
Runner
Run Duology, Book 1
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $18.91
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Sean Runnette
-
By:
-
William C. Dietz
About this listen
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 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Super Sales on Super Heroes
- By: William D. Arand
- Narrated by: Jeff Hays
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a world full of super powers, Felix has a pretty crappy one. He has the ability to modify any item he owns. To upgrade anything. Sounds great on paper. Almost like a video game. Except that the amount of power it takes to actually change, modify, or upgrade anything worthwhile is beyond his abilities. With that in mind, Felix settled into a normal life. A normal job. His entire world changes when the city he lives in is taken over by a super villain. Becoming a country of one city. A city state.
-
-
Lot better than I thought it would be
- By Phillip hinch on 07-08-17
By: William D. Arand
-
Star Wars: Convergence (The High Republic)
- By: Zoraida Córdova
- Narrated by: Marc Thompson
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is an age of exploration. Jedi travel the galaxy, expanding their understanding of the Force and all the worlds and beings connected by it. Meanwhile, the Republic, led by its two chancellors, works to unite worlds in an ever-growing community among near and distant stars. On the close-orbiting planets of Eiram and E’ronoh, the growing pains of a galaxy with limited resources but unlimited ambition are felt keenly. The two worlds’ hatred for each other has fueled half a decade of escalating conflict and now threatens to consume surrounding systems.
-
-
Was Skeptical at first…boy was I wrong!
- By Justin Steele on 12-12-22
By: Zoraida Córdova
-
HALO: The Fall of Reach
- HALO, Book 1
- By: Eric Nylund
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 26th century. Humanity has expanded beyond Earth’s system to hundreds of planets that colonists now call home. But the United Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command is struggling to control this vast empire. After exhausting all strategies to keep seething colonial insurrections from exploding into a full-blown interplanetary civil war, the UNSC has one last hope.
-
-
Phenomenal story - problematic performance
- By wotsisname on 07-02-19
By: Eric Nylund
-
Mass Effect
- Revelation
- By: Drew Karpyshyn
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After discovering a cache of Prothean technology on Mars in 2148, humanity is spreading to the stars---the newest interstellar species, struggling to carve out its place in the greater galactic community. On the edge of colonized space, ship commander and Alliance war hero David Anderson investigates the remains of a top secret military research station---smoking ruins littered with bodies and unanswered questions. Who attacked this post, and for what purpose?
-
-
Enhances the enjoyment of the games substantially
- By Some Dude on 09-01-11
By: Drew Karpyshyn
-
Otherlife Dreams
- The Selfless Hero Trilogy
- By: William D. Arand
- Narrated by: Jeff Hays
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Runner has a problem. He and 499,000 men and women are trapped in a game. He also just happens to be the only person from IT who could log everyone out safely. And he doesn't remember his password. He, like everyone else in this nightmare, had his memory scrambled or lost in the process of being loaded into the game. A single garbled message is his only clue to how to save everyone. The problem is that whoever loaded them into the game loaded their minds completely.
-
-
Please fix audio levels
- By Matt on 05-24-16
By: William D. Arand
-
Otherlife Awakenings
- The Selfless Hero Trilogy
- By: William D. Arand
- Narrated by: Jeff Hays
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Runner and his team managed to bring peace to Tirtius, successfully log the crew out, and have begun settling in to make a home on the isle of Vix. Fate isn't going to let them go that easily though. She clearly hasn't decided on what to do with him. Plots are in motion. Threats local, divine, and abroad scheme to exterminate Runner and the threat he represents. The possibility of what he could become.
-
-
Something different in a good way!
- By Lex on 10-06-16
By: William D. Arand
-
Super Sales on Super Heroes
- By: William D. Arand
- Narrated by: Jeff Hays
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a world full of super powers, Felix has a pretty crappy one. He has the ability to modify any item he owns. To upgrade anything. Sounds great on paper. Almost like a video game. Except that the amount of power it takes to actually change, modify, or upgrade anything worthwhile is beyond his abilities. With that in mind, Felix settled into a normal life. A normal job. His entire world changes when the city he lives in is taken over by a super villain. Becoming a country of one city. A city state.
-
-
Lot better than I thought it would be
- By Phillip hinch on 07-08-17
By: William D. Arand
-
Star Wars: Convergence (The High Republic)
- By: Zoraida Córdova
- Narrated by: Marc Thompson
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is an age of exploration. Jedi travel the galaxy, expanding their understanding of the Force and all the worlds and beings connected by it. Meanwhile, the Republic, led by its two chancellors, works to unite worlds in an ever-growing community among near and distant stars. On the close-orbiting planets of Eiram and E’ronoh, the growing pains of a galaxy with limited resources but unlimited ambition are felt keenly. The two worlds’ hatred for each other has fueled half a decade of escalating conflict and now threatens to consume surrounding systems.
-
-
Was Skeptical at first…boy was I wrong!
- By Justin Steele on 12-12-22
By: Zoraida Córdova
-
HALO: The Fall of Reach
- HALO, Book 1
- By: Eric Nylund
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 26th century. Humanity has expanded beyond Earth’s system to hundreds of planets that colonists now call home. But the United Earth Government and the United Nations Space Command is struggling to control this vast empire. After exhausting all strategies to keep seething colonial insurrections from exploding into a full-blown interplanetary civil war, the UNSC has one last hope.
