Six of the best SFF books about gods and demons

Lyndsie Manusos’s fiction has appeared in PANK, SmokeLong Quarterly, and other publications. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has worked in web production and content management. When she’s not nesting among her books and rough drafts, she’s chasing the baby while the dog watches in confused amusement. She lives with her family in a suburb of Indianapolis.

At Book Riot she tagged six of the best science fiction and fantasy books about gods and demons, including:

The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling

Let’s close out this list with some medieval dark fantasy/horror, shall we?

I’ve been a fan of Starling since reading Yellow Jessamine, and I also adored The Death of Jane Lawrence. Starling’s work is as mysterious as it is startling, and she’s fantastic at sprinkling tender moments among the horrors. The Starving Saints is a somewhat-historical fantasy/horror about Aymar Castle, which has been under siege for six months. The people within its walls are starving and desperate. Then, lo and behold, the Constant Lady and her Saints arrive. Miraculously and, somehow, despite the barricades. Suddenly, the stores are replenished. All they ask in return is adoration.

What follows is a story told from the point of view of multiple women, from a war hero to a nun-turned sorceress, to a serving girl. They all see their situation for what it is, and they must consider how they will survive under the sway of the Constant Lady and her bacchanalian feasts. More than anything else, though, this is a survival story.

Read about another title on the list.

The Starving Saints is among Lyndsie Manusos's top six medieval horror books and Saratoga Schaefer's five novels that use isolation to create horror.

--Marshal Zeringue