Torment Becomes Them by Warwick Gleeson: Review: an Ambitious Horror-Dark Fantasy Mashup

An ambitious historical horror fantasy that almost pulls off its grand design

Torment Becomes Them | Review | by Debra K. Every|

Torment Becomes Them is an audacious piece of work. Warwick Gleeson has thrown Catherine the Great, Niccolò Paganini, time travel, a pain-based magic system and the entire twentieth century into a blender and somehow produced something that holds together better than it has any right to. The review below from Debra K. Every picks apart what works, what doesn’t, and why this messy, sprawling, deeply inventive novel might be exactly what horror fans looking for something different need on their shelves.

The book asks difficult questions about whether meddling with history ever does more harm than good, and it does so while throwing deadly insects, magical Stradivari and trips to Mars at you.

Torment Becomes Them by Warwick Gleeson: Review: an Ambitious Horror-Dark Fantasy Mashup

TORMENT BECOMES THEM by Warwick Gleeson is an ambitious mashup of horror, historical dark fantasy, and time travel. It depicts an epic battle between forces determined to rewrite the worst of human history, pitted against those willing to use human suffering in order to feed power. The novel is driven by an inventive magic system alongside impressive and complex world building, spanning multiple centuries of time travel like none I have seen. 

It is 1762 and we meet Princess Fredericke von Anhalt on the day of her coronation. This is the young Catherine the Great, feisty and single-minded, facing a transition in her life for which she has no interest. It’s a world where magic not only determines history but drives the battle for how that history unfolds. 

Fredericke (Freddie to her friends) quickly becomes embroiled in that battle, led by Niccolò Paganini (Yes. The violinist), who is himself a powerful sorcerer called a World Maker. Under his tutelage, Freddie develops her abilities to aid in the fight against Paganini’s enemy, another World Maker named Edison Godfellow (a great villain that could have used more screen time). 

Freddie’s skills grow until she, also, becomes a World Maker. And a powerful one at that. World War I becomes the focal point of her efforts. Freddie is convinced that if she stops World War I and World War II, it will be to the betterment of mankind. Godfellow prefers the chaos and suffering that a war engenders in order that he may shape the future with himself as ruler. And he has, indeed, done so when we meet him in 2038. 

But history in this novel is fungible. We go back and forth, dipping into every century and dimension, taking what and who is needed to win the day. Gleeson stands the trope on its head. He has the young Freddie fighting side-by-side with her older self (Catherine). And when Freddie dies in battle, albeit for a short time, her older self continues to live. Time can be stopped, slowed down, adjusted, gone back to. There are even references to 21^st century drones and a trip to Mars.

If time travel is the battleground, magic is the weapon. And it is in magic that the horror of this novel truly lives, with machines of destruction, deadly insects, and methods of persuasion and punishment that will make any horror fan sit up and take notice. Particularly unique is the necessity for Freddie to feel enormous pain in order to grow her power. And no one is exempt, which brings a sense of  unpredictability to the entire book. 

Without giving spoilers, Freddie goes against Paganini’s wishes and sets disastrous events into motion, thinking it will bring the peace she envisions. It, instead, causes consequences that bring into focus the theme of the book. Questioning the wisdom, morality, and efficacy of changing history.

Catherine the Great is a tremendous choice for a protagonist. In real life, she organized a coup to seize the Russian throne and ushered in an artistic golden age. Her power in TORMENT BECOMES THEM is music – specifically singing. But if I have one criticism of the novel it is the way other historical figures are used throughout. Most have little basis in their historical reality. Why send an engineer (Alexander Eiffel) to escort serfs to safety? Why have Lauren Bacall serving wine? Why choose Frank Sinatra songs in 2038? 

I also missed a historical connection for Niccolò Paganini. Yes, we see him using his famous Stradivarius to wield magical power. And he is characterized as a secretive man. But no additional aspects of his history have been used.  His womanizing, gambling, poor health – a missed opportunity for an otherwise fascinating character.

