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Hellmarine: A Slice-of-Demon Military Sci-Fi Epic #1
Hellmarine: They Shall Know Fear
The End of Days has come... but not for us.
The UEC has been fighting a losing battle against the demonic hordes, forced to surrender more ground every day. But aboard the U.S.S. Shotgun Opera, the Overmaiden—a sixth-generation Ghost AI—has just forged humanity’s perfect weapon and best a supersoldier.
The man he used to be is gone, lost with his family to demons on the mining world of Aonus. All that’s left is hate, rage, and unyielding power. Rip, crunch, gore, dismember—the unstoppable juggernaut will slaughter his way through Hell, driven by righteous fury and a singular drive.
And he won’t do it alone. At his side are an exiled angel, a talented xenobiologist, and the Overmaiden herself—not to mention a battle-hardened squad of marines who've been doing this song and dance for years. Together, they’ll fight, bleed, and bear witness to his wrath.
He is nameless. He is the Sword of Mankind.
He is the Hellmarine.
The UEC has been fighting a losing battle against the demonic hordes, forced to surrender more ground every day. But aboard the U.S.S. Shotgun Opera, the Overmaiden—a sixth-generation Ghost AI—has just forged humanity’s perfect weapon and best a supersoldier.
The man he used to be is gone, lost with his family to demons on the mining world of Aonus. All that’s left is hate, rage, and unyielding power. Rip, crunch, gore, dismember—the unstoppable juggernaut will slaughter his way through Hell, driven by righteous fury and a singular drive.
And he won’t do it alone. At his side are an exiled angel, a talented xenobiologist, and the Overmaiden herself—not to mention a battle-hardened squad of marines who've been doing this song and dance for years. Together, they’ll fight, bleed, and bear witness to his wrath.
He is nameless. He is the Sword of Mankind.
He is the Hellmarine.
- GenresHarem
572 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 2, 2025
344 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 31, 2025
Book one DNF
As soon as they said that he would need specially fitted armor just to hold the mans reproductive organs I was done. That is so stupid and childish that I don't care how good the rest of the story is. I'm done. The man isn't a horse and would rip any woman apart. So nope, to stupid to keep reading!
As soon as they said that he would need specially fitted armor just to hold the mans reproductive organs I was done. That is so stupid and childish that I don't care how good the rest of the story is. I'm done. The man isn't a horse and would rip any woman apart. So nope, to stupid to keep reading!
February 11, 2025
This book vastly underwhelmed when you consider some of the other strong works by Virgil Knightley.
The MC is a security guy at a research facility where his whole family works, having previously spent times in the military. While waiting for his shift to start, a demon invasion happens on the planet, and the facility his family works at is at the center of it all. Rushing down, he finds his family dead, and goes on a rampage that finds him deeply wounded. He crawls into the one cryogenic chamber set up, and seals himself inside. And thus ends the prologue.
From that point forward, most of the chapters of the book are not from the MC's viewpoint. It's instead from a multitude of other people. Some are his lovers, others his comrades in arms. And the MC barely speaks in his new Hellmarine iteration. Others speak for him at times, and other times he grunts. If you get a single word from him, it's a miracle. This single facet crippled the story.
The MC has 3 women as lovers by the end of the book. The first takes one look at him and starts to ovulate. The second is an AI that can manifest a body. And the third is a rescued angel. All 3 throw themselves at the MC, who has done nothing more than exist for them to want to have sex with him. I never thought I'd see Virgil Knightley spoon feed a harem to a MC.
I really struggled to finish the book. While the plot has some interesting points, the MC was so boring that I couldn't stay focused on the book.
I will not be reading further on this series.
The MC is a security guy at a research facility where his whole family works, having previously spent times in the military. While waiting for his shift to start, a demon invasion happens on the planet, and the facility his family works at is at the center of it all. Rushing down, he finds his family dead, and goes on a rampage that finds him deeply wounded. He crawls into the one cryogenic chamber set up, and seals himself inside. And thus ends the prologue.
