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Run #2
Logos Run
Runner Jak Rebo is on a mission to deliver the legendary A.I. known as Logos to a mysterious backwater planet. Once there, Logos can restore the system of star gates that once knitted the settled worlds of the universe together. But as the Techno Society wars with murderous antitechnics, Rebo gets caught in the middle-and all he can do is run.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
17 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
About the author
William C. Dietz
126 books454 followersNew York Times bestselling author William C. Dietz has published more than fifty novels, some of which have been translated into German, Russian, and Japanese. He grew up in the Seattle area, served as a medic with the Navy and Marine Corps, graduated from the University of Washington, and has been employed as a surgical technician, college instructor, and television news writer, director and producer. Before becoming a full-time writer Dietz was director of public relations and marketing for an international telephone company. He and his wife live near Gig Harbor, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 29, 2008
Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera
This was a disappointment, given how much I loved the first in the series, _Runner_. The characters in this book behaved in illogical and un-characteristic ways. For example, in the beginning of the book Lonni Norr picks a fight in a theatre with the circus master 'cause he was treating his animals badly. This is inconsistent with her general "conflict avoidance" behavior in the first book, and it was not previously set up as a hot-button issue for her (nor was it treated as such for the rest of the book!) It felt to me like the author simply needed to create conflict between Norr/Rebo's group and the circus group so as to have something interesting to talk about on the next space-journey, and this was a convenient excuse. Second, there was no need for Hoggles to be in love with Norr, he already had a perfectly reasonable reason for traveling with Norr & Rebo explained in the first book. It seemed to me that the only reason to say he was in love with Norr was to make her feel guiltier when he unnecessarily (imo) died.
I think the end was a cop-out. Norr & Rebo failed in their quest and inadvertently caused the destruction of the space station/fake moon that was the sole source of tides (and therefore energy) for at least half of a planet. But because they escaped and had each other they were happy?!? Rebo might be callous enough for that, but if Norr was, she would never have embarked on the quest in the first place.
Finally, I feel like the book tried to be a space opera, but failed at having an emotional center. I missed Lee as a character - in _Runner_ everything gelled around him. This book had no such heart. I think Dietz tried to make Lonni & Rebo's relationship into that, but there was only one trial to their relationship which was resolved rather inexplicably and in the middle of the book.
This was a disappointment, given how much I loved the first in the series, _Runner_. The characters in this book behaved in illogical and un-characteristic ways. For example, in the beginning of the book Lonni Norr picks a fight in a theatre with the circus master 'cause he was treating his animals badly. This is inconsistent with her general "conflict avoidance" behavior in the first book, and it was not previously set up as a hot-button issue for her (nor was it treated as such for the rest of the book!) It felt to me like the author simply needed to create conflict between Norr/Rebo's group and the circus group so as to have something interesting to talk about on the next space-journey, and this was a convenient excuse. Second, there was no need for Hoggles to be in love with Norr, he already had a perfectly reasonable reason for traveling with Norr & Rebo explained in the first book. It seemed to me that the only reason to say he was in love with Norr was to make her feel guiltier when he unnecessarily (imo) died.
I think the end was a cop-out. Norr & Rebo failed in their quest and inadvertently caused the destruction of the space station/fake moon that was the sole source of tides (and therefore energy) for at least half of a planet. But because they escaped and had each other they were happy?!? Rebo might be callous enough for that, but if Norr was, she would never have embarked on the quest in the first place.
Finally, I feel like the book tried to be a space opera, but failed at having an emotional center. I missed Lee as a character - in _Runner_ everything gelled around him. This book had no such heart. I think Dietz tried to make Lonni & Rebo's relationship into that, but there was only one trial to their relationship which was resolved rather inexplicably and in the middle of the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2013
Runs right off a cliff. If you hoped this second entry would develop on the interesting world...you'd be wrong. Full of promise, the book throws its characters (and promise) out an airlock in one of the worst endings of any series I've read in a long time. Find your logos elsewhere and just run.
September 8, 2024
3 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
Jak Rebo, transuniversal message runner, the 'sensitive' Loni Norr, and their companion 'heavy' Hoggles are on the search for powerful AI Logos so that they can reestablish a network of stargates that's mostly fallen apart. But the powerful Techno Society that controls the remaining gates wants to use the network for its own purposes.
Review
I liked Logos Run better on this second read than the first time around, almost two decades back. But, more than it’s predecessor, it feels like a mish-mash of familiar concepts forced into a road trip format.
It’s a shame, because Dietz drops the most interesting part of the worldbuilding – the decaying, autonomous, interstellar ships. Even the barely functioning stargate network that could supplant or revive the ships is primarily a backdrop for an adventure story. Dietz takes a moderate stab at a character-based story, but the characters never really develop. And, in the same way as the first book, the story ends very abruptly, with little effort to resolve larger matters like the fate of humanity, which the quest has nominally been in service of. He also doesn’t to much to resolve the character arcs, flat though they are.
As with the first book, this is made up largely of set pieces – the characters travel, get in trouble, resolve it, repeat. At some points (namely when they encounter the floating pyramids of the cover), there’s little attempt at logic in the setups.
It’s all fine, but also smacks strongly of missed opportunity – I’d have liked to hear more about the ships. And I felt a substantial resonance with Roger Zelazny’s second Amber quintet, which if I recall correctly also featured a search for a powerful AI named Logos. In the end, what we’re left with is a decent but forgettable adventure.
Summary
Jak Rebo, transuniversal message runner, the 'sensitive' Loni Norr, and their companion 'heavy' Hoggles are on the search for powerful AI Logos so that they can reestablish a network of stargates that's mostly fallen apart. But the powerful Techno Society that controls the remaining gates wants to use the network for its own purposes.
Review
I liked Logos Run better on this second read than the first time around, almost two decades back. But, more than it’s predecessor, it feels like a mish-mash of familiar concepts forced into a road trip format.
It’s a shame, because Dietz drops the most interesting part of the worldbuilding – the decaying, autonomous, interstellar ships. Even the barely functioning stargate network that could supplant or revive the ships is primarily a backdrop for an adventure story. Dietz takes a moderate stab at a character-based story, but the characters never really develop. And, in the same way as the first book, the story ends very abruptly, with little effort to resolve larger matters like the fate of humanity, which the quest has nominally been in service of. He also doesn’t to much to resolve the character arcs, flat though they are.
As with the first book, this is made up largely of set pieces – the characters travel, get in trouble, resolve it, repeat. At some points (namely when they encounter the floating pyramids of the cover), there’s little attempt at logic in the setups.
It’s all fine, but also smacks strongly of missed opportunity – I’d have liked to hear more about the ships. And I felt a substantial resonance with Roger Zelazny’s second Amber quintet, which if I recall correctly also featured a search for a powerful AI named Logos. In the end, what we’re left with is a decent but forgettable adventure.
November 23, 2014
Lots of action, like its predecessor, but the whole story is literally a "run" and so gets really loooooong. One major good guy gets killed off, but being as the dead aren't at all out of the picture in this universe that's more poignant than annoying. And the story ends in a good place after all kinds of fights and massive explosions! Enjoyable if sort of exhausting.
January 29, 2026
Tome 2 de la série Run
jack Rebo est en mission. Il doit, avec l'aide de Lonni, une sensitive, et de Hoggles, un géant costaud, amener l'intelligence artificielle (AI) Logos à un point nodal où elle pourrait réactiver le réseau de portes spatiales de l'ancien empire. Mais d'autres sont sur leur piste pour se servir de Logos à leurs propres fins. Et c'est sans compter les fanatiques anti technologistes qui torturent et mettent à mort toute personne avec un soupçon de technologie.
Un monde en décrépitude avec quelques ruines de son ancienne splendeur comme les rares vaisseaux spatiaux gigantesques, qui existent encore, dirigées par AI sur leur parcours routinier ou les quelques portes spatiales qui fonctionnent encore. Mais l'usure et la perte de connaissances diminuent les quelques rares objets encore fonctionnels. Et c'est sans compter les différents variants humains créés avec une technologie génétique maintenant disparue. Mais logos est une AI de l'ancienne splendeur et ses capacités sont insoupçonnées. Le trajet est long et peuplé d'embuches. Jack atteindra t'il le but fixé ?
Un roman avec pas mal d'actions et qui se lit bien. Par contre, deux points m'ont déplu : Des personnes depuis longtemps disparus peuvent s'exprimer à travers certaines personnes sensitives et même diriger leurs actions (cela agresse mon sens scientifique) et l'auteur utilise un peu trop souvent des retournements de situation qui viennent de nulle part (un peu des deus ex machina).
J'ai aimé et je ne boude pas mon plaisir, mais les points soulevés ont nui à mon appréciation.
jack Rebo est en mission. Il doit, avec l'aide de Lonni, une sensitive, et de Hoggles, un géant costaud, amener l'intelligence artificielle (AI) Logos à un point nodal où elle pourrait réactiver le réseau de portes spatiales de l'ancien empire. Mais d'autres sont sur leur piste pour se servir de Logos à leurs propres fins. Et c'est sans compter les fanatiques anti technologistes qui torturent et mettent à mort toute personne avec un soupçon de technologie.
Un monde en décrépitude avec quelques ruines de son ancienne splendeur comme les rares vaisseaux spatiaux gigantesques, qui existent encore, dirigées par AI sur leur parcours routinier ou les quelques portes spatiales qui fonctionnent encore. Mais l'usure et la perte de connaissances diminuent les quelques rares objets encore fonctionnels. Et c'est sans compter les différents variants humains créés avec une technologie génétique maintenant disparue. Mais logos est une AI de l'ancienne splendeur et ses capacités sont insoupçonnées. Le trajet est long et peuplé d'embuches. Jack atteindra t'il le but fixé ?
