The Librarian Gladiator

Tallindran Trilogy, Book One

By: Dustin Bilyk

Narrated by: Kevin E Green

Hamelin, a village separated from the rest of the world, has a deadly problem. Fierce, flying beasts ravage and cull the sparse human population, forcing Hamelins citizens to live within the safety of her boundaries. With no help in sight, the village leaders look to their god, the Provider, for salvation, and they unearth a chilling answer to their problem. The Tournament of the Kindred—a much-celebrated, barbaric event that pits four gladiators against each other in deadly combat.

Winning the Tournament brings rich rewards, fame, and glory to ones bloodline. Losing, however, results in a lethal trip to the Sacrificial Altar for you and all those who share your blood: man, woman, and child. The sacrifice is said to be a blood offering to the Provider for reprievea necessary evil for the greater good of all. Neven Oakfall, adolescent town historian and librarian, is chosen by random draw to fight for the survival of his bloodline.

After a life behind a desk, Neven must find the courage deep within himself to defeat his stronger opponents, for he discovers that much more than the lives of those he loves hangs in the balance. An evil lurks, waiting for its moment to deliver the death blow to the village, and Neven is all that stands in its way, whether he likes it or not.

©2024 Dustin Bilyk (P)2025 Dustin Bilyk

A great start to a new series

I want to state that I received a copy for free before continuing with my review.

The Librarian Gladiator is an entertaining listen. The dark fantasy universe contains mystery, unique ideas, and a surprising turn. The characters are well-written, none of them felt like they were here just to fill a role or niche. I found the Tournament of the Kindred idea refreshing. The fate of what the "ultimate loser" has to suffer is something I have not heard of in other books.

The narrator is good but his audio seems quiet. I had a hard time hearing him while I was at work or driving with moderate levels of noise around me. The book also has sound effects in certain parts. These effects are not overused and added to the immersion/entertainment of the book

Overall I would recommend this book to anyone interested in dark fantasy. It's not Joe Abercrombiei levels of dark/grimdark. But the universe has a dark tone with interesting monsters and characters that will keep your attention. I will most likely pick up the second book, especially after the cliffhanger this book ended on.

Nice plot twists!

Loving the heroic librarian turned gladiator! This story has nice depth to the main and supporting characters. It also has unexpected plot twists that keeps the story engaging. Performance adds to the story.

I think the narrator did an excellent job

I got this book in a free promo, but I will say I enjoyed it. It's a fairly simple story written well, it is a unique world, it was a little predictable at times and others it caught you off guard so I would say not bad at keeping your attention. I am interested for the rest of the series to come out to finish it. I will say the narrator was great and made the story better.

A slightly different twist on a classic trope

Despite the somewhat provocative title, it was the dark world building premise that I found interesting enough to pick up the story … of course, high stakes, tourney style combat has been done before; but I had not yet encountered one where the penalty for the loser was the sacrifice of the entire family line and I was interested in how the author would implement this. Over all, this was a pretty entertaining story, first introducing our “librarian” hero as one of the selected four (4) before cramming a ton of action, adventure, mystery and surprises into the few days before the combat. The characters were well developed, if prone to some of the typical navel gazing that drives me to distraction (oh no I don’t want anything at all to do with that mysterious power that guarantees I can not die today cause it is just too scary or evil or what ever). The story does throw in a few good monsters that actually become an important part of the plot and a solid resolution at the end … with an obvious lead in to the next book (but this story is reasonably complete). All in all, the story would be a good 3.5 and the solid narration makes it easy to round up.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#TheLibrarianGladiator #TheTallindranTrilogy #FreeAudiobkFacebkGrp #KindleUnlimited

A world where survival hinges on courage & cunning

The Librarian Gladiator by Dustin Bilyk, narrated by Kevin E Green, delivers gripping storytelling with a unique blend of suspense and fantasy. Bilyk's writing is captivating, immersing readers in a world where survival hinges on courage and cunning. Kevin E Green's narration enhances the experience, bringing depth to the characters and the intense Tournament of the Kindred.