meganbmoore | Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith

In some ways, the plot of this book (originally released as two books) is the most generic of generic fantasy plots. Countess Meliara of Tlanth (we shall call her Mel, as the book calls her Meliara so rarely that I blinked when it did) and her brother, Branaric (Bran) are descended from the royal line through their mother. Their mother was murdered years earlier by the current rulers of the country, and they swear revenge, eventually starting a rebellion. Things do not, of course, go exactly as planned and Meliara is captured and used to attempt to force Bran to surrender. Later, she escapes with the aid of a nobleman named Shevraeth, whose loyalty she has cause to doubt, and she makes her way across the countryside to rejoin Bran. Along the way, she gains a reputation as being the only noble involved in the whole mess who cares about the common folk.

Once things have settled down, she retires to the country to rebuild her estates, but is persuaded to enter society by Bran’s new fiancee, Nimiar. There, she finds herself clashing again with Shevraeth, who she still does not trust, and encountering a potential plot against the crown. She also finds herself face-to-face with court intrigues she has no training for, potential suitors, and possible rivals, as well as a secret admirer who guides her through the court with his letters.

All the above fits the basic description of far too many fantasy novels to name. What sets Crown Duel apart from the rest is not the story it tells, but how it tells the story.

Mel is not a powerful sorceress, or a political savant, or a master swordwoman, nor does she become any of these things throughout the course of her story, unless you count learning to hold her own in court and developing leadership skills, and the possibility of other things. She does, in fact, remain very much a normal girl trying her best, and part of that is making mistakes, both in action and in judgment. Her initial capture is largely because of her own mistake, as is another major plot point later in the first half, and many of her difficulties are caused by her trusting the wrong person, or not being willing to trust the right person. Like many teenaged girls, while she can accept some mistakes she makes, she hides from and tries to avoid others, and she does not magically learn the error of her ways the second she makes a mistake, but rather, as the story evolves. All of this is acknowledged by the text, and used for character growth.

Mel is not a great heroine because she’s inherently special, but because she learns and grows, and it’s because of her determination to do so that her potential as a leader is developed. In addition, the romance, while (very) secondary and fairly obvious, is not tacked on to have a romance, but instead is used as an important part of Mel’s growth and learning. Shevraeth is not Mel’s handsome reward for being the heroine, but rather something she grows to appreciate and see the truth of, and an important part of her development.

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Plus, isn't the understated sexual tension, especially in the first book, utterly fantastic? I loved the relationship between Shevreath and Mel.

Yes. A lot of the times "UST" seems to either be badly handled bythe text, or, often, it seems to me to be more in a person's head than on the page(including some cases where I'd actually like there to be UST) but this was actually handled pretty well.

(Though, frankly, romance that's secondaryto plot often is handled better than when it's a main focus.)

*nods* Yep, UST is one of the hardest things to do right, if only because milage varies so much.

(Though, frankly, romance that's secondaryto plot often is handled better than when it's a main focus.)

Exactly. I love romance with a little r books for just that reason.

The problem I have with UST is that it often seems to be code for "what I wish were the case" with fans and "what I want to be called clever for" with writers.

Romance when it's central often fails because I'm not left with the impression that the couple can handle anything worse than an interested third party, or a few issues from the past.

The problem I have with UST is that it often seems to be code for "what I wish were the case" with fans and "what I want to be called clever for" with writers.

*laughs* That's a bitter and apropos way to describe it!

I have a few romance writers who I adore, because they write romance so well that the character feel like real people, and have issues and realistic problems that make me believe that they can weather quite a lot by the end of the book.

What can I say? I don't like writers trying to be cleverer than they are(just like I tend to be turned off of characters I'm expected to find oh-so-interesting-and-awesome-because-the-writer-says-so) and we've discussed my annoyance with the "everything is shipping" things before. (I mean, some things are, obviously, and I love romances...but I also love non-romantic relationships...)

I have a few romance writers/types I still read, but...

*nods*

Yeah, authors really need to be sure that they're writing the character as awesome as they think they are.

Ooh, I hadn't quite thought of it that way, but you're right: that's one of the things that sets Crown Duel apart.

I have been chewing recently on the idea of the ordinary heroine. Well, or hero -- but the example that springs immediately to mind is in Tamora Pierce's Tortall books, where the first quartet features an extremely Special heroine, but where a later quartet seems to be explicitly treading the same path... but with a normal girl. A smart, dedicated normal girl, but not a genius or a magical prodigy or anything like that. It's interesting.

It's one of the things I noticed...that there's no real hint of her being "special" until near the end.

OMG I loved that book! :D Though most of my love may be due to what

redbrunja mentioned: the massive amounts of UST between Mel and Shevreath, to which Mel seemed largely and amusingly oblivious for most of the book.

Yeah, the obliviousness is handled well.

(I have to say, between here and Amazon reviews, I seem to be the only one not in love with Shevraeth...I liked him quite a bit, but apparently not as much as others...)

Ha, I can see how that would happen. Well I liked him fine, but I was more interested in him to the extent that he was standing around having smouldering chemistry with Mel.

Sounds interesting. *Tosses on the backlog*

It's pretty good. I'm annoyed to note that only a part of a series of hers that sounds interesting is currently in print.

Well at least you can get Inda, Fox and the third hardcover this year and that's the same world as CrownDuel as far as I know.

There's one short story about Mel's daughter in a Firebird Anthology, too.

The Wren books don't really connect here, I thought. I haven't managed to read the third one, it's just too sad a beginning for me.

"and her brother, Branaric (Bran)"

Am I the only person who first read that as "Brainiac"?

No, no you are not. Should you read the book, you also will not be the only one to do a double take every time his proper name is used.

(And yet, two more different characters are difficult to imagine...)

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith

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