Duelist: An Epic Gladiator Space Opera

Galactic Duelist

by John Triptych

Interstellar war has been outlawed, and all conflicts are now determined by single combat. The fate of entire planets rests upon the actions of a duelist—specialized gladiators trained and modified with the latest technology to win a death match against their equally formidable rivals.

Dyron Dyrge is an upstart who rises in power and prestige with each victory. Yet he shuns the limelight, for his secrets would tear the galaxy apart if they were ever revealed. Alix, an orphaned concubine with mysteries of her own, also begins her ascent within a corrupt, class-based society that rewards only the most cunning and ruthless of them all.

Together, these two individuals will eventually determine the fate of known space… unless their enemies kills them first.

Genres: Science Fiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 16, 2020

Reviews

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since the blurb seems to be missing:

"Interstellar war has been outlawed, and all conflicts are now determined by single combat. The fate of entire planets rests upon the actions of a duelist—specialized gladiators trained and modified with the latest technology to win a death match against their equally formidable rivals.

Dyron Dyrge is an upstart who rises in power and prestige with each victory. Yet he shuns the limelight, for his secrets would tear the galaxy apart if they were ever revealed. Alix, an orphaned concubine with mysteries of her own, also begins her ascent within a corrupt, class-based society that rewards only the most cunning and ruthless of them all.

Together, these two individuals will eventually determine the fate of known space… unless their enemies kill them first."


A really fun old-fashioned sf romp set in the classic old all-powerful mysterious race conquered all and then vanished for pastures unknown (another dimension etc) universe trope, but with a twist, namely that powerful "watchers" were left to enforce the one rule (no large scale conflict) through deadly force up to and including the total destruction of planets where conflict erupts; so the galactic civilization evolved the "duelist" way to solve conflicts;

fairly decent prose, great energy and while there was a lot of predictability, the book was really fun and made me turn the pages while being very hard to put down;

multiple sentient races, destroyed planets full of relics, evil corporations bent on dominating the galactic civilization, cool weapons and tech, the moody but determined hero and the smart, beautiful and cunning heroine, revolutionaries, secrets and some fairly dumb but cool villains in a flamboyant, "I am the most ruthless bad boy/girl, and I have the weaponry and muscles to back it up, so it doesn't matter I am a little stupid" way; all around sf fun that one needs from time to time;

ending at a good stopping point and looking forward to more in the series

[Jer Wilcoxen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent world building; but with far too much elementary exposition. Paper thin characters, childish dialog, incomplete motivations. This book was a tough one to finish; and that finish was terribly unsatisfying. There's no resolution, and we don't learn anything more than we knew after the first five chapters. It's one saving grace was an imaginative premise.

[Michael Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first exposure to Mr. Triptych’s writing. I received an ARC –this is my honest opinion. The story started off a bit slowly to set up the background and the major characters’ points of view, then it gelled and pulled me in. This is an interesting story of a future where interplanetary warfare was outlawed through the Magnus Pax declaration by the Thothans, a powerful race that had conquered many worlds, then disappeared, leaving their mechanical drones called Watchers to maintain surveillance. Any major disagreement would be settled by a two-person duel in neutral territory, managed by other AI devices. These measures basically kept the peace, due to an orbiting threat, called Leviathan, which would bomb the planet to extinction if things got completely out of control. Major corporations recruited and developed their own stables of duelists to fight for their selfish power grabs. The story follows the rise of Dyron Dyrge, an unknown outsider duelist with strange undisclosed regeneration powers, and Alix, an orphan who was sold as a concubine, then gained freedom by predicting Dyron’s victories against ranked opponents. The story contains lots of action, social class conflict and individual perseverance. It grabbed my interest and kept me engrossed throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed it and bought a copy on release to support the author. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

[M. Garnet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a different and fun book to read. For some reason I have not read any of Triptych's books and after reading Duelist I will now get into his other books. The Duelist was different but did create good characters and kept up and full mystery in a future that the author makes with a different picture. I recommend it to all SciFi lovers.

[Jefrois · Rating 2 out of 5]

MY OPINION:

I am reading Book #1, Galactic Duelist.

I hate it.

Dumb and dumber.

And now I’ve lost track of the many many many many names, in this dumb book and don’t know who’s what….

It’s a stupid dumb book

IN FACT, I just stopped reading, at 73%.

I no longer care what happens next.
.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like the dialog/motivations were a little clunky in spots, but the overall world-building redeemed it. I liked the main character a lot but still am not sure how I feel about the female lead. The ending makes it obvious this is a series-starter and I will continue with it.

[Pedro Marroquín · Rating 5 out of 5]

Autor desconocido para mí, aunque leeré más cosas suyas. En un futuro en el que los duelistas son estrellas mediáticas y su equipamiento es casi decisivo, un outsider consigue ganar repetidamente a pesar de tener todo en contra. A-

[Masters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

A different kind of hero. A duelist with luck and a never quit attitude. Where disagreements are settled by duels and enforced by misterous robots from a long gone super race.

[irv Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to read and enjoy.

You are taken on a journey that will leave you wondering how will he make it out alive. But he has some kind of luck to survive , the did author did a great job with the book. Thanks for keeping it interesting to and wanting more.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Familiar tale that grows on you. 3.5

[Lachmann Marcel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Next book please!

[Jon Tichenor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good novel

I enjoyed reading this novel and will definitely read its sequel. The characters were interesting and the action scenes were very well written.

[Neil Campau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read! Bought the next one!