Witch Hunt

Gryphonpike Chronicles #1

by Annie Bellet

A mute elven archer known only as Killer. Azyrin, a half Winter-orc shaman and his human swordswoman bride, Makha. Drake, the charming, swashbuckling rogue. The fireball-slinging pixie-goblin, Rahiel, and her mini-unicorn, Bill. These are the Gryphonpike Companions.

Arriving in Strongwater Barrow, the Companions find the town riddled with plague and death. Ending the curse and saving the survivors means going into the swamps where monsters lurk and witches wait. Sounds like exactly their kind of day.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Magic, Witches, Epic Fantasy, Short Stories, Novella

98 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 14, 2012

About the author

Annie Bellet is a full-time speculative fiction writer. She holds a BA in English and a BA in Medieval Studies and thus can speak a smattering of useful languages such as Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Welsh.

Her books include Avarice (Pyrrh Considerable Crimes Division: Book 1), The Gryphonpike Chronicles series, and the Twenty-Sided Sorceress series.

Her interests besides writing include rock climbing, reading, horse-back riding, video games, comic books, table-top RPGs, and many other nerdy pursuits.


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Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.68954789 stars. And a half.

The Clueless Barnacles Keep Reading Annie Bellet Wrong Curse (CBKRABWC™) strikes again! Okay, so this story doesn’t seem to be as widely misread as Justice Calling of the Desperately Tragic 3.61 Average Star Rating, but still. There’s an awful lot of ridiculously ridiculous 2-star ratings for this novella out there including one from my beloved wife Choko, who must have been really high on poor quality stuff when she read this story. It is the only plausible explanation for such an uncharacteristic display of spectacular lack of judgement on her part and stuff and even some dumbfoundingly dumbfounding 1-star ratings, which seems to indicate that the CBKRABWC™ is pretty strong in this one. And that People of Despicable Book Taste (PoDBT™) will be People of Despicable Book Taste and stuff I love you, too .

Anyway, PoDBT™’s main gripes when it comes to this story are that:

① It is too short. A novella that is short, and not a full length-novel?! Bloody shrimping hell, what a shocking shocker!



And you know what else is shockingly shocking and disappointingly disappointing here? Not only is this short story short, it is also free! I kid you not. Now if that isn’t highway robbery, I don’t know what is. How dare you abuse your readers in such a shameful manner, Annie Bellet?! Such immoral practices are totally unacceptable and should be outlawed, if you ask me.

② It is a first person narrative. Which I must admit is totally outrageous and completely uncalled for.

③ It reads like a D&D campaign/quest/whatever. And that seems to be a Very Bad Thing (VBT™), according to PoDBT™. I wouldn’t know. I mean, we were still living in the 16th 20th century the one and only last time I played D&D, and I was slightly (if disgustingly) underage at the time, so my two ever-failing grey cells are kinda sorta struggling to determine why/how/when/where/whatever the D&D thing would be a VBT™. Is it frightfully illegal or something? Probably is. You puny humans seem to have a thing for banishing all fun stuff (like chopping people’s limbs off, or offering newborn babies in sacrifice to one’s favourite authors), after all.

So the long short and short of it is, ① + ② + ③ =



YES, this story is revoltingly short and YES, it is about a small group of people who have been tasked with ridding a small town of witches and monsters and stuff. But also nevertheless, I don’t see what the problem with that is. And but also nevertheless, said small group of people is comprised of a cursed elf who cannot snort communicate because she’s been a bad, bad girl in the past yay! , a pony-sized mist-lynx who goes poof on demand, a half-orc shaman with a potentially badass, sword-wielding human wife, a dashing rascal-type guy, a pixie-goblin who hurls fireballs around, and last but bloody shrimping not least, a bloody shrimping mini-unicorn!! Now if that alone isn’t worth picking this FREE STORY up for, I don’t know what is. Oh, and by the way: owlboars and crocodile men. Also, fun and action and adventure and great potential and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series and stuff and I rest in my case. And stuff.



Don’t ask.

· Book 2: Twice Drowned Dragon ★★★★
· Book 3: A Stone's Throw ★★★★
· Book 4: Dead of Knight ★★★★
· Book 5: Brood Mother ★★★★
· Book 6: Into the North ★★★★★



[Pre-review nonsense]

It's Justice Calling all over again! Countless barnacles have given this slightly enjoyable, free tale—which features a bloody shrimping mini-unicorn—a low rating! Funny how barnacles have the tendency to read Annie Bellet’s stories wrong. Must have something to do with their genes and stuff. It’s so sad that all puny creatures on this planet don’t have my Glorious Chromosomes of Impeccable Book Taste (GCoIBT™). It would make for more sensible book ratings, if you ask me.



➽ Full It’s Not Me You, Clueless Barnacles, It’s You Me Crappy Non Review (ITMYCBIYMCNR™) to come.

