THE CROWN AND COURT DUET
This is my favorite series by Sherwood; it consists of two perfectly matched books-- Crown Duel, almost all action, and Court Duel, almost all social interaction. These star Meliara, the young and naive countess of Tlanth. She and her brother Bran have noticed that the current king is planning to cut down the colorwood trees-- protected by a contract with the Folk. They begin a revolt, and Meliara is captured by the superficially foppish Marquis of Shevraeth. Only at the very end does Meliara realize where she and Tlanth stand, and who her enemies are. Later, she goes to court, and things get even more complicated from then on.
Great world-building, and one of my favorite male protagonists.
THE WREN TRILOGY
The Wren books, (Wren to the Rescue, Wren's Quest, Wren's War) focus on the adventures of an orphan named Wren, magic, her friend, the Princess Teressa and two other friends as they try to keep the kingdom from the evil clutches of several people. Not bad, a little more cliched than the Crown and Court Duet, but still very enjoyable and worth the read. The last one is considerably more serious in tone than the previous two.
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