Bêlit: Shipwrecked

The Heroic Legends Series

by V. Castro

Capturing the electric short fiction energy that led Robert E. Howard to be one of the top fantasy writers of the century, with exclusive serialized eBook stories starring Conan, Solomon Kane, and more by many of today’s top writers in fantasy and sword-and-sorcery.

Queen of the Black Coast and captain of the Tigress, Bêlit, and her pirate crew roam the seas in pursuit of treasure and adventure. The crew are utterly devoted to their leader, yet they can do little when a massive storm beaches their ship on unknown shores. She and her first mate Seneka send a trio of teams to search for resources and human habitation, but only two return. When Bêlit and her best swordsmen venture into the jungle, they discover a temple, silent warriors, and a charismatic leader who promises Bêlit a kingdom… 

But at what cost?

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Sword and Sorcery, Pulp

39 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 27, 2024

About the author

Hi ! Thank you so very much for picking up my books. You can also check out www.lamuertemarket.com

Wishing you Blessings and Abundance!

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tale of this character before she meet Conan. nice read. Recommended

[Jim Kuenzli · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is good. Belit is somewhat off from Howard’s version. The main difference is her crew is not as it should be. There is plenty of context in Queen of the Black Coast as to how she came to be with her crew, and they aren’t here.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good entertainment. It almost hit 4-stars for me, I would put it at a solid 3.5.

[Ben A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really excellent tale of the Queen of the Black Coast that shines a spotlight on what a truly great character Bêlit is.

[Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've kinda had crush on Belit from when I was about fourteen, so I looked forward to this installment of The Heroic Legends Series.
V. Castro does an excellent job of capturing the fierce, savage beauty that is Belit, which carries the story.
Another Crom-worthy addition to this series.

[Matt Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Promising start that almost delivers

Belit, the title character of the classic Conan story "Queen of the Black Coast", is certainly a memorable, vivid, if broadly drawn figure. The appeal in fleshing out her history in pastiche adventures is self-evident, though most who've tried tend to run into certain problems, like trying to make her more conventionally sympathetic in ways the source material actively doesn't support. Castro bypasses this problem entirely, and isn't shy about depicting Belit as an arrogant sociopath whose primary emotion seems to be greed, and having fun with that. With that sort of character as the POV protagonist, the trick is to lend the stakes a sense of urgency. Since this Belit obviously cares for no one beyond their usefulness to her, the go-to solution would be to put her up against someone or something palpably worse than herself. At this Castro goes to some well conceptualized though undercooked lengths, though I never once felt like our antiheroine was up against anything she couldn't easily handle, and her declaration as moral avenger felt jarringly out of character/rang hollow.

[NOLA Bert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generic Fantasy, Not Very Sword & Sorcery

Although I liked the tough actions of Bêlit in this story and she was suitably mercenary in her motivations, the story overall felt more generic fantasy to me than something from the Hyborian Age. The writing felt stilted throughout the story, and I often had a hard time picturing the scenes as described. I found myself rereading certain passages to try to get a better idea of what was going on. And while there is some interesting horror to the story, I thought the actions of Bêlit in the main part of the story unbelievable.

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. I never got the sense of creepy strangeness that permeates the best of the genre. I just reread a howard piece and Conan is freaked out and the lost city and its dangers feel threatening, and Conan acts threatened, in way that doesn't happen in this story. At least it didn't for me. it wasn't bad, but it didn't leave me wanting more.

[Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very meh novella, didn't feel like Belit at all.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of always feel that Castro gets by a little on reputation. This is enjoyable but forgettable

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a Howard character I was particularly interested in seeing more of if I'm being honest. Still a good exciting story on its own.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying these novellas based on Robert E. Howard characters. This one focuses on Belit, who was first introduced in the short story, "Queen of the Black Coast." She became Conan the Barbarian's greatest love. At least, that was the way Roy Thomas of Marvel Comics portrayed her.

Belit came and went in the original short story, but Marvel Comics featured her in the Conan comic book for over three years.

This story is from before Belit met Conan, and we get to see another side of her that wasn't in the comics and was only hinted at in the comics.

Even shipwrecked on an unknown island, Belit sets out to find treasure, and she does. But she has to fight for it.

[Gary Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A She Pirate

This book was a good read, Belit and crew become shipwrecked on an uncharted island, some of her crew end up missing and they meet the islands inhabitants. It was good to have a little more background on Belit before she meets Conan.

I'm not to thrilled with the front cover picture, to me, she doesn't look like a she pirate. I prefer the way she's drawn in the Conan comics, straight flowing raven locks, the fur skin outfit, and alabaster skin, but definitely a she pirate.

[Dustin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this was okay.

It's short enough that I still had fun with it despite not particularly enjoying the prose and not being very hooked into the plot. An enjoyable enough Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery romp.

This is my first introduction to Bêlit, so I can't speak on how well she's been translated from the older stories, but she was cool enough here that I'm interested in reading more.

[Andrew Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

"However, even the most hardened of men, or creatures, couldn't resist her will in the end." I don't find this agreeable to Bêlit's character as is known, and would believe many men did indeed resist her will in her conquests, resulting in her fierce notoriety as she probably killed any that didn't submit to her ... except for the one that enchanted her as much as she enchanted him. Too much dialogue of a "true queen who knows her worth". It did show up that Bêlit lusts after treasure and has her crew loyal and in fear, but she wasn't known as a warrior, but simply a leader who enchanted her followers, and though her treasure-lust would have her make a hasty decision in going somewhere she shouldn't, I cannot imagine it would have her do what she did with a fish-scaled lizard creature. There was no indication that she used her body to solve problems, maybe even chaste until she found a lover in her Lion, Conan, that she valued herself as a leader and an adventurer, not to be handled by just anyone (especially a lizard man). I think this tale would stand up better if it wasn't Bêlit, maybe connected to the world but not writing the character, as its own short story as part of an anthology with similar trends.

Bèlit
Bone Whispers by Michael Stackpole 3/5
Shipwrecked by V. Castro 3/5

Bèlit & Conan
Terror from the Abyss by Henry Herz 3/5

Bran Mak Morn
Red Waves of Slaughter by Steven L. Shrewsbury 3/5

Conan
Black Starlight by John C. Hocking 5/5
The Child by Brian D. Anderson 4/5
Halls of Immortal Darkness by Laird Barron 3/5
Lethal Consignment by Shaun Hamill 3/5
Lord of the Mount by Stephen Graham Jones 4/5
Shadow of Vengeance by Scott Oden 4/5

El Borak
The Siege of Lamakan by James Lovegrove 4/5

Kull & Brule if you know what's good for you
The Talons of Deep Time by Francesco Dimitri 5/5

Solomon Kane
Banquet of Souls by Steven Savile 4/5
The Hound of God by Jonathan Maberry 5/5