History Literature / Maledicte

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: With its abundance of poisonings, duels, and assassinations, intermingled with whoring, gambling, and lavish fetes, Antyre's court definitely qualifies. Although it's hinted that Antyrrian nobles are pikers compared to their Itarusine counterparts.

* YourCheatingHeart: Despite his relationship with Miranda, Janus developed a reputation for womanizing while abroad, and later [[spoiler: marries Psyke to advance his political career]].

* EveryoneHasStandards: Maledicte himself has murdered a handful of people and is possessed by the god of vengeance, but he's still appalled to learn that Janus killed [[spoiler: [[{{Matricide}} Ella and Celia]], just for being embarrassing mothers]]. Janus [[spoiler: finally moves past what Mal can forgive when he sells Gilly to be a [[GalleySlave Galley Slave]]]].

* EveryoneHasStandards: Maledicte himself has murdered a handful of people and is possessed by the god of vengeance, but he's still appalled to learn that Janus killed [[spoiler: [[{{Matricide}} Ella and Celia]], just for being embarrassing mothers]]. Janus [[spoiler: finally moves past what Mal can forgive when he sells Gilly to be a [[GalleySlave Galley Slave]].

* AmazonChaser: Janus, Gilly, and Aris all want Mal.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Explicitly refuted with a scene that [[ItMakesSenseInContext pits Maledicte against his younger self]].

* BecomingTheMask: Played very straight. After Miranda adopts the male identity of Maledicte, she begins to refer to herself as himself--even to herself. Symbolized by a masquerade ball in which he succeeds in fooling everyone (although his closest friend experiences a momentary impression of femininity).

* HypercompetentSidekick: Gilly, Maledicte's confidante, spy, poisoner, muscle, researcher, propagandist and mystic.

* IronicEcho: As youths, Miranda and Janus share a ring with the inscription "Only each other at the last." They grow apart once Janus claims his place in the Last family-- which has the motto "Only a Last at the last."

* MementoMacGuffin: The ring with the inscription "Only each other at the last."
* TheMistress: Janus plans to make Mal into this. Mal has other ideas.

* SweetPollyOliver: Played more or less straight, although Maledicte puts more effort into the transformation than most Polly Olivers. For example, he wears a waist-bulking, breast-binding corset and uses poison to lower his voice.

* StupidSexyFlanders: Confirmed heterosexual Gilly's attraction to Maledicte (whom he thinks is a man) confuses him.

* WouldHurtAChild: Kritos, Last, and Janus.
* YourCheatingHeart: Despite his supposed love for Miranda, Janus developed a reputation for womanizing while abroad, and later [[spoiler: marries Psyke to advance his political career]].

''Maledicte'', book one of ''The Antyre Chronicles'', is a fantasy novel by Lane Robins, set in a Regency-esque CrapsackWorld where the gods are presumed dead, the countryside suffers from overpopulation, the cities are filthy, women have almost no rights, and Antyre, the novel's stand-in for a much less successful Great Britain, pays around a third of its tax revenue to the vaguely Russian-seeming country of Itarus, to which Antyre had lost a war. The titular character starts off as Miranda, a beautiful, hard-headed girl from a slum known as the Relicts, which had been destroyed by the Ani, the god of love and vengeance, before the gods disappeared. While she and her childhood sweetheart Janus are out practicing armed robbery, a man in a fancy coat abducts Janus. Having lost Janus, Miranda takes refuge in a broken temple to Ani and emerges three months later with a god-touched sword and nascent superpowers. As she discovers, Janus is the bastard nephew of the king, who desperately needs an acceptable heir and intends to fob Janus off as his brother's legitimate son by a secret marriage. In an attempt to find Janus, who is being tightly controlled by his newfound relatives, and to kill the man who took her away from her, she adopts masculine attire and the name Maledicte, trades her favors to the lecherous Baron Vornatti for aid in ascending Antyrrian society, and, with the aid of her new friend, Gilly, becomes one of the most prolific and feared duelists and assassins in the country. Unfortunately, she can't easily shake her possession by the God, and Maledicte has to enact a battle of wills to keep her personality from being utterly subsumed by Ani's vicious nature.

* BecomingTheMask: Played very straight. After Miranda adopts the male identity of Maledicte, she begins to refer to herself as himself--even to herself. Symbolized by a masquerade ball in which "he" succeeds in fooling everyone (although his closest friend experiences a momentary impression of femininity).

* SexSlave: Gilly's parents sold him to Vornatti for sex when he was fourteen.

* WouldHurtAChild: Kritos, Last, and Janus

* SweetPollyOliver: Played more or less straight, although Maledicte puts more effort into the transformation than most Polly Olivers. For example, he wears a waist-bulking, breast-binding corset, and uses poison to lower his voice.

