Sherwood Smith (1) (1951–)
Author of Crown Duel
For other authors named Sherwood Smith, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Sherwood Smith writes fantasy and science fiction for young adult and adults. She received a master's degree in history and worked for twenty years as a teacher. Her first book was Wren to the Rescue and she has written more than thirty books since then including the Exordium series with Dave show more Trowbridge and two of the books in the Solar Queen series with Andre Norton. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Sherwood Smith
Mom and Dad at the Home Front 6 copies
The Phoenix Feather Omnibus 2 copies
Beauty 2 copies
Fleeing Peace sample 1 copy
The Hero And The Princess 1 copy
I Was A Teenaged Superhero 1 copy
Associated Works
Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction (2003) — Contributor — 850 copies, 24 reviews
Firebirds Soaring: An Anthology of Original Speculative Fiction (2009) — Contributor — 231 copies, 9 reviews
Bruce Coville's Book of Aliens: Tales to Warp Your Mind (1994) — Contributor — 217 copies, 4 reviews
Bruce Coville's Book of Spine Tinglers: Tales to Make You Shiver (1996) — Author — 136 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Lowentrout, Christine I. Smith
- Other names
- Talliss, Robyn (shared with other writers)
- Birthdate
- 1951-05-28
- Gender
- female
- Education
- (MA) (history)
- Occupations
- schoolteacher
author - Organizations
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- California, USA
Europe - Associated Place (for map)
- California, USA
Members
Discussions
Found: YA fantasy about a girl whose family is former nobility in an area if the kingdom that can't afford to pay taxes anymore in Name that Book (April 2021)
Online Short Story : Teen girl games reality show system. in Name that Book (December 2010)
Reviews
Full disclosure: I don't remember much about Sherwood Smith's first Oz book, The Emerald Wand of Oz. I read it two or three years after publication - probably 2007 or 2008 - and I didn't like it. All I really recall now was a strong sense that it was highly derivative, that it was overly keen to work in modern dysfunctional family issues, and that a large chunk of it appeared to take place in a My Little Pony-style land. (And this was before My Little Pony came back and became cool, too.) show more Additionally, I remember thinking that Smith was simply aiming low in terms of her readership: Emerald Want felt like an Oz book for a small child, maybe about 7 years old. And with that in mind, I have to admit Trouble Under Oz has the same issue. It just feels too young. Too simple. I don't get the impression that Smith trusts her audience; it's a very hand-holding sort of story.
When I think about that, I'm struck that I can't quite figure out the goal behind the Smith Oz books. Smith was selected, commissioned and is now endorsed by the Baum Family Trust - which is fine, except that over half of the Famous Forty Oz books are in the public domain (including all of Baum's), so such an endorsement really means very little. You could publish an Oz book. I could publish an Oz book. There are fans out there with staggeringly little writing talent who have published Oz books, as well as some who are gifted and brilliant storytellers. The idea that the "official license" of the Baum Family Trust has any weight is, frankly, laughable.
I find myself wondering, though, if the point wasn't to re-ignite public interest of the Baum books within the mainstream. If so, I think the Smith books have spectacularly failed, but they do make somewhat more sense. There might have been some hope that a well-published, modern YA fantasy writer would bring both credibility and interest to the franchise (so to speak), and the idea might really have been to try and attract new readers who were 7, 8, 9 years old. That would explain the somewhat kiddie-fied adventures and the heavy emphasis on modern child protagonists a reader could relate to, as well as Smith's insistence on referring back to Baum's own books, both in terms of her story's settings and the protagonists' reading material (reading Dori and Em consulting the original Oz books practically screams, "Kids! Buy the other books in the series TODAY!").
What it doesn't explain is how highly derivative Trouble Under Oz feels. Yes, it's traditional to include old Oz characters in new adventures, so I can hardly fault Smith for reintroducing Prince Inga (from Rinkitink in Oz) or various Nome characters. However, if one of the drives of the series is to get kids to read the Baum books, they will surely be disappointed how many scenarios are ripped straight from them. The trial pits and the magic pearls? Those are from Rinkitink again. The Giant with the Hammer is from Ozma of Oz. The Mangaboos and the Valley of Voe are from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. The Phanfasms are from The Emerald City of Oz. One or two of these might have been okay, but it just becomes an endless litany of unoriginal ideas, with only the Tasca birds and a few ideas about Nome society truly feeling "new." (For grown-up readers, even Smith's names are groan-inducingly derivative: Dori and Em are bad enough, but Nome Prince Rik's friends are said to be "Tiki! Tavi! Jubjub! Jabi! [and] Wok!", which are the most unsubtle references to Kipling and Carroll I've heard in many a day.)
