Durango is playing the cards he was dealt. And it’s not a good hand.
He’s lost his family.
He’s lost his crew.
And he’s got the scars t...
read full description
reviews
Feb 03, 2012
Stacy/GirlsInTheStacks.com
rated it: 
Highly entertaining piece of sci-fi literature that will make you laugh, cringe, shout hooray and laugh some more.
Durango is the chief of a band of rouge Regulators. Together with his davos of motley crew Regulators they fight to protect a group of Martian miners from the evil, flesh eating Draeu led by an equally evil Queen.
This novel was entreatingly good (and fun) for so many reasons. For one thing, it is a sci-fi dystopian (I <3 dystopia) book. I liked the invent More...
Durango is the chief of a band of rouge Regulators. Together with his davos of motley crew Regulators they fight to protect a group of Martian miners from the evil, flesh eating Draeu led by an equally evil Queen.
This novel was entreatingly good (and fun) for so many reasons. For one thing, it is a sci-fi dystopian (I <3 dystopia) book. I liked the invent More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Apr 11, 2011
Aaron Vincent
rated it:
Originally posted on Guy Gone Geek.
I have to admit that the Suzanne Collins blurb on the cover sold the book for me. An established young adult dystopian author pimping a new dystopian book really seals the deal. I am glad that I was lured by that bait because Black Hole Sun is one hell of a book dystopian fans shouldn’t miss.
David Macinnis Gill’s version of our dark future is on Mars. I would naturally expect that the story will take place when the society is still settling More...
I have to admit that the Suzanne Collins blurb on the cover sold the book for me. An established young adult dystopian author pimping a new dystopian book really seals the deal. I am glad that I was lured by that bait because Black Hole Sun is one hell of a book dystopian fans shouldn’t miss.
David Macinnis Gill’s version of our dark future is on Mars. I would naturally expect that the story will take place when the society is still settling More...
Sep 29, 2010
Liza
rated it: 
Where is Joss Whedon, does he know about this book, and is he getting his fair share of profits, since the entire tome is constructed around the worlds and characters Whedon created in Firefly?
Although the book is set on Mars, the list of Firefly similarities is alarming -
1) Pithy, sarcastic male leader with a troubled past (Captain Malcolm Reynolds)
2) Supportive, female subordinate who is a little too</> supportive and makes you question the nature of the rel More...
Although the book is set on Mars, the list of Firefly similarities is alarming -
1) Pithy, sarcastic male leader with a troubled past (Captain Malcolm Reynolds)
2) Supportive, female subordinate who is a little too</> supportive and makes you question the nature of the rel More...
2 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Oct 10, 2011
Teena
rated it: 
More of a 1.5 star
First impression:
Extremely action-packed. Dystopia-ish world in space. Smart-ass protagonist with HIDDEN PAST. Some seriously icky scenes.
Final verdict:
I really want to love the book. I really do. Space Opera/Adventure is my pet love and I'm just thrill there's YA book in that genre. But the characters are way too cardboard and the interaction between them is totally not convincing. The plot is confusing and involve lots of Huh? m More...
First impression:
Extremely action-packed. Dystopia-ish world in space. Smart-ass protagonist with HIDDEN PAST. Some seriously icky scenes.
Final verdict:
I really want to love the book. I really do. Space Opera/Adventure is my pet love and I'm just thrill there's YA book in that genre. But the characters are way too cardboard and the interaction between them is totally not convincing. The plot is confusing and involve lots of Huh? m More...
5 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 25, 2011
Carol
rated it: 
Durango is the leader of a group of soldiers-for-hire on futuristic Mars. His checkered past has led him into some interesting predicaments. He usually tries to get the most bang for his buck, but sometimes his desire to do the right thing outweighs his desire for lots of money. Thus he accepts a dangerous job in a mining community for very little pay. His team thinks he is crazy but they are sworn to follow him. Of course, nothing goes as planned. His leadership skills and his teams loyalty are
More...
Aug 31, 2011
2sergioc
rated it: 
The main character is Durango he is a regulator which seems to be a mix of a policeman and mercenary.Durango has a computer like device on his brain that has a wise cracking personality and seems to be a female named Mimi.Mimi constantly mocks and insults Durango in a child like manner. Durango seems to be the leader and one of his favorite workers named Vienne.According to Durango she is perfect in her aim,machine like action, and ability to follow orders.
Durango and his davos (team More...
