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Lilith's Shadow #2
Down with the Queen
Despite all odds, Lilith has gained acceptance from two heroines who should hate and fear her very existence. Gina and Rachel have agreed to help Lilith attempt to get the death sentence on her head rescinded, but they have to work carefully. Their time runs short, though; Doctor Johnson’s plots advance, and other villains are infiltrating San Francisco.
In the end, the question becomes what to do when Lilith’s identity is discovered and all hell breaks loose. Despite the risk of death bearing down on her, Lilith decides that she’s tired of simply running away.
In the end, the question becomes what to do when Lilith’s identity is discovered and all hell breaks loose. Despite the risk of death bearing down on her, Lilith decides that she’s tired of simply running away.
388 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 30, 2018
142 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Medrano
47 books308 followersI was born in October, 1985. Not much of my history would likely be of interest, but I grew up primarily in Utah, a land of ultra-conservative people, and yet oddly open to Science Fiction and Fantasy.
I started trying to write in high school. That didn't go well, and I mostly lost the spark for a long time, only rarely finishing writing a story, as most of my inspiration instead went into tabletop role-playing games, like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. In the process I developed a possibly unhealthy obsession with elves and succubi. If I ever write a story without either, it's probably Science Fiction...and there are even odds that someone will body-mod themselves to look like an elf. Trying to be honest here.
My writing tends to focus on the relationships between characters, though it may not seem like it at times. The stories in the background are just that, a backdrop for the development of the characters and situation. I try to fully think them through, but it's not always the case.
Anyway, not much more to be said. I'm an oddball, and I know it. I'm also somewhat stunned at the success my work has attained thus far, and am trying not to panic over it.
I started trying to write in high school. That didn't go well, and I mostly lost the spark for a long time, only rarely finishing writing a story, as most of my inspiration instead went into tabletop role-playing games, like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. In the process I developed a possibly unhealthy obsession with elves and succubi. If I ever write a story without either, it's probably Science Fiction...and there are even odds that someone will body-mod themselves to look like an elf. Trying to be honest here.
My writing tends to focus on the relationships between characters, though it may not seem like it at times. The stories in the background are just that, a backdrop for the development of the characters and situation. I try to fully think them through, but it's not always the case.
Anyway, not much more to be said. I'm an oddball, and I know it. I'm also somewhat stunned at the success my work has attained thus far, and am trying not to panic over it.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 8, 2021
Down With the Queen proved a fun sequel to Benjamin Medrano's Born a Queen. This book was not quite so good as the first one but was still an enjoyable read. The story is a nice mix of comic book style action and slow paced romance.
A lot of the elements that made the first book so much fun were back in this story. The characters are likeable, the plot enjoyable, and the superhero world a good one. The world is fairly standard superhero fare as are the superpowers but Medrano makes it work as the characters themselves are good and the tone of the story had the sort of balance I enjoy. I'm also a fan of the fact that a few AI's had roles to play!
The trio of Lilith, Warden (Gina), and Morgan Ley Fey (Rachel) are as easy to root for as ever. There was plenty going on in the story as the evil Destruction Core team were looking to move in on the city and the villain from the last book, Doctor Johnson, was back and up to more of his evil schemes. On top of that Gina and Rachel have to deal with keeping Lilith's true identity from the rest of their superhero team as a result of the kill order issued on Shadowmind's last creation. It all made for and engaging and enjoyable story.
As always Medrano's writing remains a little strange and sedate, even during the action scenes, but despite that I still find it engaging enough.
I felt like there were two minor flaws that held this back from being as good as the first instalment of the series. The first was the pacing in the first half of the story. It was just a bit too sedate. A little more action and intrigue in the first third would have been better. The other flaw was a slight shift in the direction of the romance. I'll not say too much but I do feel like the author has changed his mind and the direction of it and I do not feel like the change was a positive one. It is by no means awful but I definitely liked the previous direction better and it feels a bit weird that got abandoned.
The authors note at the end indicated that this series is going on the shelf for a bit which I feel is a pity as I'm sure there is a lot more fun stories left to be told in this world! The good news is Medrano does plan to return for a future trilogy once he gets some other series out of the way.
All in all this was a fun superhero story.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Reread Update: This held up OK on reread.
Audio Note: I feel like Sarah Beth Goer's character voices could be a bit more distinctive at times. She does well with a lot of the characters but a few of the leads sound a bit similar. On the whole I'm a fan of her as she has a pleasant voice and does seem to get the tone of the story.
A lot of the elements that made the first book so much fun were back in this story. The characters are likeable, the plot enjoyable, and the superhero world a good one. The world is fairly standard superhero fare as are the superpowers but Medrano makes it work as the characters themselves are good and the tone of the story had the sort of balance I enjoy. I'm also a fan of the fact that a few AI's had roles to play!
