Available Formats
The Starving Saints: A Novel
By (Author) Caitlin Starling
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Harper Voyager
30th September 2025
3rd July 2025
United States
General
Fiction
Thriller / suspense fiction
Horror and supernatural fiction
Occult fiction
Historical fantasy
Magical realism
Dark fantasy
Historical fiction
Hardback
352
Width 152mm, Height 229mm, Spine 26mm
460g
From the nationally bestselling author ofThe Luminous DeadandThe Death of Jane Lawrence, a transfixing, intensely atmospheric fever dream of medieval horror.
Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. 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 horrors that are unfolding within Aymars walls.
As the castle descends into bacchanalian madnessforgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasythese 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 castles 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. Truly one of the most inventive, audacious, immersive novels Ive ever read. Grips you like the cold sweat of a fever and doesnt let you go until the final moment of dizzying, gut-shot revelation. This is the unhinged cannibal book of my dreamsand my nightmares. Ava Reid, #1 New York Timesbestselling author of A Study in Drowning Holy crap on a stick, this book is messed up in the best way. The Starving Saintsbroke my brain. Its cannibalism like youve never seen it before! T. Kingfisher, bestselling author of Nettle & Bone 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 This fantastical story is transfixing on its own, but it also serves to underscore that humanitys obsession with power may be the biggest horror of all. . . . A brilliantly constructed and thoroughly unnerving fever dream that Starlings fans will gulp down. Library Journal(starred review) "A masterful medievalesque fantasy. . . . Starling expertly balances the plots 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 characterseach of whom narrate in wonderfully distinct voicesare easy to root for. This is a feast." Publishers Weekly (starred review) 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 Lawrenceis 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 Deadwill have you rooted to the spot until the very last page. Peng Shepherd, author ofThe Book of M Aharrowing, merciless descent into the human psyche. Starlings 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 Awardwinning author ofRiver of Teeth, on The Luminous Dead Atense psychological thriller and a gripping survival story that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. Its a dark ride thats worth every step. Martha Wells, author ofThe Murderbot Diaries, on The Luminous Dead
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. Shes always on the lookout for new ways to inflict insomnia.