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A review by evavroslin
Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock
4.0
I used to be a huge fan of the Dragonlance books in high school and I found "Miserere" had the same sort of vibe, which I took to right away.
The protagonist of "Miserere", Lucian, is a Katharos, a special kind of mage with powers of exorcism among other things. He walks with a cane and feels like an old man. Lucian is a repentant man sorry for his sins and trying to atone for them, especially the ones involving his twin sister, Catarina. He has a hard time accepting her for the power-hungry, manipulative biatch that she is. She's in league with a Fallen angel, Mastema, and together they're trying to help Fallen angels become the rulers of everything. Instead of elves and dragons, in "Miserere" there be a darker take with angels and fallen angels and weird demonic creatures.
Aside from the initial jarring transition to modern day Earth and the introduction of Lindsay, a young girl who turns out to be Lucian's foundlind (he's her mentor), we get into the epic fantasy side of things again and Lucian has to learn not to let history repeat itself when it comes to Lindsay.
There is a lot of worldbuilding and many passages of dialogue that focus on this, but to be fair, it's a complex universe that warrants that kind of explanation. The beginning gets off to a slower start, but goes on to develop intrigue and plot advancement, and Lucian does a good job reminding the reader know what's at stake.
To say that Lucian is conflicted is an understatement--arguably the biggest inner conflict he has is with himself and in making things right again, but also with his love/hate relationship with his twin, Catarina, and the girlfriend, Rachel, that he kind of ditched in Hell (but there's a good reason for that even though it sounds terrible, which it is.) He has to make sure Lindsay stays on the side of the good "Jedi" and doesn't become "Sith" so to speak, which creates more dynamic interactions with the overall narrative. If you miss Dragonlance-esque fantasies, definitely pick up "Miserere."
The protagonist of "Miserere", Lucian, is a Katharos, a special kind of mage with powers of exorcism among other things. He walks with a cane and feels like an old man. Lucian is a repentant man sorry for his sins and trying to atone for them, especially the ones involving his twin sister, Catarina. He has a hard time accepting her for the power-hungry, manipulative biatch that she is. She's in league with a Fallen angel, Mastema, and together they're trying to help Fallen angels become the rulers of everything. Instead of elves and dragons, in "Miserere" there be a darker take with angels and fallen angels and weird demonic creatures.
Aside from the initial jarring transition to modern day Earth and the introduction of Lindsay, a young girl who turns out to be Lucian's foundlind (he's her mentor), we get into the epic fantasy side of things again and Lucian has to learn not to let history repeat itself when it comes to Lindsay.
There is a lot of worldbuilding and many passages of dialogue that focus on this, but to be fair, it's a complex universe that warrants that kind of explanation. The beginning gets off to a slower start, but goes on to develop intrigue and plot advancement, and Lucian does a good job reminding the reader know what's at stake.
To say that Lucian is conflicted is an understatement--arguably the biggest inner conflict he has is with himself and in making things right again, but also with his love/hate relationship with his twin, Catarina, and the girlfriend, Rachel, that he kind of ditched in Hell (but there's a good reason for that even though it sounds terrible, which it is.) He has to make sure Lindsay stays on the side of the good "Jedi" and doesn't become "Sith" so to speak, which creates more dynamic interactions with the overall narrative. If you miss Dragonlance-esque fantasies, definitely pick up "Miserere."