Inda
#2964.06 adjusted 4.05 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 4 books Status Complete 2006–2009 Reading commitment Medium Sherwood Smith Last reviewed 2026-09-02
Overview
Sherwood Smith's closed quartet follows Inda from military academy through exile, piracy and war, set in the southern-hemisphere warrior nation of Iasca Leror, a corner of the author's larger Sartorias-deles world, which Smith has been developing since childhood. Inda, the younger son of a Marlovan prince, is training at a strict military academy when a classmate's death, for which he is unfairly blamed, ends his path there and sends him into exile at sea, where he is forced into service aboard a merchant vessel and begins a new life as a sailor before events draw him back toward war and politics at home. Published between 2006 and 2009, the series balances coming-of-age adventure with darker consequences, emphasizing determination and unexpected friendships against a backdrop of Iasca Leror's rigid, hierarchical nobility and its strict Marlovan warrior traditions.
Epic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (4 works) counts toward ranking
Inda Sherwood Smith
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Inda | 2006 | 1 | core | 4.02 (4,932 ratings) |
 | The Fox | 2007 | 2 | core | 4.18 (3,116 ratings) |
 | King's Shield | 2008 | 3 | core | 3.99 (2,506 ratings) |
 | Treason's Shore | 2009 | 4 | core | 4.07 (1,801 ratings) |
The complete, closed quartet -- one continuous narrative.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Inda? Inda's Core Canon is 4 books.
- What is the reading order for Inda? Publication order, starting with Inda. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Inda finished? Complete (2006–2009).
- How much reading does Inda take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 4 Core Canon books · ~2,552 pages).
- How is Inda ranked? #296 in this site's official ranking, based on 12,355 reader ratings across 4 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #296?
Ranked #296 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.06 across 4 core books.
- A smaller readership (12,355 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #295, Dragon Prince (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 4 books · Complete · 12k ratings · Ranks #296 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (4 Core Canon books)
- Inda (2006)
- The Fox (2007)
- King's Shield (2008)
- Treason's Shore (2009)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No award specifically attaches to this quartet in any source checked.
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Suggestions computed from what Inda and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
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- The Seven Kennings Epic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.20
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.06 across 12,355 ratings on 4 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Inda (Sherwood Smith) accepted 2026-09-02
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inda_(novel)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherwood_Smith
- https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/BBT/inda/
Last reviewed: 2026-09-02
Rule: New universe, Sherwood Smith's Inda. Core = the complete, closed quartet (2006–2009): Inda, The Fox, King's Shield, Treason's Shore — one continuous narrative. Scope note: admitted here as exactly these four books, not the whole Sartorias-deles setting; other series share that wider world (a YA register including Crown Duel and the Wren books, plus Banner of the Damned and the Time of Daughters duology set centuries later) but are not part of Inda's own story and are deliberately left for a future, separate admission.