But these are small issues within the framework of an extraordinarily creative world. The writing is rich and evocative, the battles are well drawn, the horror is visceral, and the characters are unforgettable. And luckily, the book ends with a clear signal that the story will continue.

Favorite things:  

The concept of Mother Yarrows (Beings that live inside a person to help wield magic)

Paganini’s tremendous solution to fending off World War II.

The villain taking over a corpse to talk to Catherine. (fun!)

The surprise culprit toward the end (don’t want to give spoilers) 

The complex nature of Freddie. (not a cookie-cutter hero)

Horror fans, dark fantasy lovers, and readers of alternate history should pick up TORMENT BECOMES THEM. A great read with more installments to come.

Torment Becomes Them by Warwick Gleeson

AN EPIC HISTORICAL SCIENCE-FANTASY UNLIKE ANY GONE BEFORE
The War for Utopia Begins

Inspired by a mad vision of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, a centuries-old time war is being fought to determine the destiny of the human race. As the conflict rages between the early 18th century and the battlefields of World War I, Czarina Sorceress Catherine Romanova joins forces with her younger self, Princess Von Anhalt, magician Zolo Bold, and World Maker Niccolo Paganini, to face a gamut of powerful and implacable foes. The most dangerous and ruthlessly brilliant of them all, the immortal E. G. Godfellow–once known to ancient Greece as the “Scourge of the Gods”–intends to stop Catherine and her allies from rewriting the history of the 20th century.

Their bold plan, to prevent the 80 million deaths of WW II and inaugurate a new utopian vision for humankind in the 21st century, interferes with Godfellow’s plan to maintain the status quo and thereby usher in his own utopian vision of “One Earth—One Master.” Only one vision will dominate, and either way, the cost will be terrible.
__________

“A baroque, hallucinatory blend of secret history and dark fairy tale. A world where a corpse drops from a ceiling into Empress Elizabeth’s lunch, a Vermeer painting comes alive to whisper prophecy, and torture dungeon “Virgin Marys” hum with muffled shrieks. The author cleverly combines suspense and mystery with escalating tension. TORMENT BECOMES THEM is bold in its thematic development: exploring power as a burden rather than a blessing, free will versus destiny, and the cost of utopia. The author grounds these themes in specific horrors. The characters are unforgettable, complex, and well-rounded, and the protagonist, Freddie Von Anhalt, is drawn to be compassionate and defiant by turns.”

– Reader’s Favorite

“In a centuries-spanning tale of ambition, intrigue, and conflicting political worldviews, beings that exist outside the normal restraints of time fight to realize mankind’s potential. The author writes in a dramatic prose style that successfully invigorates the novel’s larger-than-life characters and situations. The diversity of settings (including Central Asian khanates, Enlightenment-era Europe, and a far-future Dubai) makes for fun and evocative reading, as do the winks at real-life history.”

– Kirkus Reviews (first edition)

If Ian Tregillis and Jodi Taylor gave birth to a novel determined to rewrite the history of the past century in the most unique and bizarre way imaginable, it would be this novel.

– Brendan Deneen, Macmillan Entertainment Director

“TORMENT BECOMES THEM casts a frenzied spell on its readers with a delicious feat of fantastical worldbuilding–proliferated with evil sorcerers, tamed djinns, and feisty emperors and empresses—set amidst the old eastern lands of power struggles, war zones and malicious mutinies. Like any scrupulously-crafted fantasy novel, the fast pacing of the plot, profound backstories of different characters and their unique motives together complement the development of an exquisite mystery at the heart of this tale.”

– Indie Reader

This novel left me both amazed and curious. How will this author ever write a satisfactory sequel to this first novel?

– Anise Eden, Author of “All the Broken Places”

The history of Catherine the Great, formerly princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst of Prussia, inspires this myth. The power of the ruling classes might be likened to the reign of titans. This author takes that premise and creates a mythological heroine, in an arena that encompasses utopian futures, deadly machines, gruesome torture, and clashes between earthly beings who are actually eternal.

– Michelle Brooks

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