Durango and his davos (team More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 17, 2011
Rocky41-7
rated it:
I must confess to finding this book rather awful. Durango was a sterotypical loner badass that we've all seen, from Han Solo to that guy with the harmonica in 'Once Upon a Time in the West'. His second in command is a beautiful girl, who is of course his love interest and, in a totally new idea, love between them is forbidden. Well give the author a prize-how'd he come up with that idea? Not only is it forbidden, but like most young people, these two blow the rules out the window and go for it a
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 24, 2011
Bev
rated it:
Durango has many problems in his life. He is dalit, a social pariah for failing to commit ritual suicide. In the highly stratified future Mars, dalit rank somewhere below the miners who have been used, abused, and discarded. First there were the Orthocrats, willing to terraform Mars under any circumstance. Then, came the CorpComs with legions of soldiers in battle suits. Left behind were the draeu, cannibalistic beings with no rhyne or reason, other than to kill and eat flesh. But Durango h
More...
Jun 24, 2011
Terry
rated it:
Sci-fi soup: add a little Star Wars, a dash of Starship Troopers, a pinch of The Golden Compass, a huge helping of Ender's Game (and probably a ton more things that I'm not aware of) and you get this novel. It's the perfect definition of "It was okay." While the dialogue was good and snarky (if a little too clever and too long at times), and the action kept the novel moving, nothing felt new. The plot: Jacob Durango leads a team of Regulators, including his second-in-command love inter
More...
May 11, 2011
Brendan
rated it:
I am glad that I randomly chose this book. When I first saw the title it caught my eye because of the song by the same name. This fact alone was a great push factor for me to pick up this book. I also liked the cover design of the book. It is very simple but still appealing and relatively representative of the book. Even the font used to state the chapters was a perfect fit.
For those of you that don’t know, this book is about a 17 year old boy named Durango who is a “regulator”. A regulat More...
For those of you that don’t know, this book is about a 17 year old boy named Durango who is a “regulator”. A regulat More...
Apr 26, 2011
Chris
rated it:
I'm quite sure the book Gill imagined in his head was pretty cool, with a fun mix of action, thrills, witty banter, creativity, and grit. I'm sure of this because some of it comes through, enough to make this an enjoyable read. Unfortunately, I don't think his writing skills are up to the task of capturing and portraying everything he had in mind, and I found at the same time that I was entertained I was also disappointed with what I was reading. Here's a sample sentence from protagonist Dura
More...
Apr 01, 2011
I fully picked this book up in Barnes and Noble because it had a rec from Suzanna Collins on the cover. I have no shame in admitting that. And, ok, I liked the cover, too. And the title. And, fine, I read a few pages and that tickled me enough to buy it. But still. When Suzanne Collins is reccing things, well, I’m dang sure going to listen. And boy am I glad I did.
Black Hole Sun tells the story of Cowboy. Or Durango. Or Jacob. Three names that all refer to one incredibly awesome lead More...
Black Hole Sun tells the story of Cowboy. Or Durango. Or Jacob. Three names that all refer to one incredibly awesome lead More...
Mar 23, 2011
Jono
rated it:
After the Earth has collapsed with plague, the colonies on the planet Mars thrive. After using greenhouse gas technology to heat up the planet and make it habitable, mankind has also let regions of Mars slide into decay. Durango is a disgraced Regulator, a member of an elite combat force, who now takes on dirty security jobs supported by his team of “davos”, other Regulators sworn by the arcane Tenets to serve their Chief. After rescuing kidnapped aristocrat children, Durango and his group find
More...
Feb 10, 2011
A&E
rated it:
Jake did his review in song!
Yo, yo, yiggity, yo! This is mix master Jake "Jakey-Jake" Kirk and I'm going to do this review as illustrated by a series of graphical rhymes starting...NOW!
My Lyrically Advanced Review
(As Inspired by Ian Stupidhalder)
So our story starts out with with a boy named Durango.
He's 8 years old Mars Time(17 in Earth though).
He's a disgraced soldier just trying to get by,
And with the help of his frie More...
Yo, yo, yiggity, yo! This is mix master Jake "Jakey-Jake" Kirk and I'm going to do this review as illustrated by a series of graphical rhymes starting...NOW!
My Lyrically Advanced Review
(As Inspired by Ian Stupidhalder)
So our story starts out with with a boy named Durango.
He's 8 years old Mars Time(17 in Earth though).
He's a disgraced soldier just trying to get by,
And with the help of his frie More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Nov 30, 2010
BAYA
rated it:
Durango, 16, is a Regulator living on Mars, which has been colonized and terraformed by Earthers. Disgraced by the actions of his father, he now roams the planet looking for paying mercenary gigs with Vienne, a Regulator and Durango’s love interest, and Mimi, an artificial intelligence grafted onto this brain. When a group of miners ask for his help protecting them from the Draeu, an army of half-human cannibals, Durango, driven by the Regulator tenets to help the helpless, can’t turn them down.
