Book Review: Miserere (Revised Edition) by T. Frohock

The revised version of T. Frohock’s Miserere is a major overhaul of the author's debut novel, more than a decade afterwards.

Disclaimer up front and personal: In the process of this rewrite, the author asked me for my advice and suggestions for some of the Latin she uses.

Miserere was a 2011 debut novel by Teresa Frohock (who goes more these days by T. Frohock. Part of the wide ranging net that Night Shade books attempted to cast in those halcyon days, I read the original back in my relatively early days as a reviewer.

This new review is of the 2025 edition and focuses primarily on how I feel about the changes between the original and this version.

The basis chassis of the story remains from the original. Our major characters are four. Lucian is a Katharos, a holy warrior in the service of God, but he has been banished for abandoning his lover, Rachael (another Katharos) in an an attempt to save his sister, Catarina (who is basically a fallen Katharos at this point). Our fourth character is Lindsay,a young woman drawn to the liminal world of Woerld where Rachael, Lucian and Catarina live to be a Katharos herself.

The major conflict revolves around Lucian’s attempt to oppose his sister, who has truly turned to the dark side, the side of demons and evils. Lucian sacrificed his career, life and the trust of others to try and save his sister, but his sister had made her choice, now, to side with the demons seeking entrance from hell into Woerld (whereupon they will go to Earth, and thence to storm heaven, raining destruction in their wake).

Mixed in with this is that Rachael is being possessed by a demon that is slowly eating her alive, Catarina needing her brother to execute her plans to open these gates, and Lindsay, recently arrived to Woerld and a good source of “How does this all work?” just wants to go home, and find her brother (also caught in the same event that brought her here) in the process.

The subtitle for this novel is “An Autumn Tale”. And the original was indeed a dark story. It felt then and felt now like something you’d read in early November, as Autumn truly takes hold, the shadows get longer, the ground gets colder. The relative barrenness and harshness of the liminal world of Woerld encourages it. But this new version of Miserere feels more like a *late* Autumn tale, on the verge of but not quite winter. This new version makes both Catarina and Rachael more active characters.

To the positive of having Rachael as a more active character with more action on the page, this does make her a more heroic and less passive character. Frohock does this on the line level, and with her scenes from her point of view as well. The former version was very much a hand-wringing Lucian caught between his sister, and his ex. This new version has Rachael much less passive, much more active in this broken relationship and the relationship is all the better for it. Rachael’s trust of Lucian, broken at the start of the novel, has to be earned strand by strand and it is not easy. Her relationship with the demon that’s inside of her is also a more active sort of fight that she is having on a minute by minute basis.

Next up is Catarina. I thought Catarina was a dark force of nature in the original version, a memorable villain with dark goals and a dark relationship with her brother. This new version of Catarina is even more toxic, even more active, even more dangerous. Catarina has a very dysfunctional relationship with her brother in this new version. She uses, abuses and manipulates Lucian every moment she gets, all the way to the end. Hers is a tragic story, someone who has grasped for power, and grasps no matter the cost. Her scenes with Cerberus, as she bargains for ever more power, for ever greater costs, are well written and sharp.

But overall, in terms of writing and style, the additional scenes, removal of scene, and rewrite, especially early in the novel puts it a couple of shades of darker fantasy than it was originally. Is it horror? Not quite, because I think horror is a mode, and Frohock is not going for horror here. But it is a dark world, dark things happen and the overall aspect of the book can be, despite the hope and the light in it, rather dark and oppressive. I say in all seriousness this is not a book to read when you are in a dark place, mentally.

So let’s switch gears and talk about Lindsay. Lindsay and her brother Peter, fleeing a conflict with some local toughs, get caught in the veil and are brought to Woerld. The original version didn’t make it quite so clear, but this newer version clarifies just how and why this works. It’s a call to service, basically, from the godhead, to come and oppose evil on the front line of Woerld. I have some more questions now, but a lot of the roughness from the first novel is cleared up now. Lindsay asks a lot of questions and gives us a ground level introduction to some of the basics that Lucian and Rachael take for granted. And she is an unsullied beacon of light and innocence in the novel, as opposed to the far more world weary Rachael. And, of course, Lucian.

