I completed Runner of the Void in late 2015. I didn’t touch it for a year and from May 2017–July 2017, I edited and revised it 13 times. I added a five chapter subplot that made the story all the better but ballooned it to 160,000 words. I whittled it down to a 133,000 flat. I could not remove anything else without destroying its foundation.
It is a good book with a different angle, but it is by no means a safe novel. As I’ve described it, it’s Drive meets the Magicians with a dash of Easy Rider. To me, this is friggin awesome. It’s not like a lot of stuff on the market. The closest novel coming out/similar to it is Jade City. And even then Jade City has a different style/focus. The biggest issue with Runner I would say is its writing style/presentation.
“Oh, shit, this is like Drive” is a good thing and a bad thing. The book relies heavily on physicality, back and forth dialogue/conversations, and a healthy dose of internal monologue. I wouldn’t say this bad but for readers looking for a meatier exposition heavy style, you might not find it. But as I’m finishing up Tyrant, the two books couldn’t be any different.
Runner is definitely show heavy.
Tyrant is meaty narration, exposition, and heavy into the characters’ heads. Runner is about physicality, the dialogue, the in between context, and often not going too in depth narration wise because the protagonist’s perspective doesn’t demand it.
I still think Runner is a good book, but I don’t know if it’s a good first book given it’s style and out there pitch.
Ace biker must track down his family’s dark history across his hometown, and deal with his position as a living weapon to prevent the end of his nation again isn’t perfect. But it does still show this a fantasy novel through and through. It’s just presented in a way that isn’t GGK or even Joe Abercrombie.
This Life is Hijacked 