Crown Duel (2002)
Written By: Sherwood Smith
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 471 pages (Mass Market Paperback)
Series: Originally published as two books: Crown Duel (1997) and Court Duel (1998)
Publisher: Firebird Fantasy
Why I Chose It: This was one of my favorite Sherwood Smith novels when I was a teenager, and I wanted to see if it held up. Psst, spoiler alert: it totally did.
The premise:
Over their father’s deathbed, young Meliara Astiar and her brother Branaric promise to lead their people against the evil King. The impoverished count and countess discover that even when the cause is right, leading a war is much tougher than it appears. When Meliara falls into the hands of the elegant Marquis of Shevraeth, the enemy commander, she knows she has to either escape or die. After a desperate chase across country, she discovers that she and Bran are not alone—but the alliance is offered by the person she hates the most.
Once the king is gone, she faces a new type of battlefield: not muddy fields and sharpened steel, but marble palaces. The weapons now are fashion, manners, and the subtle and secret language of fans. Finally, there is the toughest challenge of all, courtship. For how do you defend yourself when the one who draws your eye, and your heart, is your worst enemy?
Very minor spoilers.
Discussion: It’s funny, I loved this book when I was growing up, but I think this is the first time I’ve read it as an adult. I remember really enjoying the characters and their tense relationships and the slow build romance. And in the end, these were what made the book great, even today. But reading this with years of writing experience behind me, I found a ton of other things to appreciate as well.
I can really appreciate Mel’s growth as a character but also as a fully-fledged human being. She starts the book full of anger and idealism, and honestly that’s all there is to her at first, so she reads a little shallow. But keep turning pages and you’ll realize that’s the point. Mel is quickly confronted with the fact that all her ideals and beliefs are based on half-truths and assumptions, and she’s never explored the veracity of them herself. The world and her place in the conflict are a lot more complicated than she realized. And yes, that stings her pride and makes her angry all over again. But beyond just realizing her ignorance, she decides to fix it. She recognizes ignorance can be cured and sets out to do just that. I love that about her. I have a soft spot for characters who recognize their flaws and change themselves for the better.
And of course, the politics, the war, even the Love Story, none of them would be resolved if Mel hadn’t made those changes in herself, and learned to see the complexities of both war and peace. In fact, the love story might be one of my favorites in many years. Since the mystery of it is definitely the best part, I really don’t want to spoil it. But… oh my gosh when he takes his glove off? Eeeee! As a side note, I really love that Mel began to see Court as its own sort of battle with allies and tactics and ambushes, rather than just seeing herself trapped in enemy territory.
Since I originally read this as two books, I’d like to make a note about this edition which combines Crown Duel and Court Duel. I think this actually works much better as one book. Especially since the majority of Mel’s growth and change comes to fruition in the second half (originally the second book). I like that the two halves mirror each other and conflicts and relationships in the second-half finish what was started in the first. Yes, it worked fine the way it was—at least I remember it very fondly—but I think it makes more sense as two parts of the same story as opposed to two separate books.
From a more experienced perspective, I realize this book is a little slow. It’s basically 400 pages about how Meliara recovers from getting off on the wrong foot. And there were definitely moments in the first half where I wish she’d caught on a little faster. But in the end, I think the length is important. I think it tells a story about how it takes work to reinvent yourself, it takes work to reform your opinions with open-mindedness and education. And it takes work to right the mistakes you’ve made in your past ignorance. None of this is easy, and the book is a fairly realistic depiction of that struggle while also being a good story.
All right, I might have one actual complaint. This is a world where nobody poops! They all use something called the “waste spell” and honestly, it just weirds me out. Especially since it has absolutely no bearing on the plot or characters, it’s just a really random world building fact. Smith’s Inda series also has this spell, so now I’m thinking the two worlds are related somehow.
Conclusion: This is an oldie but goodie, as my dad always says. It’s actually getting harder and harder to find books I enjoyed before I became a writer that hold up to further scrutiny. So, I was really excited when this one gave me the same thrills, especially since I knew the ending. I’d probably describe this as a fantasy Pride and Prejudice with swords. So if you like battle and intrigue and the slow burn of intense relationships, give this one a try. I know I’m going to be putting it back into my regular rotation.
<3