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RYO Review: Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock
Have you ever read a book and wished you could chat with the author to find out what they meant at a certain part? To learn what went into the crafting of a character or plot line? Well I’ve been chatting with Teresa Frohock a bit on Twitter for a while now, with the intent to read her book. Then I was struck with the idea of actually livetweeting my read the way I livetweet TV shows. Ms. Frohock loved the idea and as a result, I got to have the most wonderful reading experience with a great book and a fantastic author.
[View the story “MisLT: The Miserere Livetweet” on Storify]
Miserere is a tale of hope and redemption, of love and of faith. But it is not a tale involving pretty flowers (in fact, there is one not-so-pretty flower that would make an interesting Valentine’s Day gift) nor is it a sweet love story. Frohock delves into the darkest emotions and desires with Miserere and, perhaps the only flaw I have with this book is that she could have gone even deeper.
WoGF Review: Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock
Steff S. (MMOGC), is an avid reader with an eclectic taste in books. While just about anything can catch her eye, she has a particular soft spot for fantasy and science fiction, and especially loves space operas and stories with interesting magic systems. Besides reading, she enjoys adventuring in the virtual words of MMORPGs, and first started blogging about games before branching out to contribute her book reviews at The BiblioSanctum with her friends.
Books like Miserere are why I’m glad I make it a personal rule to finish reading all books I start. It’s always tempting to put a title away for something else when the story doesn’t capture me right away, and certainly I had my doubts that this one would be right for me when I first began. But sometimes, a book can be full of surprises.
I ended up loving Miserere. All I needed was some time to get into it, and part of the reason is its pacing. It’s the kind of book that takes its time revealing itself to you, doling out details about its world in a trickle as you read. I was unable to make heads or tails of the story until I understood a bit of the context, that the universe of Miserere is made up of four planes: Heaven, Earth, Woerld, and Hell. Woerld is sort of like the first line of defense against Hell and its demons, as it were; all the religions there work to keep Fallen hordes from breaking through to Earth. It is in Woerld where the book mostly takes place.
Exorcist and man of faith Lucian Negru has been in exile for sixteen years, banished for abandoning his lover Rachael in Hell in exchange for the life of his twin sister, Catarina. Catarina, however, didn’t want to be saved, as she’d sold her soul to the Fallen for the chance to rule Woerld. Lucian was crippled and imprisoned when he refused to go along with her plans, until one day he escapes and endeavors to save Rachael, who has since made it back from Hell, albeit possessed by a demon that is slowly taking over and killing her.
WoGF Review: Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock
For Lynn Williams (lynnsbooks) books are much more than a hobby or a pastime they’re really an obsession. If she’s not reading a book, she’s talking about books on her blog, Lynn’s Book Blog, or deciding which books to buy next. Lynn reads all sorts of books, sometimes straying into YA, but her first love is fantasy. Recently she started to cross into science fiction thanks to the suggestions of some very excellent bloggers.
Wow, Teresa Frohock‘s debut novel Miserere is an excellent read. I loved it and was torn between racing to the end to find out what was going to happen next and wanting to savour each word. I love a book that just takes my attention from the first chapter and holds it throughout and, more than that, when the last page is complete makes me want to go back and start again from the first page.
There’s a lot going on here with new concepts and a unique world and yet the way the story unfolds is both simple and compelling. Don’t be mistaken by that though. This is an adult fantasy without a doubt. It’s dark and sinister, filled with political intrigue, battles between good and evil, torture, love, betrayal and more than that the search for redemption. I don’t know how TF manages to fit such a lot in to be honest!
Miserere brings us Heaven and Hell but with the extra plain of Worlde which acts as a buffer between the realms of Earth and Hell. Worlde is a plain where warriors, both male and female, battle against evil to prevent the demons from Hell taking over. It all sounds very religious when written down like that but, whilst the story does rely on a lot of symbolism, this isn’t a religious novel or at all preachy and indeed doesn’t particularly focus on any one creed but more looks at faith and hope and trust in the divine. With that in mind we have the age old concept of good against evil where the dark and twisted join forces with the corrupt in order to further their quest for domination and it all makes for an amazing story laced with horror and creepiness.
