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Miserere: An Autumn Tale, Fully Revised
Everything has a price, and those who deal with the devil pay dearly in this enthralling dark fantasy about redemption, sacrifice, and a Hell-bound battle between good and evil.
Exiled exorcist Lucian Negru made a choice that has haunted him for years. He abandoned his lover, Rachael, to Hell to save the damned soul of his sister, Catarina. But Catarina doesn't want to be saved. Now a prisoner in his reviled sister’s home, Lucian is being used as a tool to help fulfill Catarina’s wicked dreams: unleash the demons of the underworld to wage a war above.
Lucian's first step in thwarting Catarina’s plan is to make amends with the past. Escaping captivity, he is determined to find Rachael even if it means entering the gates of Hell itself. Only then does he cross paths with a young girl fleeing from her own terrors. With the frightened foundling in tow, Lucian embarks on a journey to right a terrible wrong, to protect the innocent, and to rescue the woman he loves.
But no one escapes Catarina’s wrath. She’s just as driven in her pursuit: to track down her brother wherever it leads. And when she finds him, and she will, she vows to turn his heart to glass, grind it to powder, and crush the souls of everyone he loves.
Exiled exorcist Lucian Negru made a choice that has haunted him for years. He abandoned his lover, Rachael, to Hell to save the damned soul of his sister, Catarina. But Catarina doesn't want to be saved. Now a prisoner in his reviled sister’s home, Lucian is being used as a tool to help fulfill Catarina’s wicked dreams: unleash the demons of the underworld to wage a war above.
Lucian's first step in thwarting Catarina’s plan is to make amends with the past. Escaping captivity, he is determined to find Rachael even if it means entering the gates of Hell itself. Only then does he cross paths with a young girl fleeing from her own terrors. With the frightened foundling in tow, Lucian embarks on a journey to right a terrible wrong, to protect the innocent, and to rescue the woman he loves.
But no one escapes Catarina’s wrath. She’s just as driven in her pursuit: to track down her brother wherever it leads. And when she finds him, and she will, she vows to turn his heart to glass, grind it to powder, and crush the souls of everyone he loves.
- GenresFantasyDark Fantasy
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 21, 2025
About the author
T. Frohock
17 books332 followers
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T. Frohock has turned a love of history and dark fantasy into tales of deliciously creepy fiction. A real-life cyborg, T has a cochlear implant, meaning she can turn you on or off with the flick of a switch. Make of that what you will. She currently lives in North Carolina, where she has long been accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying.
Check out my newsletter for updates and more.
T. Frohock has turned a love of history and dark fantasy into tales of deliciously creepy fiction. A real-life cyborg, T has a cochlear implant, meaning she can turn you on or off with the flick of a switch. Make of that what you will. She currently lives in North Carolina, where she has long been accused of telling stories, which is a southern colloquialism for lying.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 17, 2024
I happened upon this book by chance and went into it with little to no information and that lack of knowledge actually helped me enjoy the book and its themes even more.
This book's original release was marred by a misuse of branding, labeling this as a Christian Fantasy Book. This is not to say there is not value in such a thing, but as an agnostic who tends to avoid the more preachy side of books, it would have been a turn-off for me. This is also not to say the book does not heavily feature Christianity, but to quote Mark Lawrence's review of the book,
- "On casual inspection you might be forgiven for thinking that this is a religious book &/or YA. It's neither of those things though and if you read it you'll soon be disabused of the notion. Frohock paints an interesting secondary world where multiple (possibly all) real world faiths feature but they are treated as religions invented in any good fantasy, i.e. they're presented as rich and intriguing but with not even the slightest attempt to convert you (did you feel compelled to start following The Seven, or the Old Gods of the North after reading GRRMs Game of Thrones?)" -
This I think gets across how intelligently T. Frohock weaves religion into the story, and the story itself is heavily adult and also features references to a few things some more conservative readers would consider antithetical to a Christian-advertised fantasy. The story also does not put down any other religions, as every other religion features within this setting and also have their own people able to draw upon magic due to their belief.
I came across a post from the author advertising the revised edition of the book and sought it out. And I would like to thank her for giving me a digital copy of the book. A review wasn't even required in return and I am very thankful for her kindness. The cover and the short description she had written on her website interested me. When I started the book and got further inside I found while reading that it was mysteriously perfect for what I have been in the mood for lately and many topics I have been looking into. For years I have been vaguely into real life occultism as well as fantastical eldritch horror; I find religion and mysticism greatly interesting and especially things that may be deemed beyond basic comprehension and knowledge. Very recently in fact I got into the excellent YouTube channel Esoterica that does easy-to-understand but academic and intense dives into real-life occultism and histories of religions, demons, angels, and magic. And this book contains a lot of the stuff I have found myself in-love with in that strange space, exorcisms and strange rituals, secretive orders and hell-gates, etc.
This observation aside, Miserere was both what I was wanting from the novel and something completely different. I had misunderstood and had assumed this was set primarily in a fictional Middle-Ages, retelling history but with magic and demons thrown in. But that is not the case. And the setting of Miserere, Woerld, is much more interesting than that. I find in-between worlds appealing: be it the Feywilds, Sigil in Planescape: Torment, Purgatory, etc. The surreal nature of such worlds is infinitely intriguing to me, and as is the fact they can easily function with different rules than our own world.
Woerld exists at the buffer-zone between Earth and Hell, and since Earth has fallen too in-love with its own petty-wars and politicking, Woerld as a result also has to guard Heaven, since if it would fall, Earth soon would too, and then demons would be upon Heaven. Within Woerld are bastions of every religion on Earth, from Zoroastrianism to Christianity, and the people that populate these bastions are representatives of those religions, Foundlings, who are drawn into Woerld from Earth, and since Woerld itself exists outside of Earth's time and space, we can have a Medieval Wallachian Prince alongside a country-girl from 2008 USA.
Funnily enough, I tend to avoid and dislike a narrative of someone from our world falling into another, I don't think it is bad it just doesn't appeal to me, as my preferred level of escapism in fantasy tends to involve a completely new world away from ANYTHING from our world. But... in Miserere it works... it works really well! I found myself feeling the same way I did as a kid when reading Narnia or Alice in Wonderland and thinking about the, "what if?", what if this is a thing and people fell from our world into Woerld? Though Narnia and Wonderland have the benefit of being less Eldritchly terrifying than Woerld, the adultness of Woerld is what made it appeal to a now adult me. Body horror demonic posessions, war, intrigue, and much more. I don't think I would want to be within Woerld, but reading it is infinitely entertaining. And the fact Earth was tied to Woerld didn't break my immersion like other stories that have people falling from Earth to another world, it enhanced it, since Woerld is to tied to Earth, it complimented it rather than subtracted from it.
All of the main characters are strong, Lucian is an interesting repentant exorcist with a helping of self-hatred yet he never fell into the realm of being unbearable or whiny in my opinion - as he often had wisdom, genuine remorse for his actions, and a bravery I loved. Pair this with his crippled leg that is an actual injury that affects him constantly and it all adds up to a very interesting character that isn't the stereotypical fantasy lead. (For lovers of the First Law series who loved reading characters with injuries that weren't handwaved away like Glokta, you will love how Lucian is written). Rachael is a very interesting POV as well due to being posessed... I would say more but I don't want to spoil anything but I really enjoyed her as well. Lindsay I was greatly worried would be a dud, as I find young teen characters often annoying, but she was honestly great. In many ways mirroring the best parts of Lucian's bravery and strength while still feeling authentically young and a fish out of water, her and Lucian's dynamic was one of my favorite things in the book. Catarina was a good villain, within the author's note at the beginning it is mentioned that Catarina was partially re-written in this revised edition to be more manipulative rather than hysterically evil, which I think is a great change. And the way she spoke often made my skin crawl, drawing upon memories of manipulative abusers I have had in my life. She also reminded me a lot of Carmilla from the Castlevania animated series.
For complaints I found the opening a little hard to get into and the series of events to get Lucian to where he needed to be slightly contrived, (though this is admittedly a world of magic and prophecy). And though I found the ending satisfying I also would have liked it to be longer and definitively tie up a few more things. These problems though, (as you can tell by the score), do not subtract at all from how good this book is.
I would whole-heartedly recommend it, especially for those into dark fantasy. The horror was great, Woerld is greatly interesting, and if you like esoterica you owe it to yourself to read this book just for Woerld and its mysticism. The action was fun, the characters were great, the dialogue was very well-done, and I demand a sequel!!! I need more of these characters and I need more of Woerld and its spooky esoteric goodness! GIVE IT TO ME!
This book's original release was marred by a misuse of branding, labeling this as a Christian Fantasy Book. This is not to say there is not value in such a thing, but as an agnostic who tends to avoid the more preachy side of books, it would have been a turn-off for me. This is also not to say the book does not heavily feature Christianity, but to quote Mark Lawrence's review of the book,
- "On casual inspection you might be forgiven for thinking that this is a religious book &/or YA. It's neither of those things though and if you read it you'll soon be disabused of the notion. Frohock paints an interesting secondary world where multiple (possibly all) real world faiths feature but they are treated as religions invented in any good fantasy, i.e. they're presented as rich and intriguing but with not even the slightest attempt to convert you (did you feel compelled to start following The Seven, or the Old Gods of the North after reading GRRMs Game of Thrones?)" -
This I think gets across how intelligently T. Frohock weaves religion into the story, and the story itself is heavily adult and also features references to a few things some more conservative readers would consider antithetical to a Christian-advertised fantasy. The story also does not put down any other religions, as every other religion features within this setting and also have their own people able to draw upon magic due to their belief.
I came across a post from the author advertising the revised edition of the book and sought it out. And I would like to thank her for giving me a digital copy of the book. A review wasn't even required in return and I am very thankful for her kindness. The cover and the short description she had written on her website interested me. When I started the book and got further inside I found while reading that it was mysteriously perfect for what I have been in the mood for lately and many topics I have been looking into. For years I have been vaguely into real life occultism as well as fantastical eldritch horror; I find religion and mysticism greatly interesting and especially things that may be deemed beyond basic comprehension and knowledge. Very recently in fact I got into the excellent YouTube channel Esoterica that does easy-to-understand but academic and intense dives into real-life occultism and histories of religions, demons, angels, and magic. And this book contains a lot of the stuff I have found myself in-love with in that strange space, exorcisms and strange rituals, secretive orders and hell-gates, etc.
This observation aside, Miserere was both what I was wanting from the novel and something completely different. I had misunderstood and had assumed this was set primarily in a fictional Middle-Ages, retelling history but with magic and demons thrown in. But that is not the case. And the setting of Miserere, Woerld, is much more interesting than that. I find in-between worlds appealing: be it the Feywilds, Sigil in Planescape: Torment, Purgatory, etc. The surreal nature of such worlds is infinitely intriguing to me, and as is the fact they can easily function with different rules than our own world.
Woerld exists at the buffer-zone between Earth and Hell, and since Earth has fallen too in-love with its own petty-wars and politicking, Woerld as a result also has to guard Heaven, since if it would fall, Earth soon would too, and then demons would be upon Heaven. Within Woerld are bastions of every religion on Earth, from Zoroastrianism to Christianity, and the people that populate these bastions are representatives of those religions, Foundlings, who are drawn into Woerld from Earth, and since Woerld itself exists outside of Earth's time and space, we can have a Medieval Wallachian Prince alongside a country-girl from 2008 USA.
Funnily enough, I tend to avoid and dislike a narrative of someone from our world falling into another, I don't think it is bad it just doesn't appeal to me, as my preferred level of escapism in fantasy tends to involve a completely new world away from ANYTHING from our world. But... in Miserere it works... it works really well! I found myself feeling the same way I did as a kid when reading Narnia or Alice in Wonderland and thinking about the, "what if?", what if this is a thing and people fell from our world into Woerld? Though Narnia and Wonderland have the benefit of being less Eldritchly terrifying than Woerld, the adultness of Woerld is what made it appeal to a now adult me. Body horror demonic posessions, war, intrigue, and much more. I don't think I would want to be within Woerld, but reading it is infinitely entertaining. And the fact Earth was tied to Woerld didn't break my immersion like other stories that have people falling from Earth to another world, it enhanced it, since Woerld is to tied to Earth, it complimented it rather than subtracted from it.
All of the main characters are strong, Lucian is an interesting repentant exorcist with a helping of self-hatred yet he never fell into the realm of being unbearable or whiny in my opinion - as he often had wisdom, genuine remorse for his actions, and a bravery I loved. Pair this with his crippled leg that is an actual injury that affects him constantly and it all adds up to a very interesting character that isn't the stereotypical fantasy lead. (For lovers of the First Law series who loved reading characters with injuries that weren't handwaved away like Glokta, you will love how Lucian is written). Rachael is a very interesting POV as well due to being posessed... I would say more but I don't want to spoil anything but I really enjoyed her as well. Lindsay I was greatly worried would be a dud, as I find young teen characters often annoying, but she was honestly great. In many ways mirroring the best parts of Lucian's bravery and strength while still feeling authentically young and a fish out of water, her and Lucian's dynamic was one of my favorite things in the book. Catarina was a good villain, within the author's note at the beginning it is mentioned that Catarina was partially re-written in this revised edition to be more manipulative rather than hysterically evil, which I think is a great change. And the way she spoke often made my skin crawl, drawing upon memories of manipulative abusers I have had in my life. She also reminded me a lot of Carmilla from the Castlevania animated series.
For complaints I found the opening a little hard to get into and the series of events to get Lucian to where he needed to be slightly contrived, (though this is admittedly a world of magic and prophecy). And though I found the ending satisfying I also would have liked it to be longer and definitively tie up a few more things. These problems though, (as you can tell by the score), do not subtract at all from how good this book is.
I would whole-heartedly recommend it, especially for those into dark fantasy. The horror was great, Woerld is greatly interesting, and if you like esoterica you owe it to yourself to read this book just for Woerld and its mysticism. The action was fun, the characters were great, the dialogue was very well-done, and I demand a sequel!!! I need more of these characters and I need more of Woerld and its spooky esoteric goodness! GIVE IT TO ME!
May 31, 2025
4 stars : some fantastic world building, engaging and heartfelt characters. Can’t help feeling there should be more to this story.
February 3, 2025
This review was originally posted on Queen's Book Asylum along with my song of choice.
I received an eARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I’m a big fan of T. Frohock‘s Los Nefilim series and I was also lucky to do a bit of beta reading for her here and there, but I somehow never got around to her backlist. So when she offered ARCs for the upcoming rerelease of Miserere, I had to jump in. Not least because I share an interest with Frohock when it comes to angels and demons.
So, Miserere is set in Woerld, a parallel dimension between Earth and Hell, where the followers of different religions work together to keep Hell at bay and prevent them from coming through the Hell gates. People with magical abilities are called Katharos and it’s their job to keep the peace and serve the Seraphs who are the leaders of each religion, basically. I loved this idea, and I kind of wished we’d seen other religions represented in the characters other than Christianity, although the Citadel’s Seraph is married to a priestess of the Triple Goddess, so at least that was a nice touch to show that people with different backgrounds can live together in peace.
Miserere works with a fairly small cast that suits it, especially combined with its fast pace. We mainly follow Lucien, Lindsay, and Rachael, but Catarina also plays a big part in the events. One of the things I liked about Miserere is that most of the characters have an already established relationship with each other that comes with a lot of complicated feelings of love, regret, hurt, betrayal, etc. but it never feels like you are missing vital information. Frohock works these details into the story effortlessly and always just enough to keep you going without threatening with any info dumps along the way.
The story starts at a pivotal point in these relationships as Lucien finally finds his way out of Catarina’s claws and sets out to find his redemption and right some wrongs. It’s fascinating to witness his journey throughout the book both him as part of the plot but also him as a character. He has flaws and he is far from being perfect, but he learns from his mistakes and is aware of his failings. As a counter point, it’s equally fascinating – and slightly alarming – to watch Catarina’s descend. I half wished we got to see more of her POV. I don’t know what it says of me, but I seem to have a thing for psychopatic characters… The fact that they are siblings (twins, I think?) makes their quite unhinged relationship even more fascinating. And then there is Rachael, who is pretty much the catalisator between these two.
