Coronets and Steel
by Sherwood Smith
fantasy romance
copyright 2010
read in February 2013
rated 7 out of 10: well worth reading
Fantasy, sort of. Romance, definitely. Chick lit, absolutely... Rated seven out of ten? Depends on your point of view!
My original rating was six, read to pass the time. A fun book but not great. Then I thought, what is the point of my rating?
My rating reflects my own opinion of the book. Sometimes I am impressed by how well -- or how poorly -- a book is written. I may notice that characters are well fleshed out -- or as two dimensional as cheap cardboard. Some of my "quality of writing" opinions affect my enjoyment of a book.
My rating is an overall impression of how much I *enjoyed* the book.
I thoroughly *enjoyed* Coronets and Steel!
A feisty heroine, a dashing prince, the amoral and dashing cousin. Set in a country which -- by an amazing set of circumstances -- has maintained the best parts of Scarlet Pimpernel-style courtly behavior. With enough modern conveniences to maintain good health and entertainment.
I read Coronets as a pick-me-up after the tedium of The Wise Man's Fear. Found that Coronets has much of the same descriptive space-filling as Fear. Found that Coronets does it much better... I was skipping lightly through the flowering fields of Coronets verbosity. Where I needed Wellington boots for the swamps of extraneous sludge in Fear.
Coronets is light. It's fun. And you know that the story is progressing towards a satisfying conclusion.
A line from the back-cover blurb is worth quoting, if only in the hope that fantasy writers will take note: "Smith dares to resolve several plot lines, in defiance of fantasy sequel conventions..." Message to other fantasy authors: If you don't know how your story will end -- please do not publish.
Back to Coronets.
There are plenty of references to other books and poems. They do more than show off the author's knowledge... Smith provides enough detail to allow me to Google the work and understand the reference. Thank you! Though one reference did give me a huge hint as to how Coronets was going to end...
On the negative side... I suspect that Smith did not check the meaning of "droit de seigneur"... Or perhaps it's just me... I may be too innocent to accept the heroine's imaginings in this chick lit fantasy of a romantic age adventure...
Great fun, easy reading, an enjoyable novel.
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