Hild, Nicola Griffith
Hild, Nicola Griffith
3 Rating(s)
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Hild
A Novel

Author: Nicola Griffith

Narrator: Pearl Hewitt

Unabridged: 23 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/17/2013


Synopsis

Award-winning author Nicola Griffith's brilliant, lush, sweeping historical novel about the rise of the most powerful woman of the Middle Ages: Hild.

In seventh-century Britain, small kingdoms are merging, frequently and violently. A new religion is coming ashore; the old gods are struggling, their priests worrying. Hild is the king's youngest niece, and she has a glimmering mind and a natural, noble authority. She will become a fascinating woman and one of the pivotal figures of the Middle Ages: Saint Hilda of Whitby.

But now she has only the powerful curiosity of a bright child, a will of adamant, and a way of seeing the world—of studying nature, of matching cause with effect, of observing her surroundings closely and predicting what will happen next—that can seem uncanny, even supernatural, to those around her.

Her uncle, Edwin of Northumbria, plots to become overking of the Angles, ruthlessly using every tool at his disposal: blood, bribery, belief. Hild establishes a place for herself at his side as the king's seer. And she is indispensable—unless she should ever lead the king astray. The stakes are life and death: for Hild, for her family, for her loved ones, and for the increasing numbers who seek the protection of the strange girl who can read the world and see the future.

Hild is a young woman at the heart of the violence, subtlety, and mysticism of the early Middle Ages—all of it brilliantly and accurately evoked by Nicola Griffith's luminous prose. Working from what little historical record is extant, Griffith has brought a beautiful, brutal world to vivid, absorbing life.

About Nicola Griffith

Nicola Griffith (she/her) is a dual UK/US citizen living in Seattle. She is the author of award-winning novels including Hild and Ammonite, and her shorter work has appeared in Nature, New Scientist, New York Times, etc. She is the founder and co-host of #CripLit, holds a PhD from Anglia Ruskin University, and enjoys a ferocious bout of wheelchair boxing. She is married to novelist and screenwriter Kelley Eskridge.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Judy on December 07, 2013

I have spent the last four days in seventh century Britain so fully engrossed in its brutal and beautiful world that sitting down at my computer feels like I have come back to the future. Saint Hilda of Whitby, daughter of a Northumbrian prince, grew up to become an Abbess, a trainer of bishops for t......more

Goodreads review by Julie on January 11, 2014

I don't know when I last waffled so much considering how to rate and review a novel. I'm opting on the high side because Nicola Griffith writes with such confidence and because I believe that ardent fans of speculative historical fiction have every reason to be crazy in love with this book. This rea......more

Goodreads review by Sunny on March 26, 2025

Profound, moving, dense, warm, earthly, magical in a pre-medieval way. Reads like a wonderful and brutal and gory children’s tale for adults who love European history for all its alien-ness to the contemporary world, and all the petty humanness of it that still lives on today. Beautifully written an......more

Goodreads review by Tanja on December 22, 2013

Given up at page 150. I do not care what happens to any of the characters, there is almost no forward tension and the historical details in themselves are not enough. I strongly suspect that if I bothered to struggle through the rest, I would hate it even though I desperately want to like it. So I w......more

Goodreads review by Wealhtheow on January 10, 2014

Before she was even born, Hild's mother prophesied that she would be "the light of the world." Hild turned out not to be the boy her parents expected, but her mother trains her to become an important figure nevertheless. As a child, Hild's sharp mind merits her a reputation as a seer and inclusion i......more


Quotes

“You will never think of them as the Dark Ages again. Nicola Griffith’s command of the era is worn lightly and delivered as a deeply engaging plot. Her insight into human nature and eye for telling detail is as keen as that of the extraordinary Hild herself. The novel resonates to many of the same chords as Beowulf, the legends of King Arthur, The Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones—to the extent that Hild begins to feel like the classic on which those books are based.” —Neal Stephenson

“Nicola Griffith is an awe-inspiring visionary, and I am telling everyone to snatch this book up. Hild is not just one of the best historical novels I have ever read--I think it's one of the best novels, period. It sings with pitch-perfect emotional resonance, and I damn well believe in this woman and everyone she engages. I finished the book full of gratitude that it exists, and longing for more.” —Dorothy Alison

“You could describe Hild as being like Game of Thrones without the dragons, but this is so much deeper than that, so much richer. A glorious, intensely passionate walk through an entirely real landscape, Hild leads us into the Dark Ages and makes them light, and tense, and edgy, and deeply moving. The research is flawless, the characters fully alive. If it wasn't like this, it should have been--and I'm sure that it was!” —Manda Scott

“What a fabulous book! Hild has all the joys of historical fiction--transportation into a strange, finely detailed world--along with complex characters and a beautiful evocation of the natural world. But the tensions of the gathering plot make Hild feel like a quick read--too quick! I fell into this world completely and was sorry to come out. Truly, truly remarkable.” —Karen Joy Fowler


Awards

  • James Tiptree, Jr. Award Honor List
  • Lambda Literary Award - Nominee
  • Seattle Times Best Books of the Year
  • Nebula Awards - Nominee