Miserere: An Autumn Tale in Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"

May 16, 2011 Courtney Schafer rated it it was amazing

After reading the first couple chapters of Miserere for free thanks to a Night Shade promotion, I begged for an ARC (Teresa Frohock is a label mate of mine) - and wow, I'm so glad I got the chance to read one. The rest of the story delivered on the promise of those first chapters, big time.

Miserere is excellent dark fantasy, with fascinating worldbuilding and a cast of beautifully realized characters. At the center of the tale is Lucian Negru, a man struggling to escape the twin sister he once ...more

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Jun 06, 2013 Joseph rated it really liked it

Holy crow, this was good ... And hard to describe without giving away anything too salient ... (When I picked it up, I had heard good things about it in kind of a generalized way, but didn't actually know what to expect; it's nice to be surprised.)

I'll say this: It has love and loss and faith and magic and treachery and redemption and a fascinatingly complex cosmology; and I'd be really happy to revisit the world should the opportunity present itself. ...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Mazarkis Williams rated it it was amazing

Years ago, Lucian Negru committed an unspeakable betrayal in an effort to save the soul of his sister Catarina. He failed. Now he is given a chance to make amends, armed by the faith of a man he hardly knows.

He must take resolute, difficult steps, knowing he may never receive forgiveness. The people he loves do not trust him and his sister remains a constant threat. More difficult, he must protect a young girl who has stumbled through the veil between worlds. To protect her he must alienate hims ...more

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Jun 13, 2013 Mary Catelli rated it it was amazing

Shelves: philosophy-fic, fantasy-portal

In the Woerld, Lucian is in exile, and is his sister's prisoner. She has tortured and lamed him, and there is nothing he can do to prevent her diabolic plans going forward. (Literally. Her hound Cerebus has only one head, but is clearly a demonic familiar.) But one day in his wanderings about the city, hoping that something would kill him, he comes across Father Matthew, who reminds him of his past service as a Katharos, and inspires him with hope, and gives him an escape.

In our day and age, Lin ...more

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