Crown Duel

- Sherwood Smith

For those of you who haven’t noticed, I’ve been going over a lot of my personal favourites. This has got to be one of my all time favs. It shocks me that the library refuses to replace the copy that they lost ages ago. Oh well. Luckily I have my own.

I realize that the moment I classify this as Fantasy, many of you will write it off and ignore the rest of the review. Here’s the thing though… This is like no fantasy you have ever read, ever. Really. If you like Jane Austen, or the Bronte sisters, or you actually are a discriminating Fantasy fan like myself, you will love this book. The heroine is written as though an ode to Austen, famous for her ability to make the ordinary, incredible. There is nothing spectacular about Meliara Austair. Besides her slightly unorthodox upbringing, she is really a terrible fighter, and not the world’s best battle strategist. But all the same she is going to try and take down the evil king.

Except, maybe there are a few things she hadn’t counted on. Like the fact that war is not a game… The lines between enemy and ally are fine, both on the battle field and at court. Mel has thrown herself into something far, far over her head….

If you can get past the first chapter (Slow, but worth it) you will find yourself immersed in such an epic tale of love, chivalry, court intrigue, battles, and culture that your head will no doubt be spinning from the experience. The writing is absolutely stunning. Really. If for no other reason than to admire that, you should read this book.

And if you liked that, the prequel, A Stranger to Command, exists as well. (Also very good, but that’s for another post.)