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HELLMOUTH: A novella by [Giles Kristian]

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Giles Kristian

HELLMOUTH: A novella Kindle Edition

by Giles Kristian (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.1 563 ratings

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Bohemia. 1370. A lost soul named Galien leads a band of hardened mercenaries on a mission for Mother Church. But in the dark forests of central Europe, a darker secret awaits. Bestselling author Giles Kristian (Lancelot, The Raven Viking Trilogy) takes us on an unnerving ride into fear and paranoia, bloodshed and redemption.

Print length

48 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publication date

19 Feb. 2021
File size

530 KB
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Giles Kristian
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P.L. McMillan
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Christopher Buehlman
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08WJHY48M
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Giles Kristian (19 Feb. 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 530 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 48 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 259,022 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 610 in Historical Fantasy Fiction
- 2,246 in Fantasy Adventure Fiction
- 19,253 in Adventure Stories & Action

Customer reviews:
4.1 563 ratings

About the author

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Giles Kristian

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Giles Kristian's first historical novels were the acclaimed and bestselling RAVEN Viking trilogy – Blood Eye, Sons of Thunder and Odin’s Wolves. For his next series, he drew on a long-held fascination with the English Civil War to chart the fortunes of a family divided by this brutal conflict in The Bleeding Land and Brothers’ Fury. Giles also co-wrote Wilbur Smith’s No.1 bestseller, Golden Lion. In God of Vengeance (a TIMES Book of the Year), Winter’s Fire, and the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown shortlisted Wings of the Storm, he returned to the world of the Vikings to tell the story of Sigurd and his celebrated fictional fellowship. Lancelot was published to great acclaim and hit The Times bestseller charts at No. 3. It was also a Sunday Times bestseller. He followed Lancelot with Camelot, and his new novel, a thriller called Where Blood Runs Cold, was The Times’ Thriller of the Month. To find out more about Giles: www.gileskristian.com

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

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Bernard A

Loved it up to the end

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 August 2023

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The ending ruined my pleasure of reading the book. Even though it was hinted at, I find this type of ending unimaginative and lazy.

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Gary O'Brien

In absentia lucis, tenebrae vincunt. In the absence of light, darkness prevails.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 May 2021

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It is no secret that I am a big fan of Giles Kristian’s writing. I have digested three of his books so far including his stellar Lancelot & Camelot duology and God of Vengeance, the first in his epic Viking series, The Rise of Sigurd, and have praised his excellent characterisation, lyrical prose and remarkable storytelling. His new novella, Hellmouth, not only boasts all three but is also permeated with a raw horror that genuinely terrified me as I listened to it in the middle of the night.

‘How often has Galien walked towards violence? It is all he knows. And yet there is something else about this night. He feels it in his gut. On his skin. He tastes it.’

Set in late middle age Bohemia, Hellmouth is told through the perspective of Galien, an outcast knight excommunicated from the Church and the leader of a vicious band of mercenaries that roam the Holy Roman Empire. Galien is past his prime, a condition he is constantly reminded of every time he wakes up. A former servant of the Church, he blames god for his lot in life. He is violent, vicious and surly, yet at the same time deeply loyal to his comrades. There is also an underlining desire for redemption that guides his actions. He is a truly conflicted character who in turn left me conflicted over my feelings towards him. I found myself both despising and sympathising with him. Kristian has a tendency to instil such a reaction in readers with his excellent characterisation and it is no different here.

‘Twelve more savage and murderous-looking scum of the land you would not see nor want to.’

Galien’s crew are just as conflicted as him, each with their own idiosyncrasies that made it easy to tell who was who. We don’t get much backstory to any of them besides a few passing comments, but that works well here since this is Galien’s story. Nonetheless, I would have loved to learn more about them, especially the devil-mask wearing knight, Gisla, and the former crusader, Ranulf. Another fascinating character is that of Cardinal Cesarini who hires Galien and his crew to hunt a heretic in exchange for an offer they can’t refuse. Cesarini steals the show with his low cunning. All these characters, including Galien himself, are further brought to life by the wonderful voicework of Phillip Stevens, who honestly deserves an Oscar. He is without doubt one of the best narrators in the business.

‘The corpses hang there amongst and above them, naked as infants. A forest of flesh. Unyoked from the earth itself, like souls ascending to heaven. Or descending to Hell.’

In my review for Camelot I referred to a particular atmospheric chapter that I was completely engrossed in. With Hellmouth, it seems like Kristian took that chapter, added a whole lot of body horror and psychological terror and made an entire novella out of it. Every scene builds the suspense, dread and sheer terror of what Galien and his crew have got themselves caught up in. I listened to this late at night, which I highly recommend readers do too. I was so absorbed in the story that at one point my dog barked and scared the living shit out of me.

I have often discussed how Kristian dips his foot in fantasy but never fully dives in. Hellmouth is perhaps the best example of this. I am still trying to decipher what I just read. Is it fantasy? Horror? Historical fiction? Or a culmination of all three? No matter how readers will define it, there is something here for everyone. On one final note, Kristian discusses in the author’s note where the inspiration for the novella came from. I recommend you look it up after reading the story. Very creepy but so fascinating.

One person found this helpful

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Swords and Spectres

Present tense storytelling isn't for me

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 March 2021

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Giles is one of my favourite authors so, even though I felt the price for a 50 page novella was a bit steep, I auto-bought as I would pretty much anything he puts out. This one didn't quite hit the high notes for me but I'm still glad I read it as, for every part that wasn't for me, there was plenty that was.

All in all, I just felt it was a bit of a mixed bag.

My main gripe was that it was written in the present tense, something I don't really get on with. Kristian's 'The Rise of Sigurd' trilogy was one of my all-time favourite trilogies and the writing in this just didn't feel like it was from the same author. What did stand out in the writing were the descriptions, especially those of a darker nature. That is something that, in any tense, Kristian excels at.

Another slight downside for me was that I never really felt attached to any of the characters other than Galien. I'm not sure if it was a casualty of the tense choice or just because Giles only had fifty or so pages to make us care about them. Whatever the reason, Galien's crew felt like names on a page to me, which is a shame as I like the 'band of brigands' style character group.

This, as with all good historical works, was based on an actual place and the actual folklore that surrounds it. It's given me the urge to get my history hat on and learn more about the place in general.

One more slight downside for me was that I felt things got a tad hard to keep up with when nearing the end. I think that was more a negative on my part than the book's due to my really not getting on with the present tense aspect of storytelling.

4 people found this helpful

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Paige

Creepy, dark and unputdownable

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2021

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I loved this! What a wonderfully chilling short story, that definitely has the potential to become a full length novel. Although that being said it works perfectly well as a novella too.

I'd heard this was something like reading Dark Souls, and to be honest that's a pretty good comparison. It's dark, it's creepy, you don't know who to trust and it has the religious undertones (or just clear ones here) that add that extra horror factor that religion sometimes can. It has superb world-building for such a short tale, and the band of mercenaries it follows come with some great sense of family and bonds to each other. Kristian manages to get across these bonds in such a short space of time and you get swept up in the story.

The final few pages felt quite rushed and I wish we could have explored it just a little more. However, I did love the ending and while it doesn't explain much I really enjoyed the implications that came with it.

If you want a creepy short story you can devour in an evening this is the one for you.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 February 2021

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Hellmouth by Giles Kristian is a short novella featuring a fallen knight called Galien. Set in Bohemian (Czech Republic) in 1370. He leads a small band of well hard mercenaries on a mission for the church to battle unknown-dark forces. We get a little tantalising glimpse of Galien’s backstory as he’s manipulated into a decision he may regret.

I have to say upfront this is a dark and visceral read. There was plenty of blood and action throughout and a diverse mix of mercenary characters. It is a short and engaging read and enough to fill one hour. What a time I had. I was swept away to the haunted dark forests of Bohemia. The atmosphere created was perfect. Galien and his mercenaries tackle dark force, there will be consequences, read it to find out what happens.

Brilliant and I can only hope we get a sequel.

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