About The Path of Iro
by Mike Shade
205 pages / 65500 words
ISBN: 978-1-934166-28-4, 1-934166-28-6
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc
Following his heart, young Chulu finds his way to a grand temple, where the followers of the Path of Iro use their bodies to praise the gods. They make their prayers with their earthly forms, decorating them and loving with them. Chulu's pilgrimage leads him to the Ivory Shard, where his new master, Pandreas, awaits him.
Through a series of stories passed from master to noviate, Chulu learns about the different shards, or sects, who follow the path of Iro, some with great passion, some with violence. Has Chulu truly found where he belongs? Join him as he learns this whole new world of sensuality, sex, and love.
Review
Alexa Snow, author of Clear Cut, writes: "The Path of Iro" is the best of both worlds -- it's a novel for those who enjoy a long story, but within the novel are embedded a selection of shorter works that very nearly stand on their own. Reading it is a little bit like watching a well-written season of a quality television show with an ongoing arc; you can put it down between chapters and come back to it without losing the thread of the overall story, and yet there's no doubt that it's a novel in its own right.
Shade has created a lovely, gently drawn fantasy world, one in which the reader is sequestered along with the characters in an isolated temple with the followers of the Path of Iro. Finding one's way to the Path is a matter of instinct; discovering where one fits within the Path is another matter entirely, and not always as easy as one might imagine. This novel tells the story of Chulu, a new novitiate to the Curate Pandreas of the Ivory Shard, and allows the reader to learn of the Path as Chulu does, at the patient hand of his Master. As the story unfolds, a tale of each shard is told -- Onyx, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, and more. Each shard is different, each encounter invoking its own mood, each relationship between Curate and novitiate unique and fascinating. There's something for every reader, from piercing and tattooing to blood play and angst, from confidence to insecurity and everything in between. This is a very enjoyable book, one that, at the end, leaves the reader with an unexpected sense of peace, as if all is right with the world.
Sample
Chulu walked along the path he had been following for days. He was tired -- his feet were sore from walking and walking and he'd abandoned his shoes a few days ago, the forest floor cool and right beneath his soles.
It wasn't so much a path as a feeling that he was traveling in the right direction, and though the trees and bushes closed in around him from all directions, as long as he followed the path that felt right, they seemed to part in front of him, to let him through.
He was on his way to the temple of the followers of the Path of Iro.
He didn't have a map or directions to follow, he just... he just knew. His feet found their own way. Each step had been more sure since he'd taken off his shoes, too.
The sun shone through the leaves, dappling the ground, casting living shadows on the simple white tunic he wore. He carried nothing with him, feeling in his heart that he was expected to arrive at the temple with all his baggage left behind. And surely enough, when he grew hungry he found berries and tubers. When he was thirsty, it did not take long before a stream or pond crossed his path.
Chulu continued on for several more days, his tiredness leaving him as each evening found him curled upon a moss-covered rock or in the lee of a low-branched tree, sleeping soundly.
A part of him wondered if he would walk forever, following the path in his heart until his days were over. He was less distressed by the thought than he had imagined he would be.
When he arrived at the temple, it was without warning, so sudden it was most startling.
The temple sprawled in a clearing at the base of a mountain, the buildings low and simply decorated in nine different colors. A large field bordered it on the right, several men working in it, tilling and picking, filling large woven baskets.
Chulu continued on, going straight to the clean, simple ivory building. This was the right one. He was sure. How he was sure, he did not know, but his instincts had been correct as to which path to travel to find the temple, so he continued to trust them.
There was a small gong on the door and Chulu picked up the clangor that hung from it, hitting the gong timidly. It made a soft noise that seemed to expand in the air, growing slowly louder.
The slender round in the door slowly opened, a young, pale man in a homespun tunic standing in it smiling, nodding. "Welcome to the Ivory shard, traveler."