Between Two Fires

It has been a long time since a book was added to my 'Favorites' shelf. This one earned it.Between Two Fires is my type of book. Meaning I recognize that I am its audience. I had heard about this book through the grapevine over the years... Mostly that it was A) good and B) similar in tone and content to games like Dark Souls. Both of these things turned out to be true, which, for me, you're pretty much guaranteed a homerun at that point. But Buehlman's novel also has the "it" factor that pushed it above something I merely enjoy.Set in medieval France during the Black Death, Between Two Fires is an expert example of genre-blending. It put me in mind of Robert Eggers' film The Witch, in that the setting is informed by the belief system of the historical period. Meaning, in the case of Buehlman's novel here, that God, his angels, Heaven, Hell, Lucifer, and all manner of devils, are not just real entities, they have great agency in this story, and their inclusion within it is handled with a deftness that maintains an incredible realism, and ensures that these elements are lent the proper weight, so that even though you're reading something that could at times be mistaken for mere historical fiction, the story is greatly served by its horror and fantasy elements. Perhaps even made by them.Having said all that, while this story does reach some epic peaks, it is a much more grounded story for most of its page count. And this is where I connect with it most deeply. At its heart, it's a story about a disgraced knight, and a young girl, traveling France together. It's extremely atmospheric, the cast is small, the dialogue is terse but often humorous, even amidst the darkness (some of it feels like Cormac McCarthy dabbling in genre fiction, which is also up my alley). And as I mentioned before, the way Buehlman puts it all together is simply masterful. Angels war outside the walls of heaven. Devils walk the earth and monsters roam the countryside each night. And yet my favorite parts of the book were quiet conversations between the characters; small laughter breaking through the night.'She became confused about whether he was dead. Perhaps not, but, like her, he would be soon. Everyone would be soon.'

Entertaining. Visceral. Few spots dragged here and there but fairly easy to get through. May need to google a few French and Latin terms but at least this doesn’t read like the author was pulling words from a thesaurus. Blood, guts, demons and angels. This was a good read for me.

WOW! This was definitely the best book I've read in AGES! Very close to perfection! The conceit of the story is that during the 1300s in France, when the Black Death is devastating Europe, the demons of hell think God has abandoned the world and use their chance to conquer earth. The only person who can stop them is a saintly young French girl named Delphine (no, not Joan of Arc), but Hell and its servants are after her, and the only person who can protect her as she travels through France to try and stop the demonic plots is a disgraced former knight reduced to brigandage, Thomas. But is she really an agent of God, or someone--or something--else? That's the mystery at the heart of this book, along the terrifying depictions of overtly supernatural monsters that gird much of its horror.I don't wanna give too much away, but though this was advertised to me as a horror novel, it also works very well as a sword and sorcery fantasy novel--it's not actually that different from a D&D plotline, in that a wandering swordsman with a good heart buried underneath his checked past/desire for revenge has to protect a young girl against giant demons, undead monsters, and other beasties as she travels the land searching for relics to stop the demonic plot and save the kingdom, assisted by a trusty cleric sidekick. However, Buehlman has really done his research, and despite the monsters you'll encounter, he treats medieval religion realistically (lots of corrupt clergymen) but also sympathetically ("true" faith is portrayed as a force for good and hope). The descriptions of the arms and armor, medieval life, and the big battles of the Hundred Years War like Crecy (given the novel's timeframe) are also very historically accurate and compellingly written. The combat scenes are nice and the characters are great, you'll come to love Thomas and Delphine and you wo't be able to keep yourself from grinning as Thomas grows attached to his young ward despite himself over the course of the story. And again, no spoilers, but the ending was one of the best I've read in a while, nearly brought me to tears. Absolute 5/5, I'm gonna get the rest of Buehlman's books to show my support for this author :D

This book is an immense triumph. The sheer amount of research that must have Gone into this is mind boggling. I finished this book in two days and instantly ordered black tongue thief, another of his novels, before even finishing the first. It is very religious, and describes in detail each of the devils of hell in a way that feels both ancient but easy to comprehend. I give it a 10/10