Hannah’s Pick of the Week: The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling

‘”No,” the king says, dashing her hopes. “None at all. They claim it cannot be done. That matter cannot be transformed, that something cannot be brought forth from nothing.” Phosyne chews her chapped lip to keep herself from arguing. Or, worse yet, agreeing.‘

Caitlin Starling, The Starving Saints, pg. 5

The Starving Saints begins with a need for a miracle. Aymar Castle is under siege, and has been under siege for half a year now. Resident ex-nun turned miracle-working madwoman Phosyne has deduced that there are 15 more days of food before they all starve. The king she serves expects her to conjure up sustenance, similarly to how she cleansed the water of disease. However…she has no leads, no frame of reference, no way to begin, and very little time left.

Phosyne is then entrusted to the care of Ser Voyne. Tall, broad, imposing, Ser Voyne is as uninterested in being Phosyne’s babysitter as Phosyne is being hounded by the King’s watchdog. Far beneath the castle halls, Treila De Batrilin, a once highborn noble brought low when Ser Voyne executed her father at the king’s command, alternatively plots her revenge and finds her escape route from the decaying keep. There is but one way in and out of the castle, and it demands sacrifice. All seems lost. Then, all three of these women come together when The Saints pass through the gate. At The Saints’ helm is the Constant Lady: golden and benevolent, and leading the castle straight into a bloody bacchanal of Boschian proportions.

The Starving Saints is particularly hard to define. Arthurian horror at its finest, a medieval fever dream that shoves together three women from across class and background in a claustrophobic race to survive. Paranoia and desire run rampant, which makes the exploration of depravity and humanity all the more fun to read—indeed, I raced through this book to see how it would end. The fantasy elements lend themselves well to a setting soaked in religiosity and desperation. This book is a great next read after the debauched religious ecstasy of The Unworthy by Agustina Maria Bazterrica, or the medieval and fantastical world building and character development within Nicked by M.T. Anderson.