I really enjoyed this book. It was pretty much non-stop action and fairly exciting. Hard to put down.

In the distant future, universal technology has crumbled, leaving humankind to exist in a kind of medieval/20th century existence, minus any real technology -- with the exception of a series of rapidly decreasing star ships that go from planet to planet, transporting what people they can, as they were programmed to do hundreds of years ago. It's a bit of a bizarre premise, but if you can accept it, you're off.

Jak Rebo is a runner. Runners are hired to travel from planet to planet to deliver items for a stiff price. He's hired to deliver a young boy to another planet. This boy is part of a large religious sect that thinks he's the reincarnation of their leader and has to be tested against another boy from another sect. The problem is, this other sect wants this boy, Lee, dead. (The religion is obviously based on Buddhism.) Along the way, they pick up a female sensitive (clairvoyant) named Lanni Norr, through whom Milos Lysander, the dead founder of the Techno Society has chosen to reveal himself. The Techno Society wants to get the long dead star gates working again, the AIs working, technology working, and will stop at nothing to achieve this, so it's imperative they communicate with Lysander, who doesn't want to communicate with them, only to the general population through Norr. So Norr becomes their target. Additionally, to complicate matters, along the way they pick up another traveler, a giant who's wanted dead or alive, preferably dead. The chase all makes for good reading.

This is the first book in a series, apparently, and I enjoyed this one so much, I'll have to get the next one. I don't know how many books there are in this series, however. If you like an entertaining read and enjoy sci fi, this book's for you. Recommended. ( )

A pleasant read and some good ideas. Characters worth caring about. ( )

I bought this book on impulse, and I am glad I did. The book is very Buddhist in its outlook, and characters believe in reincarnation, which makes it ok for people to die. There sure is a lot of that happening in this book, perhaps more so than in Dietz's combat books. The underlying story is very different from the other Dietz stuff I have read, and very good. The Legion of the Damned books suffer from very one dimensional characterizations of their female characters, whereas this book has a strong female as a leading and fully developed character, which is a nice change. I enjoyed this book.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/William_C_Dietz/Runner.html ( )

The ending does a disservice to his readers. Another author more interested in setting the stage for sequels than providing a good work for his readers. ( )

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. ( )