At a glance
First published2012
SettingBlack Death–era France, 14th century
AudienceAdult
ISBN1250439205
Between Two Fires
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for: Readers of literary dark fiction who want medieval history treated as lived reality — Heaven, Hell, and the Black Death as cosmological fact — and who are drawn to flawed, disgraced protagonists navigating both human vengeance and cosmic warfare.
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Between Two Fires is a historical horror novel set during the Black Death in plague-ravaged France, following a disgraced knight, a visionary girl, and a fallen priest on a pilgrimage through literal demonic warfare — rendering Lucifer's assault on Heaven not as allegory but as cosmological fact. Buehlman fuses rigorous medieval historical grounding with lyrical prose and genuine theological seriousness, producing what critics and LuvemBooks consider a landmark of literary dark fiction. The key caveat: sustained brutality, the deaths of central characters, and a dense eschatological final act make this demanding rather than escapist reading, best suited to readers who want horror with real historical and philosophical weight.
- Is it worth reading?
- For readers who want dark fiction with the weight of real history and genuine philosophical depth, Between Two Fires is considered a landmark title by LuvemBooks and was strongly praised by critics on original publication — Shelf Awareness's Ron Hogan credited it as the work that secured Buehlman's standing among leading dark fantasy authors. The prose balances lyrical writing with earthy, gallows humor, a quality Tor.com's Alyx Dellamonica singled out as an advance on Buehlman's debut. The caveat is real: the novel's sustained brutality — plague, sexual assault, violence, and the deaths of Thomas, Delphine, and Matthieu — makes it a demanding rather than escapist read, and the dense theological machinery of the final act requires genuine engagement.
- Similar books
- Readers drawn to Between Two Fires will find kindred works in several directions. For sustained, deeply uncomfortable horror grounded in physical threat and group survival, Nick Cutter's The Troop delivers a similarly unsparing brutality. Those interested in Buehlman's other fiction can explore Those Across the River (his debut) and The Blacktongue Thief, which showcases his range into dark fantasy. For other novels that treat the medieval world as a space of actual belief and intellectual seriousness, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and Nicola Griffith's Hild are natural companions.
- Who should read this?
- Between Two Fires belongs to a specific tradition of literary horror with genuine theological seriousness and medieval historical grounding — its ideal reader is one who wants dark fiction with the weight of real history behind it, engages with questions of theodicy and divine withdrawal, and can tolerate sustained brutality in service of serious thematic ambition. Fans of dark historical fiction who are willing to meet medieval Catholic cosmology on its own terms — treating Heaven and Hell as cosmological fact rather than allegory — will find Buehlman's execution rare and rewarding. It is not suited to readers who prefer horror that withholds its supernatural stakes, or who find the unrelenting grimness of Black Death settings punishing.
- About Christopher Buehlman
- Christopher Buehlman was born in St. Petersburg, Florida and has carved out a distinctive niche as a master of literary horror who brings an uncommon depth to the genre.
- What are the main themes?
- The central thematic preoccupation of Between Two Fires is theodicy — the question of why God permits catastrophes of the scale of the Black Death — rendered not as abstract philosophy but as lived cosmological crisis: God appears to withdraw, leaving angels and humanity to face Lucifer's assault alone. Redemption and renewal run as animating undercurrents beneath the devastation, embodied in the three protagonists, each of whom carries a specific disgrace — Thomas's excommunication and brigandry, Matthieu's alcoholism and sexual disgrace, Delphine's visionary burden — and seeks a specific kind of restoration. Critic Jason Golomb identified this tension between mass catastrophe and the persistent possibility of redemption as the novel's moral and emotional engine.
- Any content warnings?
- Between Two Fires is an adult horror novel that does not soften its material. The review explicitly notes plague, violence, sexual assault, and the on-page deaths of central characters — Thomas, Delphine, and Matthieu — as rendered without mitigation. Father Matthieu's storyline involves persecution for his homosexuality, and the demonic horror includes possessed religious statuary and a demonic impersonation of Pope Clement VI. Readers sensitive to any of these elements should consider this a demanding rather than a cautionary note — the brutality is purposeful and thematically integrated, not decorative.
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About Christopher Buehlman
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Summarize this book
Between Two Fires, originally published in 2012 and reissued by Tor Nightfire, is set in Black Death–ravaged France where Lucifer and the fallen angels have launched a literal war against Heaven, using the plague as their weapon and God's apparent withdrawal as their opening. The story follows three companions — Thomas, a disgraced French knight excommunicated after the Battle of Crécy; Delphine, a young girl who claims to see angels; and Father Matthieu, a gay alcoholic priest who lost his congregation — on a harrowing pilgrimage from the plague roads to Paris and ultimately to Avignon. Their journey culminates in a demonic impersonation of Pope Clement VI, a resurrection, a harrowing of Hell, and the eruption of the archangel Michael and the heavenly host from Delphine's body — an eschatological finale that keeps human stakes at its center throughout.
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Reading level
Adult
Content to know about
graphic violence
sexual assault
on-page deaths of major characters
plague horror and mass death
persecution based on sexuality
Best for: Adults — graphic violence, sexual assault, and the on-page deaths of all three central characters make this unsuitable for younger readers.
Skip if you want horror that withholds its supernatural stakes or prefer escapist, comfort-oriented dark fiction.
Editorial Review
Originally published in 2012 and now reissued by Tor Nightfire, Between Two Fires is a historical horror novel set during the Black Death, following a disgraced French knight, a visionary girl, and a fallen priest on a harrowing journey across plague-ravaged France — a book that blends cosmic theological warfare with earthy, lyrical prose to powerful effect.
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