Future earth, dystopian fantasy novel. Late 20th century scifi/fantasy
I listened to the audio recorded reading of the first chapter or so of a book (probably illegality uploaded) on youtube in 2016.
This book seemed old, I'd date this work back to anywhere between 1960 through to early 1980.
The setting was a post nuclear Holocaust Earth where tribes, kingdoms and warlords clashed. There was magic or the belief in magic as it was remembered when a necromancer had threatened the balance of power in a time shortly before our story. There were also monsters, likely the result of genetic misshapen, that stalked the land. One such monster actually was the subject of the first scene. I'll describe it as it encounters the character.
The first and only character I met in this chapter (or prologue) was an older man, considered a knight/hero of times past but perhaps on the dellcline; he had proven himself in battle and defended the common folk from danger in tempestuous times. He was a leader or at least a great warrior.
In the first scene the hero was traveling and happened down to a bog. In this bog he reflected on the danger of such places, noting mentally that a particular type of swamp creature roamed such environs; though nearly extinct following the defeat of the aforementioned necromancer there still lingered reports of fighters going missing in the wilds these beasts were said to roam. 1012
One that was intelligent, cruel, had a taste for men and horses and maybe enjoyed torture. (I remember it being called a gibbeth/gibbon/G-something) This thing was definitely a product of radiation and nature and perhaps dark magic because it bore a resemblance to humanity in it's face, it's intellect and it's tactical awareness (preferring ambush tactics)
Well it so happens that our main character. witnesses a herd of horses fleeing away from this swampy area. The fear in their eyes indicates that in fact one of these monsters was accosting them. Horses were highly revered in this setting so the hero investigates. He finds the monster responsible in pursuit of the prey not long after, and though these predators were more than a match for several, men the hero engages. The hero outwits the creature by pretending to be injured by one of its attacks and baits it into a decapitating counterstrike. It dies headless with the relishing smile still on it's face at the prospect of dragging our hero off. 999