[Choko · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** 3.23 ***

Just finished my second read through this short novel, and I am happy to say that I actually enjoyed it this time around! If my memory serves me right, the first time I listened to the audiobook and all the names and places made me confused, not allowing me to relate to neither the characters nor the story. Even being a big fan of the audio editions of books, in this case I would recommend the paper, or as I am doing it , Kindle version! So much better and ultimately, a read which was pleasant and will inspire me to read the rest of the series!


_________________________

That was fast and quite disappointing ... I wanted to like it, since Fantasy is my favorite genre, but this was an unsuccessful try... There is potential, but so many things are missing, that I hope the other books are better ...

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good beginning with lots of possibilities

I didn't get into the Twenty-sided Sorceress series by this author, though having liked both this book and Avarice a great deal, I'm going to go back to it--maybe I just stopped reading too soon. This story is more high fantasy than the Gryphonpike Chronicles, with its Elven world singers and more or less medieval setting. It has an unusual breadth of magic and beings who can use it, which is interesting, and I really liked both the redemptive nature of the main character, Killer's, quest and the growing camaraderie among her group of fellow travellers.

THIS PART MAY COUNT AS A SPOILER TO SOME (though I don't think it gives away anything you don't discover in reading the first chapter):
The restrictions imposed on Killer seem unfairly onerous, maybe even punitive, and likely to cause harm to others. If she can't communicate at all, can't even want to communicate without suffering, isn't that sometimes going to prevent her from saving people or performing other good deeds to work off her debt? Aren't people occasionally going to get hurt because she can't warn them of danger? And isn't that consequence going to add to her burden of guilt, even if it's not really her fault? The mechanics of her sentence don't seem fair to me, or like the other Elf singers really thought them through. I get them wanting her to atone for what she did, but it seems counterproductive for them to impose restrictions that only make it harder for her to do good deeds and that unnecessarily risk people's lives and wellbeing.

At any rate, it will be fun to see what Bellet does with Killer, the motley group she's bound together with, and the burden Killer labors under during the rest of her journey.

[Anniken Haga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review written using my phone, so sorry for any mistakes.

This was a fun, short read. As a DnD-player, I could almost hear the dice rolling at points!

As usual from Bellet, it was well written and straight to the point. There were a bit too many characters for such a short story, but I did manage to know them toward the end, and I'm looking forward to seing what they might be up to next.

[Jeron · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was amazingly bad. It felt like she made a D&D quest, played it, then wrote a book about it. As I was reading it, I went to Amazon to see if I had accidentally bought a self published fan fiction ebook instead of one by a properly published author.

[Melissa Milner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Red like an account of a D&D campaign, did not particularly grab me or entice me to read more of the same. I would rather play d&d than read it...

[Kaj Samuelsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I had to get the next one.

[Elinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

je préfère Jade, mais c'était une petite lecture très très sympa ! en un peu moins de 100 pages on a :
de l'action et de la baston en veux-tu en voilà
un monde qui se découvre
des personnages cools auxquels on commence à s'attacher
une héroïne bad-ass et intrigante
une intrigue parfaite pour une courte histoire et bien menée
une envie d'en savoir plus sur le passé de notre Killer et sur ses futures aventures
Le tout faisant passer un très agréable moment de lecture.

[Shyam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little short story

[Dixie Conley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an electronic copy of this book as part of the EPIC: Fourteen Books Of Fantasy boxed set.

This is a short story, not a book, and is a tale from a larger series. That said, it's sufficient unto itself and doesn't require the rest of the series in order to appreciate it. It also gives enough hints of the larger series to intrigue my interest in it. The story is about a group of adventurers who fight evil and collect gold under the banner of a larger adventuring guild. The whole notion of an adventuring guild piqued my interest, reminding me of Orconomics: A Satire, also a good read.

The main character is fascinating, being an elf under a curse to do good deeds and not allowed to communicate in any way until the requisite number of good deeds is completed. Now that is a challenge. I'm curious as to how she managed to become part of this group at all without the ability to communicate.

The plot itself is simple, see bad guy, kill bad guy, but as it's a short story, simplistic makes sense. A well-told story.

[Lesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good (short) read, with an interesting bunch of characters who I wouldn't mind spending some more reading time with. The writing was fine, but it's difficult to develop everything in a novella that needs developing so I felt I didn't get the chance to get into this new (medieval England?) world, or get to know the main protagonist really well. Worth reading for something short, light and fantasy.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short novella, currently free on Kindle, introducing a fantasy series about a band of adventurers. Very much in the Dungeons and Dragons mode, but thankfully not pretending to be a game, this frustratingly short episode has some excellent worldbuilding, intriguing characters, and good action set pieces with real jeopardy.

The companions’ early concern about paying their guild fees to renew their registration and avoid fines gives the story a good, grittily realistic grounding.

