Drifter's Run

Drifter #2

by William C. Dietz

Fact: If you kill someone important, there'll be a price on your head.

Lando was no stranger to trouble. It was his business: Smuggling, Conning, Running for his life.

Fact: If every man, woman and cyborg is looking for you, they'll probably find you.

That's what Lando was trying to avoid. So he took a piloting job on a space tug. Figured he could lay low.

Fact: Never trust the facts.

Now the government of Ithro wants Lando's head. And a beautiful bounty hunter wants Lando's body. It's not easy being a fugitive.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction

197 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

New 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.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one a little better than the first in this series, which was just called Drifter. Dietz creates appealing characters. There's a little girl named Melissa in this one who is really great. The writing is good. I think the main thing that keeps this from earning more stars is that it's very episodic. There's not a whole lot of "through" plot, meaning a single arc that continues all the way through. The ending of this one is a good example. Pik and his companions suddenly come upon an alien spaceship. Though I enjoyed the part with the alien ship, it just came out of nowhere, short circuiting the plot arc that I thought was coming to fruition. I did enjoy it fairly well and will start book 3 next. Hopefully there is a trilogy arc that is completed.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Drifter series by William C. Dietz. In this one Pik Lando is on the run from bounty hunters. He is accused of murder when it was in fact self defense. To try and hide from them he joins the crew of a deep space tug/salvage spaceship with a crew consisting of a drunk Captain, his 11 year old daughter and an engineer who is a cyborg. What could go wrong? A good read in this series and in the Space Opera genre.

[saintlouis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent space opera

Pic is at it again, busy being chased by bounty hunters, cyborgs and making new friends and finding salvage gold. This time, just maybe, he may find love and adopt a family.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very formulaic. Action was stilted and characters also. If you are looking for a poolside read it will do.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, light read. Do not expect Hugo material here, but some good adventures and interesting characters. 3.5 stars.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as the first?

Pick lando is on the run. But keeps making bad decisions. Manages to make and lose fortunes. I thought empires would be well run in the future?

[Ivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked "Drifter" enough to pick up this sequel and give it a read. This book remembers the continuity established by its predecessor, but it doesn't pick up immediately where it left off. Instead, we join Pik Lando sometime later, when he's on the run and down on his luck. Even his beautiful new ship is gone.

Dietz's writing style doesn't change much, remaining at times satisfying and at times distracting. He does well in describing his characters, but very few of them really have very much development. Luckily, the ones who are developed to any great extent are the most important ones in the story.

The way this book is written makes each chapter feel like a new episode of an ongoing TV series. It seems as though Dietz couldn't think of any other way to flesh this book's story out, so he threw in a bunch of hardly consequential sub-plots that usually end the chapter after they begin. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it isn't exactly an award-winning idea, either.

The plot, such as it is, involves Lando joining the tiny crew of a tug ship called, appropriately, the Junk. The Captain spends most of his time inebriated, the engineer, Cy, is a floating cyborg orb (see the cover) and most of the business stuff is taken care of by the Captain's young daughter Melissa, who hires Lando. Lando proves to be a more effective father figure than Melissa's own father, and this is one of the really good points of the book. The relationship they build is a solid one, and it's hard to not feel sympathy for Melissa.

The book also has a few more humorous moments in it than the previous one, especially with Cy and various other machines. Cy, in fact, is good mainly for getting himself into trouble, though he manages to redeem himself in a big way later on.

This book ranks about equal with the first one. I may check out the third one at some point.

[SFReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a while there, in the late 80s and early 90s, space adventure with the eponymous anti-hero seemed to be all the rage. We had a whole new crop of writers resurrecting what used to be a popular sub-genre: Iain M. Banks, Orson Scott Card, Dan Simmons, Stephen Baxter, Peter F. Hamilton just to name a few. Even established authors found a reason to breath new life into old creations. Take the Stainless Steel Rat series as an example.

Read more at SFReader.com: Drifter's Run, by William C. Dietz

[John Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The transitions for the main protagonist are great, the action is good, and it was a quick read. I can't wait to read what happens in the third book (Drifter's War).

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lando acquires a family, nice action bits.

[David]

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