Book Review: The Lost Reliquary by Lyndsay Ely
Release Day October 21, 2025
Release Date: October 21, 2025
Rating: 9 out of 10
Spice Level: 0 out of 5
Cover Grade: A-
THE LOST RELIQUARY, by Lyndsay Ely, takes you to the Devoted Lands, a theocratic society ruled by one, Tempestra-Inara, the Eternal Flame Goddess.
Lys has been living her life by going through the motions as a Chosen. A warrior, devout in her actions, but disdainful in her daydreams. Killing her goddess brings her the will to get through each day.
There is an execution attempt on Tempestra-Innara's life that reveals it can be possible to kill a god, and her daydreams turn into decidal hope for freedom.
Tasked with tracking down heretics, Lys is partnered with Nolan, a devout rival, and is asked to work together, a highly unusual order, as her blood brothers are usually pitted against one another. She is now forced to pretend loyalty and hide her true goals from her new friend in her quest for freedom.
Verdict:
Loved it. This witty, flippant, cheeky, amusing, and action-packed tale has secrets, twists, and twits. An illustration of one’s struggle with faith, what is true when forced? A theocratic world with enough fear and suspense. Both Nolan and Lys are relatable characters, one being devout and the other scornful. (9/10)
Thank you, S&S/Saga Press and Lyndsay Ely. I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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From the Publisher:
Publisher: S&S/Saga Press
ISBN 9781668080313
Paperback 464 pages
Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
For Sale Date: October 21, 2025
Description:
A divinely-blessed warrior bound to the last living goddess plots deicide to win her freedom in this propulsive epic fantasy for fans of Godkiller and Gideon the Ninth.
The Devoted Lands was once home to many gods: Salt, Stone, Storm, Green, Shadow. Now, after centuries of devastating wars, only Tempestra-Innara, the Eternal Flame, remains.
Conscripted as a child, Lys, potentiate of the Dawn Cloister, is outwardly a loyal servant to her goddess. If she harbors impossible dreams of deicide, that’s her business. But when a routine heretical execution erupts into a near-fatal assassination attempt on Tempestra-Innara, Lys sees a glimmer of hope for her freedom.
Lys is chosen to hunt down the heretics and find an ancient reliquary that holds the power to kill a god. Annoyingly, she’s not alone. Paired with Nolan, a potentiate from a rival cloister who is as pious as he is determined, Lys must feign devotion if she hopes to keep her own heretical thoughts hidden and god-killing ambitions within reach.
As they pursue a dangerous network of heretics linked to the assassination, Lys uncovers a world brimming with more possibility—and peril—than she ever anticipated.
Author Bio:
Lyndsay Ely is an author of science fiction and fantasy across YA and adult categories. Her debut, Gunslinger Girl, was a YA genre-bent dystopian Western. She has also published an Overwatch tie-in novel, Deadlock Rebels, is a contributor to Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant: An Overwatch Story Collection, and is currently working on an upcoming interactive adventure novel for Five Nights at Freddy’s: Escape the Pizzaplex. She currently resides in Boston.
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So excited for this one!