New Releases by Sherwood Smith

First written when Sherwood Smith was a teen, the series called CJ's Notebooks feature a gang of girls around thirteen-year-old Queen Clair of Mearsies Heili. The M girls, as they come to be known, prefer their villains silly, their throwing pies gloppy, and their adventures fun. But villains don't ask first if the girls want to be dragged into dangerous escapades, so they've had more than their share. Sometimes they are not the center of the dangerous escapades. Hunt Across Worlds, a prelude to Fleeing Peace, is about two kids from Earth who discover a boy from another world being kept prisoner. When they rescue him, they end up having to cross the USA before being blasted by magic to Mearsies Heili, where they meet a sailor girl who's been stuck in charge of a Mysterious Magical Object. CJ and the gang try to come to the rescue, discovering that being on the edge of someone else's story can sometimes lead to bigger adventures.

When the evil Andreus's hunger for power leads to war, Wren and her friends are thrust into the middle of the struggle. Teressa is heir to the throne, Tyron her chief magicmaker, and Prince Connor a reluctant warrior. As allies die and others disappear, they must put aside their feelings for one another if they are to defeat the sorcerous Andreus. They know they need magic to save them. Can they turn the bloody tide?NY Public Library Best Books for Teen Age List, 1995; Finalist for Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature, 1995. Anne Spencer Lindbergh Honor Book, 1996.

The first summer of peace brings Wren on her weekly visit to the young Queen Teressa, where she encounters the derisive, upsetting Hawk Rhiscarlan riding in! Wren races to warn Teressa, which causes the girls' first argument. Tyron gives Wren a chance to leave Meldreth by sending her on a new journeymage project - to find Connor, who had wandered off to the Summer Isles. When Wren vanishes, Teressa veers between regret over the argument, worry about Wren, and the beguilement of attraction as Hawk skillfully upsets her court. When pirates attack, Wren faces the villain she hates most, aided by the boy she... what do you call these feelings? Once again the four - Wren, Teressa, Connor, and Tyron - find themselves deep in adventure, as they try to navigate the treacherous waters of growing up.

In this romantic fantasy set in the same world as Crown Duel, Flian is an ordinary princess who would rather be left with her music, but gets abducted not once, not twice, but three times. What is a civilized princess to do? Especially when she can't tell which prince is the hero and which the villain!

The war is over, all but the cleanup. And the emotional recovery, with its scars both visible and invisible. Liere Fer Eider learns on the run how to become a queen, while Andri adjusts to life this side of the law. Senrid, in devastated Marloven Hess, has to straight-arm a rage-filled populace into peace. While on a faraway mountain Detlev at last oversees the rebuilding of his school for training re-emerging psychic powers after four millennia. . A few years pass, and everything seems to be settling into the new norm--until Liere wakes from a drugged sleep to an enemy who offers an impossible choice.

This prequel to Crown Duel is about the early life of Vidanric Renselaeus, Marquis of Shevraeth, who as a courtly, well-mannered teen coached in the noble art of dueling, finds himself thrown into the infamous military academy in Marloven Hess. There, instead of reading theories about statecraft, he is forced to learn about command from the insideâ?"and what it means to be king.

In the third volume of The Norsunder War, the invaders' command structure is fracturing, but they are no less dangerous. Amid widespread and wanton destruction, it seems the world itself is fighting back. A pair of brothers, one on each side, begin a duel of wit and danger searching for a girl who could change the world.Meanwhile, slowly, hints of what really happened four thousand years ago begin to emerge, making this fight not just universal, but personal for those who claim power . . .Revelation. Betrayal. Sacrifice.The beginning of the end.

PRAISE FOR THE SARTORIAS-DELES SERIES: "The book is set in a world so intricate and real that it's hard to step out of and hard to forget. Filled with magic and glamour, it houses a culture unique for its openness and warlike ability.... Smith's rich details and imagery tie this story together. Complex and compelling." -San Jose Mercury News "Smith deftly stage-manages the wide-ranging plots with brisk pacing, spare yet complex characterizations, and a narrative that balances sweeping action and uneasy intimacy." -Publishers Weekly "A damned good book.... A compelling protagonist with a vivid voice, a master's control of pacing and tension." -Tor.com The second volume of four begins with the loose alliance of young rulers, mages, scribes, friends, and ex-enemies on the run. The only place of safety is a tiny agrarian kingdom no one has ever heard of, though hints begin to surface that nothing there is quite what it seems. Some venture on quests for ancient magical artifacts that might aid them-but all those quests turn . . . sideways. Some are deadly. Some races turn into chases. Meanwhile, Senrid, the Marloven warrior king, goes covert, staying one step ahead of the conquerors who want him dead. Atan, the queen who prides herself on peaceful solutions, discovers she has a talent for strategic thinking And Jilo, the nerdy son of a lowly sergeant who has been singlehandedly striving to save the once-great Chwahir nation from an insane king, crosses a continent to carry a message-the easiest quest of all-with utterly unforeseen results.