From that point forward, most of the chapters of the book are not from the MC's viewpoint. It's instead from a multitude of other people. Some are his lovers, others his comrades in arms. And the MC barely speaks in his new Hellmarine iteration. Others speak for him at times, and other times he grunts. If you get a single word from him, it's a miracle. This single facet crippled the story.
The MC has 3 women as lovers by the end of the book. The first takes one look at him and starts to ovulate. The second is an AI that can manifest a body. And the third is a rescued angel. All 3 throw themselves at the MC, who has done nothing more than exist for them to want to have sex with him. I never thought I'd see Virgil Knightley spoon feed a harem to a MC.
I really struggled to finish the book. While the plot has some interesting points, the MC was so boring that I couldn't stay focused on the book.
I will not be reading further on this series.
January 31, 2025
Badly written fan porn fiction
This reads like very badly written fan porn fiction. It is also completely ignorant of just about anything military.
A Master Sergeant is not an officer. You do not call them "sarge". You do not call them "sir".
If you have a member of a foreign military join you for whatever reason, you do not make them a junior member of your military.
This book should never have made it off the porn literature web site it was made on.
This reads like very badly written fan porn fiction. It is also completely ignorant of just about anything military.
A Master Sergeant is not an officer. You do not call them "sarge". You do not call them "sir".
If you have a member of a foreign military join you for whatever reason, you do not make them a junior member of your military.
This book should never have made it off the porn literature web site it was made on.
January 4, 2025
Reads like plagiarism
This book takes a lot of liberties... And by that I mean it basically steals a lot of its story elements from different canons and mashes them together in some sort of attempted semblance of a coherent narrative.
This book takes a lot of liberties... And by that I mean it basically steals a lot of its story elements from different canons and mashes them together in some sort of attempted semblance of a coherent narrative.
January 14, 2025
What a terribly written book. I am starting to wonder if constantly saying “the young man” instead of “he” is a tell for generative AI. Either way, it’s rambling and incoherent, barely a story at all. I ploughed through a couple of chapters and it didn’t get any better. What a waste of time.
January 3, 2025
Doomguy but with friends?
I love this book. Our MC is basically Doomguy, but if people actually survive and help him. It's a great ride from start to finish. I was worried relationships would be weird since our MC doesn't even have a name and barely talks, but it works well......
SPOILERS!
At the end of the book, Hellmarine actually talks in full sentences and is showing emotion. I love this character growth and look forward to him maybe regarding his humanity.
I love this book. Our MC is basically Doomguy, but if people actually survive and help him. It's a great ride from start to finish. I was worried relationships would be weird since our MC doesn't even have a name and barely talks, but it works well......
SPOILERS!
At the end of the book, Hellmarine actually talks in full sentences and is showing emotion. I love this character growth and look forward to him maybe regarding his humanity.
January 14, 2025
It's very heavily DOOM-based but has some nice Halo moments (even down to the blue AI mommy). Some Aliens is in there too and apparently Starship Troopers was an inspiration. Awesome sources.
It was a lot of violent action so you need to be in that headspace to keep up. I had to take breaks and read other stuff at the same time. I wanted there to be more info on the weapons and have a better spec of them, but it was pretty good as-is. Great overall, just some pacing issues and editing wasn't great.
It was a lot of violent action so you need to be in that headspace to keep up. I had to take breaks and read other stuff at the same time. I wanted there to be more info on the weapons and have a better spec of them, but it was pretty good as-is. Great overall, just some pacing issues and editing wasn't great.
January 3, 2025
Action packed goodness
This has come at just the right time and is freaking awesome.
This is one right up my alley, and two after getting many tiresome slice of life books this is a great and needed break from them.
Aside from that the action is great, characters are generally developing pretty well, and the plot is interesting and leaves you wanting for more.
Looking forward to the next one.
This has come at just the right time and is freaking awesome.
