BETWEEN TWO FIRES by Christopher Buehlman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I went in expecting medieval horror. I left with nightmarish visions of the end of days and a new genesis for global events of calamity. If there is a god, and it did from time to time briefly look the other way from humanity and allow devils to dance across the Earth in its absence, I almost wonder where god is looking right now.

Thomas is an anti-hero with just enough good in him to mean something. Delphine is innocent, important, and just the one to save his soul. Together, they travel through Black Plague-stricken France on a mission from Heaven, the details murky and the monsters they encounter freakish and damned, each one Hell-bent on maiming them, drowning them, eating them—whatever it takes. A journey of Biblical importance with Revelations-like fury and heavy use of the word “whoring”.

I love stories that pit forces higher than us against each other, leaving humanity to deal with the repercussions. And the repercussions here are some of the most grotesque boss battles I’ve seen in literature. Foul beasts and manifestations of sin spit out at our protagonists with a hate only Lucifer could conjure. Lines so harsh you flush, only to read on in haste. The climax is worth it, but the journey there is better. I could’ve read another 200 pages of their travels and troubles.

There’s also beauty. The writing itself, for a start. There’s something in the way it makes the wreckage almost poetic. Flashes of Homer and Virgil, turning religion into an epic, with scenes of love furnished, brotherhood forged, bravery recaptured, and strength everlasting. There are just enough sips of calm between the carnage to not fully dry out the palate. Not so much to think things might turn out okay, but enough to think maybe even a moment of happiness is worth an eternity of pain.

This is as unique a read as they come and a must, if you can stomach it.