably find helpful. Thank you!
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