Sherwood Smith

Inda — (2006-2012) Banner of the Danmed takes place 400 years after the INDA books. Publisher: Indevan Algara-Vayir is the second son of a powerful prince, destined to stay at home and defend his family's castle. 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 — and that one can find oneself on the outside, fighting the dangers that do exist there.

Inda

Sherwood Smith’s Inda is such a wonderful book. To begin with, Smith has created a world full of all the details and history that many of us crave and so seldom find. Smith takes the time to do more than simply tell a story. She creates a really vibrant backdrop for the characters to act against and the result is something a cut above most of the fantasy being written today.

Inda (his actual name is Indevan-Dal) is the second son of a noble family. Sounds terribly cliché, I know. Inda’s lot in life is to be trained by his older brother as the head of defense for the family's castle. The social rules and traditions of his Marlovan heritage demand that his role be completely subordinate to his brother’s rule. Inda’s family history intensifies this because Inda’s father’s first wife was slaughtered by a pirate raid. The culture he is growing up in is very martial and based on tradition.

The heart of the story is about societal and personal change and the plot is replete with interesting politics and strong statements about social injustice. The characters meet every sort of moral challenge that you can imagine. In fact, this emphasis on morality and ethics reminded me of Janny Wurts' novels, and that is high praise indeed.

Inda is a leader. He’s not a flashy, self-motivated leader, but the rarest form of leader who is loyal to those who are loyal to him and who doesn’t place personal gain ahead of team accomplishment. Smith does a brilliant job of describing how this sort of magnetic personality can be a lighting rod for both good and bad depending on whether he is recognized as an ally or a threat.

As a part of the storyline, Inda is separated from his family and home because of crimes he didn’t commit. Smith successfully creates some really loathsome characters for us to hate in the forms of the heir to the throne and his uncle, the king’s brother. Kudos to Smith who doesn't just tell us they are "bad guys," but who plans and draws them as well as she does the "good guys."

I appreciated that Smith skillfully presented some volatile issues (e.g. homosexuality) in a non-advocative fashion whereas some authors prefer to hit us over the head with their views. Her way was to merely present a point of information rather than something we felt the need to take a side on — a good use of different perspectives.

The final highlight of Sherwood Smith’s Inda is her ability to realistically depict military themes in a fantasy setting. The concepts of training, practice, education, and development in a martial context are some of the best that I have encountered. I love the way that she depicts soldiers as being made — not born.

My review of The Fox, the next book in the Inda series, will be done soon. Inda was that good.
—John Hulet

The Fox

After the high standards of Inda, the prequel to Sherwood Smith’s The Fox, it was next to impossible to be better this time. But, still, Smith delivers a quality second book in the series.

After the drama of the first book, Inda was left at sea after being forced from his homeland. Smith had really run Inda through a ragged race of events while growing him slowly into the man he would become. That process continues in The Fox. Inda remains, as always, the leader without an ego. He follows the impossible standard of leading from the front. As a weapon against pirates, that had been effective.

At home, the politics of selfishness and hunger for power continue to spiral towards an inevitable conclusion. Inda’s family continues to cope with the second and third order after-effects of unconscionable acts by members of the ruling family. This is not an instant process — rather the villains continue to grow more and more isolated from reality as their actions lead further and further from the honor and loyalty that is expected.

The many supporting characters remain very interesting. Flaws, strengths, and change are all part of each character's story and Smith really keeps them moving. It’s like a well choreographed ballet with many different dancers moving at the same time. However, I felt at times that the story seemed to drag. As a reader I would come to a point where the inevitable next step was obviously coming and I didn’t want to slog through another 100 pages to get to it. The “filler” sections were not really boring, but they didn’t seem as vital to the story as they did in most of the first book. That doesn’t mean that The Fox was slow — merely that Smith had a lot of story to tell and sometimes it felt like it took a long time to get where she wants to take us.

Again, Smith’s ability to treat different moral perspectives as windows into a character’s personality instead of a judgment made several divisive themes entirely appropriate. She effectively creates character faults and shows us how things taken too far can turn from bad to good.

On the whole, The Fox was a good book. Not as good as Inda, but still worth the effort to get through almost 800 pages of text. I look forward to further journeys in the world Sherwood Smith has created. —John Hulet

Sasharia en Garde! — (2008) Young adult. Publisher: Swashbuckling in a magic world — L.A. style! Sasha-s mother, Sun, was once swept away from a Ren Faire to another world by a prince-literally — but there was no happy ending. Sun-s prince disappeared, and a wicked king took the Khanerenth throne. In the years since, Sasha and Sun have been back on Earth and on the run. Mom and daughter don't quite see eye to eye on the situation — Sasha wants to stand and fight. Sun insists her prince will return for them one day; it's safer to stay hidden. Then Sasha is tricked into crossing the portal to Khanerenth. She's more than ready to join the resistance, kick some bad-guy butt, and fix the broken kingdom. But — is the stylish pirate Zathdar the bad guy? Or artistic, dreamy Prince Jehan? Back on Earth, Sun is furious Sasha has been kidnapped. Sun might once have been a rotten princess, but nobody messes with Mom! Warning: This title contains a kick-butt mother-daughter team, a wicked king, a witty pirate with an unfortunate taste for neon colors, inept resistance fighters, a dreamy prince who gallops earnestly hither and yon, and a kick-butt princess in waiting.