Un roman avec pas mal d'actions et qui se lit bien. Par contre, deux points m'ont déplu : Des personnes depuis longtemps disparus peuvent s'exprimer à travers certaines personnes sensitives et même diriger leurs actions (cela agresse mon sens scientifique) et l'auteur utilise un peu trop souvent des retournements de situation qui viennent de nulle part (un peu des deus ex machina).
J'ai aimé et je ne boude pas mon plaisir, mais les points soulevés ont nui à mon appréciation.
December 9, 2022
A future where nukes have destroyed many populated worlds. A strange mix of hi-low tech (single molecule very sharp sword, horses, muskets, energy blasters, abacus, wagons, solar powered surgical devices, anti-grav).
What do you do if you are tech-modified and use tech (including glasses), but there are hordes of anti-tech marauders everywhere? (Understandable since tech was the means of much destruction in the past.)
The main characters keep getting in trouble as they try to deliver an AI (in the form of clothing) to open a star gate. Their personalities are not adequately fleshed out to make me feel or care about them.
This is a strange universe where people's spirits can come back and be used (usually by "sensitives"). This may partially explain why this book has an incredible amount of killing. Sometimes the plot was muddled and jumped around.
Many people make a living as tomb raiders to collect ancient (advanced tech) artifacts.
What do you do if you are tech-modified and use tech (including glasses), but there are hordes of anti-tech marauders everywhere? (Understandable since tech was the means of much destruction in the past.)
The main characters keep getting in trouble as they try to deliver an AI (in the form of clothing) to open a star gate. Their personalities are not adequately fleshed out to make me feel or care about them.
This is a strange universe where people's spirits can come back and be used (usually by "sensitives"). This may partially explain why this book has an incredible amount of killing. Sometimes the plot was muddled and jumped around.
Many people make a living as tomb raiders to collect ancient (advanced tech) artifacts.
July 13, 2018
Dietz, William C. Logos Run. Ace, 2007.
Logos Run is a close sequel to Runner. There are more ghosts and more grumpy AIs and more modified human warriors. This time Rebo and Norr are off in the service of a semi-retired AI that may have the key to restoring reliable instantaneous travel between the stars. If you liked the first one, you will probably go for this one.
Logos Run is a close sequel to Runner. There are more ghosts and more grumpy AIs and more modified human warriors. This time Rebo and Norr are off in the service of a semi-retired AI that may have the key to restoring reliable instantaneous travel between the stars. If you liked the first one, you will probably go for this one.
December 22, 2018
Characters are two-dimensional. However flat characters are not uncommon in this genre. I liked how it encourages thought.
April 27, 2016
Summary: Really enjoyed this one, lost of action, Interesting premise, good characterisations. Some bits were a bit far fetched and there are some gaping holes in the plot, but the whole flowed well, although it could have been shortened a little.
Plotline: Convoluted, twists and turns and a few holes
Premise: Really good, star gates and elderly space ships - love it.
Writing: Good characterisations, lots of well described action, highly readable
Ending: The bad guys got what they deserved, but humanity lost out
Pace: Never a dull moment!
Plotline: Convoluted, twists and turns and a few holes
Premise: Really good, star gates and elderly space ships - love it.
Writing: Good characterisations, lots of well described action, highly readable
Ending: The bad guys got what they deserved, but humanity lost out
Pace: Never a dull moment!
March 25, 2014
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this fast-paced adventure. Dietz' writing-style makes the entire experience feel a lot like watching a movie, and I mean that in a good way. I also like the fact that the main characters are not invincible and things don't always work out the way you would expect.
78/100
78/100
April 22, 2014
This is one of the worst books I've read in years. The Dune books by Brian Herbert have a better voice than this. I love Dietz's Legion books, but the characters just are not believable, the motivations and actions read like a bad D&D game. The ending is I think where Dietz just pushes the whole project off a cliff and gives up.
July 22, 2009
Second in the series, Logos Run was great. Dietz is a terrific author and does and excellent job portraying characters and plots. I highly recommend this to those who enjoy the genre (i.e. Military SciFi ish).
February 2, 2009
This book picked up right where Runner left off and continued the adventures of Jak Rebo and Lonni Norr. I would very much like to see the author return to these characters at some point in the future. It was a fun, quick read and the action never overshadowed the plot.
November 6, 2010
Disappointing ending...seemed like the author just abandoned the idea of the book
December 18, 2008
Almost as good as Runner, the first one.
September 8, 2015
Average sci-fi military adventure, I would change the ending if I had written it, but a good read all the same.
June 16, 2016
The ending was disappointing
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews