Book Review: BETWEEN TWO FIRES by Christopher Buehlman

BETWEEN TWO FIRES by Christopher Buehlman (Ace Books, October 2012) Hardcover, 432 pages. ISBN #1937007863 / 9781937007867  

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

His extraordinary debut, Those Across the River, was hailed as “genre-bending Southern horror” (California Literary Review), “graceful [and] horrific” (Patricia Briggs). Now Christopher Buehlman invites readers into an even darker age—one of temptation and corruption, of war in heaven, and of hell on earth… 

And Lucifer said: “Let us rise against Him now in all our numbers, and pull the walls of heaven down…” 

The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of 

a larger cataclysm—that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict. 

Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfill her mission: to confront the evil that has devastated the earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned. 

As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.  

My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     Without all the extra trappings, BETWEEN TWO FIRES would serve nicely as just historical fiction. Buehlman does a remarkable job of detailing and depicting the depravity, desperation, and squalid survival conditions during the Black Plague's spread across Europe. 

 

     Add three compelling characters (disgraced knight, disgraced alcoholic priest, young and newly orphaned girl with visions) and this is one dynamic story. The interaction between these characters is amusing, touching, and realistic. The story is a bit episodic but moves at a quick pace, and the writing is fluid and engaging. 

     Add the elements of horror, superstition, and a war between angels and demons and BETWEEN TWO FIRES moves into a whole new level of entertainment. Quite a genre blend, this has been described by some fellow Goodreads reviewers as medieval dark fantasy. I would define it even further as biblical horror. 

     The monsters and demons are well-defined and horrifying. Some of the scenes remind me of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories. The ending is subject to interpretation, but very satisfying. A great reading experience.