Pilgrim

A Medieval Horror

By: Mitchell Lüthi

Narrated by: Alan Turton

Set in 12th-century Jerusalem, Pilgrim follows the treacherous journey of a German knight and his companions as they return home after seven arduous years battling for God in the Holy Land. Within this sprawling tale lies a tapestry of medieval horror, intertwining history and folklore, encompassing both a metaphysical and literal odyssey.

Inspired by a rich blend of Arabic, Christian, and pre-Islamic traditions, Pilgrim delivers a pulse-pounding story of action, adventure, and bone-chilling horror.

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An instant medieval horror classic

The narration is well above average, and does a lot to help give the listener a better understanding of the characters.

The story is amazing to the lovers of the medieval horror genre and is now tied with Between Two Fires for my personal favorite book. Most of the characters are well developed, in truth I would give the story a 4.5 stars instead of 5 if I was able to because, there are characters who are mostly ineffectual to the story and some are kinda 1 dimensional and it seems that when the author doesn’t really know what to do with the weaker written characters he just makes them go away. If you are not that into real history, especially the crusades, then the first 3ish hours of the book will be a drag as the author takes his time setting up the plot by using and explaining actual crusader politics. If you like history and middle eastern religious lore, then you’ll love the book all the way through.

My favorite thing about the book is how much knowledge and work the author put in to making real life legends fit into each encounter and the overall plot. I found myself looking up and researching every unfamiliar name and location I heard in the story and I learned far more about the location and religious stories these things are based on.

Incredible read!

READ THIS NOW

phenomenal read, I mean absolutely blown away with the story telling, historical setting, and wild twist on religion and old mythology.
Grab this if you want to dip your toes into a story with some real weight

Solid medieval horror

Well written horror replete with creatures from a medieval beastiary. Now reading everything else by the author.

A Medieval Horror Masterpiece

Lüthi's debut novel is a vast and impressive entry into the emerging 'medieval horror' genre: richly detailed, eerie, cerebral, and unexpectedly heart-wrenching at times. Alan Turton truly shines here: his warm, expressive baritone and versatility is a perfect match for this modern epic.

Excellent narration, engrossing story, highly recommend

I have a special place in my heart for historical horror and this book check all the boxes. I would absolutely recommend.

…dang…

Amazing read. It took me awhile to recover from the cosmic despair. As soon as I recovered I want through it a second time. Just as good the second read if not better.

Great, weird, disturbing story

I haven't read any books quite like this and was new to the author. I love the theme (medieval horror) and it was well-written, frightening, with great characters and world-building.

a personal favorite!

fantastic world building. a journey that took me places I didn't know I wanted to go. I'll need to come off my emotional high and give a more academic review at some point. this book get stars across the board!

An even greater story than I had hoped for

I’ve been searching for another medieval horror book ever since I listened to “Between Two Fires” by Christopher Buehlman and have had very little success. There’s been some short stories and a few decent short novels, but nothing that was REALLY what I was searching for. Then out of the blue this book came out and I randomly stumbled upon it. It sounded really interesting and I dared to hope it might finally be what I’ve been looking for. It turned out to be even better than that. More than just an action horror story, Pilgrim goes deep into the historical events taking place at the time, really putting in the work to set the stage for the story and the characters in it. Because it is also the characters that really add to the story. Mysterious, haunted, but with redeeming qualities, each character truly adds something to the overall experience throughout the journey.
I’m not going to talk about the story itself, because it is better not knowing what to expect, but I will say that it is a long arduous journey with many different people, places, dangers, challenges, and mysteries. It was one of the rare 20+ hours books that I didn’t want to end. Please give this book a try if you have any interest in historical fiction with a touch of the fantastic or appreciation for horror both seen and unseen.

Uneven but very good.

There’s a big part of me that wishes this had been a lean, mean novella. The middle third of this book is so weighted down by an ouroboros of theologizing that it’s easy to forget the tight, brilliant character work that bookends it. Don’t. It’s a worthwhile read that might tread a lot of the same ground as Buehlman’s outstanding Between Two Fires but also does some fresh things with it. I look forward to the Luthi’s next outing.