Lane Robins, Maledicte

Maledicte

Lane Robins

Del Rey, May, 2007, $14.95

ISBN 034549573X

In the Kingdom of Antyre, the Earl of Last needs an heir to begat his aristocratic grandson. He selects his teenage offspring Janus, born on the wrong side of the sheets and raised in the worst slums of Murne. Janus' girlfriend Miranda is appalled when her long time companion and lover is taken from her and vows to be at his side after she kills his patrician sire.

Knowing a female cannot just walk about Murne by herself, especially a young woman trying to move about in the upper crust circles, Miranda needs a disguise so she turns herself into a male noble and gains entrance into the home of wastrel Baron Vornatti, who detests Last. The Baron and his servant Gilly train the eager Miranda in what she needs to know about treachery amidst the debauched aristocracy. When the Black-Winged Goddess Ani completes the metamorphosis of Miranda from love sick teen to deadly avenger, the young female becomes Maledicte, whose goal remains the same with just more victims to dispatch.

This is a terrific fantasy due to the powerful emotions of the lead character. The audience will follow the capers of this seemingly innocent urchin who willingly becomes an expendable pawn of the violent Goddess of Love, as the deity and the girl share the same traits of deep love and even deeper hate. The storyline focuses on Miranda's obsessive efforts to be with her Janus so much so that she becomes more and less than human too achieve her goal. Readers will appreciate Lane Robins' character-driven dark fantasy.

Harriet Klausner