Blue Blooded Ingenue
Crown Duel —
Sherwood Smith
Crown Duel, book 1
1997’s young adult fantasy Crown Duel is the first novel in Sherwood Smith’s Crown Duel series. It was followed by 1998’s Court Duel. Both are included in this omnibus. Together, they are part of the larger Sartorias-deles sequence.
Two young aristocrats, Meliara and her brother Bran, learn that King Galdran is planning to break the Covenant with the Hill Folk; he wants to clear-cut the valuable colour trees of Tlanth, Meliara and Bran’s domain. The two feel that they must protect the trees, and the Covenant, and the only way to do so seems to be mounting a rebellion against their liege lord. Conveniently, the siblings have been plotting an uprising for some time; Galdran is an all-round bad king and he is comprehensively hated.
Their rebellion is not going well. Potential allies have refused to help; their mercenary army has already betrayed them.
In American stories, try to be the youngest heir
The Phoenix in Flight —
Sherwood Smith & Dave Trowbridge
Exordium, book 1
1993’s The Phoenix in Flight is the first volume in Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge’s Exordium pentology. There is a new edition of this volume, but this review is of the 1993 edition, because that is the edition I happen to have on hand.
Eusabian, Lord of Vengeance, avatar of Dol, grumpiest Dol’jharian of all, has long yearned to punish the Panarchy for defeating Dol’jhar some decades ago. The main problem facing Eusabian is that the Panarchy draws on the resources of the many races and worlds of the Thousand Stars1; Dol’jhar draws on the resources of … Dol’jhar, a cold, bleak, poor planet.
But now Eusabian has learned how to exploit the still-functioning relics of the long-vanished Ur. With the Ur’s instant communications and their stupendous power sources in his possession, the balance of power has tilted decisively in Eusabian’s favour. The time has come for his vendetta, his ritual paliach. Which in its purest form ends with the display of the severed head of the enemy.
Review Categories
- Rediscovery Tuesday (42)
- Translation (190)
- Because My Tears Are Delicious To You (278)
- 50 Nortons in 50 Weeks (50)
- The Great Heinlein Juveniles (Plus The Other Two) Reread (14)
- KW Science Fiction and Fantasy (4)
- Special Requests (256)
- Miscellaneous Reviews (258)
- Women of Wonder (6)
- Leigh Brackett's Solar System (7)
- Military Speculative Fiction That Doesn't Suck (33)
- Graveyard Orbits (5)
- James Tiptree, Jr. Award (9)
- A Year of Tanith Lee (61)
- Not Actually A Review (1)
- Space Opera That Doesn't Suck (21)
- A Year of Waterloo Region Speculative Fiction (49)
- The 2017 Prometheus Award Finalists (4)
- Reds Under The Bed (5)
- Twelve by Diana Wynne Jones (12)
- A Dozen by Tchaikovsky (12)
- A Bunch of Bujolds (12)
- A Variety of Vaughns (12)
- An Expanse of Coreys (3)
- BRP (2)
- Doing What the WFC Cannot Do (41)
- Big Hair, Big Guns! (20)
By Author/Editor
- Aaronovitch, Ben (1)
- Abbas, Ibraheem (1)
- Abrahams, Kyria (1)
- Achebe, Chinua (1)
- Addison, Katherine (1)
- Aldiss, Brian (1)
- Amano, Kozue (14)
- Anderson, Chester (1)
- Anderson, Poul (6)
- Anderson, R. J. (2)
- Andrews, Ilona (1)
- Anthony, Patricia (1)
- Anthony, Piers (2)
- Arakawa, Hiromu (4)
- Archer, Katrina (1)
- Arnason, Eleanor (1)
- Ashby, Madeline (2)
- Ashinano, Hitoshi (20)
- Ashwin, Kate (2)
- Asimov, Isaac (5)
- Atwood, Margaret (1)
- Bahjatt, Yasser (1)
- Bailey, Charles W. (1)
- Bailley, Samantha (1)
- Baker, Mishell (1)
- Banks, Iain M. (1)
- Barnes, Steven (3)
- Barnett, Lisa A. (1)
- Bayley, Barrington J. (1)
- Bear, Elizabeth (1)
- Benford, Gregory (2)
- Bester, Alfred (1)
- Beukes, Lauren (1)
- Binder, Eando (1)
- Blair, Kate (1)
- Blish, James (1)
- Bobet, Leah (1)
- Bois, Jon (1)
- Boucher, Anthony (1)
- Bova, Ben (1)
- Bow, Erin (2)
- Bow, James (2)
- Brackett, Leigh (9)
- Bradbury, Ray (1)
- Bray, Libba (1)
- Brennan, Marie (1)
- Brennan, Sarah Ree (1)
- Bretnor, Reginald (1)
- Brissett, Jennifer Marie (1)
- Broaddus, Maurice (1)
- Brookmyre, Christopher (1)
- Brown, Rosel George (1)
- Brunner, John (5)
- Brust, Steven (2)
- Buckell, Tobias (2)
- Buckley, Bob (1)
- Bujold, Lois McMaster (5)
- Burgess, Anthony (1)
- Busby, F. M. (2)
- Butler, Octavia E. (7)
- Campbell, John W. (1)
- Čapek, Karel (1)
- Capon, Paul (1)
- Card, Melanie (1)
- Card, Orson Scott (1)
- Carey, Jacqueline (2)
- Carr, John F. (1)
- Carter, Raphael (1)
- Castellucci, Cecil (1)
- Chambers, Becky (2)
- Chandler, A. Bertram (1)
- Charnas, Suzy McKee (1)
- Chen, Curtis C. (1)
- Cherryh, C.J. (7)
- Cho, Zen (4)
- Christie, Agatha (1)
- Chu, Wesley (1)
- Church, Suzanne (2)
- Clarke, Arthur C. (2)
- Clarke, Cassandra Rose (1)
- Clarke, Neil (1)
- Clayton, Jo (5)
- Clee, Mona (1)
- Clement, Hal (1)
- Clement, Jermaine (1)
- Cole, Dandridge M. (1)
- Comité Colbert (1)
- Coney, Michael G. (1)
- Connolly, Harry (3)
- Consell, Ryan (1)
- Cook, Glen (1)
- Corey, James S. A. (1)
- Cox, Donald W (1)
- Crain William (1)
- Crewe, Megan (1)
- Ctein (1)
- Czerneda, Julia E. (2)
- Daniel, Tony (1)
- Daniels, April (2)
- Darnay, Arsen (1)
- Daven, Kit (2)
- Davin, Eric Leif (1)
- de Bodard, Aliette (7)
- de Camp, L. Sprague (2)
- Dean, Paul (1)
- Deighton, Len (1)
- Delany, Samuel R. (4)
- Dentinger, Jane (1)
- Dickson, Gordon R. (1)
- Dillon, Diane (1)
- Dillon, Leo (1)
- Doctorow, Corey (1)
- Downum, Amanda (1)
- Doyle, Debra (1)
- Drake, David (1)
- Draper, Terry (1)
- Drye, Paul (1)
- Duane, Diane (1)
- Due, Tananarive (1)
- Dumas, Alexandre (1)
- Dunlop, Eileen (1)
- Dunyach, Jean-Claude (1)
- Duyvis, Corinne (1)
- Dyson, George (1)
- Editor, A.N. (1)
- Edmondson, G.C. (2)
- Eisenstein, Phyllis (2)
- Elliott, Kate (1)
- Engdahl, Sylvia Louise (1)
- Engel, Marian (1)
- Ernst, Paul (1)
- Estes, Eleanor (1)
- Fakhouri, Anne (1)
- Faust, Minister (1)
- Ford, John M. (2)
- Forstchen, William R. (1)
- Foster, Alan Dean (2)
- Foster, M.A. (1)
- Frank, Pat (1)
- Frankel, Jen (1)
- Frey, J. M. (2)
- Frezza, Robert (1)
- Fujii, Taiyo (2)
- Gardner, James Alan (2)
- Gentle, Mary (2)
- Gerrold, David (3)
- Gilliland, Alexis A. (1)
- Gilman, Charlotte Perkins (1)
- Gilman, Felix (1)
- Gilman, Laura Anne (1)
- Gladstone, Max (6)
- Goldenberg, Alisse Lee (1)
- Gorodischer, Angélica (1)
- Goto, Hiromi (1)
- Gould, Steven (2)
- Graham, Jo (5)
- Grant, Mira (1)
- Greenberg, Martin H. (1)
- Griffin, Kate (1)
- Griffith, Nicola (5)
- Grossman, Austin (1)
- Ha, Il-Kwon (1)
- Haldeman, Joe (2)
- Hamilton, Virginia (2)
- Hansen, Karl (1)
- Hardinge, Frances (1)
- Harris, Geraldine (1)
- Hawkins, Scott (1)
- Healy, Raymond J. (1)
- Heinlein, Robert A. (20)
- Helgadóttir, Margrét (1)
- Henderson, Zenna (1)
- Heppenheimer, T. A. (1)
- Herbert, Frank (1)
- Hernandez, Jaime (2)
- Hewitt, John (1)
- Heydt, Dorothy (1)
- Higgins, C.A. (1)
- Hiroe, Rei (1)
- Hogan, James P. (1)
- Hogarth, M. C. A. (1)
- Holmqvist, Ninni (1)
- Hoover, H.M. (1)
- Hopkinson, Nalo (1)
- Höst, Andrea K. (1)
- Howard, Kat (1)
- Howe, Grant (1)
- Hoyle, Fred (1)
- Hoyt, Richard (1)
- Huang, S.L. (4)
- Huff, Tanya (2)
- Hughes, Matthew (5)
- Hughes, Monica (1)
- Humphrey, Claire (1)
- Hurley, Kameron (2)
- Ibuse, Masuji (1)
- Ing, Dean (2)
- Ishiguro, Kazuo (1)
- Itäranta, Emmi (1)
- Jablokov, Alexander (1)
- Jackson, Shirley (2)
- Jacobs, Jane (1)
- Jacques, Jeph (1)
- Jemisin, N. K. (5)
- Johnson, Alaya Dawn (3)
- Johnson, Annabel (1)
- Johnson, Edgar (1)
- Johnson, Kij (1)
- Jones, Diana Wynne (2)
- Jones, Gwyneth (1)
- Jones, Heather Rose (2)
- Jones, Raymond F. (1)
- Juster, Norton (1)
- K.B. Wagers (1)
- Kahn, Herman (1)
- Kahn, Sherman (1)
- Kamachi, Kazuma (1)
- Kaplan, Fred (1)
- Kawahara, Reki (1)
- Kerr, Katharine (1)
- Key, Alexander (1)
- Keyes, Daniel (1)
- Khaw, Cassandra (1)
- Kidd, Virginia (1)
- Kiernan, Denise (1)
- Killough, Lee (3)
- King, Jasper MacDonald (1)
- King, Stephen (1)
- Kingfisher, T. (3)
- Kingsbury, Donald (1)
- Kinzie, Becka (2)
- Kirstein, Rosemary (4)
- Kishi, Yusuke (3)
- Knebel, Fletcher (1)
- Kohli, Armon Kishen (1)
- Kooiker, Leonie (1)
- Kornbluth, Cyril (2)
- Kotlan, C. M. (1)
- Krasnostein, Alisa (1)
- Kreider, Anna (2)
- Kuhn, Sarah (2)
- Kurland, Michael (1)
- Kushner, Ellen (1)
- L'Engle, Madeleine (1)
- Lafferty, Mur (1)
- Lagerlöf, Selma (1)
- Lake, David J. (1)
- Larbalestier, Justine (1)
- Laumer, Keith (2)
- Le Guin, Ursula K. (3)
- Leckie, Ann (1)
- Lee, Fonda (1)
- Lee, Sharon (2)
- Lee, Tanith (61)
- Lee, Yoon Ha (2)
- Leiber, Fritz (3)
- Lepore, Jill (1)
- Liang, William Tham Wai (1)
- Lindqvist, John Ajvide (1)
- Liu, Cixin (2)
- Liu, Ken (1)
- Llewellyn, Edward (1)
- Locke, M. J (1)
- Long, Dee (1)
- Lord, Karen (1)
- Lumpkin, John J. (1)
- Lynn, Elizabeth A. (3)
- MacAvoy, R.A. (1)
- MacDonald, James D. (1)
- MacDonald, John D. (1)
- MacGregor, Blair (1)
- MacLean, Katherine (2)
- MacLeod, Ken (1)
- Mahr, Kurt (1)
- Malan, Violette (1)
- Mamatas, Nick (1)
- Mandel, Emily St. John (1)
- Mankell, Henning (1)
- Mardoll, Ana (1)
- Marks, Laurie J (3)
- Martin, George R.R. (1)
- Martinson, Harry (1)
- Matronic, Ana (1)
- Mauméjean, Xavier (1)
- McCaffrey, Anne (1)
- McComas, J. Francis (1)
- McDonald, Ian (1)
- McDuffie, Dwayne (1)
- McGuire, Seanan (1)
- McHugh, Maureen F. (1)
- McIntyre, Vonda N. (3)
- McKillip, Patricia A. (2)
- McLachlan, J. A. (1)
- McMullen, Sean (1)
- McPhee, John (1)
- Meredith, Richard C. (1)
- Merle, Robert (1)
- Merril, Judith (2)
- Mighton, John (1)
- Miller, Mark (1)
- Miller, Steve (2)
- Miller, Walter M., Jr. (1)
- Mitchison, Naomi (1)
- Miyabe, Miyuki (1)
- Moffitt, Donald (1)
- Mohanraj, Mary Anne (1)
- Moon, Elizabeth (1)
- Moorcock, Michael (1)
- Moore, C.L. (5)
- Moore, Moira J (1)
- Moran, Daniel Keyes (3)
- Moreno-Garcia, Silvia (5)
- Morganfield, T.L. (1)
- Mori, Kaoru (5)
- Morinaga, Milk (1)
- Morressy, John (1)
- Mulholland, Tony (1)
- Murphy, Pat (2)
- Nagata, Linda (7)
- Nakazato, Yuka (1)
- Nakazawa, Keiji (1)
- Narita, Ryogho (1)
- Neil Randall (1)
- Newhall, Scott (1)
- Newman, Emma (4)
- Nicholson, Sam (1)
- Nickle, David (1)
- Niven, Larry (8)
- North, Claire (1)
- Norton, Andre (50)
- Nourse, Alan E. (1)
- Novik, Naomi (1)
- O'Donnell, Kevin (1)
- O'Malley, Daniel (1)
- O'Neal, Kathleen M. (1)
- Ogawa, Yoko (1)
- Ohno, Kaoru (1)
- Okorafor, Nnedi (2)
- Ōkouchi, Ichirō (1)
- Ono, Fuyumi (2)
- Ore, Rebecca (1)
- Orwell, George (1)
- Otsuichi (1)
- Palwick, Susan (2)
- Pangborn, Edgar (1)
- Panshin, Alexei (1)
- Paquet, Olivier (1)
- Parker, K.J. (4)
- Patel, Carrie (1)
- Penn, Richard (2)
- Pérez-Reverte, Arturo (1)
- Perrin, Steve (1)
- Phillips, Julie (1)
- Phondke, Bal (1)
- Pierce, Alexandra (1)
- Piper, H. Beam (4)
- Piserchia, Doris (1)
- Pohl-Weary, Emily (1)
- Pohl, Carol (1)
- Pohl, Frederik (5)
- Posey, Jay (1)
- Pournelle, Jerry (4)
- Powers, Tim (1)
- Rakunas, Adam (2)
- Rasmussen, Alis A. (1)
- Rey, Alain (1)
- Reynolds, Alastair (2)
- Rhodes, Richard (1)
- Ricci-Thode, Vanessa (1)
- Rivas, Roque (1)
- Roberts, Adam (1)
- Robinett, Stephen (1)
- Robinson, Frank M. (1)
- Robinson, Kim Stanley (1)
- Rowland, Diana (6)
- Ruff, Matt (1)
- Russ, Joanna (1)
- Russell, Eric Frank (2)
- Ryan, Thomas J. (1)
- Sagan, Carl (1)
- Saito, Chiho (2)
- Sakai, Stan (2)
- Sakuraba, Kazuki (2)
- Samatar, Sofia (1)
- Sanders, B.R. (1)
- Sandford, John (1)
- Sargent, Pamela (9)
- Satifka, Erika L. (1)
- Saunders, Charles R. (1)
- Saunders, Graydon (3)
- Sawyer, Robert J. (1)
- Scalzi, John (3)
- Schoen, Lawrence M. (1)
- Scortia, Thomas N. (1)
- Scott, Melissa (13)
- Shaw, Bob (2)
- Shawl, Nisi (1)
- Sheckley, Robert (1)
- Sheffield, Charles (1)
- Shelby, L. (3)
- Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (1)
- Shinkai, Makoto (1)
- Shiras, Wilmar H. (1)
- Shirow, Masamune (2)
- Shriver, Lionel (1)
- Shunn, William (1)
- Shusterman, Neal (1)
- Shute, Nevil (1)
- Silverberg, Robert (1)
- Simak, Clifford D. (2)
- Simukka, Salla (3)
- Sinisalo, Johanna (1)
- Slonczewski, Joan (1)
- Smith, E.E. (1)
- Smith, Evelyn E. (1)
- Smith, George O. (1)
- Smith, Kristine (3)
- Smith, L. Neil (3)
- Smith, Sherwood (2)
- Smith, Thorne (1)
- Snyder, Zilpha Keatley (1)
- Solnit, Rebecca (1)
- Spangler, K.B. (6)
- Spencer, Wen (2)
- Spinrad, Norman (1)
- Sprange, Matthew (1)
- Springer, Nancy (1)
- St. Clair, Margaret (2)
- Steinmetz, Ferrett (3)
- Stephenson, Neal (1)
- Sterzinger, Ann (1)
- Stiles, Paula R. (1)
- Stine, G. Harry (1)
- Strugatsky, Arkady (2)
- Strugatsky, Boris (2)
- Sucharitkul, Somtow (1)
- Sullivan, Tricia (2)
- Sutcliff, Rosemary (1)
- Tan, Charles (1)
- Tanaka, Yoshiki (3)
- Tanigawa, Nagaru (3)
- Taniguchi, Gorō (1)
- Tanzer, Molly (1)
- Tarr, Judith (1)
- Tchaikovsky, Adrian (1)
- Teitel, Amy Shira (1)
- Tepper, Sheri S. (1)
- Thomas, Jo (1)
- Thomas, Sheree R. (1)
- Thompson, Tade (1)
- Tiptree, James (3)
- Tolmie, Sarah (3)
- Touno, Mamare (1)
- Trowbridge, Dave (1)
- Turner, Megan Whalen (5)
- Turney, Ray (1)
- Valentine, Genevieve (1)
- van de Wetering, Janwillem (1)
- Varley, John (2)
- Vaughn, Carrie (2)
- Vinge, Joan D. (5)
- Vinge, Vernor (1)
- Volsky, Paula (3)
- Vonarburg, Élisabeth (1)
- Wachowski, Andy (1)
- Wachowski, Lana (1)
- Wagers, K. B. (1)
- Waititi, Taika (1)
- Waldrop, Howard (1)
- Walkingnorth (1)
- Wallis, James (1)
- Walton, Jo (1)
- Warren, Adam (1)
- Washington, Masumi (1)
- Watkins, Peter (1)
- Wayne, Jeff (1)
- Weir, Andy (1)
- Wells, Alex (1)
- Wells, Jeffrey (1)
- Wells, Martha (9)
- White, James (4)
- Wilde, Fran (1)
- Wilhelm, Kate (1)
- Williams, Kass (1)
- Williams, Liz (2)
- Williams, Walter Jon (1)
- Williamson, Jack (2)
- Willis. Connie (1)
- Wilson, F. Paul (1)
- WIlson, Kai Ashante (2)
- Wintrebert, Joëlle (1)
- Wolfrom, Regan (1)
- Wollheim, Donald A. (1)
- Woloschuk, John (1)
- Wren, M.K. (3)
- Yakimura, Makoto (1)
- Yang, JY (3)
- Yatsuhashi, Keith (1)
- Yoshiura, Yasuhiro (1)
- Yuki, Hiroshi (1)
- Zelazny, Roger (3)
Reviews by Date
2019
- October 2019 (13)
- September 2019 (19)
- August 2019 (21)
- July 2019 (20)
- June 2019 (21)
- May 2019 (21)
- April 2019 (20)
- March 2019 (21)
- February 2019 (21)
- January 2019 (20)
2018
- December 2018 (21)
- November 2018 (21)
- October 2018 (22)
- September 2018 (22)
- August 2018 (22)
- July 2018 (22)
- June 2018 (21)
- May 2018 (22)
- April 2018 (22)
- March 2018 (21)
- February 2018 (20)
- January 2018 (23)
2017
- December 2017 (21)
- November 2017 (22)
- October 2017 (22)
- September 2017 (22)
- August 2017 (23)
- July 2017 (21)
- June 2017 (21)
- May 2017 (22)
- April 2017 (21)
- March 2017 (21)
- February 2017 (19)
- January 2017 (23)
2016
- December 2016 (21)
- November 2016 (21)
- October 2016 (22)
- September 2016 (22)
- August 2016 (22)
- July 2016 (22)
- June 2016 (20)
- May 2016 (23)
- April 2016 (21)
- March 2016 (21)
- February 2016 (18)
- January 2016 (22)
2015
- December 2015 (28)
- November 2015 (29)
- October 2015 (29)
- September 2015 (29)
- August 2015 (28)
- July 2015 (28)
- June 2015 (28)
- May 2015 (28)
- April 2015 (26)
- March 2015 (29)
- February 2015 (24)
- January 2015 (25)
2014
- December 2014 (25)
- November 2014 (26)
- October 2014 (27)
- September 2014 (24)
- August 2014 (23)
- July 2014 (11)
- June 2014 (8)
- May 2014 (4)
- April 2014 (2)