The Starving Saints
A Novel
Published on 3. July 2025
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-06-341881-3 (ISBN)
Description
USA Today Bestseller!
"As brilliant as it is bizarre. From the very first page you know you are in the hands of an author at the height of their abilities. . . . This is the unhinged cannibal book of my dreams-and my nightmares." -Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning
"Enthralling, weird, and brilliant. A medieval pseudo-historical horror tale that explores what happens when our prayers are answered but we're not sure what has answered them, or what it will demand of us in return. There's no other story like this, and I mean that in the best possible way." -Christopher Buehlman, bestselling author of Between Two Fires
From the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends ravenously into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors.
Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. In this isolated setting, food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration.
Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the survival horror unfolding within Aymar's walls.
As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness-forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy-these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle's new masters... or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself.
"As brilliant as it is bizarre. From the very first page you know you are in the hands of an author at the height of their abilities. . . . This is the unhinged cannibal book of my dreams-and my nightmares." -Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning
"Enthralling, weird, and brilliant. A medieval pseudo-historical horror tale that explores what happens when our prayers are answered but we're not sure what has answered them, or what it will demand of us in return. There's no other story like this, and I mean that in the best possible way." -Christopher Buehlman, bestselling author of Between Two Fires
From the nationally bestselling author of The Luminous Dead and The Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends ravenously into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors.
Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. In this isolated setting, food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration.
Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the survival horror unfolding within Aymar's walls.
As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness-forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy-these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle's new masters... or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself.
Reviews / Votes
"As brilliant as it is bizarre. From the very first page you know you are in the hands of an author at the height of their abilities. Truly one of the most inventive, audacious, immersive novels I've ever read. Grips you like the cold sweat of a fever and doesn't let you go until the final moment of dizzying, gut-shot revelation. This is the unhinged cannibal book of my dreams-and my nightmares."- Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning
"Holy crap on a stick, this book is messed up in the best way. The Starving Saints broke my brain. It's cannibalism like you've never seen it before!"
- T. Kingfisher, bestselling author of Nettle & Bone
"Enthralling, weird, and brilliant. A medieval pseudo-historical horror tale that explores what happens when our prayers are answered but we're not sure what has answered them, or what it will demand of us in return. There's no other story like this, and I mean that in the best possible way."
- Christopher Buehlman, bestselling author of Between Two Fires
"The Starving Saints is a rich, strange, deeply medieval novel that left me astonished and delighted. Starling expertly dismantles our expectations in this perfectly rendered puzzle box of a world. I would follow these women anywhere, which would probably not end well for me."
- Kate Heartfield, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Embroidered Book
"I wildly enjoyed Caitlin Starling's The Starving Saints. I hope it sweeps everything, gets every award going, gives her fame throughout the nations and does everything except get a lucrative movie deal, because if there was a movie I would be obliged to see it but also barf forever."
- Tamsyn Muir, bestselling author of the Locked Tomb Trilogy
"Claustrophobic, heady, slick, honeyed with menace and panting with the desperation of a castle under siege, The Starving Saints is a gorgeous nightmare."
- Cassandra Khaw, bestselling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth
"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. . . . A brilliantly constructed and thoroughly unnerving fever dream that Starling's fans will gulp down." - Library Journal (starred review)
"This medieval fever dream is seasoned with sapphic romance but thoroughly marinated in cannibalistic body horror. . . . Starling cleverly balances the carnage-filled surrealism with three women who show their love in ways both passionate and deep." - Booklist (starred review)
"A masterful medievalesque fantasy . . . . Starling expertly balances the plot's contrasting aims, offering gruesome horror and sweeping fantasy worldbuilding in equal measure. The dextrously delineated human hierarchy in the castle and the creepy saints' bee-based faith system undergird the increasingly shocking events of the plot. The pace is fast, the twists are unexpected, and the complex queer characters-each of whom narrate in wonderfully distinct voices-are easy to root for. This is a feast." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Caitlin Starling is an author who seemingly refuses to be boxed into any one genre. . . As the tension increases, you, dear reader, might also feel like you're spiraling deeper into a sinister fever dream of your own. And, truly, what more could you ask for from 2025's best anti-beach read?" - Book Riot
"Packed full of everything you've come to expect from this author: atmosphere for days, queer women being awful (complimentary), body horror, unpleasantly small spaces, and extreme acts of fealty. If Shirley Jackson had written A Game of Thrones, I like to imagine that The Starving Saints is what she'd have produced." - Reactor
"A magnum opus level hybrid between haunted, sapphic, culty, witchy, and cannibalistic." - Crime Reads
"Starling is one of the new leading voices in horror," - Locus
"A delicious Gothic romance.... It has to walk the line between romance and horror and not flinch away from either. The Death of Jane Lawrence is up to this task.... By the time the book reached that point of no return, I was so invested that I would have followed Jane into the very depths of hell." - NPR
"Ghostly, mysterious, and terrifying, The Luminous Dead will have you rooted to the spot until the very last page." - Peng Shepherd, author of The Book of M
"A harrowing, merciless descent into the human psyche. Starling's prose is breathtakingly cinematic and left me without a molecule of spare oxygen. This book will catch you by the ankles and drag you backwards into a terrifying and inescapable reality. Read this one with all the lights on." - Sarah Gailey, Hugo Award-winning author of River of Teeth, on The Luminous Dead
"A tense psychological thriller and a gripping survival story that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. It's a dark ride that's worth every step." - Martha Wells, author of The Murderbot Diaries, on The Luminous Dead
"A deliciously uncomfortable story about a siege, starvation, and the saints who offer a rescue that's worse than death. You won't want to stop reading (even if you'll really want to wash your hands)." - John Wiswell, author of the Nebula Award-winning Someone You Can Build a Nest In
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
464 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-341881-3 (9780063418813)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Caitlin Starling is the nationally bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence and the Bram Stoker-nominated The Luminous Dead. Her newest novels, The Starving Saints and The Graceview Patient, epitomize her love of genre-hopping horror; her bibliography spans besieged castles, alien caves, and haunted hospitals. Her short fiction has been published by GrimDark Magazine and Neon Hemlock, and her nonfiction has appeared in Nightmare, Uncanny, and Nightfire. Caitlin also works in narrative design, and has been paid to invent body parts. She's always on the lookout for new ways to inflict insomnia.