-
-
Phenomenal story - problematic performance
- By wotsisname on 07-02-19
By: Eric Nylund
-
Mass Effect
- Revelation
- By: Drew Karpyshyn
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After discovering a cache of Prothean technology on Mars in 2148, humanity is spreading to the stars---the newest interstellar species, struggling to carve out its place in the greater galactic community. On the edge of colonized space, ship commander and Alliance war hero David Anderson investigates the remains of a top secret military research station---smoking ruins littered with bodies and unanswered questions. Who attacked this post, and for what purpose?
-
-
Enhances the enjoyment of the games substantially
- By Some Dude on 09-01-11
By: Drew Karpyshyn
-
Otherlife Dreams
- The Selfless Hero Trilogy
- By: William D. Arand
- Narrated by: Jeff Hays
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Runner has a problem. He and 499,000 men and women are trapped in a game. He also just happens to be the only person from IT who could log everyone out safely. And he doesn't remember his password. He, like everyone else in this nightmare, had his memory scrambled or lost in the process of being loaded into the game. A single garbled message is his only clue to how to save everyone. The problem is that whoever loaded them into the game loaded their minds completely.
-
-
Please fix audio levels
- By Matt on 05-24-16
By: William D. Arand
-
Otherlife Awakenings
- The Selfless Hero Trilogy
- By: William D. Arand
- Narrated by: Jeff Hays
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Runner and his team managed to bring peace to Tirtius, successfully log the crew out, and have begun settling in to make a home on the isle of Vix. Fate isn't going to let them go that easily though. She clearly hasn't decided on what to do with him. Plots are in motion. Threats local, divine, and abroad scheme to exterminate Runner and the threat he represents. The possibility of what he could become.
-
-
Something different in a good way!
- By Lex on 10-06-16
By: William D. Arand
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
-
-
Bazinga
- By Davidgonzalezsr on 05-04-21
By: Andy Weir
-
Dragon Day
- By: Bob Proehl
- Narrated by: Hayley Atwell, Michael Chiklis, Aldis Hodge, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Compiled by intrepid journalist Neve Pride, this archive of recordings spans the months after dragons emerged on earth, chronicling the communities that sprang up amid the destruction, the scientists, military leaders, and experts searching for a defense, and those steadfastly seeking the missing. Neve and her young daughter Bex travel among the wreckage speaking to those left behind and surviving, against all odds. Neve records everything for history, and in the hopes of locating a clue as to where the dragons came from and how one might stop them.
-
-
👍👍👌👌
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-25
By: Bob Proehl
-
Hitchhikers
- By: Ben H. Winters
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie has always had high hopes for her future. But the reality of her life just isn’t measuring up. She loves her fiancé, Greg–doesn’t she? She’s going to get her degree and open her own business–won’t she? Then, a strange old woman shows up outside her house, and she seems to know a lot about Annie. An awful lot. Annie could tell the old woman to get lost. Yet there’s something about her Annie just can’t shake. And what she learns could change her life forever–but is it the life she envisioned?
-
-
The ever present battle between past and future.
- By Kindle Customer on 03-14-25
By: Ben H. Winters
-
When the Moon Hits Your Eye
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.
-
-
Wil Wheaton is torture
- By Amazon Customer on 03-27-25
By: John Scalzi
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
The Martian
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.
-
-
I love Wil Wheaton but why not R. C. Bray?
- By L. Newman on 01-11-20
By: Andy Weir
-
Project Hail Mary
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the Earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.
-
-
Bazinga
- By Davidgonzalezsr on 05-04-21
By: Andy Weir
-
Dragon Day
- By: Bob Proehl
- Narrated by: Hayley Atwell, Michael Chiklis, Aldis Hodge, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Compiled by intrepid journalist Neve Pride, this archive of recordings spans the months after dragons emerged on earth, chronicling the communities that sprang up amid the destruction, the scientists, military leaders, and experts searching for a defense, and those steadfastly seeking the missing. Neve and her young daughter Bex travel among the wreckage speaking to those left behind and surviving, against all odds. Neve records everything for history, and in the hopes of locating a clue as to where the dragons came from and how one might stop them.
-
-
👍👍👌👌
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-25
By: Bob Proehl
-
Hitchhikers
- By: Ben H. Winters
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie has always had high hopes for her future. But the reality of her life just isn’t measuring up. She loves her fiancé, Greg–doesn’t she? She’s going to get her degree and open her own business–won’t she? Then, a strange old woman shows up outside her house, and she seems to know a lot about Annie. An awful lot. Annie could tell the old woman to get lost. Yet there’s something about her Annie just can’t shake. And what she learns could change her life forever–but is it the life she envisioned?
-
-
The ever present battle between past and future.
- By Kindle Customer on 03-14-25
By: Ben H. Winters
-
When the Moon Hits Your Eye
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.
-
-
Wil Wheaton is torture
- By Amazon Customer on 03-27-25
By: John Scalzi
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
The Martian
- By: Andy Weir
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet.
-
-
I love Wil Wheaton but why not R. C. Bray?
- By L. Newman on 01-11-20
By: Andy Weir
What listeners say about Runner
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael
- 03-12-14
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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jarno
- 05-19-14
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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Fritz
- 01-16-15
awesome
it's a different take on a futuristic sci-fi universe. the narrator is also very good for this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- P. Clough
- 03-02-15
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
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Josh
- 10-09-15
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
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sam H.
- 01-20-15
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!!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- G. Parish
- 10-20-15
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.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 01-18-21
Amazing
Some of the writers best work hands down! The worlds he created is outstanding in it's richness and detail.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!