I’ve been reading a lot of debut fantasy novels of late. There’s not been anything hugely outstanding – nothing of the quality of Ysabel or Shadowbridge (though the latter is a 2008 book, for those of you with awards in mind) – but there have been several promising books and my favorite thus far is Maledicte by Lane Robbins. This is at least in part because it is very different from the usual fantasy fare, the setting being the decadent court of a city state that might exist in roughly 18th Century Europe, but also it has a strong plot, and I’m impressed with how Robbins manages to keep the reader rooting for Maledicte even has (s)he leaves a trail of murders throughout the book. Recommended.