Dark Run

A fun adventure with an entertaining crew of tropes. It could be set anywhere so it suffers from being science fiction in setting only as the story is your basic anti-hero group of outlaws trying to get by. Still, there is some panache here and a few compelling characters to keep you engaged. I will read the next one.

NB: repost as review found offsite from Aug 18:

I bought a copy of Dark Run after hearing Mike talking as part of a panel about the concepts he’d played with in it - the notion that in a world where radio waves were slower than space travel, so news could only move as fast as the quickest ship to take it. So was born a wild-west style version of space. And that is exactly what Dark Run provides - it reminded me a lot, in some ways, of Firefly, with the motley crew whose activities are not always strictly in line with the law.

The book is very fast paced - as other reviews I’ve seen have indicated. No surprise when the whole plot is happening within quite a short time frame. Yet I did find it a bit too fast at times and wondered how show more they got from A to B - this was always filled in through some reflection.

I particularly loved the really diverse crew that make up the main characters. I had high hopes for this on the basis of where I’d heard Mike speak, and there is a real mix of strong characters, both male and female from a wide range of backgrounds. The females come more fully into their own as the book develops and I really enjoyed the character arc for Jenna, the newbie to the crew. My absolute favourite was the lovable Apirana, a massive Maori hufflepuff. That said, there’s a big crew and limited space in the book, so I suspect there’s a lot more we can find out about them in future books.

Overall, really fun read and would recommend. show less

Brooks clearly loved the Firefly series beyond all reason, but that's no reason not to go ahead and be inspired to write what is essentially solid fan fiction. And as I loved Firefly and there are just enough differences in the characters and their histories (although just barely) to keep me entertained, I'm on board for book 2. So, yeah, it's space opera, mischief and derring do and that's about it. Nothing original about it, but the characters engage and the writing, while loaded with 'whilsts' is steady as she goes. I don't go below three stars, so this is readable. It's the sort of thing that once you've had your fill, you can't read more of, though. Glad we had this from the library, not boughten.***

Dark Run by Mike Brooks is a fun science fiction novel I initially picked up at the library. It's a quick book, one that's fast paced and fun, which I finished in only a couple of sittings.

Dark Run is a science fiction novel about Captain Ichabod Drift and his crew aboard the Keiko. Drift is given an offer he can’t refuse, not if he wants to walk out alive. It’ll be difficult, but doable. Just pick up the goods and drop them off on Earth. And then he can leave his past behind him where it belongs. But of course, things aren’t that easy, and the past has a way of never quite staying buried.

This science fiction novel is a fun romp through space. The story is told in third person, mostly from Drift’s point of view but switching to show more a few other characters as well. It opens with a bang, showing off the books strengths. The book moves along at a pretty steady pace the whole way through. One or two sections felt as if they moved a little slowly, but at no point did it feel like the plot dragged.

The story is a gritty story, one filled with smugglers, corrupt politicians, mercenaries, and their ilk. The majority of the characters move in shades of gray. For the most part, they are not wholesome or terribly admirable people from a moralistic standpoint. Many of them have pasts they’d rather not speak about hence one of, if not the, most important rule aboard the Keiko. No one will ever ask about your past. You don’t have to tell anyone. This is a fresh start, and as long as you can pull your weight, there no questions are asked. This is something that’s very important to more than one member of the crew. Some of them are running. Others want a fresh start. But all of them respect that rule.

I’ve seen this idea mentioned in other books, but the effects of it are felt the most in Dark Run. The theme is used to its fullest ability here. This is something important to them on a very personal level. Though some of the characters aboard the ship have worked together for nearly a decade, their backgrounds are hazy at best. Events in the story test the bonds they have and force the characters to question how well they know and trust one another. This brings up some interesting questions about people and how well you know them. Does a person’s pasts matter all that much? Is it a betrayal if important life events area never brought up? Do events prior to meeting someone change your perception, trust, or caring for another once they are discovered?

This is, in my opinion, probably the novel’s strongest point. The characters are all very interesting people, with varied backgrounds and wildly differing personalities. Some of them fall into known archetypes, but they are bursting with personality. All are rather memorable, with their own quirks, their own close friends aboard the ship, and plenty of back and forth banter. To be honest, the only character I didn't always like was the main character, Ichabod Drift. There was nothing about him I particularly disliked, but at the same time he was a bit more archetypal and predictable than some of his crew.

While the novel isn’t necessarily ground breaking in any ways, it knows what it is and does it well. This is a space western, perhaps a bit formulaic in plot and characters. In this case I don’t think this works against the novel. Perhaps we can tell the general direction the plot is going, but it’s still fun getting there. The characters have a lot of personality and, whether you like them or hate them, it is they who carry this story.

In all, this was a fun tale. Dark Run by Mike Brooks was an enjoyable read. Perhaps not the most original book I've read all year, but fun nonetheless. Will I pick up the next book in the series? Yeah, probably. If you like science fiction, especially space westerns, then this might be a book to check out. If you don't like space westerns this may not be the book you're looking for.

This review and more can be found on Looking Glass Reads. show less

Dark Run by Mike Brooks is a fun science fiction novel I initially picked up at the library. It's a quick book, one that's fast paced and fun, which I finished in only a couple of sittings.

Dark Run is a science fiction novel about Captain Ichabod Drift and his crew aboard the Keiko. Drift is given an offer he can’t refuse, not if he wants to walk out alive. It’ll be difficult, but doable. Just pick up the goods and drop them off on Earth. And then he can leave his past behind him where it belongs. But of course, things aren’t that easy, and the past has a way of never quite staying buried.

This science fiction novel is a fun romp through space. The story is told in third person, mostly from Drift’s point of view but switching to show more a few other characters as well. It opens with a bang, showing off the books strengths. The book moves along at a pretty steady pace the whole way through. One or two sections felt as if they moved a little slowly, but at no point did it feel like the plot dragged.

The story is a gritty story, one filled with smugglers, corrupt politicians, mercenaries, and their ilk. The majority of the characters move in shades of gray. For the most part, they are not wholesome or terribly admirable people from a moralistic standpoint. Many of them have pasts they’d rather not speak about hence one of, if not the, most important rule aboard the Keiko. No one will ever ask about your past. You don’t have to tell anyone. This is a fresh start, and as long as you can pull your weight, there no questions are asked. This is something that’s very important to more than one member of the crew. Some of them are running. Others want a fresh start. But all of them respect that rule.

I’ve seen this idea mentioned in other books, but the effects of it are felt the most in Dark Run. The theme is used to its fullest ability here. This is something important to them on a very personal level. Though some of the characters aboard the ship have worked together for nearly a decade, their backgrounds are hazy at best. Events in the story test the bonds they have and force the characters to question how well they know and trust one another. This brings up some interesting questions about people and how well you know them. Does a person’s pasts matter all that much? Is it a betrayal if important life events area never brought up? Do events prior to meeting someone change your perception, trust, or caring for another once they are discovered?

This is, in my opinion, probably the novel’s strongest point. The characters are all very interesting people, with varied backgrounds and wildly differing personalities. Some of them fall into known archetypes, but they are bursting with personality. All are rather memorable, with their own quirks, their own close friends aboard the ship, and plenty of back and forth banter. To be honest, the only character I didn't always like was the main character, Ichabod Drift. There was nothing about him I particularly disliked, but at the same time he was a bit more archetypal and predictable than some of his crew.

While the novel isn’t necessarily ground breaking in any ways, it knows what it is and does it well. This is a space western, perhaps a bit formulaic in plot and characters. In this case I don’t think this works against the novel. Perhaps we can tell the general direction the plot is going, but it’s still fun getting there. The characters have a lot of personality and, whether you like them or hate them, it is they who carry this story.

In all, this was a fun tale. Dark Run by Mike Brooks was an enjoyable read. Perhaps not the most original book I've read all year, but fun nonetheless. Will I pick up the next book in the series? Yeah, probably. If you like science fiction, especially space westerns, then this might be a book to check out. If you don't like space westerns this may not be the book you're looking for. show less

How do you describe "Dark Run"....it was like an episode of Firefly, but where the science wasn't all goofy (sorry, Browncoats, but what the hell, all of the habitable planets are in the same...solar system....? That's not even space fantasy, that's just crap)(I cannot believe I just took this time to rant on Firefly, a show I actually love).

But Dark Run - it's that. Firefly, better science, lots of quick action packed into a tiny space. Be careful with the analogy, though, because you'll find yourself typecasting characters from one to the other, and then you'll just have conflicts on how to feel.

Set in a grungy future where just because Man has achieved interstellar flight it doesn't mean that the geopolitical conflicts of Earth have been left behind; if only because inhabitable worlds are damn rare. This is the set-up for this caper novel where Ichabod Drift, master of the ship "Keiko," is given an offer that he can't refuse and that is probably meant to be the death of him. Is this story stereotypical; yes. It doesn't mean that this isn't fun though.