This is one right up my alley, and two after getting many tiresome slice of life books this is a great and needed break from them.
Aside from that the action is great, characters are generally developing pretty well, and the plot is interesting and leaves you wanting for more.
Looking forward to the next one.
March 4, 2025
Meh maybe 2.5 tops
The first half of the book is like 4 to 5 stars, great popcorn no need for thinking type of entertainment, the second half is like 2.5 then the ending is absolutely annoying. It was fairly good in the beginning. With nods to doom, halo and 40k throughout it. But slightly dragged in the second half but wasn't bad.
It isn't the worst thing I've ever read, I was able to finish it, but man the whole book he's built up to be this rage filled dude who hates demons and will stop at nothing to destroy em. Like "he's from Buenos Aires and he says kill em all!" Type energy. He's an absolute menace to the demons and slowly becomes infamous among them.
Then he confronts the traitor in their midst, making and enhancing demons for personal power. He has him by the throat while this guy is insulting him and just comically mustache twirlingly evil. And he just lets him go? So he can be the bad guy in book 2? Yeah no thank you.
You barely give the MC a personality as he's slowly building it and being more human again, then you just throw it away for probably the most annoying cliche that we could all see coming? C'mon man.
In the end it feels like: power fantasy -> power fantasy -> the enemies are stronger but you can still overcome them -> triumph over challenges -> SIKE! You are actually this dudes b*tch, do what he says, you can't do anything about it,cry and get in the cuck chair.
It just completely falls on its face and deflates everything in the book before it.
The first half of the book is like 4 to 5 stars, great popcorn no need for thinking type of entertainment, the second half is like 2.5 then the ending is absolutely annoying. It was fairly good in the beginning. With nods to doom, halo and 40k throughout it. But slightly dragged in the second half but wasn't bad.
It isn't the worst thing I've ever read, I was able to finish it, but man the whole book he's built up to be this rage filled dude who hates demons and will stop at nothing to destroy em. Like "he's from Buenos Aires and he says kill em all!" Type energy. He's an absolute menace to the demons and slowly becomes infamous among them.
Then he confronts the traitor in their midst, making and enhancing demons for personal power. He has him by the throat while this guy is insulting him and just comically mustache twirlingly evil. And he just lets him go? So he can be the bad guy in book 2? Yeah no thank you.
You barely give the MC a personality as he's slowly building it and being more human again, then you just throw it away for probably the most annoying cliche that we could all see coming? C'mon man.
In the end it feels like: power fantasy -> power fantasy -> the enemies are stronger but you can still overcome them -> triumph over challenges -> SIKE! You are actually this dudes b*tch, do what he says, you can't do anything about it,cry and get in the cuck chair.
It just completely falls on its face and deflates everything in the book before it.
January 2, 2025
Virgil and Alphonse...
took a different direction with this one, but I think it works perfectly. I really enjoyed this book.
The setting was great, it brought back a lot of nostalgic memories of games from my childhood. Normally you would expect some light-heartedness or silly things going on with these two authors, but I think that this more grittier theme plays out well with the design of the characters and the war with the demons.
Just the logistics of writing and developing the cast of characters that they have in the story is well done and thought out. The storyline was more focused on the war and the characters developing through it, rather than the harem aspect. I actually appreciated that in this story, it flows smoothly.
I think the genre needs more series like this. I really enjoyed the book and recommend giving it a read!
took a different direction with this one, but I think it works perfectly. I really enjoyed this book.
The setting was great, it brought back a lot of nostalgic memories of games from my childhood. Normally you would expect some light-heartedness or silly things going on with these two authors, but I think that this more grittier theme plays out well with the design of the characters and the war with the demons.
Just the logistics of writing and developing the cast of characters that they have in the story is well done and thought out. The storyline was more focused on the war and the characters developing through it, rather than the harem aspect. I actually appreciated that in this story, it flows smoothly.
I think the genre needs more series like this. I really enjoyed the book and recommend giving it a read!
