Present Writers: Sherwood Smith

[mrissa]

It's still November for several more hours! And here we are with November's installment of Present Writers. For more context on this series, see the first post, Marta Randall, or subsequent posts about Dorothy Heydt, Barbara Hambly, Jane Yolen, and Suzy McKee Charnas. Today we're talking about the work of fabulous fabulist Sherwood Smith! (Disclaimer: Sherwood is a personal friend.)

I think one of the patterns that's beginning to emerge is that many of the authors I want to write appreciations of for this series are writers who have left narrow pigeonholes and written in several different fields or sub-fields. Sherwood is no exception, with books ranging from secondary world fantasy to space opera, stopping off at various portals along the way. Sherwood has collaborated fruitfully with Rachel Manija Brown and with Dave Trowbridge in very different series. She was also a Nebula nominee for one of her (many, lovely) short stories. Also, she's currently the Royal Historian of Oz! How cool is that.

While I'm really fond of several of Sherwood's books, I think my favorite is the Inda quartet. The complexity of human relationships represented in it is beautiful and just what I want to see in fantasy. I remember there being a moment 40 or 50 pages in where everything just clicked for me, all the fantasy names and nicknames and social systems just...fell into place and I was immersed completely in this world that felt simultaneously very familiar and very alien.

One of the things that makes Sherwood such a gift to all the rest of us writers in this present time is her focus on learning. She teaches others both formally and informally, laying things out with no pretension or fuss, helping people to see their own and others' work from different angles that make the lightbulbs go on over their heads. And she talks freely and cheerfully about her own learning process, not just as a thing that happened in the past but as an ongoing process, every year of her life. That's something we can all aspire to. Whether you start with Wren to the Rescue or Inda or Stranger, Sherwood always has so much to teach us--and usually in the most fun, swashbuckling way.

Comments

[anne]

Yes! She's great. All her characters are people, even the villains. And Sartorias-Deles feels so real, with its history that becomes stories and then myths. I was disappointed by the Trowbridge collaboration, whatever it was called--I felt like they added sequel bait instead of letting the characters do what came naturally, among other things, but for the most part it was exactly the kind of space opera I like.

I should reread Inda soon, except I don't have time to get sucked into four really really long unputdownable books...

[mrissa]

I keep thinking the same myself, about rereading Inda.

[sartorias]

Wow, what an awesome surprise! Thank you!

[mrissa]

<3

[jjhunter]

I grew up reading Sherwood Smith's books (Wren to the Rescue is one of the earlier chapter books I remember reading (and rereading)), and I have done a lot of growing reading her books - they are a gift and a pleasure that keep giving, particularly the Inda books and Banner of the Damned.

[asakiyume]

I agree with everything you say here. I love the array of being-human that Sherwood portrays, her sensitivity to people's complexity--and her sense of fun and excitement!

And she is a *great* teacher, editor, and reader, too.

[leaflemming]

I recently reread the Inda quartet, the first full read-through I've done since I first had my mind blown by the depth of Sherwood's world-building and the rich humanist wisdom she brings to her astonishingly diverse cast of characters. I had forgotten quite how good these books are. So many satisfying individual arcs, but the way all the characters collectively dance their world into existence for us -- it's a major high water mark in fantasy. With pirates!

[julian]

"...currently the Royal Historian of Oz!"

I had no idea! That is, in fact, pretty nifty.

[eglantiere]

inda is one of the best high fantasy book series i've ever read in my life, hands down. i've discovered it almost accidentally and was completely floored, and it made finding something in the genre to beat it so hard, afterward! the sheer humanistic scope of it, the effortless glide between the big picture and individual struggles, the tightly won humanity of every one character, from villains to heroes to everything in-between, the intricacies of worldbuilding, the way it includes and builds and treats its lgbt characters - i've never read anything like that before or after. it's a goddamn masterpiece, even if it broke my heart (a lot).

[chawen]

I love all her stories, and I have had the privilege of reading some not yet published. Sherwood has a wonderful gift for world building and vivid characterization.

[lizbennefeld]

The Inda books are also my favorites, after A Stranger to Command. Lovely detail. I've backup copies for when I wear out the current reading copies.

[landingtree]

I love Inda but haven't read any of the others yet - this thread is a useful recommendations list.

[mrissa]

That's part of what I'm going for, so it's really good to hear, thank you.