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UC_Runner
This is the first Dietz I've read. It feels like a mechanical effort. Everything from names to dialog feel too contrived or constructed. There are very few real surprises or really creative ideas. On the other hand, there is a sense of humor that the author could have used more often. Unlike Heinlein, the texture of the worlds seems very flat and oddly unvarying across the worlds they travel through. It also feels like it needs an editor who would encourage less verbiage but, paradoxically, more texture. Much of the action seems unconvincing because of the lack of sufficient hand waving to explain things. For instance the loss of knowledge and solar power to name a couple.
UC_Runner
I tried hard to like this book, and for the first 100 or so pages it was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, after that it became repetitive and formulaic: travel to a new town/planet, encounter bad guys, beat bad guys, rinse, repeat. It felt as though Dietz was trying to rewrite Jack Vance'sBig PlanetorTales of the Dying Earth, but instead of fresh and strange, each new location was merely a variation on a theme. In the end, the book came across as a personal inner journey for the author which didn't translate well to novel form. My recommendation is that if you like the sound of this book try Vance instead or as well.
UC_Runner
This book reminds me of the Firefly miniseries. The setting was unique, including sentient starships and multi-layered cities across multiple planets. The characters were enjoyable, especially Lanni and her "abilities". At same time they were credible and even fallible. Unlike your typical action hero, Jack wore "spectacles" and was self-doubting, not cynical as others have mentioned. Lanni was pleasant but not a gorgeous supermodel as you Hollywood would have written it, and even the arch villain Kane was believable, being cold hearted yet manifesting fear and other emotions in his efforts to redeem himself and climb the Techno Society's corporate ladder. I thought the encounters, while recurring, were not cliché at all. The silver snake choker, attacking shuttle, Lanni's attack on the "intended location", the simulacrum, etc. kept the reader entertained and guessing. Yes I knew they would survive, but so what? I'm tired of the more popular dark novels where everyone the protagonist is attached to get's butchered, ending up in a revenge novel with no redeeming value. Finally, I loved the ending where Lee got his chance to take on the true imposter, although I would have enjoyed a more elaborate Q&A process and more of a theological debate. I already bought the follow-up Logos Run on the popular auction site, picked up the first Legion of the Dammed book at my local half-priced books store, and finally ordered Prison Planet and Body Guard as well - all by Dietz.
UC_Runner
In the far future, mankind has spread throughout the galaxy, via a system of portals between star systems. Now their location has been forgotten, so mankind is reverting back to a state where magic becomes very important, and each star system is on its own. The little interstellar travel that is left is handled by a rapidly diminishing fleet of aging ships. Only the brave, the foolhardy or professional couriers called runners make such journeys.Jak Rebo's mission is to deliver a young boy to a faraway planet, to find out for sure if he is a legitimate religious apostle (based on present-day Buddhism). This religion has two sects, and members of the other sect have plenty of reason for wanting to make sure that Rebo and his human cargo never reach their destination.Things get more complicated when a female "sensitive," (a clairvoyant and channeler) named Lanni Norr joins the group. With the reverting of mankind away from interstellar travel, science has been reduced to the level of a religious cult. Milos Lysander, the long-dead founder of the Techno Society, seems to have chosen Norr as his way to communicate with this world. The present-day members of the Society want Norr very much, because they think that Lysander has the secret to the location of the long-lost interstellar travel portals. If necessary, they are more than willing to kill anyone who gets in their way.First of a series, this one is very good. The author has written a number of military/action SF novels in the past, so he very much knows what he is doing. This novel does a fine job of keeping the reader's interest.
UC_Runner
Before reading Runner I had a great deal of respect for William Dietz as a "military" Science Fiction author. His Legion of the Damned series was inventive, well thought out, and believable.Unfortunately, Runner is none of the above. The entire novel is a series of chase scenes populated by characters of exceedingly low intelligence. Generally you can tell what obvious mistake is going to be made by whom a good ten pages beforehand.And the characters do not ever seem to learn from their mistakes, repeating them in different situations. The true miracle of the book is that the ensemble survives to the last page.Much is made of Dietz's interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism, and to his credit he has done his homework here and has created a believable religion. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of his post-apocalyptic inter-galactic travel infrastructure. Sentient but manic-depressive starships which can no longer be repaired set the tone for the emotional immaturity of all the characters. A network of "star gates" which only a select few know about should be used by the heros to evade capture by the bad guys -- especially since they have the ear of someone who knows where they are. However, since the heros always take the most obvious route, they have only their own incredible stupidity to blame when they are in imminent danger, which happens about every other chapter.As to the ending, it was predicted on page one. At no time in the novel do you not know how it is going to turn out. Which is a pity because while Dietz is not known for his strong endings at least you can usually count on a good ride to get there.
UC_Runner
This book is set in a very distant future, several hundred thousand years away, when a much higher tech civilization, that spread to hundreds of worlds, has collapsed and given way to a relatively low-tech society. A small number of sentient AI ships still connect the different worlds, but they are gradually failing because the skills to build them, or even maintain the existing vessels, have died out. Rebo Jak, the lead, is a runner, a member of a guild that collects fees for transporting people or objects between worlds.The elements in this book are rather too cliched: you start with the brave, skilled but cynical and world weary (in this case worlds weary) fighter. Give him a kid to transport safely to a distant planet, with various baddies determined to kill him. Throw in a damsel in distress, who just may carry the secret of returning to a true galactic civilization, on the run from an entirely different set of nasties.So it's formulaic, but a formulaic book can be done well or done badly, and this one is, on the whole, done rather well. The characters draw you in and the story is exciting although, by the end, the scenario of our heroes heading into and squeaking through yet another ambush starts to get old.One thing about the basic premise that didn't work for me is that everybody, except for the baddies trying to capture and exploit the heroine, seems to be quite happy with this low tech culture. Since the planets in this story don't have extensive enough contact to have much influence on each other, why did all revert in more or less the same way? And why are the ruling elites on each world uninterested in reviving technology? One would think that they'd know, at the very least, that advanced science would mean a much longer life span for themselves and their families, not too mention a lot more wealth to divvy up.One sequel already has been written, with more probably on the way. But they aren't necessary for this book, which is complete in itself.