January 5, 2025
This book was great. If you're interested in it you are probably interested in it like I was because of the Doom parallels. It successfully captures that feel and I ripped and teared my way through the whole book in a couple days.
+Good action scenes. Loved the boss fights.
+I liked the aux characters. The Hellmarine is not exactly a conversationalist so it really needed outside perspectives to drive the narrative.
+Good world building. I would like to see more exotic places for the Hellmarine to kill stuff in.
+On one hand, I really liked the breakneck pace and I was glued.
- On the other hand, I would have liked more time with the romantic interests. I understand the Hellmarine was probably not going to go on any dates but still. I felt the lack. Maybe that's unreasonable?
Anyway, it's worth a read for sure.
+Good action scenes. Loved the boss fights.
+I liked the aux characters. The Hellmarine is not exactly a conversationalist so it really needed outside perspectives to drive the narrative.
+Good world building. I would like to see more exotic places for the Hellmarine to kill stuff in.
+On one hand, I really liked the breakneck pace and I was glued.
- On the other hand, I would have liked more time with the romantic interests. I understand the Hellmarine was probably not going to go on any dates but still. I felt the lack. Maybe that's unreasonable?
Anyway, it's worth a read for sure.
January 18, 2025
Outstanding
I am just blown away with hellmarine, I just finished it, and I am just gobsmacked at how great this novel is, and I don't care what genre it is. It's fricking epic. It very much reminds me of some of my favourite authors that I go back and read over and over, Evan Currie, Jack Campbell, Jake Bible, Joel Shephard. You guys have really, really outdone yourselves on this one and hit it out of the park. I stand and applaude you both.
I am just blown away with hellmarine, I just finished it, and I am just gobsmacked at how great this novel is, and I don't care what genre it is. It's fricking epic. It very much reminds me of some of my favourite authors that I go back and read over and over, Evan Currie, Jack Campbell, Jake Bible, Joel Shephard. You guys have really, really outdone yourselves on this one and hit it out of the park. I stand and applaude you both.
May 18, 2025
Wrong Terminology
The book was great to read. It could have used more lines from Hellmarine to give it more depth. A Marine in his right mind would never call a Master Sergeant, Sarge. He would get his head ripped right off his neck. He's not in the freaking Army, they do that, not Marines. Also, never refer to Marines as soldiers, unless you want your butt kicked. We are MARINES! Not soldiers.
The book was great to read. It could have used more lines from Hellmarine to give it more depth. A Marine in his right mind would never call a Master Sergeant, Sarge. He would get his head ripped right off his neck. He's not in the freaking Army, they do that, not Marines. Also, never refer to Marines as soldiers, unless you want your butt kicked. We are MARINES! Not soldiers.
May 19, 2025
Rip and Tear. Til it is done
In the first age, in the first battle
When the shadows first lengthened, one stood
He chose the path of perpetual torment
In his ravenous hatred he found no peace
And with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains
Seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him
And those that tasted the bite of his sword named him
The Hellmarine
In the first age, in the first battle
When the shadows first lengthened, one stood
He chose the path of perpetual torment
In his ravenous hatred he found no peace
And with boiling blood he scoured the Umbral Plains
Seeking vengeance against the dark lords who had wronged him
And those that tasted the bite of his sword named him
The Hellmarine
January 6, 2025
Good book
The plot was pretty nice. I’ve read books like that before. The action was awesome. I’m glad they didn’t go the mindless brute route. The sex scenes were tasteful. All in all a good book.
The plot was pretty nice. I’ve read books like that before. The action was awesome. I’m glad they didn’t go the mindless brute route. The sex scenes were tasteful. All in all a good book.
January 10, 2025
Great!
This was a great read! I can hardly wait for the next one. The story was great.Combat was excellent . The women seemed hot and Different. All in all A book I am glad to review.
This was a great read! I can hardly wait for the next one. The story was great.Combat was excellent . The women seemed hot and Different. All in all A book I am glad to review.
January 13, 2025
Really good!
I was worried the Hellmarine was going to be too emotionless to the point that his relationships were purely sexual, but do not fear. He has genuine care for his ladies.
I was worried the Hellmarine was going to be too emotionless to the point that his relationships were purely sexual, but do not fear. He has genuine care for his ladies.
February 24, 2025
great job Virgil!
Highly impressed writing very well done on the character development. I’m impressed with the story. It was limitless and I am intrigued to read the next one. Keep it up, sir.
Highly impressed writing very well done on the character development. I’m impressed with the story. It was limitless and I am intrigued to read the next one. Keep it up, sir.
March 3, 2025
Very entertaining
I enjoyed the book and can't wait for the next one. In not but in military themed books, but this story was enjoyable as something different from the normal. Is very funny and well written!
I enjoyed the book and can't wait for the next one. In not but in military themed books, but this story was enjoyable as something different from the normal. Is very funny and well written!
March 13, 2025
Dang, now I must wait for the next one.
Nice story.
Interesting scenarios.
The unique dichotomies are good.
Wish there was more info on the different energy types.
I wish there was more images of the nasty creatures.
Nice story.
Interesting scenarios.
The unique dichotomies are good.
Wish there was more info on the different energy types.
I wish there was more images of the nasty creatures.
March 14, 2025
Putting DOOM GUY to shame
I absolutely love this book it has a nice mixture of adult activities and pure unadulterated violence I hope this series continues indefinitely because if not I will cancel my membership
I absolutely love this book it has a nice mixture of adult activities and pure unadulterated violence I hope this series continues indefinitely because if not I will cancel my membership
May 25, 2025
Poorly written juvenile trash
As the title says, juvenile. I had hopes for this, but the generic writing and poor clichés demolished them. I gave up at 16% read, and should have quit at 10. I almost wonder if this is AI generated; it has that soulless quality about it.
As the title says, juvenile. I had hopes for this, but the generic writing and poor clichés demolished them. I gave up at 16% read, and should have quit at 10. I almost wonder if this is AI generated; it has that soulless quality about it.
June 5, 2025
1,2,3,4
I love the marine corps.
Well done tying mystical and scientific together. Often tried and rarely succeeded. I truly enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next installment. In some ways a glance into what 40k could have been. Grimdark but not hopeless.
I love the marine corps.
Well done tying mystical and scientific together. Often tried and rarely succeeded. I truly enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next installment. In some ways a glance into what 40k could have been. Grimdark but not hopeless.
January 2, 2025
Fanfreakingtastic!
What an amazing book! I absolutely loved this book and such wonderful characters! I can not wait for the next book to come out!
What an amazing book! I absolutely loved this book and such wonderful characters! I can not wait for the next book to come out!
January 3, 2025
Better then HALO
If you like Halo then you will love this book. Think master chief fights demons with arch angels. Better then Spartans.
If you like Halo then you will love this book. Think master chief fights demons with arch angels. Better then Spartans.
January 4, 2025
Like the story and the way it's told, definitely some suspicious acts going on
January 23, 2025
Great take on the Slayer
I'm mad as hell somone beat me to this concept, but it was absolutrly well executed. Great mix of scfi, fantasy, and mythos. Very excited for the next one.
I'm mad as hell somone beat me to this concept, but it was absolutrly well executed. Great mix of scfi, fantasy, and mythos. Very excited for the next one.
February 16, 2025
Not a bad split
Interesting take on doom and the plot follows pretty easy. A man of few words to be sure. Great read/listen.
Interesting take on doom and the plot follows pretty easy. A man of few words to be sure. Great read/listen.
March 21, 2025
Badly written porn fan fic. Glad I didn't pay for this book
September 9, 2025
Very enjoyable
Really enjoyed reading this first book and look forward to reading the others. Remind me a little of a few game series including the knee series of doom games.
Really enjoyed reading this first book and look forward to reading the others. Remind me a little of a few game series including the knee series of doom games.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews