A Stranger to Command Is Out!

A Stranger to Command, the prequel to Sherwood Smith's much-loved Crown Duel, is out from small-press publisher Norilana Books.

It all began as a throwaway line in Crown Duel about Shevraeth having gained his phenomenal skill at arms as a result of several years of study at the famous military academy of Marloven Hess. A fan asked about it, and Sherwood Smith obliged with a few chapters of story, originally posted at her Website under the title "Shevraeth in Marloven Hess." But as it grew, it became clear this was not a casual outtake, but a real work in progress.

Now at last it is available to be read in its entirity. As always, Smith provides a rich and deeply-realized look into a setting that is no mere collection of sets to be sent back to Central Stores when the story is over, but a full round world that exists for itself. A world with layered millenia of history, in which the threads of alliance and enmity may have surprising consequences generations later.