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A review by thekarpuk
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There's horror where the supernatural force is almost constantly popping up to reassert itself. There's fiction where a constant tension exists between whether or not anything is happening at all. But the most common category I see is things that try to keep that tension but sort of give up in the third act.
Between Two Fires strikes a sort of balance that I don't find often in horror or fantasy, where the supernatural elements are present, but are deeply upsetting and only really poke through occasionally during intense moments. The only other series in the fantasy space I can think of that does this is the Song of Ice and Fire series, and it's been a minute since that was actively happening.
What I really admire through out this book, and it's a rarity in both historical fantasy and in horror, is the author's capacity to show restraint without withholding the exciting parts. This book is so clearly inspired by either From Software games, or Miyazaki's chief inspiration, Berserk, without really cribbing any of the particulars from either. The chief thing it holds on to is that you're provided only the details about the plot that are absolutely germane to what's happening immediately in the story. There's no big exposition dumps, no omniscient narrator giving you long explanation about this history of this place, everything maintains a consistent lean approach.
The only authors I can really think of who do this are Cormac McCarthy and Ishiguro Kazuo, which is just a reminder that people often treat this approach as "challenging", a description which I think overstates the difficulties
And there's a bravery in that. Look at any sort of airport fiction you've ever read. The only thing that stops the frantic pace of those stories is the time they take to stop and make sure you're absolutely clear on who is doing what and why they're doing it. There's absolutely no faith given that you can infer anything, or even retain an understanding of the context. I have a lot of memories of college writing and English classes where there were always a few students, some of them even fairly bright, who would have trouble following fiction if it didn't do this.
Fiction that assumes that you're an adult is exceedingly rare, and horror or fantasy that does so is doubly rare. This book was captivating in a way that I don't see very often, and shows a level of confidence by the author that I find really compelling. I look forward to what he does in the future.
Between Two Fires strikes a sort of balance that I don't find often in horror or fantasy, where the supernatural elements are present, but are deeply upsetting and only really poke through occasionally during intense moments. The only other series in the fantasy space I can think of that does this is the Song of Ice and Fire series, and it's been a minute since that was actively happening.
What I really admire through out this book, and it's a rarity in both historical fantasy and in horror, is the author's capacity to show restraint without withholding the exciting parts. This book is so clearly inspired by either From Software games, or Miyazaki's chief inspiration, Berserk, without really cribbing any of the particulars from either. The chief thing it holds on to is that you're provided only the details about the plot that are absolutely germane to what's happening immediately in the story. There's no big exposition dumps, no omniscient narrator giving you long explanation about this history of this place, everything maintains a consistent lean approach.
The only authors I can really think of who do this are Cormac McCarthy and Ishiguro Kazuo, which is just a reminder that people often treat this approach as "challenging", a description which I think overstates the difficulties
And there's a bravery in that. Look at any sort of airport fiction you've ever read. The only thing that stops the frantic pace of those stories is the time they take to stop and make sure you're absolutely clear on who is doing what and why they're doing it. There's absolutely no faith given that you can infer anything, or even retain an understanding of the context. I have a lot of memories of college writing and English classes where there were always a few students, some of them even fairly bright, who would have trouble following fiction if it didn't do this.
Fiction that assumes that you're an adult is exceedingly rare, and horror or fantasy that does so is doubly rare. This book was captivating in a way that I don't see very often, and shows a level of confidence by the author that I find really compelling. I look forward to what he does in the future.