The protagonist’s backstory as a cursed deity who cannot communicate because of the curse over her provides plenty of pathos as well as plot complications that are very well used to increase jeopardy. The fact that the protagonist cannot communicate makes the choice of a first person narration interesting: she can only observe and comment to herself, and hence to the reader, in order to keep a tally of the good deeds that will count towards the lifting of her curse. This makes more sense than many other first person narrations in fantasy as it has a story relevant purpose beyond seeking immediacy of experience.

The other characters are cobbled together from tropes, but the author imbues them all with personality and gives them realistic relationships that helps the reader root for them all.

The main downside is that this novella is very short and summary, little more than a synopsis that could be developed further. I mentioned above that it is frustratingly short. It really is, as there’s so much promise. Because of that issue this is not a book I’d re-read, hence a perhaps unfairly low score according to my rules. Nevertheless, the series is promising and I’d gladly read more about these characters in subsequent volumes.

[Alianoraree · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love fantasy books, but this is less a novella than it is a recounting of someone's "Dungeons and Dragons" campaign. As a D&D player myself, I know how tempting it is to tell friends about some campaign that my group had a blast with; I also know how boring it can be when friends want to tell me about their own group's adventures.
In a novella we are passive participants, so the story needs to be better than one in which we get to be active participants (a tabletop rpg). If your story isn't more complex/original/nuanced/whatever, why would I listen to your adventures when I could go have my own?

[Selaya Morton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that's a new one. A story told from the perspective of a character who cannot - make that "is not allowed to" - communicate in any way except positive actions. Not even a nod. Wow! I can think of a few people I'd like to to sic that curse on LOL. As far as it went this was a good intro to this series with a bit of comedy, banter and not a few nicknames. Naturally, I'm going to have to pursue some other installments to be certain but it seems like something I could sink my fangs into. I am gaining more and more respect for Annie Bellet's writing and cannot wait to see what she devises next.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a writer I enjoy tackling shorter fiction projects, so I wanted to see how Annie Bellet's novella fantasy series read. Overall I liked this first installment. It had fun characters who Bellet did a good job of bringing to life. The action was well written, and the plot was captured well in a quick period of time.

That being said, the story is very tropey and feels like a D&D campaign session that was turned into a story. While there's nothing wrong with this, and the story was certainly enjoyable, it's not the sort of thing that's very memorable or unique.

But if you enjoy high fantasy and want a fun, quick read, then I'd definitely recommend checking this out.

[Debit Kiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kukira buku ini bakal berat bacaannya, tapi ternyata enggak. Buku ini termasuk ringan buat dibaca, aku sampai berhasil bayangin kejadian dan latar tempat di buku ini. Tapi aku agak miss connect sama pembayangan tokohnya, terlalu banyak dan sulit buat mengenal mereka.

Overall, ceritanya bagus banget, temanya keren ... aku suka karakter yang gak putus asa seperti tokoh utama di cerita ini. Wkwkkwkw, walau halamannya dikit, aku baru bisa nyelesain ini buku dengan waktu 1 bulanan 😭.

Slow reader can relate this. 😭🤣

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

i swear i read this whole series before... it came back up as something i might like and i did... it was just that as i was reading it, all the stuff was familiar like i had read it before. The read is a good quick one and there are heros and villians and magic slung around... all the stuff i like.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Short But Satisfying Read

I don't know that I'd be inclined to read and re-read this book as I do my favorites, but for what it was...a typical Tolkien companion journey story...it was well-done.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short action story

This story is great for fantasy action. It is lacking some depth, though. The emotions and the relationships have a good start, but the story ends after what felt like the first part of a full story. Not enough depth of emotion or plot to get to five stars.

[joey brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good beginning

A good beginning to a promising series. Well written , with fun believable characters. Love the first person narrative, my personal preference when writing. Annie Bellet is a generally talented writer. Highly recommend.

[IMHO · Rating 5 out of 5]

RECOMMENDED

"Witch Hunt" is great introduction of The Gryphonpike Chronicles. I look forward to
reading the series. If you like a well written story, you will not want to miss reading it.

[Ioana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read, I started it because I was bored and on school days I'm not really reading but I said to give it a try
It took me 3 days, it was okay ig could be better but overall an easy and interesting reading

[Russ Stebbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting premise but the book is more novella than novel. easy to make connection with MC and the story focuses on the action with little back story.

[Elizabeth Fraley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really enjoyed her Twenty-Sided Sorceress series, but this one reads like actual game-play, which I get (and do), I just wasn't interesting for me to read.

[Tyesha Litz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean how could you not love a Novella that features a miniature pink unicorn named Bill.

[Karen ⚜Mess⚜ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely written by a gamer. Love it!

[Daniel Woodward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Adventure.

If you're a dungeon crawl fan or just like a good action adventure,this one will keep you happy. A good group of hero's who work well together. Highly recommend.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very short but fun. I recommend this for D & Ders.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories good but Audible reader was AWFUL. Will read the next in series since I already have it.

[Sarah Gent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable novella, I really enjoyed the band of characters and the original world building and the quest for a cause plot. I could picture it as a monster of the week tv show.