More...
Sep 20, 2010
K
rated it:
Gruesome action led by a disgraced soldier turned mercenary worth cheering for.
Terraformed Mars is the brutal setting. Seventeen year old space cowboy Durango is the protagonist. He’s chief of a crew of one (his second, Vienne) with the aid of his implanted AI, Mimi. They’re disgraced Regulators who hire out for whatever work they can get, honor bound to take on the do-gooder jobs that never pay much. This latest one has them piecing together additional forces to face off against a More...
Terraformed Mars is the brutal setting. Seventeen year old space cowboy Durango is the protagonist. He’s chief of a crew of one (his second, Vienne) with the aid of his implanted AI, Mimi. They’re disgraced Regulators who hire out for whatever work they can get, honor bound to take on the do-gooder jobs that never pay much. This latest one has them piecing together additional forces to face off against a More...
Oct 05, 2010
Samantha
rated it:
Have you been waiting for a new book that adheres more closely to standard science fiction? Perhaps you should give this one a try. At least, that was my thinking when I started reading it.
Life on Mars is hard for Durango. He ekes out a living as best he can, even though he is dalit. He has a mysterious past and a mysterious mission.
I do have a few complaints about the book. I thought the beginning was well done but it tapered off toward the end. There were a couple More...
Life on Mars is hard for Durango. He ekes out a living as best he can, even though he is dalit. He has a mysterious past and a mysterious mission.
I do have a few complaints about the book. I thought the beginning was well done but it tapered off toward the end. There were a couple More...
Dec 10, 2011
Robyn
rated it:
Black Hole Sun reads like a movie, so I will not be surprised if I find out the rights to produce have been bought. There are a lot of things to like about this book. Tons of action paired with comical dialogue, little tidbits of science, and yes, even some of the characters. I thought for sure Durango was going to be the typical 'chief' self-obsessed and absorbed, or the opposite and perfect down to his machismo shoelaces. (I don't think the symbiarmor had shoelaces though.) But he wasn't. In f
More...
Aug 09, 2010
Christina (A Reader of Fictions)
rated it:
The book moved along at a good pace with a lot of action (gun fire, explosions, cannibals, snowmobile chases). The characterization is weak, but perhaps the book is meant to appeal more to a crowd that prefers the aforementioned action to knowing much about the backstories of the characters. Despite that, I did rather like the chief and his davos, even though I knew little about them. The action scenes are well-drawn, allowing me to draw a decent picture of the scene in my head, which some books
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 03, 2011
Allison
rated it:
Teenaged mercenaries (called Regulators) Durango and Vienne are hired to protect the lowly and forgotten population of miners on the now colonized Mars. Cannibalistic nonhuman creatures called the Draeu have been stealing and devouring the miners' children. Durango knows this may very well be a suicide mission, but the Rugulators' code forbids him to refuse to help the poor - plus, as a daalit, an outcast Regulator without a master, Durango struggles to find enough work to feed himself. When he
More...
Aug 24, 2010
Erika
rated it:
I am reviewing an Advance Copy provided by the publisher.
When a plague ruined Earth, it was up to the United Corporation of America to reestablish the population elsewhere. Naturally, as the next closest planet, Mars would have to do. But after the terraforming was finished, the miners originally sent to create a viable atmosphere weren’t rewarded for their efforts. Trapped inside of their mines, the workers were helpless to stop the calculated invasion of chigoes released by the More...
When a plague ruined Earth, it was up to the United Corporation of America to reestablish the population elsewhere. Naturally, as the next closest planet, Mars would have to do. But after the terraforming was finished, the miners originally sent to create a viable atmosphere weren’t rewarded for their efforts. Trapped inside of their mines, the workers were helpless to stop the calculated invasion of chigoes released by the More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 12, 2011
Courtney
rated it:
Slick, action-packed and funny! This sci-fi adventure's got it all. Durango is a free-lance Regulator trying to eke out a living on Mars. Accompanying him are a cast of entertaining folks: his right-hand woman, Vienne, a pair of goofy dudes who are lucky to have survived as long as they have and his AI-pal-in-his-head, Mimi (who was incidentally his previous CO before she was killed in the line of duty). When a group of miners attempts to hire them for their services, Durango's sense of pri
More...
