Lee Willard

Acolyte (Dyoniss and Kessil, #2) (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

The Temple of Karasis is very important to the people of the Ydlontrostl basin. It combines the functions of a religion, a research university, a charitable organization and in some sense a government into one institution. In this ancient and nearly unchanging land it is the pillar of their society, a society that believes society itself is holy. One of the most delicate services that the Temple of Karasis provides is arbitration of business disputes. The bishops who preside over this arbitration must be above reproach and free of outside pressure. Since the sums of money involved can be substantial, the Temple goes to great lengths to protect the anonymity and integrity of these bishops. An acolyte auditing the accounts of one of these bishops makes an appointment with an important watchdog agency in the Temple and is murdered before she can report her findings. Dyoniss is called in to investigate, since it seems likely that antidote to the Instinct was used. Not only must he track down the killer, but the corrupt bishop the acolyte was investigating, the one who most likely ordered the murder.

Meanwhile the witch of the ancient windwheel has killed two of her lovers, undoubtedly using the antidote, and been killed herself. The owner of Kessil's company knows a movie will be made of these events and wants to put the most positive possible spin on it. To help secure the deal he asks Kessil to impersonate the witch for a scene up on the tower of the ancient windwheel, offering her an important new position in the company if she will do so. Putting her fear and loathing aside she goes to the tower and while there, finds evidence of a Centorin assassin, one who's partner is soon stalking her.

Other than the fact that it happens on the planet Kassidor in 5959ad, this is a murder mystery and not a science fiction story. The different place and time means that the methods of solving the crime are far different and the people involved are far different. There is no police force. Murder is so rare that the society really has no mechanisms to deal with it. What mechanisms there are are geared toward finding the truth, but not guarding against danger. Add in shifting loyalties, ancient family feuds and guilt at the highest levels and unraveling what really happened and why becomes quite a challenge.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Lee Willard
• Erscheinungstermin: 26. April 2021
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781005284831
• Artikelnr.: 72788104

Autorenporträt

I am a retired embedded systems engineer and sci-fi hobbyist from Hartford. Most of my stories concern Kassidor, 'The planet the hippies came from' which I have used to examine subjects like: What would it take to make the hippy lifestyle real? How would extended lifespans affect society? What could happen if we outlive our memories? How can murder be committed when violence is impossible?

I have recently discovered that someone new to science fiction should start their exploration of Kassidor with the Second Expedition trilogy. To the mainstream fiction reader the alien names of people, places and things can be confusing. This series has a little more explanation of the differences between Kassidor and Earth. In all of the Kassidor stories you will notice the people do not act like ordinary humans but like flower children from the 60's. It is not until Zhlindu that the actual modifications made to human nature to make them act that way are spelled out. To aide that understanding I've made The Second Expedition free.

I am not a fan of violence and dystopia. I believe that sci-fi does not just predict the future, but helps create the future because we sci-fi writers show our readers what the future will be and the readers go out and create it. I believe that the current fad of constant dystopia and mega-violence in sci-fi today is helping to create that world, and I mention that often in reviews and comments on the books I read. I also believe that the characters in those stories who are completely free of any affection are at least as unnatural as the modified humans of Kassidor.

In my reviews, * = couldn't finish it. ** = Don't bother with it. *** = good story worth reading. **** = great and memorable story. ***** = Worth a Hugo.