Lane Robins

After the love of her life, Janus, is stolen by Lord Last who hopes to make his bastard son heir, Miranda swears she will do anything to get him back, even pledge herself to Ani, the dead goddess of Vengence, who may not be so dead after all, and become the ward of the lascivious old courtier Vornatti. The road to revenge is a long one, one that sees her become the dark and mysterious courtier Maledicte. In the corrupt and treacherous court, Maledicte has only two who he can trust to help show more him regain Janus, his friend and servant Gilly, and black Ani inside him...

I really liked this book a lot, but I'm still digesting it to see if I loved it, because it certainly didn't end the way I thought it would. It reminded me a lot of a slightly 'darker, and edgier' version of the world depicted in Ellen Kushner's 'Swordspoint' and The Privilege of the Sword', what with all the debauched and corrupted courtiers and aristocracy and the desperately poor and savage Relicts. The way it dealt with gender and identity was really fascinating to me, the way Maledicte mostly displaced Miranda, and how Ani fought to displace Maledicte.

There's a sequel, but it doesn't seem like Maledicte is in the sequel, which makes me not as enthusiastic about it, because I really loved Maledicte. He was one of my favorite characters I've read recently. show less

I bought this book because I loved the cover and when I read the premise I was intrigued. I love these kinds of stories and this one was especially heart-rending yet hopeful.

Miranda's childhood sweetheart is stolen from her in the slums that they are raised in. She vows to get back her love, Janus, at any cost. Disguising herself as a young lord named Maledicte she wins over the elderly lord of a house; he decides to foster Maledicte as an heir; for a price. When the lord finds out show more Maledicte's secret the stakes are even greater.

Miranda adopts Maledicte's persona completely and works to become a ferocious fighter and deadly courtier. This book is full of lush description, great fight scenes, and intrigue galore. There is much contemplation on the topics of love versus power and the values of each.

This book was well-written, impossible for me to put down, and a classic type of story with a twist. It is kind of your classic rage to riches story, but your young man is actually a girl pretending to be a man, and the young man's true love is not exactly what he seems.

The style of writing and court intrigue reminded me of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart series; although the scope of this book is smaller (it is a stand alone novel) and the sex scenes are not explicit (just very sweet and tasteful).

This was a beautiful book and I was sad when it ended. The ending seemed slightly rushed. I was still very impressed and it was awesome to find such a good stand alone novel. It seems like now-a-days everything is part of a series. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this author in the future! show less

4.5/5
Lyn Benedict is such an understated author, and her books are awesome! They are everything I love about urban fantasy: a hard, kick ass, smart heroine, wonderful sidekicks, plenty of villains of magical variety and non-stop action.

If you haven't read previous two books, please do it first, because this review will contain spoilers for book 1 and 2.

The book literally starts where the previous left. Odalis is in prison and Sylvie takes on a seemingly easy case of disappeared wife. Aha! show more She thought her previous case would be boring, and we all know how it ended.

While investigating her case, Sylvie discovers that her client's wife is one of the several kidnapped victims, whose life energies are being drained by a sorcerer in a really bizarre ritual. The women look dead but they walk and they turn into wild animals.

The case quickly becomes extremely dangerous, what with the sorcerer mixed with gods, certain people bent on magical revenge and stupid ISI agents taking closer look at miss Shadows.

As usual it takes famous Shadows willpower to set things right, and apparently there is the new Lilith in town...

I loved it! The book is packed full of action and crammed with tension, with Ghoul and Marco playing Sylvie's sidekicks, and even my favorite Fury making a star appearance.

I also admire that Lyn Benedict isn't afraid to kill one of the characters in every book she writes. This just make the plot more real and the writing much more intense. The ending had such amazing possibilities that I can't wait to get my hands on the next book!

I would recommend it to any fan of urban fantasy. Just make sure you read first two books in order. show less

God. Dark, dark, dark, dark. There is no panacea in Lyn Benedict's books, even the most unlikely of happy endings is rife with bitter things beyond Sylvie's control. The bad are not always punished, the good are often damaged in the fight, and even justice can leave you limp and tear stricken and saddened. Utterly compelling and masterfully written, GHOSTS & ECHOES fascinated and enthralled me, all the while breaking my heart.