Category:  Fantasy Publisher: ePress-Online.com ISBN-10:  0977222446 Type: Fiction Pages: 141 Copyright: May 2006 Return to the world of Altiva, first visited in the novel Death at Dragonthroat. Lord Erique Shoutte becomes a master swordsman and a devoted priest of the Kova religion. Follow his adventures in a series of linked short stories Tales of a Warrior Priest : Return to the world of Altiva, first visited in the novel Death at Dragonthroat, a world of crystal magic and cruel combat where young Lord Erique Shoutte becomes a master swordsman and a devoted priest of the Kova religion. Follow his adventures in a series of linked short stories as he quests for love, knowledge and martial perfection and fights serpents, dictators, demons and deadly damsels along the way. These tales that range from the heroic, to the mysterious to swashbuckling adventure. In the classic tradition of Conan, Zorro and Captain Blood! Excerpt From Gift of Song: He stood a muscular two meters tall with his black hair close cropped, save for the war locke that hung down his back. His mustache and goatee were trimmed neatly and completed a frame to a sunbrowned handsome face that was neither hard nor soft but capable of both degrees. His eyes, intense grey reflectors of his deepest thoughts, were focused into the sullen eyes of his opponent. Then suddenly, without warning, Lunit's lover smiled. It was an inner motivated smile that revealed near perfect teeth, a myriad of laugh lines that softened his eyes from slate to twilight, and the soul of a small boy who, when he enjoyed a moment, did so completely and without reserve.

Reviewed by Bella Tyler © 2006

In Tales of a Warrior Priest, a series of linked short stories, Erique Shoutte, the son of a gentleman farmer, becomes a Kova priest, striving to be a part of The Rythem, and learning many valuable lessons along the way. Erique begins his journey by being tossed into the sea to be feed upon by a giant serpent. He meets a master swordsman, enters the Academy Kova, and continues to grow from one adventure to the next.

The plot of these stories was highly imaginative, and as Erique finds himself in one mess after another, doing everything from saving an old woman from a gang of roaming hooligans to solving a murder, there is little room for boredom. Told in a lively voice, the stories do seem to go by rather quickly, and while some of them felt a bit short changed, overall they were nicely done. The writing itself was engaging and entertaining.
three cat review at Wild Child Publishing.com

Rating: 3 Cats