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From the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing, intensely atmospheric fever dream of medieval horror. Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. Food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration. Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the horrors that are unfolding within Aymar’s walls. As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness—forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy—these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle’s new masters… or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself.
A huge aspect of this book is cannibalism-- even the title implies it (and quite strongly). It is often a metaphor for all things all-consuming; I was wondering which metaphor you all connected it with more than the others.
2Your rating:
A deeply fascinating book about desperation, power, loyalty... and cannibalism.
First, thank you to Caitlin Starling, Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for an e-ARC for this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Let me get this out of the way: this is an immensely confusing book if you aren't paying attention all the way through. The latter half fits a lot of content within it, and whilst the pace is good, it is quite daunting to read, especially also considering the topics discussed in this novel. I was super confused for at least half the book.
But that didn't matter. This dark fantasy is so incredibly atmospheric with vividly horrifying descriptions. I'm in awe of Starling's ability to describe everything so viscerally. The novel is messy, chaotic, horrible, and so incredibly good. The three main characters of this book are also all so fascinating, fitting into the novel in their own way and quite insanely adding to the lore of the novel. I'm genuinely so startled by them and their complex, desperate, relationship. Phosyne, Ser Voyne, and Treila all have their own motives and reasonings and it's done quite well through the novel.
I would recommend this for fans of Plain Bad Heroines and Gideon the Ninth-- and people who enjoy deeply concerning horror, fantasy, and cannibalism as a literary device.
0If you think nothing could be worse than starving to death, trapped in a castle that's been under seige for six months, you'd be wrong.
Im trying to find the words to accurately describe this book, and I'm struggling. It was a nightmare, both weird and terrible... There was never a moment when I could have guessed what would happen next, and the multiple pov kept me on the edge of my seat. I feel like this is a book I will want to reread over and over, and each time I do, I'll find something new that I didn't see before.
If you like disturbing, weird horror with knights, magic, and sapphic lust (because romance is definitely not the right word).. then read this book!
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