When you strip away all of those less successful elements, there frankly isn't much story left. Again, I think a child would be suitably entertained - one who hasn't read many Oz books. I'm not surprised, however, to learn that Smith's planned four-book series went on hiatus after this second volume, only to be renewed later this year (after a full eight-year gap). My hope is Smith and her editors have reconsidered the direction of their series. There are a lot of Oz books out there, and with the original Baum books still in print, there's little to make anyone recommend a book like Trouble Under Oz instead. show less
When I think about that, I'm struck that I can't quite figure out the goal behind the Smith Oz books. Smith was selected, commissioned and is now endorsed by the Baum Family Trust - which is fine, except that over half of the Famous Forty Oz books are in the public domain (including all of Baum's), so such an endorsement really means very little. You could publish an Oz book. I could publish an Oz book. There are fans out there with staggeringly little writing talent who have published Oz books, as well as some who are gifted and brilliant storytellers. The idea that the "official license" of the Baum Family Trust has any weight is, frankly, laughable.
I find myself wondering, though, if the point wasn't to re-ignite public interest of the Baum books within the mainstream. If so, I think the Smith books have spectacularly failed, but they do make somewhat more sense. There might have been some hope that a well-published, modern YA fantasy writer would bring both credibility and interest to the franchise (so to speak), and the idea might really have been to try and attract new readers who were 7, 8, 9 years old. That would explain the somewhat kiddie-fied adventures and the heavy emphasis on modern child protagonists a reader could relate to, as well as Smith's insistence on referring back to Baum's own books, both in terms of her story's settings and the protagonists' reading material (reading Dori and Em consulting the original Oz books practically screams, "Kids! Buy the other books in the series TODAY!").
What it doesn't explain is how highly derivative Trouble Under Oz feels. Yes, it's traditional to include old Oz characters in new adventures, so I can hardly fault Smith for reintroducing Prince Inga (from Rinkitink in Oz) or various Nome characters. However, if one of the drives of the series is to get kids to read the Baum books, they will surely be disappointed how many scenarios are ripped straight from them. The trial pits and the magic pearls? Those are from Rinkitink again. The Giant with the Hammer is from Ozma of Oz. The Mangaboos and the Valley of Voe are from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. The Phanfasms are from The Emerald City of Oz. One or two of these might have been okay, but it just becomes an endless litany of unoriginal ideas, with only the Tasca birds and a few ideas about Nome society truly feeling "new." (For grown-up readers, even Smith's names are groan-inducingly derivative: Dori and Em are bad enough, but Nome Prince Rik's friends are said to be "Tiki! Tavi! Jubjub! Jabi! [and] Wok!", which are the most unsubtle references to Kipling and Carroll I've heard in many a day.)
When you strip away all of those less successful elements, there frankly isn't much story left. Again, I think a child would be suitably entertained - one who hasn't read many Oz books. I'm not surprised, however, to learn that Smith's planned four-book series went on hiatus after this second volume, only to be renewed later this year (after a full eight-year gap). My hope is Smith and her editors have reconsidered the direction of their series. There are a lot of Oz books out there, and with the original Baum books still in print, there's little to make anyone recommend a book like Trouble Under Oz instead. show less
{2nd in Dobrenica trilogy; fantasy, Ruritanian romance, ghosts, vampires, magic, paranormal, adventure, swashbuckling}(2010)
I'm a sucker for Ruritanian romance; throw in some fantasy and I'm there. This is the sequel to Coronets and Steel which was literally a modern day, gender reversed Prisoner of Zenda with fantasy motifs. Blood Spirits follows on during the Christmas holidays after the events in the first book. When I was younger (and maybe not so much younger than now 😉) I wanted to show more be able to do magic and be the knight in shining armour defeating villains with my sword and finding lost heirs. Kim Murray (of California) gets to do a lot of that in the tiny European kingdom of Dobrenica where 21st century technology rarely works - but maybe magic does. The title of the book refers to vampire-like beings which were hinted at in the first book - well, I suppose Dobrenica isn't too far from Transylvania.
Six months after the end of her first adventure in Dobrenica Kim finds herself drawn back there to help Ruli (they both share the name 'Aurelia'), her doppelgänger, much as Rudolph Rassendyl was called back to Ruritania in Rupert of Hentzau although (fortunately for me) it doesn't follow that plot as closely as Coronets and Steel followed The Prisoner of Zenda - there's a happier ending (thankfully) though there are some moments that had me worried.