The trio of Lilith, Warden (Gina), and Morgan Ley Fey (Rachel) are as easy to root for as ever. There was plenty going on in the story as the evil Destruction Core team were looking to move in on the city and the villain from the last book, Doctor Johnson, was back and up to more of his evil schemes. On top of that Gina and Rachel have to deal with keeping Lilith's true identity from the rest of their superhero team as a result of the kill order issued on Shadowmind's last creation. It all made for and engaging and enjoyable story.
As always Medrano's writing remains a little strange and sedate, even during the action scenes, but despite that I still find it engaging enough.
I felt like there were two minor flaws that held this back from being as good as the first instalment of the series. The first was the pacing in the first half of the story. It was just a bit too sedate. A little more action and intrigue in the first third would have been better. The other flaw was a slight shift in the direction of the romance. I'll not say too much but I do feel like the author has changed his mind and the direction of it and I do not feel like the change was a positive one. It is by no means awful but I definitely liked the previous direction better and it feels a bit weird that got abandoned.
The authors note at the end indicated that this series is going on the shelf for a bit which I feel is a pity as I'm sure there is a lot more fun stories left to be told in this world! The good news is Medrano does plan to return for a future trilogy once he gets some other series out of the way.
All in all this was a fun superhero story.
Rating: 3.5 stars.
Reread Update: This held up OK on reread.
Audio Note: I feel like Sarah Beth Goer's character voices could be a bit more distinctive at times. She does well with a lot of the characters but a few of the leads sound a bit similar. On the whole I'm a fan of her as she has a pleasant voice and does seem to get the tone of the story.
July 27, 2021
Hard book to rate for two reasons: First, it is the second half of a story began in book 1 and as such this book contains the resolution of the story. Since it has resolution it is easy to forget it is half a story. I can't help but wonder how good the book would have been had this author actually written one book instead of two half books.
Second, the character development never felt real. It seemed more like a series of gimmicks: make the MCs lesbians- that will fill out their characters. Make one MC a painter with a gallery, that will fill out her character. Also, as a heterosexual man, I am not the best to judge authentic portrayals of lesbian relationships, but, that said, this felt shallow. More like how men who watch girl on girl videos think full on female relationships work: no real disagreements and lots of sex.
In spite of the foregoing, I was able to enjoy this book, hence the 3 stars. However, I readily acknowledge my tastes in books tend more towards escapism, so I'm predisposed to like superhero books.
Bottom line: if you are at all a critical reader don't waste your time (and it is still a risk if you are a forgiving reader).
Second, the character development never felt real. It seemed more like a series of gimmicks: make the MCs lesbians- that will fill out their characters. Make one MC a painter with a gallery, that will fill out her character. Also, as a heterosexual man, I am not the best to judge authentic portrayals of lesbian relationships, but, that said, this felt shallow. More like how men who watch girl on girl videos think full on female relationships work: no real disagreements and lots of sex.
In spite of the foregoing, I was able to enjoy this book, hence the 3 stars. However, I readily acknowledge my tastes in books tend more towards escapism, so I'm predisposed to like superhero books.
Bottom line: if you are at all a critical reader don't waste your time (and it is still a risk if you are a forgiving reader).
December 5, 2018
I'm now at 90% of the book but thinking of not continuing. It has been very underwhelming, I don't think there's even a story here, it's as simple as "There are some villains, we'll go storm their hideout, we had a misunderstanding with the good guys so we'll go alone". I feel like I wasted a lot of time listening to nothing. It's a shame since I really liked Lilith character from the first book, in this one it's non existing, we didn't get to see her do anything, always a part of a team of 3 going after a few villains, you could've replaced Lilith with a plant without having to change much of the book.
January 31, 2022
I have a problem with this series.
Don't get me wrong here, normally I prefer to have multiple POVs in a book, yet in this book I am having a big problem with it. The reason I am having a problem with it is because I feel as if Lilith is barely present in the story. Like in the first 4 hours of this book I think there was maybe 3-4 chapters with her POV and I think in like 2 or 3 chapters we start of with her perspective and then switch to another's or vice versa. Maybe I am wrong here and that wasn't the case, but I am not feeling to go back and check, yet despite that, the mare fact that there were like 13 or so chapters that occurred in those 4 hours and Lilith was barely in 1/3 of that was really strange to me.
Why do I have a problem with this? To be completely honest, I am not sure why. Maybe it's because the name of the series is named after Lilith and she is barely in it, or the series so far felt more like a romance novel rather than a fantasy/scifi book that had romance in it, hence why having the MC be barely present is throwing me off. Also because we get the perspective of so much random people, I just found it hard to actually give a fuck. Evil people do evil shit (wow shocker), "heroes" are bias, ignorant and ultimately dumb (big shocker), random people are just random. The point is that the events that plays out are rather generic, and mostly cliched, so I only really care about the romance. And since it seems like I am enjoying that plotline way way way more than everything else, it just sours my mood when it is mostly absent because we had to focus on Jake so he can make a phone call to the police because some villain is eating or fighting or something or the other.
Look, this book would not have grind my gears if it was longer in the parts that count. All the "moving parts" the author desperately want to show us are fine and all, but if we got more of Lilith's perspective, then this book would have been fine. If we just got more interactions between Lilith, Rachel and Gina I think this book would have been a really good book. By far the romance aspect between the three is the most entertaining, but there is so little of it, hence why I am annoyed and disappointed. It is akin to ordering a taco but they barely put any meat and fill the rest with vegetables.
(To any vegan out there your really missing out if you don't put meat in your tacos.)
Don't get me wrong here, normally I prefer to have multiple POVs in a book, yet in this book I am having a big problem with it. The reason I am having a problem with it is because I feel as if Lilith is barely present in the story. Like in the first 4 hours of this book I think there was maybe 3-4 chapters with her POV and I think in like 2 or 3 chapters we start of with her perspective and then switch to another's or vice versa. Maybe I am wrong here and that wasn't the case, but I am not feeling to go back and check, yet despite that, the mare fact that there were like 13 or so chapters that occurred in those 4 hours and Lilith was barely in 1/3 of that was really strange to me.
Why do I have a problem with this? To be completely honest, I am not sure why. Maybe it's because the name of the series is named after Lilith and she is barely in it, or the series so far felt more like a romance novel rather than a fantasy/scifi book that had romance in it, hence why having the MC be barely present is throwing me off. Also because we get the perspective of so much random people, I just found it hard to actually give a fuck. Evil people do evil shit (wow shocker), "heroes" are bias, ignorant and ultimately dumb (big shocker), random people are just random. The point is that the events that plays out are rather generic, and mostly cliched, so I only really care about the romance. And since it seems like I am enjoying that plotline way way way more than everything else, it just sours my mood when it is mostly absent because we had to focus on Jake so he can make a phone call to the police because some villain is eating or fighting or something or the other.
Look, this book would not have grind my gears if it was longer in the parts that count. All the "moving parts" the author desperately want to show us are fine and all, but if we got more of Lilith's perspective, then this book would have been fine. If we just got more interactions between Lilith, Rachel and Gina I think this book would have been a really good book. By far the romance aspect between the three is the most entertaining, but there is so little of it, hence why I am annoyed and disappointed. It is akin to ordering a taco but they barely put any meat and fill the rest with vegetables.
(To any vegan out there your really missing out if you don't put meat in your tacos.)
December 9, 2018
Fun novel. Mostly light-hearted, with a few dark moments. I actually read this novel, and the first one, a while ago, so this review is pretty much about both, since I can't remember where one ends and the other begins.
The characters weren't really deep, but were all interesting in their own ways. I liked how this story portrayed a created being trying to find her own way in the world, and I like emotional relationships developing in all different or unusual ways, especially despite the expectations of others, and this novel provided that with flying colors.
The author portrayed a relatively plausible supers world, assuming super powers were real, and the focus was on the protag continuing to try to find her own way, despite being the creation of a super-villain, and thus falling under that world's instant-termination policy regarding her origins, should she be found out.
There were times when the plot seemed to be pushed in certain directions unnaturally, but overall, it was a strong, smooth ride, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from this author. :)
The characters weren't really deep, but were all interesting in their own ways. I liked how this story portrayed a created being trying to find her own way in the world, and I like emotional relationships developing in all different or unusual ways, especially despite the expectations of others, and this novel provided that with flying colors.
The author portrayed a relatively plausible supers world, assuming super powers were real, and the focus was on the protag continuing to try to find her own way, despite being the creation of a super-villain, and thus falling under that world's instant-termination policy regarding her origins, should she be found out.
There were times when the plot seemed to be pushed in certain directions unnaturally, but overall, it was a strong, smooth ride, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from this author. :)
July 26, 2018
When Sky Defender discovers that Lilith is Shadow Mind's creation he decides to kill her and chaos results. Warden and Morgan leave the team and start a media campaign to get Lilith's death sentence rescinded. With her secret exposed, thousands of bounties are placed on her head and hordes of heroes and villains alike descend on the city to try and capture or kill Lilith. The response? Go on the attack and try and capture the villains who have masterminded the chaos to prove Lilith is really a hero.
August 18, 2023
i LOVE this series
I love this series, Lilith, Circe, Gina, Rachel, what a great group, and all the rest of the characters are interesting and well developed. The author has created a fun, interesting, action, or should i say super, packed world, can’t wait to see what happens next! It’s superhero slice of life meets superhero romance meets superhero action/mystery, wonderful combo of genres, one might say it’s a SUPER genre 😬🙂
I love this series, Lilith, Circe, Gina, Rachel, what a great group, and all the rest of the characters are interesting and well developed. The author has created a fun, interesting, action, or should i say super, packed world, can’t wait to see what happens next! It’s superhero slice of life meets superhero romance meets superhero action/mystery, wonderful combo of genres, one might say it’s a SUPER genre 😬🙂
March 30, 2018
Fun superhero story with a lot of twists and turns
This is a fun superhero story that makes you question who the real heroes are. Wish there was a little more resolution in what’s good by to happen to Lilith. However that is plenty here to keep you entertained in this and all future books.
Look forward to the sequel.
This is a fun superhero story that makes you question who the real heroes are. Wish there was a little more resolution in what’s good by to happen to Lilith. However that is plenty here to keep you entertained in this and all future books.
Look forward to the sequel.
April 2, 2018
Awesome book!
This book is even better than the last one in the Lilith’s Shadow series! Great characters, great plot, cool powers and technology, great book all over!
This book is even better than the last one in the Lilith’s Shadow series! Great characters, great plot, cool powers and technology, great book all over!
April 4, 2018
Good book
I love a good story about female superheroes and that they are lesbians too makes it even better. I hope the story will continue.
I love a good story about female superheroes and that they are lesbians too makes it even better. I hope the story will continue.
May 30, 2018
A good continuation of book 1 though I have to say I like the Ancient dreams series better than this 1.
June 25, 2018
Liked it
Fast paced page turner with characters that you instantly root for. I am going to check out other books by this author. I hope that he writes a 3rd book
Fast paced page turner with characters that you instantly root for. I am going to check out other books by this author. I hope that he writes a 3rd book
December 31, 2018
A fairly generic superhero tale.
September 17, 2020
Okay Sequel
The series has held my interest but it's far from perfect. The author spends way too much time in multiple povs for the story to really provide tension.
The series has held my interest but it's far from perfect. The author spends way too much time in multiple povs for the story to really provide tension.
December 9, 2021
Awesome story
I have enjoyed this fun adventure of Lilith story and how she is copping with her life with her girlfriends.
I have enjoyed this fun adventure of Lilith story and how she is copping with her life with her girlfriends.
September 4, 2020
that was nice, good beach book
If you liked Born a Queen You'll like this one too.
I'm really digging Benjamin Medrano. There is action and adventure with out over stressing me, the reader with extreme cruelty, tragedy, or cranking up the tension till my nerves twang.
I'm sick of every impressionable writer trying to be the next George RR Martin with blood gurgling from slit throats and all hope dying in a burning orphanage.
Likewise I'm tired of hyper macho cretins who try to shoot and punch their way out of every problem their bloated ego got them into.
Here is a book full of action and intrigue that places the power to smash beneath the power to care.
If you liked Born a Queen You'll like this one too.
I'm really digging Benjamin Medrano. There is action and adventure with out over stressing me, the reader with extreme cruelty, tragedy, or cranking up the tension till my nerves twang.
I'm sick of every impressionable writer trying to be the next George RR Martin with blood gurgling from slit throats and all hope dying in a burning orphanage.
Likewise I'm tired of hyper macho cretins who try to shoot and punch their way out of every problem their bloated ego got them into.
Here is a book full of action and intrigue that places the power to smash beneath the power to care.
October 30, 2023
warden, morgan and lillith are the only truly enjoyable parts of this. circe was better, claire was a great addition. but fuck i just cant seem to care about ocean shield or dr johnson or literally anyone else. there were a few passages i barely recognized the characters, im usually pretty good at following characters but god it was hard. i just wish there was more of an emphasis on the bond between the three, i doubht that'll happen in the next book though
February 7, 2019
A good follow up to the first book.
I quite enjoyed the second half of this story. After reading the author's note, I do hope he comes back to the story as I have grown to love the world he has created.
I quite enjoyed the second half of this story. After reading the author's note, I do hope he comes back to the story as I have grown to love the world he has created.
December 6, 2020
Further developing the world and the characters Down with the Queen takes the characters introduced in the first novel and engages everyone in a web of action and drama that I enjoyed. While I look forward to seeing how the world develops there is so much more I want to see.
May 30, 2019
Truly great
An excellent well developed enjoyable read. Hated the abrupt ending especially as I have not seen another book for this series......
An excellent well developed enjoyable read. Hated the abrupt ending especially as I have not seen another book for this series......
December 16, 2018
I loved it can't believe I forgot to mark it as read back when I finished it. Anyway a bit sad that it probably will be a while untill Benjamin Medrano gets back to this series if he does.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews