Customer Reviews

Crown Duel

5 star:		(119)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is easily my favorite book. I first read it in early high school and now, at the end of college, get just as much if not more out of it with every re-read. It combines a vivid, original fantasy world with realistic sociological and political portrayals and analyses, absolutely fascinating to any sociology or political science major. Neither the magic nor the romance overpower this book; the romance is fulfilling even while the book focuses on more important themes.

The most fascinating part of this book, however, and what brings me back to read it over and over again, is the heroine, Mel. She makes real mistakes, misinterprets practically everything, and is driven further into trouble by the very ignorance she strives to rid herself of. Mel is as real to any young adult (or anyone who remembers that age) as any heroine ever written. I can't count how many times I've read of her mistakes and winced myself in sympathy, knowing I've made the same mishaps and showed identical character faults. Anyone who enjoys realistic fantasy with a dash of romance and sci-fi will adore this book.

Wow. I got this book for Christmas and I could not put it down! From the very beginning Smith hooked me with the way Mel was a Countess in a crumble-down castle, and she was fighting the good fight with no other noble to help her. Mel's brother is nice, but he doesn't understand her. The one person who understands her is her so-called "enemy," Shevraeth. He was sent by the king to put down her uprising.

I'm not going to give the whole book away, so let me just say that this has something for everyone. Girl tries to kick butt, but finds it is harder than it looks. Then she's a captive, and running from the bad guys. Later, she is playing a game of deception and secrets when she goes to court. And, last, but definitely not least, she falls in love.

I love the way Sherwood Smith's characters are all well-developed, no matter the role they play in the book. I am amazed and gratified at the incredible job she did.

...I absolutely loved this book!!! I can't write a book review to save my life but this was a 10 star book all the way. As soon as I put this down I was ready to read the sequel...only to realize it was out of print and was too expensive to buy... The action keeps you going, the bravery and heroism that young Meliara must demonstrate is an awesome experience. I was astounded by this book. I re-read it so many times I practically know it by heart. Read it! It's sooo COOL!!!

I am a huge advocate for more books that have strong female heroines in them; this is one such book. The Countess, "Mel" as she is affectionately called, is a heroine in her early twenties or so who is trying to uphold a vow to her fatehr that she would fight for the protection of the local mystical "Hillfolk" and their rare trees. In her efforts to protect this vow the books (there are two books in this novel) take the reader through wars in both the battlefield and the royal court. Mel soon learns that courtiers are not all that they seem and to the readers' delight there are many plot twists and suspenseful moments sure to keep you reading.

Although I don't want to spoil the ending, there is a large amount of romance in this boook that leaves you feeling excited and cheering for the heroine. One good feature of this particular binding is that it features a small short story, "Vidanric's Birthday Surprise," additionally included in the end, that is about the central characters and is evidently not found in other versions. I highly recommend reading it because it gives you a wonderful closing to a wonderful duo of books.

I don't really see a point in describing Crown Duel and Court Duel since other people already have, and I'm always afraid I'll spoil something. But anyway, Crown Duel is the best book I've ever read! And I read all the time! lol. Seriously though, this is the best book ever. I couldn't even decide which part was better. Court Duel has the best romance in it I've ever read. It's not in your face like it is in other books, but its subtly woven into the plot to make it so much sweeter and perfect! I love all the characters in this book and reread it all the time! I can't get over how good it is! I only wish I could give it a 1000 stars! I hope everyone will read it! The only bad thing that would come of you reading this is becoming an obsessed freak like me! ..Thats not a bad thing though! Just do me a favor and read this book! And spread the word! You're seriously depriving yourself if you don't read this! Weelll ok bye!

This timeless story of action, adventure, and the screwups of eternity are a definate read. I was up late in the night reading these marvelous tales.
Meliara is a naive girl who blooms into an intelligent woman. With action adventure and a twist of romance here and there makes this book something you will think of always.

I found CROWN DUEL to be a long series of anti-climaxes. Again and again, our heroine is backed up into a corner, only to be rescued at the last moment. No matter how much circumstances change through the novel - as Meliara transforms from a barefoot countess to a noble with fearsome allies and power of her own - the pattern stays the same. Things get so bad that the protagonists find themselves helpless, hamstrung, and unable to act - and then some third party steps in at the crisis and poof, everything's ok again.

