The Starving Saints

Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. With mere days to go until the food stores are depleted, four saints appear out of nowhere to save the castle’s inhabitants from starvation. Readers enter this world, closely modeled after medieval times, through the perspectives of three women: Phosyne, an excommunicated nun who can perform miracles; Ser Voyne, a trusted knight; and Treila, a serving girl with a thirst for revenge. While many in the castle immediately bow to the strangers, the three protagonists are unwilling to trust what is clearly too good to be true. With an engrossing pace and pervasively menacing tone, this novel from Starling (Last To Leave the Room) quickly transports readers inside the castle walls as they watch the horrors unfold. From cannibalism, increasingly dangerous magic, and betrayals to monsters, hidden tunnels, and swarms of bees, this fantastical story is transfixing on its own, but it also serves to underscore that humanity’s obsession with power may be the biggest horror of all.