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Loading... Hunter's Runby George R. R. Martin
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  devilwrites | May 24, 2009 |  If only I could cut out the middle. There is a lot of swearing/adult content (i.e. domestic violence is normalized) which makes it unsuitable for younger people, but the lack of sophistication through the middle part of the story makes it too young for most adult readers (i.e. any reasonable adult would not keep trying to solve every problem with violence). If you've read C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet you'll definitely see in the middle part of the story where at least one of these authors was influenced by that with his "describe the alien and every event in which it is involved with the highest conceivable level of detail." In this segment, the descriptions of urination, laughter, or "being a man" is excessive and makes for very tedious reading. The first 1/3 and the last 1/3 show there is a decent story line in here with some surprises and an interesting premise. Excluding the middle part, it has a tone similar to Richard Morgan's Market Forces or Thirteen. If it had consisted of only the first and last parts, I'd have given this story a 4 or 4.5. (  ) crazybatcow | May 19, 2009 | Review by Christine Tursky Gordon. Hunter’s Run has a thoroughly dislikable main character, so dislikable that I nearly put down the book. But hang in there. Hunter’s Run blends thriller and mystery in an intriguing story that examines what it means to be human, the power of self-redemption, and the paths in life that—in the end—we choose not to take. It’s not heavy handed; the story is fast paced and engaging. Minerals prospector Ramon Espejo is on the run in the wilderness of an alien world when he encounters something terrifying and coldly ruthless. Enjoy the way the plot unfolds—the first big surprise is a good one. Just as interesting as the book itself is the story of how it was written. How do three very different authors create such a congruently written tale? Dozois started developing the story in 1976. The next stage of the story grew in collaboration with Martin around 1980 and 1981. It was twenty years later that Abraham was brought into the mix, in 2002. Dozois had the final pass and the pleasure of watching his short story idea grow into a novella and then a full novel with the space to pull out some of the issues in detail that couldn’t be properly explored in a shorter piece. AurealisMagazine | Feb 19, 2009 | At the beginning the story is not an atractive one. The main character is a drunkard mexican who kills with a knife an unarmed ambassador in a bar brawl. The vocabulary is full of strong words in english and spanish. But the authors manage to focus the reader's interest on the character and the story that thickens page after page. At the end of the book the reader sympathizes with the main character that's been by then much developed. The aliens are present, and play a role in the story. But the story is about Ramón Espejo and his nature, and his struggle to become a better one. I really liked the book. This edition is not a luxury edition but it has a good quality hardcover, paper, printing and two excelent full color illustrations. And it's signed by the three authors. (  ) garalgar | Jun 14, 2008 | Thought-provoking story. Some spoilers follow in comments. This story does an effective job of painting a mostly unsympathetic protagonist, and his subtle transition into a place of having scruples, ethics, and working towards a higher purpose than just his own self-interest. This is put into stark relief when the (cloned) character has to interact with his original, who is still a mean-spirited murderous low-life. The interactions the clone has had, and his reactions which awaken him to a sense of conscience, are so delicately interwoven that it is impossible to pin down the moment when this shift in character happens. This metamorphosis is very delicately handled by the authors, who use interactions with aliens and the colonization of a new world to explore the issues of how one lives one's experience and what one gets out of it. It also does a great job of evoking truly alien cultures and thought processes. There are many layers of meaning tucked away in this story - I find it mildly haunting, in the way a good book is that provokes one to think long after you've put the book down. Highly recommended. ( )1  Teramis | Apr 15, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 006137329X, Hardcover)Like so many others, Ramón Espejo ran from the poverty and hopelessness of the Third World to the promise of a new world—joining a host of like-minded workers and dreamers aboard one of the great starships of the mysterious, repulsive Enye. But the life he found on the far-off planet of São Paulo was no better than the one he had abandoned. Tough, volatile, and angry—a luckless prospector hoping for that one rich strike that will make him wealthy—Ramón is content only when on his own out in the bush, far from the dirty, loud, bustling hive of humanity that he detests with sociopathic fervor. Then one night his rage and too much alcohol get the better of him, resulting in sudden bloodshed and a high-profile murder. Ramón is forced to flee into the wilderness for however long it will take for the furor to die down. Here, mercifully, almost happily alone, Ramón is once again free. But while searching for his long-elusive lode, he stumbles upon something completely unexpected: a highly advanced alien race in hiding; fugitives like himself on a world not their own. Suddenly in possession of a powerful, dangerous secret, Ramón must battle for his freedom from alien captors and also against the hostile and unpredictable planet. And so the chase begins. Police, fugitive aliens, and a human murderer weave a web of shifting alliances as Ramón enters the greatest manhunt the alien world of São Paulo has ever known. If he is to survive, Ramón must overcome inscrutable aliens and deadly predators, but his greatest enemy is himself. With every move in the desperate game, he struggles to outwit his enemies and solve the mystery of a murder he himself committed. A rip-roaring adventure tale and character study of a fascinating and twisted mind, Hunter's Run showcases three masters of the form at their best. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:57 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
My Rating
Worth the Cash: for a book written by three people, it's pretty seamless, and the Afterword and Author Q&A sections at the end are a must, because they really shed light on the process it took to get this book written, as well as the motivations of the authors and what each author brought to the table. The story itself is solid and stand-alone, and if you're a fan of anti-heroes, you're gonna like Ramón Espejo in spite of everything he does to convince you otherwise. I love how this book is populated by colonists from Mexican and South America, and how the aliens are truly alien, almost to the point you wish they were a little more human so you could understand them better. But in the end, this story is a journey story: a outer one, in which Ramón is on a manhunt and fighting for his very survival, and an inner one, in which Ramón is forced to examine who and what he is and come to grips with himself in ways that most characters in most books don't have to do. It's a satisfying read, and I'm glad I took a chance on it.
Review style: once again, I'll divide the review into what I liked and what I didn't. PLEASE NOTE: the "what I like" section will contain NO spoilers, whereas the "what I didn't like" section WILL contain spoilers.
The full review may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.
REVIEW: HUNTER'S RUN by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, and Daniel Abraham
Happy Reading! (