Feb 08, 2011
Suzanne
rated it:
Not steampunk, not edged with the magic of fantasy, this one is all science fiction with a capital SF. Some years in the future colonization of Mars, I’m guessing about 238 Martian ones since chapters are indicated in Annos Martis. And, I had to look this up to know for sure, their years are double as long as Earth years. That makes 200+ Martian years something in the neighborhood of 400 Earth ones, so perhaps we’re roughly 400-500 years in the future? I am become as tedious as a panel discussio
More...
Mar 07, 2011
Austin
rated it:
So far the main carecter was sent on a mission to rescue the hosteges but then he gets taken hostge now he calls for back up. When back up arrives its his friend who kkilll all the shock troopers but the ;eader of the shocktroopers blows on of the charges around a hosige and goes falling down into some deep deep slime, then the main carecter jumps after her and avecually finds her....
march 2nd
Problem.
they have to figure out a way to take out More...
march 2nd
Problem.
they have to figure out a way to take out More...
Aug 13, 2011
Melissa
rated it:
Durango is a Regulator haunted by his past. He lives his life by the Tenets, helping people and fighting for what he believes is right. On Mars life can be rough. When a group of miners asks Durango for his help fighting the Draeu, a cannibalistic race, he has no choice but to help. But is he willing to risk everything he is and he believes in to save them?
Once more I have come across a book that has me at odds. Black Hole Sun is a fast and enticing piece of science fiction. It h More...
Nov 29, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
I picked up this book because I couldn't stop thinking of Firefly when I read the synopsis. It turned out to remind me of it in a lot of good ways. It agglomerated world cultures together in a similar way, but with more focus on Indian culture; Gill made Mars a vivid and believable world with a social hierarchy that rang true. The Regulators were a cool idea, well-developed, and the slow release of Durango's past made the book more suspenseful than it would have been just as an action novel. How
More...
Aug 21, 2011
Cheri
rated it:
I LOVE THIS BOOK.
I was in such a state of euphoria after reading BLACK HOLE SUN I forgot to add it to Goodreads when I read it earlier this year--making up for it now!
The action, the pacing, the characters (Oh, Durango--there'll never be another like you) the world, the concept... the whole enchilada (not to be confused with the author's other book SOUL ENCHILADA) I loved it all!
Honestly, it's one big bundle of literary awesome! I don't think I took a full breath More...
I was in such a state of euphoria after reading BLACK HOLE SUN I forgot to add it to Goodreads when I read it earlier this year--making up for it now!
The action, the pacing, the characters (Oh, Durango--there'll never be another like you) the world, the concept... the whole enchilada (not to be confused with the author's other book SOUL ENCHILADA) I loved it all!
Honestly, it's one big bundle of literary awesome! I don't think I took a full breath More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Nov 04, 2010
Christianne
rated it:
Durango is a Regulator living on Mars of the future, colonized and terraformed by Earthers. Disgraced by the actions of his father, he now roams the planet looking for paying mercenary gigs with Vienne, a regulator and Durango’s love interest, and Mimi, an artificial intelligence grafted onto this brain. When a group of miners ask for his help protecting them from the half-human Draeu cannibals, Durango, driven by the Regulator tenets to help the helpless, can’t turn them down. He talks regulato
More...
Aug 01, 2010
Carrie
rated it:
I won this signed ARC on first-reads.
When I started BLACK HOLE SUN, by David Macinnis Gill, I began taking notes, (as I do with all books that I win), but as I got into the story, I couldn’t stop to write because I was so hooked into the tale.
Mars is now our earth but nothing like the once lush planet that was abandoned. It is a dark and dirty place and the people that live there are very much the same, rough and savage like.
Because of his father’s past, Du More...
When I started BLACK HOLE SUN, by David Macinnis Gill, I began taking notes, (as I do with all books that I win), but as I got into the story, I couldn’t stop to write because I was so hooked into the tale.
Mars is now our earth but nothing like the once lush planet that was abandoned. It is a dark and dirty place and the people that live there are very much the same, rough and savage like.
Because of his father’s past, Du More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 20, 2010
Elizabeth
rated it:
Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill is a YA sci-fi novel set on a terraformed Mars of the future. Durango is a disgraced Regulator who takes on mercenary jobs to get by, with the help of his AI Mimi and his former squad mate Vienne.
When a colony of miners ask them for help, Durango and Vienne take the low paying, dangerous job because they can't turn away people in need. Both characters are flawed but brave, and it is easy to root for them (and hope they get together in the end, of More...
When a colony of miners ask them for help, Durango and Vienne take the low paying, dangerous job because they can't turn away people in need. Both characters are flawed but brave, and it is easy to root for them (and hope they get together in the end, of More...