While I found these characters fascinating, one of the reasons I’m not giving Miserere all 5 crowns is that I somehow never really bonded with any of them. Maybe it was the timing, or something else, but there was just a little bit of something missing for me.
On the toher hand, I don’t think I read anything like Miserere before. I loved the ideas behind the story, the way Frohock approached religion and especially exorcism, as well as the magic system based on faith. Miserere is definitely not your usual religion-based fantasy, and as such, will give you plenty to think about, and maybe even a nightmare or two. I will not look at roses the same ever again. If you are new to T. Frohock‘s work, I highly recommend you start here.
I received an eARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I’m a big fan of T. Frohock‘s Los Nefilim series and I was also lucky to do a bit of beta reading for her here and there, but I somehow never got around to her backlist. So when she offered ARCs for the upcoming rerelease of Miserere, I had to jump in. Not least because I share an interest with Frohock when it comes to angels and demons.
So, Miserere is set in Woerld, a parallel dimension between Earth and Hell, where the followers of different religions work together to keep Hell at bay and prevent them from coming through the Hell gates. People with magical abilities are called Katharos and it’s their job to keep the peace and serve the Seraphs who are the leaders of each religion, basically. I loved this idea, and I kind of wished we’d seen other religions represented in the characters other than Christianity, although the Citadel’s Seraph is married to a priestess of the Triple Goddess, so at least that was a nice touch to show that people with different backgrounds can live together in peace.
Miserere works with a fairly small cast that suits it, especially combined with its fast pace. We mainly follow Lucien, Lindsay, and Rachael, but Catarina also plays a big part in the events. One of the things I liked about Miserere is that most of the characters have an already established relationship with each other that comes with a lot of complicated feelings of love, regret, hurt, betrayal, etc. but it never feels like you are missing vital information. Frohock works these details into the story effortlessly and always just enough to keep you going without threatening with any info dumps along the way.
The story starts at a pivotal point in these relationships as Lucien finally finds his way out of Catarina’s claws and sets out to find his redemption and right some wrongs. It’s fascinating to witness his journey throughout the book both him as part of the plot but also him as a character. He has flaws and he is far from being perfect, but he learns from his mistakes and is aware of his failings. As a counter point, it’s equally fascinating – and slightly alarming – to watch Catarina’s descend. I half wished we got to see more of her POV. I don’t know what it says of me, but I seem to have a thing for psychopatic characters… The fact that they are siblings (twins, I think?) makes their quite unhinged relationship even more fascinating. And then there is Rachael, who is pretty much the catalisator between these two.
While I found these characters fascinating, one of the reasons I’m not giving Miserere all 5 crowns is that I somehow never really bonded with any of them. Maybe it was the timing, or something else, but there was just a little bit of something missing for me.
On the toher hand, I don’t think I read anything like Miserere before. I loved the ideas behind the story, the way Frohock approached religion and especially exorcism, as well as the magic system based on faith. Miserere is definitely not your usual religion-based fantasy, and as such, will give you plenty to think about, and maybe even a nightmare or two. I will not look at roses the same ever again. If you are new to T. Frohock‘s work, I highly recommend you start here.
November 25, 2024
24 November 2024
It's been a fraction over 10 years since I first read this compelling tale of magic, and betrayal, of demons, hell and other Woerlds!
Since then Frohock has recovered the rights to what was a sadly mis-marketed but excellent book and she has released a revised and updated version for which I was lucky enough to get an ARC.
I enjoyed this version even more than the first, the changes helping to streamline the story, polish the prose and spotlight the characters.
A complete new review will appear on the fantasy-hive in due course, and I will post a link here when that happens, but suffice to say this is an outstanding and creative book from a richly inventive author.
It's been a fraction over 10 years since I first read this compelling tale of magic, and betrayal, of demons, hell and other Woerlds!
Since then Frohock has recovered the rights to what was a sadly mis-marketed but excellent book and she has released a revised and updated version for which I was lucky enough to get an ARC.
I enjoyed this version even more than the first, the changes helping to streamline the story, polish the prose and spotlight the characters.
A complete new review will appear on the fantasy-hive in due course, and I will post a link here when that happens, but suffice to say this is an outstanding and creative book from a richly inventive author.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews