Runner by William C. Dietz

       Easily mistaken with the Maze Runner series due to its name and cover, I recently read and finished the book Runner by William C. Dietz. Runner is a science fiction novel originally published in 2006. The story takes place in a worn-down futuristic techno-society in which humans have colonized planets all around the universe. However, the technological advances made through the centuries have simply become distant memories. Even Earth has simply become a myth. In this world,  interplanetary space travel is reliant on a fleet of remaining ancient and crumbling auto-piloted ships. With no knowledge of how the ships work, how to repair them, or how to build new fleets, the number remaining has dropped rapidly, isolating certain parts of the universe all-together. Because of this, very few risk the voyage on these ships. However, Jak Rebo, the main character and a member of the Runner’s Guild is a runner. Runners are tasked with delivering important messages, packages, and information. In the story, we start out with Jak having just completed a successful job when he is suddenly tasked with delivering and protecting a future religious leader: a young boy named Tra. Tra is thought to be the reincarnation of Nom Maa an important religious figure and leader. However, not all believe so and many are trying to stop Tra from being delivered and uniting his people (in order to avoid giving away spoilers, I’ve decided to not include certain aspects of the plot). As Tra and Jak travel across the universe, they soon encounter a lady by the name of Lanni Norr. Not only does she have a special ability that allows her to communicate with the dead, Lanni also may hold the secret to instantaneous space travel, a secret that people would kill for. In addition, Lanni also becomes a love interest for Jak as they journey together.

       I know that I didn’t give a very detailed summary or run-down of the book, but that is because I think it is a book worth checking out and so I do not want to give away too much. I think Runner is a great book especially if you are into science-fiction. There is a lot of action throughout the story and I thought the concept for the book was very interesting. Dietz really sucks you into the hi-tech futuristic world that the characters live in, but at the same time, is still able to describe a scenario in which this techno-society, although very advanced, is slowly crumbling and becoming an almost barbaric or medieval order. The main strong points of this book are its great action sequences and the suspense caused from them, in addition with the cyberpunk atmosphere or vibe that you feel from the story. Furthermore, there are a lot of side characters in this book, and although not all of them seem to contribute much or develop throughout the story, which is a minor negative, the main characters do seem to show a great deal of growth as the plot progresses.

       My only real problems with this book are the fact that the plot does seem a little drawn-out which eventually leads to an ending that I found fell flat a bit (you may disagree with me if you end up reading this book), but other than that, I thought it was great. Also, just a warning, there is one or two romance scenes in the book, however, these can be skipped and you'll still understand the plot. Runner is actually the first book in a three-part series, so if you end up reading it and enjoy the authors writing, you can check those out. However, I’ve heard that they progressively get worse which is sad, but I haven’t actually read them yet. In the end, I would give Runner 10 bologna slices out of 13.

Dan Yang