And so there is the heart of the novel, Lucian. He’s right there on the cover, flanked by Catarina and Rachael. At the start, he is in exile from the people he has served every since coming from our Earth, from the woman he loves, living as a house prisoner in the house of his sister. His is a painful journey, the realization that he cannot save his sister, his escape, he encounter with Lindsay, and the extended chase/journey as he tries to get Lindsay to safety. Lucian is full of doubt, throughout the novel, and needs the help of both Lindsay and Rachael, and needs to both convince them to help him, and accept their help when it comes. There is a whole lot of redemption that Lucian needs if he is going to survive.

Or not just redemption, but mercy. Hence the title of the novel, Miserere. The mercy that Lucian tries to show his sister. The mercy that Lucian himself *needs*.

This new version does add some worldbuilding and fleshes out more detail on Woerld, something that I had mentioned in my original view. This newly rewritten version, especially with the more active Rachael as mentioned above, and other changes does address some of the worldbuilding deficiencies that I saw in the original novel. I think on that the balance, the world of Woerld feels more complete in this world and I have a better sense of how and why it works. I would still like to see more of the world and get a better sense of it, but I do think this new version is an improvement.

I thought then and I think now that the theology of the book might turn off some readers. It’s not Christian apocalyptic fiction like Left Behind, but the theology of Woerld, despite being described as being very pantheistic, is, thanks to Lucian, Rachael, Catarina and Linday being Christian, strictly Christian. We get a full on exorcism, a lot of use of Latin, and so on. The real comp for Miserere that I can think of, and its a stretch even so given just how narrow and unique Miserere was then, and is now, is the RPG In Nomine. In In Nomine, you play minor angels (or devils) in a world where Christian theology is real, and you are trying to support your side, your own power and promotion, and trying to get along in a world where there are some very scary characters indeed. But that unique sort of world, theology, setting and characters is what drew me to the novel in the first place.

I think overall this version of Miserere is an improvement over the original on all axes, but it may have narrowed slightly the market for its readership by its somewhat darker turn. The stronger female characters do it a lot of credit and make it a much better book, without question, but this is a book that is most definitely not for anyone. But if you want to read a book were heroic men and women stand in the darkness against demons, and wrestle rather grimly with their own personal ones (including a literal one), and don’t mind and embrace the Christian theology of the book -- Miserere is the book for you. For those who might be curious about Frohock’s work but don’t feel this is quite the spot to read it, that’s understanding. The Los Nefilim novellas and novels and stories, which have a race of beings between angels and devils, might be a better fit for you than Miserere.

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Highlights:

• Revised and Expanded Edition: But Darker, too
• Stronger set of characters
• Better worldbuilding, stronger overall

Reference: Frohock, T., Miserere: An Autumn Tale, Revised and Expanded, [Nightshade Books, 2025]

POSTED BY: Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I’m just this guy, you know? @princejvst

Microreview [book]: Carved from Stone and Dream, by T. Frohock

Carved from Stone and Dream continues the trilogy of novels started with Where Oblivion Lives, and shows the range, stylistic invention, and writing expertise of author T Frohock.

In three novellas, and in Where Oblivion Lives, author T Frohock introduced us to the story of the Los Nefilim. Caught between Angels and Demons, these supernatural beings, riven by fault lines of conflict within their ranks, have been dealing with the stirrings of the first notes of the Spanish Civil War and subsequent rise of Phalangism (Franco-style Fascism) within their home country of Spain.  Furthermore, the Second World War is on the horizon, a threat not lost on a race of beings whose souls are born and again across the centuries. They know the melodies and notes of history, even as some of them might seek to steer it for their own ends and desires.

In Carved from Stone and Dream, Frohock skips ahead in time, and puts us in the aftermath of the Francoists coming to power. Thousands are fleeing the new regime across the Pyrenees, Nefilim who supported the Republicans included. It is that flight, and what that flight uncovers that drives the plotting of the novel. Frohock uses the real life plight of those fleeing from Francoist Spain as her basis for the Nefilim’s own internal struggles. At the same time, in a time and place, today, where refugees fleeing conflict and terrible conditions around the world are being met with suspicion, fear, hatred or even closed doors, this makes the novel uncomfortably and undeniably timely. Where Oblivion Lives was amazing in its period detail and richness of historical fantasy setting, Carved from Stone and Dream takes that and makes it even more relevant to today.

