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FAVSTVS
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Expected 22 Sep 26Win a free print copy of this book!
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1 copies available
U.S. only
Your soul for every wish.
Incel Jack Faustus loses his soul twice before he is awarded his PhD in anthropology. First, when he commits an unspeakable crime against a female classmate, and second when he offers a vial of his blood to an international, all-female crime syndicate, HIVE. Loyal to the teachings of the SCUM Manifesto, a document proposing the systematic, global elimination of the male sex, the Honored International Violent Entity offers select men a deal: your wildest dreams, for a number of years, in exchange for a blood debt. That is, eventually, your life.
After linking a murder on his campus to HIVE, Jack becomes hellbent on writing his dissertation on them and exposing their secrets. Undeterred by all warnings, he contracts himself to HIVE agent Mephistophiles to keep her close enough for observation...at least, that’s the reason in the beginning. The riches and fame his contract offers are pretty nice after so many years stuck in the library, and under Meph’s protection, he doesn’t have to worry about being caught for his past crimes. Unfortunately, deals with the devil tend to have catches, and Jack’s is no exception—unbeknownst to him, he is no ordinary blood contract for Meph. In fact, they first met over ten years ago, and she has an old score to settle with him.
FAVSTVS is a modern adaptation of Kit Marlowe’s most infamous and controversial play about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil. Marrying the bloodsport of the play with the venom of Valerie Solanas’s SCUM Manifesto, it takes a no-holds-barred look at relationships between men and women today. The current political zeitgeist blames women for all the world’s evils. In FAVSTVS, they really are responsible. And, in FAVSTVS, there is nowhere to hide when you displease them.
Incel Jack Faustus loses his soul twice before he is awarded his PhD in anthropology. First, when he commits an unspeakable crime against a female classmate, and second when he offers a vial of his blood to an international, all-female crime syndicate, HIVE. Loyal to the teachings of the SCUM Manifesto, a document proposing the systematic, global elimination of the male sex, the Honored International Violent Entity offers select men a deal: your wildest dreams, for a number of years, in exchange for a blood debt. That is, eventually, your life.
After linking a murder on his campus to HIVE, Jack becomes hellbent on writing his dissertation on them and exposing their secrets. Undeterred by all warnings, he contracts himself to HIVE agent Mephistophiles to keep her close enough for observation...at least, that’s the reason in the beginning. The riches and fame his contract offers are pretty nice after so many years stuck in the library, and under Meph’s protection, he doesn’t have to worry about being caught for his past crimes. Unfortunately, deals with the devil tend to have catches, and Jack’s is no exception—unbeknownst to him, he is no ordinary blood contract for Meph. In fact, they first met over ten years ago, and she has an old score to settle with him.
FAVSTVS is a modern adaptation of Kit Marlowe’s most infamous and controversial play about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil. Marrying the bloodsport of the play with the venom of Valerie Solanas’s SCUM Manifesto, it takes a no-holds-barred look at relationships between men and women today. The current political zeitgeist blames women for all the world’s evils. In FAVSTVS, they really are responsible. And, in FAVSTVS, there is nowhere to hide when you displease them.
778 pages, ebook
Expected publication September 22, 2026
About the author
L.N. Loch
2 books15 followerswriter and troublemaker. currently dissertating in the mountains somewhere. i study damn good literature, often out of print.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
FAVSTVS is a refreshingly mean, unapologetically vicious novel that kept my skin crawling during my entire time reading it, and I couldn't stop until I was done. This is not your grandma's dark academia recipe. Yes, there's murder, a mysterious university, drug use, and all the other expected ingredients, but there is also high-profile international crime, a terrible dissertation that everyone loves, [REDACTED], and a bear. It's a bloody interpretation of an already cursed play.
I adore it.
Reading Loch's generous prose was like biting into a juicy cut of beef: This is a carefully crafted novel that delivers so much flavor when bitten into, and you are not going to go hungry. There was no point during my read-through where I was bored or thinking about when it was going to be done.
Loch presents us a man we unfortunately see too often in real life: He who believes he stands above it all and looks down at the world with disdain and contempt. One with an endless hunger and would absolutely destroy everything and everyone because he just can't get over himself. And of course, he's an embarrassing, self-important incel.
There are no heroes, only villains you will love or want to see destroyed. I went from "There's no way he's getting away with that" to:
If you're looking for a cozy and fun dark academia read, this isn't it. If you want a novel that's cruel, extremely funny, grotesque, and committed to displaying the worst of its awful protagonist to the bitter end, FAVSTVS delivers spectacularly.
I adore it.
Reading Loch's generous prose was like biting into a juicy cut of beef: This is a carefully crafted novel that delivers so much flavor when bitten into, and you are not going to go hungry. There was no point during my read-through where I was bored or thinking about when it was going to be done.
Loch presents us a man we unfortunately see too often in real life: He who believes he stands above it all and looks down at the world with disdain and contempt. One with an endless hunger and would absolutely destroy everything and everyone because he just can't get over himself. And of course, he's an embarrassing, self-important incel.
There are no heroes, only villains you will love or want to see destroyed. I went from "There's no way he's getting away with that" to:
If you're looking for a cozy and fun dark academia read, this isn't it. If you want a novel that's cruel, extremely funny, grotesque, and committed to displaying the worst of its awful protagonist to the bitter end, FAVSTVS delivers spectacularly.
Review of advance copy received from Author
FAVSTVS is a refreshingly mean, unapologetically vicious novel that kept my skin crawling during my entire time reading it, and I couldn't stop until I was done. This is not your grandma's dark academia recipe. Yes, there's murder, a mysterious university, drug use, and all the other expected ingredients, but there is also high-profile international crime, a terrible dissertation that everyone loves, [REDACTED], and a bear. It's a bloody interpretation of an already cursed play.
I adore it.
Reading Loch's generous prose was like biting into a juicy cut of beef: This is a carefully crafted novel that delivers so much flavor when bitten into, and you are not going to go hungry. There was no point during my read-through where I was bored or thinking about when it was going to be done.
Loch presents us a man we unfortunately see too often in real life: He who believes he stands above it all and looks down at the world with disdain and contempt. One with an endless hunger and would absolutely destroy everything and everyone because he just can't get over himself. And of course, he's an embarrassing, self-important incel.
There are no heroes, only villains you will love or want to see destroyed. I went from "There's no way he's getting away with that" to:
If you're looking for a cozy and fun dark academia read, this isn't it. If you want a novel that's cruel, extremely funny, grotesque, and committed to displaying the worst of its awful protagonist to the bitter end, FAVSTVS delivers spectacularly.
I adore it.
Reading Loch's generous prose was like biting into a juicy cut of beef: This is a carefully crafted novel that delivers so much flavor when bitten into, and you are not going to go hungry. There was no point during my read-through where I was bored or thinking about when it was going to be done.
Loch presents us a man we unfortunately see too often in real life: He who believes he stands above it all and looks down at the world with disdain and contempt. One with an endless hunger and would absolutely destroy everything and everyone because he just can't get over himself. And of course, he's an embarrassing, self-important incel.
There are no heroes, only villains you will love or want to see destroyed. I went from "There's no way he's getting away with that" to:
If you're looking for a cozy and fun dark academia read, this isn't it. If you want a novel that's cruel, extremely funny, grotesque, and committed to displaying the worst of its awful protagonist to the bitter end, FAVSTVS delivers spectacularly.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I've read this so. many. times. I should get extra credit on this and last year's GR challenge.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews