A Stranger to Command Book Review

[1221bookworm]

So, so, so ....

I finally got my hands on a copy of A Stranger to Command by Sherwood Smith, which is the prequel to her Crown Duel.  It tells Danric's story from about 15 to 22/23ish, and shows how he became the person he is in Crown Duel. Following is my somewhat spoilery/rambly thoughts on the book ...

Comments

[mander_lee]

Wow, thanks for this review! I've always been quite curious about A Stranger to Command, but I've read reviews that it didn't quite have the atmosphere that Crown Duel does, so I've been reluctant to pick it up. (Plus, I'm not sure how I'd like to read about Danric without Mel; Mel and her brother had always been my favourites. =D)

Anyway, the girl he falls in love with sounds terrible. Reminds me of the movie "Stardust", where the guy is trying to prove to the girl he "loves" how much he loves her, and she's there playing him like a puppet, saying she'd choose another guy over him if he doesn't make her happy. *sigh* I'm glad Danric was able to move on; she certainly doesn't deserve him.

Thanks for writing this up!

[1221bookworm]

Glad you enjoyed it!! :)

It definetly has a different feel, the atmosphere isn't as light. Mel's my favorite too, so I would have loved to see her in it, but, alas, she wasn't, but Danric is a great person, too.!! :) He does live in his head a bit, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be in the beginning.

The girl in "stardust" sounds a lot like Danric's "girlfriend." At first I though she was nice, because she would explain things to him when nobody else would, but then she started "ignoring" his past. She was a good friend, but not a good girlfriend. She fell in love with another guy, and then "asked" Danric to pick a fight with the other guy so that Danric would be the bad guy and giver her an excuse to break up with him! Danric was really hurt by it. But, he did move on, and Mel is *much* better for him!! :)

[booksrgood4u]

I'm with you. I'm older than 15 and usually only drink coffee under duress. Danric's weird.

Next year (since I've sworn off re-reads for this year) it would really interesting tore-read Crown and Court Duel with a new understanding of Danric in mind. It just broke my heart to see the person he was before he was forced to play the fop and the flirt, and how difficult it was for him to take on that role after Marloven Hess. It's totally ddifferent from Gen playing the fool, because I think Gen takes a certain amount of pleasure in pulling the wool over people's eyes, and also because he has Irene. Danric is more or less alone, because it's not safe to talk to anyone in Galdran's court, and he's supposed to be at odds with Russav and publicly insult his parents. *hugs Danric*

And by the way, I've got you *and* Danric beat....try eight 5-year-olds! I love when he was rad for the Puppy Pit,he was such a great role model for those kids!!

[1221bookworm]

Danric's definetly wierd. I would understand if it was a choice of coffee or tea, but coffee or hot chocolate? Hot Chocolate WINS!!

I know, Danric just broke my heart on the last page, he needed a hug so bad.