The novel’s strengths, as always are on the characters, their motivations, actions, and how that drives the narrative. Frohock’s work has always been character driven. Even in the middle of a Francoist rising, what really matters, and what really sets people down paths, sometimes colliding paths, is their own internal drives. Be it the drive to protect and save loved ones from ruin and disaster at the hands of the dark forces rising in Spain and elsewhere, or the drive for power, or even the drive for freedom and revenge, the novel makes choices matter, actions consequential, and  bonds of family and relationships central. Miquel, Diago and their son Rafael, as well as characters like Guillermo (head of the angelic Los Nefilim) and Jordi (Guillermo’s rival and brother, and the main antagonist of the novel) go through pain and effort, physically and mentally as they strive and struggle.

Frohock really knows her history, but keeps her historical fantasy strictly within defined bounds. In a way it could be seen as a secret history, none of the events and the fictional characters do not visibly change the actual historical events and setting. She uses the matrix of the real history of this conflict, tragedy and human crisis, one that is not as well or widely known as it should be, and weaves her fictional narrative in the interstices in a skilled fashion. She doesn’t cheat, either and make the darker Nefilim the reason and ultimate power behind the Francoists. Those human villains and what they do are our own fault, not pawned off as being the pawns of others. The darker Nefilim DO seem to influence Franco and company, but they are not ultimately responsible for them.

Readers of the previous work will be surprised by the change up in some aspects of the novel. While there is plenty here that is familiar, the characters, the character focused plotting, and the relationships, the more high level of seen and used magic definitely is new. Relatively small amounts of overt magic, above and beyond who and what the Nefilim *are* has been something that the previous novel, and the novellas, have employed rather sparingly. In Carved from Stone and Dream, however, Frohock changes things up in a radical way. Right from the get go, we get to see a lot more high magic used by all sides of the conflict. It is indeed as if in a civil war, you start pulling out the big guns, and the high level of magic used definitely was something new to me in Frohock’s writing. I think she keeps her usual character based focused and doesn’t allow the magic to dominate the narrative, but it definitely has a strong impact on events. The major set piece location is a fictional fortress set in a pocket dimension built into the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain. All roads eventually bring most of the characters into contact with this place, and there are secrets even to this pocket dimension that amp up the magical quotient of the novel further. It did take some getting used to in order to really appreciate, but I value when an author grows and stretches her wings and tries new and interesting things.

The writing in this novel remains rich, evocative, powerful and poignant. On a line by line reading, the novel is a dark tapestry of language, phrase and word choice to discover, the author’s style distinct and very well developed. All of the characterization and worldbuilding really are brought to a keen shine in the author’s skilled hands. Even as Frohock tries new things, the quality of the writing remains high.

The thing to keep in mind about the novel, in addition to the usual that you probably don’t want to start here (You can start with Where Oblivion Lives, although the three Los Nefilim novellas really more effectively introduce the world and concepts and characters, but the author does provide spoiler free synopses at the beginning of the book), is the darkness of the novel. This is not an easy book to read. There are a few dark elements in the aforementioned novellas, but in terms of being dark and sometimes very hard to read in a squeamish mode, Carved from Stone and Dream definitely may not be for all readers. It’s an essential book, I think, in this day and age when we are building walls instead of bridges, and shunning and fearing strangers instead of welcoming them to our tables. But it is not an easy book to read. The period detail on how the French treated refugees from Francoist Spain is all accurate, it’s all historical, and it is more than uncomfortable to read. And the main driver of the plot, and what is going on inside of the fortress in the pocket dimension is pretty tough to take as well. This is most definitely not a light and nice book, and I myself needed a palate cleanser afterwards. The movie parallel to this novel is an obvious one on a number of levels- Pan’s Labyrinth.

For all of that, it is excellently written (Frohock’s best work to date), potent, powerful, and memorable. The list of source inspirations at the back of the book alone is worth the price of admission to those who want to know more about these dark events and how the author has woven them into their fantasy narrative.

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The Math

Baseline Assessment: 7/10.

Bonuses: +1 for strong character focused historical fantasy chops
+1 for being willing to shift gears in tone and style

Penalties: -1 Darkness of the narrative may not suit all readers.

Nerd Coefficient: 8/10 well worth your time and attention

Paul Weimer. Ubiquitous in Shadow, but I’m just this guy, you know? @princejvstin.

Reference:  Frohock, T, Carved from Stone and Dream [Harper Voyager, 2020]