The Priest of Blood: Book One of The Vampyricon

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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.

Born the son of a woman thought to be a witch, Aleric does not know who fathered him. From his grandfather he learned the skill that will change his life. With that training — and his own ability to communicate with the great predator birds of the forest — Aleric is taken into service by the Baron and put in charge of his falcons.

Now called Falconer, he rises fast and far. Still, to those at court, he remains the bastard son of a peasant whore. And when his forbidden love for the Baron’s daughter is discovered, his punishment is swift and severe. Beaten and brutalized, he is forcibly conscripted as a soldier and banished to the Holy Land to fight the Saracen infidels. Amidst the horror and chaos of the ongoing struggle, he becomes a mighty warrior — and a man without faith or conscience.

Then, in an ancient ruined city, he finds a new love. She calls herself Pythia — and in her passionate, bloody embrace, he also finds his destiny…

Set in a medieval world of ancient forests and buried kingdoms, of gods and monsters, of love that crosses centuries, and vengeance beyond lifetimes, The Priest of Blood is the tale of Aleric, Falconer, of his quest for his beloved, and for the legendary priest-king within whose tomb the secrets of the ancient, immortal race of vampyres reside.

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From Publishers Weekly:
“The stunning first volume of a new dark fantasy epic from Stoker-winner Clegg (Nightmare House) gives the iconic vampire a massive makeover and draws fresh possibilities from its most familiar aspects. Aleric Atheffelde, a low-born medieval Breton boy with a strange knack for training birds, gets snared while serving as an unwilling soldier in the Holy Land by arch-vampiress Pythia, who through a kiss inadvertently sparks a vision in him of his regal vampire destiny. From the moment of Aleric’s conversion, the tale detours sharply from the well-plowed terrain of conventional vampire costume dramas into an undiscovered country entirely the author’s own…This rich and symbol-laden blend of myth and history makes intense reading while it lays a solid foundation for later books in the series.” **Starred Review**

From Library Journal:
“…Clegg’s series opener features a vampiric hero whose beginnings in the Middle Ages marks him as a warrior. Action and adventure combine with traditional vampire fiction to create a book that will appeal to fans of vampires and historical fantasy.”

From Kirkus Reviews:
“The opening of a historical fantasy series with a vampire as protagonist. Clegg (The Machinery of Knight, 2005, etc.) begins his story in the era of the Crusades; the opening chapters take place in Brittany, the protagonist’s birthplace. The bastard son of a peasant woman who ekes out a living as a prostitute, Aleric grows up in the forest, tutored by his grandfather to know the ways of birds. This skill gains him a place in the baron’s entourage as a falconer-a title that replaces his given name. Life in the castle exposes Falconer to new dangers, including bullying from another young servant and harsh discipline from the huntsman, his immediate superior. But it is also a huge step up in the world, and allows him to give some measure of support to his mother and her ever-growing brood. Two events precipitate his fall from this state of relative prosperity: an affair with the baron’s beautiful daughter, and the arrest of Falconer’s mother for witchcraft…Well-paced fantasy adventure, and not just for hardcore vampire fans.

“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.

The Lady of Serpents

“…brims with the same dazzling invention and creative mythography as its predecessor”

— Publishers Weekly

The Queen of Wolves

“Clegg crafts a fitting finale ornamented with prose that modulates between the sensual and regal and that distinguishes his series as one of the more memorable modern vampire epics.” — Publishers Weekly