William C. Dietz's Runner is decent science fiction: decent plot, decent characters, decent technology, decent writing. Everything about the book was, well, decent. If it sounds as if I'm damning with faint praise it's because I am. This was a book I finished only because it's the sort of book I can read very fast. There was nothing particularly bad about it but also nothing particularly good. The characters were mostly believable but there was nothing organic about the. The writing was passable but surely not memorable (no phrase savoring here, move along). The plot was a standard "make a journey and pick up allies and enemies and learn things about yourself on the way" and the science was neither deeply explored nor central to the plot. Maybe you'll love it, but there are better books out there to read.