Books Like Between Two Fires
by Christopher Buehlman
Between Two Fires centers on a narrow, unforgiving premise: France in 1348 as the Black Death spreads and the world itself seems to have split open. Christopher Buehlman threads a brutal pilgrimage through famine, violence and supernatural visitation — a disgraced knight (Thomas), an orphaned girl who hears divine voices (Delphine), and a drunken priest move across a landscape where fallen angels and demonic forces are as much a threat as starvation. The novel's tone is literary and unflinching; faith, sin and the possibility of redemption are argued through acts of cruelty as often as through prayer.
If you connected to Between Two Fires, you might have responded to different, specific elements: the historical-epidemic setting; the intimate, ragged found-family dynamic between broken travelers; the theological interrogation amid graphic horror; or the atmosphere of moral ambiguity where salvation is costly and never certain. The picks below are chosen so you can follow whichever thread you liked best — whether that’s plague-era necromancy, grim pilgrim narratives, theological dread, or spare, post-apocalyptic moral tests.
Recommended for fans of Between Two Fires
The Terror
Dan Simmons
A doomed historical expedition confronts starvation, spiritual dread, human brutality, and a relentless supernatural presence.
Pick this if you want a story of human endurance under impossible conditions where supernatural menace amplifies starvation and isolation — this is the closest tonal and structural fit, emphasizing crew collapse and spiritual unraveling.
The Enterprise of Death
Jesse Bullington
Plague-era Europe becomes the backdrop for necromancy, religious cruelty, grotesque violence, and hard-won humanity.
Pick this if you wanted more explicit plague-era magic and grotesque cruelty alongside moments of surprising humanity — this matches Buehlman’s blend of historical horror and moral complexity.
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart
Jesse Bullington
Two medieval grave robbers cross a filthy, demon-haunted Europe in this savage blend of history, horror, and theology.
Pick this if you’re after a road-through-ruin told with mordant humor and violent set pieces — this shares the moving-through-demon-haunted-Europe idea and leans harder into gallows wit.
The Fisherman
John Langan
Literary cosmic horror explores grief, temptation, faith, and the terrible price of promised redemption.
Pick this if it was Between Two Fires’ theological weight and slow-building cosmic unease that gripped you — this is more modern cosmic horror but similarly interrogates faith and the cost of temptation.
The Road
Cormac McCarthy
A harrowing pilgrimage through a devastated world tests love, morality, endurance, and the possibility of grace.
Pick this if you want the bleak, inward-facing journey of a parent-and-child or partner surviving a devastated world — thematically similar in terms of love, endurance and the search for grace, though set in a different sort of apocalypse.
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Walter M. Miller Jr.
Amid civilization’s ruins, flawed believers preserve hope while confronting violence, suffering, and humanity’s recurring sins.
Pick this if you liked the questions about religious continuity and the preservation of belief amid collapse — this is a reflective, long-term view of civilization’s ruins rather than immediate medieval carnage.
Slewfoot
Brom
Historical religious oppression collides with folk horror, supernatural violence, and a fiercely sympathetic struggle against damnation.
Pick this if you responded to Buehlman’s mix of religious cruelty and folkish supernatural violence — this pick offers a closely related collision of oppressive piety and violent, uncanny forces.
Lapvona
Ottessa Moshfegh
A grotesque medieval village suffers famine, corruption, cruelty, and warped spirituality beneath an atmosphere of divine abandonment.
Pick this if it was the intimate, corrupt village atmosphere — famine, cruelty, warped spirituality — that drew you in. This matches that claustrophobic rural rot, though with a different narrative voice.
The Name of the Rose
Umberto Eco
Medieval monks confront murder, forbidden knowledge, theological conflict, and an increasingly apocalyptic atmosphere.
Pick this if you liked medieval theological conflict and an escalating, apocalyptic atmosphere but want a plot driven by investigation and intellectual puzzles; note this is less visceral in its gore and more cerebral in its conflicts.
At a glance
Matches were chosen on three dimensions central to Buehlman’s book: a plague- or ruin-soaked historical setting, sustained theological or moral questioning, and a grim, character-driven journey where supernatural horror intertwines with human depravity.
| Book | First published | Pages | Closest match on | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
The Terror Dan Simmons | 2007 | 770 | Slow-burn dread | 94% |
The Enterprise of Death Jesse Bullington | 2011 | — | Plague-era necromancy | 92% |
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart Jesse Bullington | 2009 | 464 | Medieval horror odyssey | 90% |
The Fisherman John Langan | 2016 | 304 | Literary cosmic dread | 87% |
The Road Cormac McCarthy | 2006 | 256 | Pilgrimage under ruin | 86% |
A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller Jr. | 1959 | 320 | Faith after apocalypse | 84% |
Slewfoot Brom | 2021 | 320 | Folk horror & oppression | 83% |
Lapvona Ottessa Moshfegh | 2022 | 320 | Grotesque village portrait | 81% |
The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco | 1980 | 518 | Medieval mystery & theology | 79% |
About Between Two Fires
Between Two Fires is a 2012 historical horror novel by Christopher Buehlman set in 1348 France during the Black Death. Its principal characters are Thomas, a disgraced knight; Delphine, an orphaned girl who hears divine voices; and a drunken priest, and it foregrounds fallen angels and demonic visitations amid the pandemic. The book is widely discussed as brutal, literary dark fantasy that interrogates faith, violence and redemption.
Frequently asked questions
Which book here most closely mirrors Between Two Fires’ tone?+
The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington is the closest match on those grounds: it places necromancy and religious cruelty in 16th-century Europe and maintains a similarly savage but oddly humane tone.
I loved the bleak pilgrimage and desperate moral choices — what else should I read?+
The Road by Cormac McCarthy shares the stripped-down pilgrimage through devastation and ethical tests under duress; it’s more spare and post-apocalyptic than medieval, but the emotional stakes are comparable.
Are any of these picks focused on theology and faith like Buehlman’s novel?+
Yes. The Fisherman by John Langan and A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. both examine faith under catastrophe and the costs of seeking or preserving spiritual meaning.
Which recommendations lean more toward grotesque, dark humor or satire?+
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart and The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington both mix grotesque violence with darkly comic and satirical takes on medieval cruelty and religion.
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