Description:

From a dazzling new voice in fantasy comes a mesmerizing tale of treachery, passion, intrigue, betrayal, and an act of pure vengeance that threatens to bring down a kingdom.

Seething with decadent appetites unchecked by law or gods, the court of Antyre is ruled by the last of a dissolute aristocracy. But now to the kingdom comes a handsome, enigmatic nobleman, Maledicte, whose perfect manners, enchanting charisma, and brilliant swordplay entice the most jaded tastes . . . and conceal a hunger beyond reckoning.

For Maledicte is actually a woman named Miranda–a beautiful thief raised in the city’s vicious slums. And she will do anything–even promise her soul to Black-Winged Ani, the most merciless of Antyre’s exiled gods–to reclaim Janus, the lover whose passion still haunts her dreams. As her machinations strike at the heart of Antyre’s powerful noble houses, Miranda must battle not only her own growing bloodlust, but also her lover’s newly kindled and ruthless ambitions. As Ani’s force grows insatiable and out of control, Miranda has no choice but to wield a weapon that may set her free . . . or forever doom her and everything she holds dear.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

**

From Publishers Weekly

Robins's debut fantasy chronicles the fascinating transformation of 15-year-old Miranda from girlish street urchin to an attractive, audacious male courtier on a quest for love and vengeance. When the earl of Last decides he needs an heir, he plucks his bastard son, Janus, from the slums of the city of Murne—much to the dismay of Miranda, Janus's constant companion. Determined to find Janus and kill the earl of Last, she dresses as a boy and finds her way into the household of the dissolute Baron Vornatti, an enemy of Last. Trained in all the skills of a decadent and treacherous court by the lecherous baron and his servant Gilly—and possessed by Black-Winged Ani, a bloodthirsty goddess of love and vengeance—Miranda becomes Maledicte. This complex protagonist becomes both a pawn and a power in a darkly original world of doubted gods and declining civilization. Robins is a fantasist with a future. (May)
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From Booklist

Miranda, a bastard from the slums of Murne, capital of the Kingdom of Antyre, loses her lover, Janus, when his father, the otherwise heirless Earl of Last, abducts him. Miranda swears by Black-Winged Ani, god of love and vengeance, to reclaim the son and kill the father. Aided by dissolute Baron Vornatti, the earl's rival, Miranda develops the persona of Maledicte, a mysterious and dangerous cavalier. Eventually she reencounters Janus, but as Last's heir, he is two steps from the throne and has begun to develop ambitions. Miranda/Maledicte, torn between Janus' demands and the vow to Black-Winged Ani, is almost destroyed before she recognizes truth and loyalty again. Focusing on a woman determined to be reunited with her lover, Robins provides a dark plot, an arresting setting, and good pacing, but character development keeps one turning the pages, especially when the deceptions start to backfire. Ellen Kushner fans, in particular, may be impressed, but really, anyone who likes well-paced adventure and arresting characters should tumble for it. Murray, Frieda
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