Crown Duel

Crown Duel
Crown Duel  
Crown Duel (Harcourt 1997 hardcover).gif
First edition cover
Author(s) Sherwood Smith
Country  United States
Language English
Genre(s) Fantasy novel
Publisher Harcourt, Firebirds
Publication date April 1, 1997
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 224 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN ISBN 0-15-201608-2 (first edition, hardback)
Preceded by A Stranger to Command

Crown Duel (1997) is a fantasy novel written by Sherwood Smith (originally published as two books Crown Duel and Court Duel). It was her first published work that takes place on the actual Sartorias-deles (rather than Wren's World), the world she has been "writing about since [she] was eight years old."[1]

Contents

Synopsis

Young Countess Meliara swears to her dying father that she and her brother will defend their people from the growing greed of the king. That promise leads them into a war for which they are ill-prepared, which threatens the very people they are trying to protect. But war is simple compared to what follows, in peacetime. Meliara is summoned to live at the royal palace, where friends and enemies look alike, and intrigue fills the dance halls and the drawing rooms. If she is to survive, Meliara must learn a whole new way of fighting-with wits and words and secret alliances.

In war, at least, she knew in whom she could trust. Now she can trust no one

Publication

2002 single-volume paperback edition

Crown Duel was originally published as The Crown and Court Duel separately, due to factors such as the publisher's belief that there would be reduced interest among the young-adult audience if the length were increased by combining the two halves. The Crown and Court Duel edition contained certain references to Wren's world, creating the appearance that Wren's world and "Sartorias-deles" were the same. These substitutions of Wren's world references for Sartoran references were implemented to restore the story the way Smith originally wrote it.

Publishing history

  • 1997, USA, Jane Yolen Books, Harcourt (ISBN 0-15-201608-2), pub date 1 April 1997, hardback (First edition)
  • 1998, USA, Harcourt Children's Books (ISBN 0152016090), pub date ? March 1998, hardback (Court Duel)
  • 2002, USA, Penguin Books (ISBN 0142301515), Pub date ? June 2002, paperback (combines Crown Duel and Court Duel as one)
  • 2010, USA, Book View Cafe, e-book (combines Crown Duel and Court Duel with added short story, plus six scenes from Vidanric's point of view)
The Harcourt Children's Books edition cover

Publishing details

  • While in notebook form, Sherwood Smith gave Crown Duel the working title Mel's Adventure in Remalna.[citation needed]
  • Crown Duel is the first book in Sherwood Smith's "Long Project" to be published with a character narrating in the first person All the early notebooks were written in first person.

There are two subsequent stories, "Beauty" in Firebirds Rising, "Court Ship" in Firebirds Soaring (both anthologies from Viking) and a prequel about Vidanric's early life called A Stranger to Command (Norilana Books).

Reception

Writing for SFSite.com, Rich Horton believed both parts of Crown Duel were "great reads". He continued that they are "nice formal contrasts: the first almost all action and war, the second more magic and formal court life. If I had a mild complaint, it would be that in both books the Hill Folk serve as sort of dei ex machina. But this is minor, and does little to detract from the pleasures of reading these two books."[2]

References

  1. ^ Official Sherwood Smith Site: Writing: Long Project
  2. ^ Horton, Rich. "A review by Rich Horton". SF Site. http://www.sfsite.com/02a/cro50.htm. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 

External links

v · d · eThe Works of Sherwood Smith (by world, in in-universe chronological order)
"Long Project"
(Erhal system)
Meliara/Shevraeth series:
A Stranger to Command · Crown Duel · Court Duel · "Beauty" · "Court Ship"
Inda series:
Inda · The Fox · King's Shield · Treason's Shore
Other books:
Senrid · The Trouble With Kings · Banner of the Damned
Terran connection:
Sasharia En Garde: Once a Princess and Twice a Prince · Coronets and Steel
Rhis era:
Wren era:
Wren to the Rescue · Wren's Quest · Wren's War · Wren Journeymage
Exordium
The Phoenix in Flight · Ruler of Naught · Prison Unsought · Rifter's Covenant · The Thrones of Kronos
Oz
Solar Queen
Derelict for Trade · A Mind for Trade
Time Traders
Echoes in Time · Atlantis Endgame
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