* TheDarkSide: Ani drives Maledicte to murder and mayhem. Of course, the god of love and vengeance has some pretty good material to work with, given that Miranda was already and armed robber and murderer at fourteen.

* IronicEcho: As youths, Miranda and Janus share a ring with the inscription "Only each other at the last." They grow apart once Janus claims his place in the Last family-- which has the motto "Only a Last at the last."

* AmazonChaser: Gilly and Janus both want Mal.

!This novel provides examples of:

* BecomingTheMask: Played very straight. After Miranda adopts the male identity of Maledicte, she begins to refer to herself as himself--even to herself. Symbolized by a masquerade ball in which "he" succeeds in fooling everyone (although his closest friend experience a momentary impression of femininity).

* AristocratsAreEvil: The Earl of Last abandoned his pregnant mistress to a miserable life on the streets, which his brother, King Aris, tolerated until he needed a new heir. Lady Mirabile is a black widow, Dantalion murders a woman to extract her unborn child, Vornatti enjoys seducing minors, and Janus [[spoiler:stabs his infant nephew through the heart in order to preserve Maledicte's powers, which Maledicte himself no longer wants]].

''Maledicte'' is a fantasy novel by Lane Robins, set in a Regency-esque CrapsackWorld where the gods are presumed dead, the countryside suffers from overpopulation, the cities are filthy, women have almost no rights, and Antyre, the novel's stand-in for a much less successful Great Britain, pays much of its revenue to the vaguely Russian-seeming country of Itarus, to which Antyre had lost a war. The titular character starts off as Miranda, a beautiful, hard-headed girl from a slum known as the Relicts, which had been destroyed by the Ani, the god of love and vengeance, before the gods disappeared. While she and her childhood sweetheart Janus are out practicing armed robbery, a man in a fancy coat abducts Janus. Having lost Janus, Miranda takes refuge in a broken temple to Ani and emerges three months later with a god-touched sword and nascent superpowers. As she discovers, Janus is the bastard nephew of the king, who desperately needs an acceptable heir and intends to fob Janus off as his brother's legitimate son by a secret marriage. In an attempt to find Janus, who is being tightly controlled by his newfound relatives, and to kill the man who took her away from her, she adopts masculine attire and the name Maledicte, trades her favors to the lecherous Baron Vornatti for aid in ascending Antyrrian society, and, with the aid of her new friend, Gilly, becomes one of the most prolific and feared duelists and assassins in the country. Unfortunately, she can't easily shake her possession by the God, and Maledicte has to enact a battle of wills to keep her personality from being utterly subsumed by Ani's vicious nature.

''Maledicte'' is a fantasy novel by Lane Robins, set in a Regency-esque {{Crapsack World}} where the gods are presumed dead, the countryside suffers from overpopulation, the cities are filthy, women have almost no rights, and Antyre, the novel's stand-in for a much less successful Great Britain, pays much of its revenue to the vaguely Russian-seeming country of Itarus, to which Antyre had lost a war. The titular character starts off as Miranda, a beautiful, hard-headed girl from a slum known as the Relicts, which had been destroyed by the Ani, the god of love and vengeance, before the gods disappeared. While she and her childhood sweetheart Janus are out practicing armed robbery, a man in a fancy coat abducts Janus. Having lost Janus, Miranda takes refuge in a broken temple to Ani and emerges three months later with a god-touched sword and nascent superpowers. As she discovers, Janus is the bastard nephew of the king, who desperately needs an acceptable heir and intends to fob Janus off as his brother's legitimate son by a secret marriage. In an attempt to find Janus, who is being tightly controlled by his newfound relatives, and to kill the man who took her away from her, she adopts masculine attire and the name Maledicte, trades her favors to the lecherous Baron Vornatti for aid in ascending Antyrrian society, and, with the aid of her new friend, Gilly, becomes one of the most prolific and feared duelists and assassins in the country. Unfortunately, she can't easily shake her possession by the God, and Maledicte has to enact a battle of wills to keep her personality from being utterly subsumed by Ani's vicious nature.

* AristocratsAreEvil: The Earl of Last abandoned his pregnant mistress to a miserable life on the streets, which his brother, King Aris, tolerated until he needed a new heir. Lady Mirabile is a black widow, Dantalion murders a woman to extract her unborn child, Vornatti enjoys seducing minors, and Janus [[stabs his infant nephew through the heart in order to preserve Maledicte's powers, which Maledicte himself no longer wants]].

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Averted: Gilly's rape by [[Mirabile]] is treated as a genuinely disturbing event for him.

* TookALevelInBadass: At the story's beginning, Miranda is a clever street rat capable of taking on drunken sailors. After a little training, Maledicte is the court's most dangerous swordsman and probably its second-best poisoner, not to mention able to [[turn into a cloud of birds and fly]].

