The Vampyricon: The Lady of Serpents by Douglas Clegg
THE
LADY OF SERPENTS
Book
Two of The Vampyricon
by Douglas Clegg
The Vampyricon consists of three full-length
novels: The Priest of Blood, The Lady of Serpents, and The Queen of
Wolves.
It is the tale of Aleric, the Falconer, who -- in the
Middle Ages -- is conscripted into the Crusades, but abandons war to seek his
own destruction -- but instead finds new life within the bloody embrace of
Pythia, the Lady of Serpents.
From Douglas Clegg, award-winning author of
Afterlife and The Hour Before
Dark, comes his first-ever fantasy novel, dealing with the dark edge
of a fantastic medieval world. The Priest of Blood
is the first novel of The Vampyricon, a saga of sword and sorcery -- and
vampyres.
Hailed as the prophesied messiah of the vampyre, Aleric seemed destined
for glory-until, like many of his brethren, he was captured by the
sorceress Enora. Imprisoned, he is now forced to fight in the arena for
her amusement.
To end Enora's reign of terror, Aleric must escape and find the alchemist
behind her power, though that may mean unleashing Pythia, the Lady of
Serpents-Aleric's old enemy, the seductress who ended his mortal life. For
she alone may hold the key to the survival not only of the vampyres, but
also all of humankind.
This second installment in Clegg's unfolding Vampyricon epic brims with the
same dazzling invention and creative mythography as its predecessor, The
Priest of Blood (2005). Aleric, the Breton falconer, returns as heir apparent
to the vampire throne, but in a world vastly different since he breached the
Veil separating the ordinary world from the world of the vampire myth stream.
The "lost century" he finds himself in after years of imprisonment in a
silver-sealed well is a cruel, plague-ridden time where he and his un-dead
companion, Ewen, are forced to fight gladiatorial battles against human and
animal opponents. Old friends and enemies appear in new guises, and
unforeseeable plot twists abound. Clegg's rich descriptions, ingenious
variations on vampire lore and intriguing speculations on a secret history
underlying our own make this an exuberantly imagined dark fantasy.
"Astonishing. Douglas Clegg writes of...nightmares with such clarity
and passion you don't end up reading his books; you end up drinking them
in. The Priest of Blood is a bloody gem."
::Christopher Rice New York Times bestselling author of A Density of Souls and
Light Before Day.
"Clegg's Vampyricon offers a bold epic of a shadowy medieval world and a
dark tale of swords, sorcery and vampires in The Priest of Blood."
::Christine Feehan
NY Times bestselling author of Oceans of Fire and Dark Secret.
"A master of the genre. Absolutely thrilling! Douglas Clegg is the future
of dark fantasy."
::Sherrilyn Kenyon
NY Times bestselling author of the Dark-Hunters.
"The Priest of Blood is a richly layered, beautifully rendered foray into a
past filled with sorcery and mystery -- and a rousing good story."
::Kelley Armstrong
Bestselling author of Haunted.
"The Priest of Blood is a dark, sensual epic of alternate history, grand
mythology, and the supernatural. This is Clegg writing at his best. An
absorbing read, an astounding accomplishment."
::M.J. Rose
Author of The Halo Effect.
"For decades, vampire novelists have been attempting to find the perfect
blend of Fantasy and Horror. With The Vampyricon, Douglas Clegg has reached
that summit. A work of dark, delightful vision."
::Christopher Golden
Author of Wildwood Road and Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels.