I was also disappointed with the character of Meliara - she is supposed to be, I believe, one of those strong-woman-warrior types, a female leader, a heroine. At first, I thought that we were witnessing her growing pains - the frequently idiotic behavior of a courageous girl on her way to becoming a battle-tested and truly admirable woman. Except she never grew up, and I had to abandon that notion. I don't think it's a coincidence that at the end of it all, Meliara's major success is throwing a fine party. Which is nice and all, but not really heroine-caliber.

The romance was similarly botched. Meliara gets a secret admirer, who courts her indirectly. This develops well enough. But the secret admirer is a real person, and his face-to-face relationship with Meliara remains so static that when the final reveal finally came along I didn't really buy it. Once again, it's too easy - Meliara recognizes her admirer in the flesh, all other troubles are swept aside, and poof, happy ending.

My favorite part of a good story is reading about the ingenious way that a protagonist solves some knotty problem or other - political, magical, romantic. I like the imagination, the strategy, the hard choices involved. I felt like I was consistently denied that payoff here, and I was really disappointed.

I'm a bit shocked by the rave reviews for this book (originally 2 books merged into 1). The story tells the tale of Mel - a young, poor, tomboy of a noble who gets swept up into the bigger world when the evil King sets his sights on her little corner of the world. Eventually she makes her way to court where she strives to overcome her ignorance and succeed in the complex web of relationships that make up the court. Sounds promising, yes?

The first half of the book finds Mel largely on the run from the evil King and his minions. During this adventure she makes so many poor choices, including consistently being rude and untrusting to the one person who repeatedly saves her life, that it becomes difficult to continue to cheer her on. Also, somewhat humorously, Mel finds herself unconscious every time anything exciting is going on. Madcap escape from the dungeon? Well it happens but you don't really know how because Mel snoozed through the whole thing. So much of the adventure is lost as its basically happening "off camera."

Later at court Mel is supposedly learning to navigate the labyrinth of courtly manners and intrigue. But sadly there is absolutely no tension about it. Mel seemingly has nothing at risk, there isn't really much point for her to be there, and at any point she could happily return to her home without any repercussion. The given reason for her to be there is to decide if the heir apparent to the crown (Shevraeth who after saving her life repeatedly seems to be still highly suspect as a person - seriously?!?!) will be a good king. However she gives almost no time to figuring this out as she is too busy with pointless social outings and party planning. She also strikes up a pen-pal relationship with a mysterious person which supposedly develops over time. However we're only allowed to read a few of their correspondence (this book suffers from a lot of "tell, don't show" writing) so mostly we're TOLD that they write constantly and that she is eager to find letters. When her mysterious pen-pal reveals himself nobody will be surprised by his identity. The only surprise is that he actually has feelings for her despite her truly horrible behavior towards him.

In all fairness, I'm not a 10 year old girl (I'm a Mom who occasionally dips into the YA market for escapist fun) so perhaps I simply don't represent the target. But if I were going to find a YA appropriate epic fantasy I would lean more towards some classics like The Once and Future King, the Libba Bray series, Graceling, or the ever fantastic Black Cauldren series (a must read for any YA fantasy+ romance lover). But this book had so many flaws and there are so many great books out there it seems a shame to waste time and money on this one.

This is an amazing book. i've had it for less than a year and i've already read it four times. I've never read books like this before-i was a little skeptical, but i am soooooooooooo glad i picked this up one day at barnes and noble. If you want a wonderful reading experience, get this book!

I'm not going to write a summary of this book, because plenty of other reviewers have. All I want to say that this is now my absolute favorite book! I finished reading it three hours ago, and I still can't stop thinking of it or get rid of my excitement over it. This book has everything--from an evil king, a rebellion led by a poor teenaged countess, and several captures and escapes of that same countess, who leads soldiers across the country playing tricks on them along the way; to the confusion and deception of court life, and a romance with the mysterious Marquis of Shevreath. Well...I guess that was somewhat of a summary, haha, oh well! All I can say is that I'm pretty certain that ANY girl would absolutely love this book, and I recommend it more than any book I've read before.