Queen's Move

Lilith's Shadow, Book 3

By: Benjamin Medrano

Narrated by: Sarah Beth Goer

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's Summary

Lilith thought moving would make her life easier.

Having survived a death sentence, Lilith believed moving to Paragon City would be safer, as there she’d be one of countless superhumans. Her dreams are short-lived, however, as the plots of the sinister Dreamer and a malevolent alien intersect with her attempt to build a new life with Gina and Rachel.

Unfortunately for them, Lilith isn’t willing to let the villains do as they please.

©2020 Benjamin Medrano (P)2020 Benjamin Medrano

Not Medrano's Best

Queen's Move is full of great battles, world building and foreshadowing but the characters feel one dimensional. This novel constantly changes perspectives between Lilith and about a dozen other characters. This gives us a great deal of information on the setting and insight into the politics of what might be happening outside earth but it means that the characters themselves receive very little development and the plot feels unfocused. We meet The Sentinels (Archon, Decarin, Shade and Spark) immediately after the book begins but we learn almost nothing about them outside of their powers and basic personality despite having segments of the story told from Spark's or Archon's perspective. Spreading the focus across a cast of 20+ heroes and villains makes every character feel like a side character (even Lilith). The story would benefit from focusing on 5-6 characters and their relationships/conflicts with one another.

The Lilith's Shadow books always tended to show villains as active and heroes as reactive in the story, but Queen's Move pushes this to the point where Dreamer and Okris seem to be the only characters with any sort of goal or motivation. Lilith, Gina and Rachel no longer have jobs so they just stay at home with occasional trips to shop or hike. Archon apparently sits in the Sentinel's base and stares at the wall until she's needed for a fight. The world is progressing but the people in it just sit on their hands and wait for something to happen, then they fly out for an awesome fight before returning home and back to their holding pattern until they are needed again. Even Shadowmind more or less just sits in her base researching tech while providing her thoughts and commentary on Lilith's battles.

When I finished Queen's Move I asked myself “what actually changed during the book”? Lilith is on better terms with the heroes and Circe Prime is showing signs of a personality but none of the characters actually show any real character growth. There's no hero's journey, no revelations, no self-discovery, no flaws uncovered or conquered, no new powers. Everyone ends the book right where they started just with a few new scars or bits of tech. I'd rather read a story about Blooming Orchid and Circe Beta hunting down Dr. Johnson. The hunt would have at least given the plot a solid direction and the complex history between a recently traumatized woman and an AI in the body of her tormentor would be fertile ground for character development. Sadly we didn't get that.

Queen's Move is average at best. I go back and listen to Born a Queen and Down with the Queen from time to time, but I doubt I'll come back to listen to this book a second time. I don't regret buying it but it's ultimately forgettable in my opinion.

(Also Audible, just because the main characters are in a loving polyamorous lesbian relationship does NOT make this a romance novel. This is Science Fiction/Fantasy hands down. If readers go into this expecting romance, they will be disappointed.)

Great part 3

Medrano CAN NOT MISS!!!!
Every volume is more wonderful then the last. Definitely worth a listen.

epic af

i cannot describe how amazing this book is thank you benjamin medrano thank you sarah beth goer for these masterpieces i hope it never ends i loved every second of this.

Another fantastic book

I have greatly enjoyed the time I have spent with this series and I can't wait for the next book to come out of audible. I have already finished reading the next book in the series and I highly recommend picking it up if you haven't yet or if you can't wait for the next audiobook.

yup. Still awesome.

I'm going through the audio after reading them in paperback and I have no regrets!

love it must read series in my opinion

love the series can wait for more
and i recommend that people read the series

You know a story is great when it's skipped

You know when a story is great when the author themselves starts a book saying they skipped part of their own story and resolved half the plot points from the last off screen.

Awesome series!

The narrator is perfect for it and the writer is great. I can't wait for the next one. Great action and tension. Humor where it's needed.

Good entry into the series

It's nice to see that not all of Benjamin's stories follow the same path, this is starting to show a much his writing and storytelling has progressed. Plus his newer books have really started to drop the "rape-y" vibes, some of his older works have, which makes the stories far more enjoyable.

All round a good entry into the series, definitely worth listening to.