Kim’s Dobreni acquaintances are not all best pleased to see her after her abrupt, secret departure the previous summer and though she sacrificed her personal happiness for the sake of the country, things don't seem to have changed for the better. Ruli has disappeared and Kim spends more time, on this visit, with their aristocratic mutual cousins who don't trust her after the events of the summer. She stays at the same inn as she did the previous time and the Waleskas, at least, are happy to see her again - not least because of the prestige that her staying there brings them. Kim starts to see ghosts and learns how to communicate with them and to use her developing powers from the Salfmattas and Salfpatras of the country (something like wise women and wise men, most of whom have some kind of paranormal powers) which Tania Waleska is able to help her with.
But wow! - I did not see that ending coming.
I think that at some point I will re-read this series and focus on the details. I would recommend reading this book soon after Coronets and Steel so you can keep track of the family tree (it's been over a year for me); I got a bit lost in odd places but I was probably reading too fast so I could find out what happened next. I did notice, about halfway through, that there hadn't been much romance, the love of Kim's life being otherwise engaged (pun intended). I liked the inclusion of Kim's immediate family (her parents and grandmother) in the story.
I do enjoy being in Smith's worlds (this series has a more contemporary and casual feel than her Sartorias-Deles one); I've enjoyed visiting Dobrenica and look forward to my next sojourn there. Despite the tidy ending there is another book in the trilogy waiting for me.
February 2025
4.5 stars show less
I'm a sucker for Ruritanian romance; throw in some fantasy and I'm there. This is the sequel to Coronets and Steel which was literally a modern day, gender reversed Prisoner of Zenda with fantasy motifs. Blood Spirits follows on during the Christmas holidays after the events in the first book. When I was younger (and maybe not so much younger than now 😉) I wanted to show more be able to do magic and be the knight in shining armour defeating villains with my sword and finding lost heirs. Kim Murray (of California) gets to do a lot of that in the tiny European kingdom of Dobrenica where 21st century technology rarely works - but maybe magic does. The title of the book refers to vampire-like beings which were hinted at in the first book - well, I suppose Dobrenica isn't too far from Transylvania.
Six months after the end of her first adventure in Dobrenica Kim finds herself drawn back there to help Ruli (they both share the name 'Aurelia'), her doppelgänger, much as Rudolph Rassendyl was called back to Ruritania in Rupert of Hentzau although (fortunately for me) it doesn't follow that plot as closely as Coronets and Steel followed The Prisoner of Zenda - there's a happier ending (thankfully) though there are some moments that had me worried.
Kim’s Dobreni acquaintances are not all best pleased to see her after her abrupt, secret departure the previous summer and though she sacrificed her personal happiness for the sake of the country, things don't seem to have changed for the better. Ruli has disappeared and Kim spends more time, on this visit, with their aristocratic mutual cousins who don't trust her after the events of the summer. She stays at the same inn as she did the previous time and the Waleskas, at least, are happy to see her again - not least because of the prestige that her staying there brings them. Kim starts to see ghosts and learns how to communicate with them and to use her developing powers from the Salfmattas and Salfpatras of the country (something like wise women and wise men, most of whom have some kind of paranormal powers) which Tania Waleska is able to help her with.
The plot is twisty as various political factions jockey for power and there are far too many 'accidents' going around (including one involving Ruli which her cousins think Kim might have helped to set up) so Kim doesn't know who to trust. A lot of things are half hidden, between various family secrets and the fact that much of Dobreni history was lost after the country was invaded and taken over first by the Germans in World War II and then by the Soviets, so Kim has her work cut out trying to work out her place in Dobreni society, learn how to use her newly discovered abilities and discover who's behind the so-called accidents and why, not to mention foiling coups d'état along the way. The tension and action kept me glued to the page.
"The young teen I'd trust, Theresa? And the older teen, what's her name, Tania? Yeah. She's an odd duck - someone told me she used to sit on the roof ridgepole and talk to imaginary friends when she was a kid. Played with cats and rats. Actually, I kinda like the sound of that! Anyway, she's gotten locked into the Salfmatta sorority, so you can bet she'd keep her lip zipped."
Salfmatta sorority - the Salfmattas were the ones who were kind of like healers and kind of like mages, near as I could tell. My grandmother's old governess, Tante Mina, was one. I'd stayed with her after I escaped from Tony, and she'd clued me in about the Blessing, among other things.
"I'd also trust the married sister," Nat went on.
