There has always been one time period and place I would never want to visit, if I were able to travel to time: the 1300s in Europe. A devastating famine killed untold thousands between 1315 and 1317. The Hundred Years’ War (actually 116-ish years, for the sticklers) kicked off in 1337. And then the Black Death hit Europe in the late 1340s (date varies depending on how far from Italy you were). It’s a wonder as many people survived the deadliness of this trio. Christopher Buehlman uses this decimated time and place to spin a tale of a supernatural war in Between Two Fires. Hell has broken loose upon the world and it’s up to a very young girl and a very world-weary former knight to save us.
Thomas is a veteran of the disastrous battle of Crécy. After the battle killed his lord and a shocking number of the French aristocracy, insult is added to injury when a greedy comte has him excommunicated to snatch Thomas’s land. The only thing left to him is banditry until something kill him and sends his soul to hell. Except, when the troupe of marauders he travels with comes across the mysterious Delphine at an otherwise deserted farmstead, it turns out that Thomas still holds some morals. One of things he cannot bring himself to allow is for the odious leader of their group rape and murder. So Thomas kills him. He also kills a couple of other bandits who object. Buehlman gives us a very bloody introduction to Thomas and Delphine’s world and, to be honest, things really only get gorier the further we get into the tale.
Delphine has a mission, though she doesn’t know what it is when she tells Thomas that she must get to Avignon to speak with the pope. Obviously something is wrong in Christendom (famine, war, plague, death—the apocalyptic suspects) and Delphine has dreams and has flashes of instructions from a source that wants to put things to rights. Unfortunately, they’re very vague about details and the overall plan, leaving Thomas and Delphine to save each other’s necks as they journey from Normandy to Avignon. Along the way, they find creatures or people that are batting for the infernal team who very much want to stop Delphine.
Between Two Fires is not a pleasant read, but Beuhlman does incredible work delivering a story that feels medieval. When I teach research workshops for medieval literature students, I stress the importance of digging into the cultural, religious, and intellectual context of the works they’re writing about. Buehlman explains the cataclysms of famine, war, and plague in a way that would make sense to a medieval mind without making the characters sound stupid. They can’t see germs, but they can see the evidence of demons in the world. He’s unsparing in depicting violence, but also shows us courage and forgiveness (with some banter and a lot of swearing for seasoning). Buehlman is also a light touch with his research. Thomas’s recounting of the battle of Crécy and the way the English archers annihilated the French knights, with its focus on the pain and confusion, is pitch perfect, as are the small bits of dialogue from characters talking about how plague appeared, its different forms, and the gaping holes it left in families afterwards. Buehlman’s writing encourages us to imagine what it might have felt like to live at that time, in that place, with Death just waiting to pounce.
And for all the bleakness of Between Two Fires, the dramatic ending and the novel’s sweet coda offer a soothing emotional respite. Between Two Fires is never preachy and I very much appreciated the development of Thomas’s character over the course of the novel. Being good, genuinely good, is hard, but for those who survive and remember their humanity, there can be peace and goodness once more. And even though the odds seem impossible, even when all hope is lost, characters who fight for the good can save the way.