Runner

Run Duology, Book 1

By: William C. Dietz

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

In a crumbling futuristic society, Earth is only a myth, the technological advances of centuries have faded into distant memory, and space travel depends on a fleet of run-down, unreliable ships. Only the brave - or foolhardy - undertake such risky journeys. The brave, the foolhardy - and the runners…

Jak Rebo is one such runner, whose current job is to deliver a future religious leader to his people, while avoiding assassins. If that's not enough, he gets involved with a very beautiful woman who holds the secret to instantaneous travel between star systems - a secret that some would kill for.

With death waiting at every port, Jak soon realizes that this time he is running for his life…

©2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 William C. Dietz (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Far-future, planet-hopping adventure...this one is not to be missed." ( Kirkus Reviews)

High Praise For A Master Crafter Of Worlds!

Star Wars... Starcraft... Halo... Mass Effect... Hitman... Resistance...

You know most of these franchises and their popularity. So, what do they have in common?

William C. Dietz.

Dietz is a "Go-To" writer for these franchises. The reason they flock to him is obvious, once you've read or heard his work. He creates worlds: Fantastic stories, characters with depth, descriptive page-turner writing, and good dialogue, all blended together to give you an enjoyable reading or listening experience. In effect, he can put franchises on the literary map.

So, do these accolades and high praises warrant your valuable Audible credit? Definitely.

In fact, regarding this audiobook, "Runner," Dietz does not disappoint - If anything, after reading this, you'll possibly want to go on a voyage of discovery regarding his other writing.

This story feels like a early classic Andre' Norton style novel, replete with failing technology spanning star systems, psychic sensitives, technobot zealots, waring religious factions, a failing fleet of sentient starships ferrying barbaric peoples back and forth across the galaxy, warring royal families, tek-tomb raiders uncovering lost star gate technology, chosen prophets, runners who brave passage on the failing starships for riches and power, and at the center of it all, a slumbering master computer arching across the starways, sought by all of the above.

Be warned - The plot will unfold a bit into the story, as Dietz sets the pace by providing richly defined characters, great back stories, and sub-plots leading to the master story line itself. The lead characters are so well defined, that you'll empathize with their successes and failures. Dietz's descriptive writing is dead-on, placing you right in the middle of a believable milieu, and at the end of the day, that's crucial in an exceptional audio work.

As to the narration, Runnette was a pleasure to listen to in this work, and brought it home.

I've enjoyed this audiobook, so much so, that I've gladly ponied up another cherished Audible credit for the second book in the the "Run" duology.

And frankly, I can't wait to start listening.

Scifi with a large infusion of woo woo

The storyline is not bad, but the publishers summary led me to expect a sci-fi story, not a sci-fi-fantasy, heavily weighed towards fantasy. I prefer my sci-fi to have at least a semblance of plausibility, and to my annoyance, new age concepts like channeling dead spirits, clairvoyance, and psychics are central to the world the author has created.

It's fine for a story to have those, but a story like that is just not my cup of tea, and I wish I'd known prior to buying the book.

Apart from that, the writing is good, and it's not a bad story at all. Just not for me. I'm in a strange situation now - I'm by nature a completionist, and hate to drop a story mid way through, so I'm considering whether I have to get book 2 as well, even though I felt kinda conned into a story I would not have bought had I known beforehand about it revolving around supernatural elements, and the SCIENCE part of this fiction being quite peripheral.

awesome

it's a different take on a futuristic sci-fi universe. the narrator is also very good for this book.

Good SciFi

So enjoyable to read SciFi that has a complete story and talks about what is important in life whether on earth or amongst the stars

A wonderful world and a good story

I found the performance absolutely wonderful our narrator was able to separate each one of the characters and maintain their voice and and spirits throughout his entire performance. I enjoyed lisening to the story. I enjoyed how it came together I enjoyed the stories of each one of the characters and how they came to be where they were I was somewhat disappointed in the ending I will not tell you what it was however it was good, however I'm thinking that it was leading more into the second book not a cliffhanger. The lack of completing the story or bringing it to a satisfactory end to this particular book left me a little dismayed and a little lost and looking for the second book I don't like it when a book does that I don't mind the lead in but the way this was done kind of just left the original story hanging we have invested so much time in every one of the characters and then not everyone story was satisfactory concluded and I don't know that some of their stories will ever be finished it left me angry so much. and how the author had finished this particular book. perhaps in the second book which I have not read yet he'll make up for this error and once again draw me wonderfully into a wonderful world and a wonderful story

Fukin kewl!!!

Thank you William C. Dietz,loved the story! ...
OK were is book 2 already!!!
You made the right choice in having Sean Runnette narrate your story, he is awesome beyond the unknown!!!

A transcendent experience

The story was exceptionally well written, the story was finely crafted, the conclusion was highly satisfying. Reading this tale was like sipping a fine wine.

Amazing

Some of the writers best work hands down! The worlds he created is outstanding in it's richness and detail.