Nobody sane wants war, but what happens when war comes to you?In this first volume of The Norsunder War, the allies we met in The Rise of the Alliance series are faced with the news that their border has been invaded. For Atan, Queen of Sartor, preserving lives and knowledge come before fleeing to safety. Jilo of Chwahirsland risks his life to resist the return of an evil king. And for Senrid of Marloven Hess, it means fighting for every bloody inch against a combined army whose might hasn't been seen for eight hundred years.Do they endure? Resist? How do they fight back?While one the run, they may discover that even when life is most dire, there is still hope . . .

In this fantasy of manners we have two displaced young kings, one shopkeeper's daughter who went away an ugly duckling and returns five years later a beautiful and highly skilled swan, and a young queen who is master of all she surveys . . . until she isn't. The result is the last summer of love and adventure on the eve of cataclysm. The Wicked Skill, from a poem by John Donne, duels and dances with discovery of the many facets of love-set against a background of revolution, one conducted through manners, the other by swashbuckling youths who think life is a game . . .

Lilah is bursting with questions. Why are the local kids outside the palace so ragged? Why do they hate her? Why does her older brother Peitar--heir to their cold, controlling uncle, the king--write so many secret letters, and WHY won't anyone tell her what the revolutionary slogan 'slam justice' means? She disguises herself to find out. For the first time she makes friends, and meets the heroic young revolutionary leader, Derek.Then revolution breaks out.Lilah and her new friends become spies in order to help Peitar and Derek, who have been swept into the middle of unrest and danger.While no one on either side could have predicted that Lilah would be key to the new meaning of slam justice.

Untested young rulers must cooperate to protect their world from the magical threat of the mysterious kingdom of Norsunder in a new epic fantasy trilogy set in the same world as the popular Inda series. Long-dormant magical forces are moving once again in Sartorias-deles. Agents of Norsunder, a mysterious bastion of incredible dark power, have reappeared in the world, amassing resources and sowing instability. But with numerous nations led by young rulers brought too early to their thrones, the world is hardly ready to defend itself. Atan is still uncomfortable with her new queenship, gained after her country was freed from a Norsundrian enchantment that left it frozen outside time for a century. Senrid strives to establish rule of law, after deposing his brutal and cruel uncle, seeking to exert control over rebellious jarls and a distrustful military academy. Jilo never expected the responsibility of leading his nation, but when its dictator vanishes after a Norsundrian attack, Jilo finds himself stepping into the power void, taking the reins of a country so riddled with dark magic that its citizenry labors for mere survival. Clair and CJ lead a band of misfits against magical threats that overshadow their tiny country, including a direct incursion from the Norsundrians. Those in power are not the only individuals working to subvert the plans of Norsunder. Liere, a young shopkeeper’s daughter, battles her own debilitating insecurities to live up to her reputation as a former savior of the realm. Hibern, a mage’s apprentice, must act as a liaison between national leaders, negotiating politics still foreign to her. Rel, a traveling warrior, stirs powerful allies to action encourages common folk to take up arms. These leaders soon realize that any significant victory against Norsunder will require an alliance between their nations. Yet good intentions may fracture in the face of personal grudges, secrets, and inexperience. As the Norsundrian attacks become bolder, the members of this tenuous alliance must find ways to trust one another and bind themselves together—lest they fail to defend against a host that has crushed entire worlds.

In a time of rising danger, women go to war, and ghosts walk the walls... A few years have passed since the Night of Four Kings, when the least expected candidates for rulership found themselves in charge of a disintegrating kingdom. These years of tenuous peace see their children reach adulthood. Threats from the border become raids, led by an idle noble with an eye to kingship. The two princes, Noddy and Connar, newly emerged from the military academy, are dispatched to patrol the troubled area until they find themselves under attack. Their loyalty to one another is strong, but what happens when one brother discovers a taste for war and the other a loathing for it? Matters of marriage and love tangle up with the menace of war. But the greatest threat of all comes when the world's strongest army faces enemies from within. This is the concluding half of an epic story of politics, war, family and magic in the beloved world of Sartorias-deles.

In a time of change and danger, peace sparks to war, and sons become daughters... It's nearly a century after the death of Inda, the unbeatable Marlovan commander. This is the first half of an epic story of politics, war, family and magic in the beloved world of Sartorias-deles.

A light-hearted romantic comedy of manners set in Jane Austen's Regency period as our two heroines step in time to the dance of love.

In this sequel to The Spy Princess, Lilah, newly made a princess, teams up with Atan, the hidden princess of the oldest country in the world, Sartor, to free the kingdom from a century of enchantment. Capture, escape, a forest beyond time, ancient beings, civilizations secreted in caves, and a deadly enemy await the girls. Atan knows that if she survives, the challenges facing a fifteen-year-old queen are only beginning.

Journey back to Oz with Dori and Emma, along with old favorites like Scraps and Polychrome, as they travel through the skies over Oz. There's a plot afoot with a dastardly villain who kidnapped Princess Dorothy in Smith's first book. It'll take Glinda, Rikk the Nome, Dori, Emma, Scraps, and many more to contend with this threat ... even a shaggy dog named "Dad!"

Once upon a time, I had known nothing about my family. But then I went to Europe and discovered who I really was. And my new life...well, it was like something right out of a fairy tale. I was a member of the royal family of Dobrenica, a tiny, obscure European country with some very unusual attributes. Like magic. And ghosts. And vampires. But for the first time in my life I was truly happy. I was engaged to be married to the heir apparent to the throne, and we were in love. So my mood was high as I walked under the triumphal arch in the center of the capital city and passed the off 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, and I always ran my fingers over the amazing painting as I passed. But this time, my fingers closed on an actual cold metal doorknob, and the door swung inward, revealing a sun-drenched landscape and a teenage girl with honey-colored braids. As I stepped over the magical threshold, she spoke. "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.

Just right for fans of Tamora Pierce and Patricia C. Wrede! When twelve-year-old Lady Lilah decides to disguise herself and sneak out of the palace one night, she has more of an adventure than she expected--for she learns very quickly that the country is on the edge of revolution. When she sneaks back in, she learns something even more surprising: her older brother Peitar is one of the forces behind it all. The revolution happens before all of his plans are in place, and brings unexpected chaos and violence. Lilah and her friends, leaving their old lives behind, are determined to help however they can. But what can four kids do? Become spies, of course!

Standalone novel of Sherwood Smith's epic fantasy Sartorias-deles universe • follow-up to acclaimed military fantasy Inda series • courtly politics, vast worldbuilding, and diverse characters "Smith should rank high on any list of military writers.... A first-rate author boldly at play." —SF Signal Emras is the most diligent of students, and she wants nothing more than to become royal scribe for the intelligent and beautiful Princess Lasva. And Emras gets her wish. But life becomes complicated in ways she could never have foreseen. For though Emras adores the princess, she has been charged with a secret mission for the queen: to search her new home for signs of the evil magical influence of Norsunder—a kingdom once thought legendary, but now known to be real. Emras knows nothing of magic, but finds a knowledgeable and willing tutor in the barbaric land of Marloven Hesea. Was the queen right? Is there a connection between Norsunder and Marloven Hesea? And if Emras was acting on orders from her queen, why is she now on trial?

Before last summer, I was just a normal grad student from California, but then I went to Europe to track down my grandmother's family and my life changed forever. Mistaken for Ruli, a runaway princess who, it turned out, was actually my cousin, I was drugged, abducted, and taken to Dobrenica, a tiny and very unusual little kingdom in Eastern Europe. The handsome man who kidnapped me was Alec, Ruli's fiance, the man who was slated to rule Dobrenica. Like so many things in this odd little kingdom, their marriage would have a magical component―for when certain members of two royal lines married at a particular point in time, Dobrenica...vanished. The solution should have been simple, right? Find Ruli and bring her home. Except Ruli didn't want to come home. Alec and Ruli disliked each other, and to complicate matters further, Alec and I...well, I've always been a romantic at heart. In the end we all did the "right thing." Brokenhearted yet resolute, I returned to America, but I just couldn't seem to forget Alec or Dobrenica. But then I learned that though Ruli and Alec had married, Dobrenica was still in our world. Still in my world. The magic had failed, and no one knew why. So back I went, but my trip became even more dangerous than it was the first time. I expected personal conflict and politics, even sword fighting. I was also prepared for Dobrenica's ever-present specters. But I was not prepared for murder, mystery, or the chillingly real presence of the undead.

Too much imagination was tantamount to lying―that’s what my grandmother taught me. So when I first got the sense that someone was following me, I ignored it. Who’d waste time following me? Me, being Aurelia Kim Murray, a grad student from California with a passion for ballet and fencing, and a hopelessly romantic vision of the world. I had some to Europe to track down my grandparents’ families, but so far I’d had no luck. I couldn’t explain the sense of urgency that drove me, even to myself. It has begun that day four months ago when my grandmother lay restlessly in her bed, her eyes glittering with fever as she gripped my hand. “Your mother is too gentle,” she’s whispered in her aristocratic Parisian French. “I cannot send her to steal the breach.” Breach? What breach? With her family? With my grandfather’s family? Neither Mom nor I knew anything about Grandmother’s family or the handsome man in the silver-framed photo that Gran always kept on her bedside table. “She wouldn’t talk about her life before California,” my mom has said, as we waited in yet another specialist’s office, hoping to find out why, though Gran had recovered from her fever, she had not spoken since. Nothing had come of my search in Paris, or Vienna, and no matter how fast I walked along the grand boulevards, I knew I couldn’t outpace my sense of failure. And that’s when I met my first ghost. But seeing ghosts wasn’t my biggest problem. I was being followed, and I was about to find out more about my lineage than I had ever imagined possible in my wildest, most fanciful dreams…or nightmares.

Acclaimed Inda series within Sherwood Smith's epic fantasy Sartorias-deles universe • Military fantasy woven with courtly politics, vast worldbuilding, and diverse characters After ten years of exile on the sea, Inda returned home to protect his country from attack by an ancient enemy. But he found his home utterly changed. His old classmate Evred, a formerly powerless younger prince, was now king—and made Inda his Royal Shield Arm, the leader of defense for the entire kingdom. His country's enemy, the Venn, are planning the largest naval attack in history, and the first line of defense is in a critically strategic strait to the north. Control of this strait has been contested for generations, often with violent conflicts, and Inda will need strong allies to overcome the Venn. Even with these allies, Inda is severely disadvantaged and outnumbered. Can Inda, military genius but only one man, find a way to defeat the powerful navy of the Venn and bring peace to his battered homeland at last?

Acclaimed Inda series within Sherwood Smith's epic fantasy Sartorias-deles universe • Military fantasy woven with courtly politics, vast worldbuilding, and diverse characters Inda was the second son of the prince and princess of Choraed Elgaer. It had been Inda's fate, as second son, to be his family's Shield Arm and spend his adult life protecting the lands his brother would one day inherit. But powerful factions in the royal court were committed to seeing Inda fail. For eight difficult years, Inda had been at sea, using an assumed name and forcing himself to never think of all he had lost. And he had created a new life, for the military skills that had been trained into him and his own inborn leadership ability could not be erased. After founding a mercenary marine company, he had earned a reputation for defeating dangerous pirate fleets. When Inda discovers that his home country is about to be attacked from the sea by an ancient enemy, he throws his carefully guarded anonymity to the winds and returns home. After nearly a decade at sea, Inda finds his home utterly changed. His good friend Evred, the formerly powerless and harassed younger prince, is now king. Evred has heard of Inda's martial accomplishments at sea, and is determined to make Inda his Royal Shield Arm—the person in charge of defending the entire kingdom. Though Inda is skilled, his experience is entirely naval. Can a former pirate captain alter his tactics to become a successful ground commander in time to save his endangered homeland?

Swashbuckling in a magic world-L.A. style! Sasharia en Garde! book 1. 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.

Rhis, a princess of a small kingdom is invited to the party for the Crown Prince of Vesarja, but when Iardith is kidnapped, Rhis and her friends start a rescue plan.

“A first-rate fantasy novel” that blends military fantasy with courtly politics, vast worldbuilding, and a diverse cast of characters (Orson Scott Card, New York Times–bestselling author of Ender's Game) The first book in the acclaimed Inda series, set within Sherwood Smith’s epic fantasy universe, Sartorias-deles Indevan-Dal is the second son of the Prince and Princess of Choraed Elgaer, destined to become his elder brother Tanrid'’ 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 hasn’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.

In this fantasy, Clair travels about the universe looking for girls who need a home. She finds CJ on Earth and takes her to another world to live as a princess.

When a family emergency takes Dori and Em's mother out of town at the same time that Glinda summons them to Oz, the sisters decide that only Dori should go to Oz while Em stays home to conceal her absence.

This first of four brand-new stories based on L. Frank Baum's classic tales brings modern-day visitors to Oz. Em and Dori are descendants of Dorothy Gale and follow in her famous footsteps to the magical land of Oz and adventure. Illustrations.