Dustin Bilyk

This is a group of mostly new fantasy and science fiction stories.

There is a story about a murderous creature attacking a space station. There is a dystopian tale about people having happiness sucked out of them, like they were having all of their blood sucked out of them. Sometimes, a person can be hooked up permanently.

A Las Vegas casino dealer is hooked on a drug called Sueno-Z. There is a nightly "human sacrifice" into a volcano that is part of the Las Vegas Strip. It is all about strange dreams broadcast to millions of people while they are asleep. In another story, an evil necromancer has been brought back to life using unearthly methods. A first contact story revolves around two spaceships orbiting around the same planet, intentionally firing at each other. It is kind of like medieval jousting. Then, they can get together and talk about mining and trade agreements.

The last story in the book takes place several hundred years from now, after mankind has started to spread throughout the galaxy. An asteroid destroyed most, if not all, life on Earth three centuries previously. For the past fifty years, a lone monk has taken care of a small religious shrine on the Moon. Each day, he dutifully cleans off the moondust, for any pilgrims who might wish to worship there; there are no visitors. One day, the monk receives a message from Headquarters. Abandon the shrine, and come home. What does he do?

Individually, these stories are excellent. There is a good variety of fantasy and science fiction included here. Put together, this collection is very much worth reading.… (mehr)

Tournament of Hearts: The Librarian Gladiator is the first in a planned three-book series. The town of Hamelin has a yearly ritual called the Tournament of Hearts in which four contestants are selected to fight each other to the death. Not only are the losers killed, but their entire bloodlines are wiped out as a sacrifice to the gods for a good harvest.
Neven Fairchild is the town historian and librarian whose job it is to trace genealogies and family histories. He is totally unsuited to fight in the Tournament, but has been selected nonetheless, along with his friend, Talpus, a girl warrior named Reoni, and an old man named Kreinveck. Needless to say, things don't look good for Neven.
Klakthorn, the evil Councillor who has been running the Tournament has his own motives for what should happen. There are also flying beasts called Jagisado and one in particular named Smoke who are ravaging the countryside, but also seem to be helping Neven.
The world building here is wonderful, but there is a lot of detail and characters. I got confused sometimes with everything that is going on. There is a lot of fighting and it can be a bit gory in places. This is a book well worth reading however as it goes places you'd never expect (I don't want to give too much away). Neven is an interesting hero, certainly not a warrior, but not quite the nerd you might expect him to be. Warning: the book does end on a cliffhanger, but the next book should be out soon.… (mehr)