* TookALevelInBadass: At the story's beginning, Miranda is a clever street rat capable of taking on drunken sailors. After a little training, Maledicte is the court's most dangerous swordsman and probably its second-best poisoner, not to mention able to [[turn into a cloud of birds and fly]].

*Maledicte* is a fantasy novel by Lane Robins, set in a Regency-esque {{Crapsack World}} where the gods are presumed dead, the countryside suffers from overpopulation, the cities are filthy, women have almost no rights, and Antyre, the novel's stand-in for a much less successful Great Britain, pays much of its revenue to the vaguely Russian-seeming country of Itarus, to which Antyre had lost a war. The titular character starts off as Miranda, a beautiful, hard-headed girl from a slum known as the Relicts, which had been destroyed by the Ani, the god of love and vengeance, before the gods disappeared. While she and her childhood sweetheart Janus are out practicing armed robbery, a man in a fancy coat abducts Janus. Having lost Janus, Miranda takes refuge in a broken temple to Ani and emerges three months later with a god-touched sword and nascent superpowers. As she discovers, Janus is the bastard nephew of the king, who desperately needs an acceptable heir and intends to fob Janus off as his brother's legitimate son by a secret marriage. In an attempt to find Janus, who is being tightly controlled by his newfound relatives, and to kill the man who took her away from her, she adopts masculine attire and the name Maledicte, trades her favors to the lecherous Baron Vornatti for aid in ascending Antyrrian society, and, with the aid of her new friend, Gilly, becomes one of the most prolific and feared duelists and assassins in the country. Unfortunately, she can't easily shake her possession by the God, and Maledicte has to enact a battle of wills to keep her personality from being utterly subsumed by Ani's vicious nature.

* AristocratsAreEvil: The: Earl of Last abandoned his pregnant mistress to a miserable life on the streets, which his brother, King Aris, tolerated until [[he needed a new heir]]. Lady Mirabile is a black widow, Dantalion murders a woman to extract her unborn child, Vornatti enjoys seducing minors, and Janus [[stabs his infant nephew through the heart in order to preserve Maledicte's powers, which Maledicte himself no longer wants]].

* DoubleStandardRape--FemaleOnMale: Averted: Gilly's rape by [[Mirabile]] is treated as a genuinely disturbing event for him.

* EeriePale-SkinnedBrunette: Maledicte.

* SweetOnPollyOliver: [[Gilly and Aris]].

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: With its abundance of poisonings, duels, and assassinations, intermingled whoring and lavish fetes, Antyre's court definitely qualifies. Although it's hinted that Antyrrian nobles are pikers compared to their Itarusine counterparts.

* AristocratsAreEvil: The: Earl of Last abandoned his pregnant mistress to a miserable life on the streets, which his brother, King Aris, tolerated until ::he needed a new heir::. Lady Mirabile is a black widow, Dantalion murders a woman to extract her unborn child, Vornatti enjoys seducing minors, and Janus ::stabs his infant nephew through the heart in order to preserve Maledicte's powers, which Maledicte himself no longer wants::.

* DoubleStandardRape--FemaleOnMale: Averted: Gilly's rape by ::Mirabile:: is treated as a genuinely disturbing event for him.
* BecomingTheMask: Played very straight. After Miranda adopts the male identity of Maledicte, she begins to refer to herself as himself--even to herself. Symbolized by a masquerade ball in which "he" succeeds in fooling everyone (although his closest friend experience a momentary impression of femininity.

* GentlemanSnarker: Maledicte is as notorious for his insults as he is for his habit of killing people.

* SweetOnPollyOliver: ::Gilly and Aris::.

* TookALevelInBadass: At the story's beginning, Miranda is a clever street rat capable of taking on drunken sailors. After a little training, Maledicte is the court's most dangerous swordsman and probably its second-best poisoner, not to mention capable of ::turning into a cloud of birds and flying::.

* BecomingTheMask: Played very straight. After Miranda adopts the male identity of Maledicte, she begins to refer to herself as himself--even to herself. Symbolized by a masquerade ball in which "he" succeeds in fooling everyone (although his closest friend experience a momentary impression of femininity.
* CreepyCrossdresser: While Maledicte is in some ways a sympathetic protagonist, he's also carrying out a Faustian pact with Black-winged Ani, the god of love and vengeance, using his new identity as cover.
* MeaningfulRename: From Miranda to "Maledicte," which is quite apt, given Mal's infamously sharp tongue.
* SweetOnPollyOliver: ::Gilly and Aris::.
* SweetPollyOliver: Played more or less straight, although Maledicte puts more effort into the transformation than most Polly Olivers. For example, he wears a waist-bulking, breast-binding corset, and uses poison to lower his voice.