But wow! - I did not see that ending coming.
I think that at some point I will re-read this series and focus on the details. I would recommend reading this book soon after Coronets and Steel so you can keep track of the family tree (it's been over a year for me); I got a bit lost in odd places but I was probably reading too fast so I could find out what happened next. I did notice, about halfway through, that there hadn't been much romance, the love of Kim's life being otherwise engaged (pun intended). I liked the inclusion of Kim's immediate family (her parents and grandmother) in the story.
I do enjoy being in Smith's worlds (this series has a more contemporary and casual feel than her Sartorias-Deles one); I've enjoyed visiting Dobrenica and look forward to my next sojourn there. Despite the tidy ending there is another book in the trilogy waiting for me.
February 2025
4.5 stars show less
Lilah, the young niece of tyrannical King Darian, slips away from her stately home to play with the ragged children she's only ever seen from her carriage, and in short order gets involved in the revolution that's brewing--one in which her principled brother plays a key role. But revolutions are messy affairs, and what started as a lark and adventure turns out to have grave personal consequences.
What's wonderful about this story is how it lets a reader really feel what it would be like to be show more on the streets, right at the scene, for something as tumultuous-exciting-horrific-scary as a revolution, what it would be like to live through not only the storming of palaces, but the chaos afterward. Sherwood Smith has done a remarkable job in making the scene real and yet not so desperately grim that a reader won't enjoy it. There are complicated questions here: how do you win loyalty? How can you hold a nation together? They're gracefully handled in a tale that keeps up a high level of excitement the whole way through.
For me, the peak of excitement was the trial of Lilah's brother Peitar for treason. It's a wonderful instance of the drama of ideas, made all the more so because during the course of the book King Darian has been revealed as actually a quite interesting person, not a cardboard villain by any measure. But there are plenty of high-action episodes for those who like their drama more active--most notably the exploits of the Sharadan Brothers, a Robin Hood-esque set of siblings from past history whose personae Lilah and her friends take on to aid the cause of the rebels.
I think the book can appeal to a wide age range, and I can really imagine siblings reading it together and enjoying it. If my own kids were younger, I can well imagine reading it to them. show less
What's wonderful about this story is how it lets a reader really feel what it would be like to be show more on the streets, right at the scene, for something as tumultuous-exciting-horrific-scary as a revolution, what it would be like to live through not only the storming of palaces, but the chaos afterward. Sherwood Smith has done a remarkable job in making the scene real and yet not so desperately grim that a reader won't enjoy it. There are complicated questions here: how do you win loyalty? How can you hold a nation together? They're gracefully handled in a tale that keeps up a high level of excitement the whole way through.
I think the book can appeal to a wide age range, and I can really imagine siblings reading it together and enjoying it. If my own kids were younger, I can well imagine reading it to them. show less
(n.b.: I read partial drafts of the novel, so I'm not an unbiased reviewer)
Banner of the Damned is a cunning novel that leads you to believe it’s doing one thing (and indeed, it is ) and then another (which it is too), and then, suddenly, you turn around, and you realize it’s also doing a third thing. At that point you’re reeling from Sherwood Smith’s storytelling skills.
So what is the third thing? Let me answer a question with a question: Have you ever wondered about the motivations show more of an evil mage, working for the benefit of an evil king? Many fantasy stories don’t let you ask the question. The king’s just evil, that’s all---or if a reason must be given, it’s something like, “He wants to rule the world, you see. He’s power mad.” And the mage is just his minion---probably wanting the scraps of power that fall off the king’s plate. Or else it’s the mage who’s in control, and the king is just a puppet. In either case, both are mere villains, complete with sinister laughs. Banner of the Damned is not that kind of story.
Structurally, the book falls into two parts. The first is set in the country of Colend, where elegance, refinement, and grace are prized, where unspoken messages are transmitted by the angle at which a fan is held and stepping on someone’s shadow is a rudeness. This part covers the coming of age of the narrator, Emras, a young woman who becomes the personal scribe of the stunningly beautiful and intelligent Princess Lasva. The pleasure in this part is in getting to know the people in Emras’s life in intimate detail—her cousin Tiflis, her friend Birdy, Princess Lasva’s sister, the old queen Hatahra, Lasva’s ambitious rival Carola, and the dashing but impoverished nobleman Kaidas. It's also in becoming immersed in Colendi culture: the court slang, the changing fashions, which neighboring countries are admired (Sartor), and which ones are despised (Chwahirsland)—so immersed, in fact, that you’ll find yourself thinking in its terms. And that's what this part of the novel is doing: immersing you in the world, familiarizing you with it, getting you to think and feel like Emras and those around her.
It’s not all frivolity at the court of Colend, however: political machinations are always going on, and real threats exist. The birth of an heir to Queen Hatahra leads to heartbreak for Lasva—which the charismatic Prince Ivandred, newly arrived from distant Marloven Hesea can relieve, if not erase.
The second part of Banner of the Damned takes place in Marloven Hesea, a land as different from Colend as iron from silk. Emras accompanies Lasva—now married to Ivandred—to Marloven Hesea, where political threats are issued and rebuffed with swords and arrows, not words, and where, furthermore, it is rumored that an evil magical threat may lurk. This half of the story has wonderful depictions of clashes of culture and painfully accurate depictions of the difficulty of communication across those barriers (and other, personal barriers), but overall it’s much more concerned with Emras’s increasing involvement—and skill—in magic and her tackling of hard questions of right and wrong, temptation and justification. This part of the novel is doing life-and-death danger, excitement, fear and hope. And then that third thing. Emras has been enjoined to look out for an evil mage. That mage is uncovered, eventually, and both is and isn't whom you expect.
This is a long book that doesn’t feel long: you nestle right into it and live it along with the characters. Those who love thorough, three-dimensional worldbuilding, wonderful characters and relationships, romance and deadly danger, and big questions thoughtfully addressed mustn’t miss it. show less
Banner of the Damned is a cunning novel that leads you to believe it’s doing one thing (and indeed, it is ) and then another (which it is too), and then, suddenly, you turn around, and you realize it’s also doing a third thing. At that point you’re reeling from Sherwood Smith’s storytelling skills.
So what is the third thing? Let me answer a question with a question: Have you ever wondered about the motivations show more of an evil mage, working for the benefit of an evil king? Many fantasy stories don’t let you ask the question. The king’s just evil, that’s all---or if a reason must be given, it’s something like, “He wants to rule the world, you see. He’s power mad.” And the mage is just his minion---probably wanting the scraps of power that fall off the king’s plate. Or else it’s the mage who’s in control, and the king is just a puppet. In either case, both are mere villains, complete with sinister laughs. Banner of the Damned is not that kind of story.
Structurally, the book falls into two parts. The first is set in the country of Colend, where elegance, refinement, and grace are prized, where unspoken messages are transmitted by the angle at which a fan is held and stepping on someone’s shadow is a rudeness. This part covers the coming of age of the narrator, Emras, a young woman who becomes the personal scribe of the stunningly beautiful and intelligent Princess Lasva. The pleasure in this part is in getting to know the people in Emras’s life in intimate detail—her cousin Tiflis, her friend Birdy, Princess Lasva’s sister, the old queen Hatahra, Lasva’s ambitious rival Carola, and the dashing but impoverished nobleman Kaidas. It's also in becoming immersed in Colendi culture: the court slang, the changing fashions, which neighboring countries are admired (Sartor), and which ones are despised (Chwahirsland)—so immersed, in fact, that you’ll find yourself thinking in its terms. And that's what this part of the novel is doing: immersing you in the world, familiarizing you with it, getting you to think and feel like Emras and those around her.
It’s not all frivolity at the court of Colend, however: political machinations are always going on, and real threats exist. The birth of an heir to Queen Hatahra leads to heartbreak for Lasva—which the charismatic Prince Ivandred, newly arrived from distant Marloven Hesea can relieve, if not erase.
The second part of Banner of the Damned takes place in Marloven Hesea, a land as different from Colend as iron from silk. Emras accompanies Lasva—now married to Ivandred—to Marloven Hesea, where political threats are issued and rebuffed with swords and arrows, not words, and where, furthermore, it is rumored that an evil magical threat may lurk. This half of the story has wonderful depictions of clashes of culture and painfully accurate depictions of the difficulty of communication across those barriers (and other, personal barriers), but overall it’s much more concerned with Emras’s increasing involvement—and skill—in magic and her tackling of hard questions of right and wrong, temptation and justification. This part of the novel is doing life-and-death danger, excitement, fear and hope. And then that third thing. Emras has been enjoined to look out for an evil mage. That mage is uncovered, eventually, and both is and isn't whom you expect.
This is a long book that doesn’t feel long: you nestle right into it and live it along with the characters. Those who love thorough, three-dimensional worldbuilding, wonderful characters and relationships, romance and deadly danger, and big questions thoughtfully addressed mustn’t miss it. show less
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