Still in the mood for sword and sorcery, I decided to give Steve Dilks’ character Gunthar a try. “Priestess of the Fire-Gods” is the opening novella in the collection GUNTHAR: WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD. Gunthar is a brawny, blond-haired warrior, thief, and mercenary from the northern steppes of his world—which may or may not be Earth in the far, post-apocalyptic future. In this story, he’s hired by a priestess to steal an idol from the temple of a rival cult and deliver it to her on her private island where she’s surrounded by warrior women. Naturally, he and a beautiful young woman who falls in with him are pursued by the evil high priest from whom he stole the idol. The whole thing turns out to be involved with a sorcerous threat that could destroy the world in which they live.
This novella is a
lot of fun. There’s a decent level of characterization and
world-building, but no real info-dumps like you might expect in the
first story of a series. Instead, Dilks gives you just enough
information for everything to make sense without ever interfering
with the headlong pace. The action never slows down for long in this
yarn, and it’s well-written action, at that. The prose is maybe a
little unpolished at times, but the story’s sheer enthusiasm more
than makes up for that. I also found Gunthar to be a very likable
protagonist.
I really enjoyed “Priestess of the Fire-Gods”
and look forward to reading the other stories in this collection,
which you can find on Amazon in both e-book and paperback editions.
Based on what I’ve read so far, I give it a solid recommendation
for sword and sorcery fans.
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