Between Two Fires
Last updated: 2 hours, 49 minutes ago
By Christopher Buehlman
Reviewed By Oren Raynes
Book 20 of 2026
The Writing
I didn't mean to pick this one as a Halloween month read, but it works. The writing in this book is dark and scary and "what the fuck", perfect for a Halloween read!
This is my first run-in with Christopher Buehlman's writing and I am going to put him on my further reading list. Buehlman's writing is absolutely dark and twisted in this book. There are so many scenes where I had to stop and take a breather because it's either so terrifying or so "what the fuck is going on". I absolutely loved it. The characters are very well written; had me laughing at their banter and had me crying at other points (not going to spoil it). There are a lot of religious themes in this book, not sure if that is a Buehlman thing, or just due to the setting of this book (mentioning because some people do care a lot about that).
The Story
The story takes place in medieval times when knights and kings were a thing; the year given is 1348. The story follows an exiled knight who teams up with a recently orphaned girl, and a disgraced priest. They have to travel together to the city of Paris and then to Avignon. They travel during the time of the Black Death plague, which absolutely devastated France during that time. The plague and setting are the historically accurate parts of this book, and that was fascinating for me to read about. I have recently been very interested in history and how the world has progressed in the past.
The fictional part of the story is that, alongside the plague, a classic war between demons and angels is taking place. The war is leaking through to the real world and really turns this book into a horror-driven monstrosity that it is. There is one scene that will probably haunt me where the stone statues come alive, break into the house that they're staying in and try to kill them. This reminded me of the Weeping Angels concept from Doctor Who but much much worse since you couldn't make them stop and they screamed profanities directly into your mind!
And the ending of the book was so well done. I don't want to spoil it but I absolutely loved the timey-wimey twist at the end.
The Takeaway
I think that this book is now one of my all time favorites and I will likely reread multiple times in my life. I would highly recommend this book.
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