Synopses & Reviews
Once upon a time, I had known nothing about my family. Gran never, ever spoke about her family, and I never asked. My parents and I knew that Gran had come from Europe, but anyone would have known that from her beautiful, aristrocratic French. But being me, I just couldn't leave it alone. So I went to Europe and found out. And then my life fell apart.
Or shoudl I say, my old life fell apart. And my new life...well, it was like something right out of a fairy tale.
I had been ta teacher on the college level, and now I was a member of one of the royal families of Dobrenica, an obscure European country with some very unusual attributes.
Like magic. Yes, there was magic in Dobrencia. For instance, if certain members of two royal lines married at a specific time, Dobrenia vanished. And ghosts, I could now see ghosts. And vampires....but I still can't quite wrap my brain around that one. Let's just say that Dobrenica was one strange little country.
I was truly happy. I was engaged to the heir apparent to the throne of Dobrenica, and we were in love. Wedding preparations were underway and, although the thought of being a princess made me feel weird, being with Alec was like living a dream.
So my mood was high as I walked under the triumphal arch in the center of the capital city and ducked thorugh a lichen-dotten medieval archway. Trailing my fingers along the wall, I soon passed the odd little painting of a door that had intrigued me ever since I first came to Dobrenica. It was rendered so realistically that on first glance it seemed three-dimensional, but as I passed my hands over the painted doorknob, my fingres closed on cold metal, and the false door swung inward, revealing a sun-drenched landscape and a teenage girl with honey-colored braids.
"I am Xanpia," she said, and somehow I knew she wasn't just another girl named after the patron saint of Dobrenica.
"This door," I blurted, "how does it work?"
"It is a door between your past and your future," she responded.
"Oh, no! No, no, no -- I'm about to married!" I said in desperation, trying to back away.
"You are called to guide the child Aurelie," she said. "But that is only half your task: To save Dobrenica, you must bring her here."
And with that, she disappeared, leaving me floating like a spirit in a strange world, two hundred years in the past....
Review
“Smith’s story moves along at a pleasant pace…. The period in which the novel is set is more than interesting enough.”
Review
"Revenant Eve works on two fronts: as a terrific time travel thriller and as a Dobrenica entry (see Coronets and Steel and Blood Spirits). The mentor and the mentee are fully developed so that the trials and tribulations of both seem genuine.... Fans will relish this exhilarating thriller while newcomers will find this a fine taste of Dobrenica."
Review
"Recalling The Count of Monte Cristo and The Prisoner of Zenda in plot and theme, this cross-world fantasy/romance should appeal to YA and adult fans of the genre."
Review
"History aficionado and champion fencer Aurelia Kim Murray investigates her taciturn grandmother's European roots and her own identity in Smith's sweeping, feminist Ruritanian romance....Kim is thrust into the complicated and potentially deadly politics of a small, haunted kingdom threatened equally by its neighbors as by its scheming ruling families. Smith engages readers with humor and rapier-sharp wit, and extensive details from Central European history…make the nation of Dobrenica terrifically real.... A lively heroine, mysterious ghosts, and a complex and intricate plot."
Review
"This is a rousing adventure of doubles, political intrigue, and doomed romance.... Quaint customs, handsome noblemen of uncertain trustworthiness, intrigues, and a rather backward country where cell phones and the Internet refuse to work provide the necessary Old World backdrop, while more ghosts and hints of other supernatural doings add a welcome soupçon of fantasy (and a hint of Brigadoon). Its a delightful romp, with just enough loose ends to leave some hope that the doomed romance might not be so doomed after all."
Review
"Kim is a brash, bold and utterly irreverent character as she confronts a variety of situations outside the scope of her experience and frequently preserveres. Fast pacing bolstered by a broad range of occasionally predictable twists and turns, this lighthearted fantasy with just a touch of romance and magic will leave readers wondering what’s next for Kim."
Review
"A frequently thrilling tale, full of adventure, romance, and magic, a charming mix of everyday details and epic overtones."
Review
"Sherwood Smith should rank high on any list of military writers.... The cavalry battles, hand-to-hand, strategy sessions, the aftermaths of battles, these scenes in
Banner of the Damned roll across the page with effortless mastery... a first rate author boldly at play."
Review
"Tremendously enjoyable.... The characters are interesting, believable, and well-drawn, the politics — national and personal — compelling, and there’s plenty of action and excitement to go around."
Review
"A magical tale of political intrigue and romantic entanglements...vividly realized and entertaining."
Review
"Highly recommended for all fantasy and general-fiction collections, as the potential readership is wide, from urban-fantasy readers looking for something lighter but still complex to young women who grew up reading the Princess Diaries series."
Synopsis
Indevan Algara-Vayir was born the second son of a powerful prince, destined to stay at home and defend his family's castle. But when war threatens, Inda is sent to the Royal Academy where he learns the art of war and finds that danger and intrigue don't only come from outside the kingdom.
Synopsis
Acclaimed author Sherwood Smith's first adult fantasy novel, set in the bestselling world of
Crown Duel.
Indevan-Dal is the second son of the Prince and Princess of Choraed Elgaer, destined to become his elder brother Tanrid's Shield Arm-his military champion. Like all second sons, he is to be privately trained at home by Tanrid, the brother whose lands he will one day protect.
When the King's Voice comes to summon Inda to the Military Academy, he might well feel foreboding, or even fear-war is imminent-yet youthful Inda feels only excitement. But there are things that Tanrid hadn't prepared him for, and Inda will soon learn that the greatest threats to his safety will not come from foreign enemies, but from supposed allies within his own country.
Synopsis
Kim Murray is happily planning her wedding when she finds herself pulled two centuries back in time. It's 1795, the rise of Napoleon, and Kim is now a guardian spirit for a twelve-year-old kid who will either become Kim's ancestor . . . or the timeline will alter and Kim will vanish, along with the small, magical European country of Dobrenica. What? Yes, the child called Aurelie de Mascarenhas must get to Dobrenica, or more than just one family will vanish.
Kim hates time travel conundrums, and knows nothing about kids. How is she going to guide a kid born on Saint-Domingue, with whom she has nothing in common?
From Jamaica to England to the Paris of the early 1800s, Kim and Aurelie travel, sharing adventures and learning more about Vrajhus, the Blessing, and the Nasdrafus than is known in Dobrenica's modern times. Along the way to wedding bells or annihilation, Kim makes a shocking discovery . . .
Synopsis
Emras, a scribe assigned to the intelligent and beautiful Princess Lasva of Colend, is on trial. But why? Emras had accompanied Lasva to the barbaric, martial land of Marloven Hesea years before so Lasva could join her betrothed, a Marloven prince. But before Emras left Colend, she was charged with a secret mission from her queen: to monitor her new home for signs of the insidious and dangerous influence of Norsundera magical land once thought to be legend, but now known to exist.
What went wrong? If Emras was acting on orders from her queen, why is she on trial now?
Synopsis
Everyone's favorite sword-wielding California girl returns-from the author of Coronets and Steel.
With the man she loves set to marry a look-alike princess, Kim Murray returns to California from the magical country of Dobrenica to heal her broken heart. But family politics soon have her leaving for London, where she is forced into a duel with a Dobrenican nobleman. He reveals that her great sacrifice, leaving Alec, was a disaster. To fix her mistake, Kim returns to Dobrenica, but what she finds there is far more shocking and dangerous than she ever imagined. Not just politics and personalities but ghosts and magic, murder and mystery, await her as she struggles to understand the many faces of love. Once again Kim has to take sword in hand as she tries to make peace and learn the truth. Only, whose truth?
Synopsis
Over the course of five books, Sherwood Smith has enthralled readers with the world of Sartorias-deles. First in the military action of the
Inda series and then in the magic-based cultural drama of
Banner of the Damned, Smiths books are a tour-de-force of deadly high politics, incredibly engaging worldbuilding, and nuanced examinations of power, love, and betrayal. Readers of all stripes have praised her for the master fantasist she is.
Woven throughout these sagas is a dark mystery: the dangerous, shadowed threat of Norsunder. With incredible powers only hinted at and rare appearances of enigmatic characters, Norsunder has loomed as the ultimate villain, the very highest of stakes, and a foreboding battle to come: the great story readers have been eagerly awaiting.
A Sword Named Truth begins that story. The first installment of a trilogy, A Sword Named Truth launches readers into the non-stop action, politics, and magical threats leading to Norsunders return.
Our heroes span continents and cultures, ambitions and desires, but share one characteristic: they are young leaders. Many are rulers of unstable nations, growing into their power and themselves, but they are seeking ways to trust and bind themselves together and find the strength to defend against a host that has crushed entire worlds.
About the Author
Sherwood Smith started making books out of paper towels at age six. In between stories, she studied and traveled in Europe, got a Masters degree in history, and now lives in Southern California with her spouse, two kids, and two dogs. Shes worked in jobs ranging from counter work in a smoky harbor bar to the film industry. Writing books is what she loves best. Shes the author of the high fantasy History of Sartorias-deles series as well as the modern-day fantasy adventures of Kim Murray in Coronets and Steel. Learn more at www.sherwoodsmith.net.