What do you think?
Rate this book
Star*Drive
Gridrunner (A Star*Drive
She's a gridrunner - a black market courier trading in data. But now she's caught between gun-running terrorists and a crime syndicate.
For Sable, with death on every side, it'll be the run of her life.
For Sable, with death on every side, it'll be the run of her life.
- GenresScience FictionCyberpunk
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
25 people want to read
About the author
Thomas M. Reid
54 books59 followersThomas M. Reid grew up in Dallas, Texas as an enthusiastic Dungeons & Dragons player. He performed at Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival with his high school jazz band. After obtaining a degree in history at the University of Texas in 1989, he moved to Wisconsin and began working for TSR, Inc., a Dungeons & Dragons publisher, then moved on to be an editor for Dragon, a Dungeons & Dragons magazine. Not long after, he moved back to Texas to be a freelance roleplaying game writer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 15, 2021
This book is part of the Star*Drive series. For the most part these books can be read as stand-alone. This one is different than the others in two ways. First, it takes place mostly on one planet with only one spaceflight which is mostly just mentioned in passing. Secondly, this book is more of a cyberpunk novel rather than a space opera. In this one Sable, a female black-market courier, journeys to the Verge to enter the virtual reality world of the Grid to deliver a pair of data crystals to her mysterious contact, The Fool. When the exchange goes awry, she is forced into a perilous alliance with Lazarus, an undercover agent, to battle a crime syndicate, gunrunning terrorists, and her own sadistic employer.
I usually do not like cyberpunk novels but I enjoyed this one very much.
I usually do not like cyberpunk novels but I enjoyed this one very much.
Read
May 21, 2025How? I own almost everything else in the Alternity line, and saw this at the used book store, and I was a little excited about getting a complete City of Greyhawk box set for a good price.
What? Star*Drive was the generic space opera setting for Alternity, featuring big spaceships, fragile coalitions, weird aliens, a threat from beyond known space. But it was also the (late) 90s, so they had hacking rules.
So only natural that they would commission a cyberpunk novel for that setting. What that means is that, instead of wide open space adventures, most of the action takes place in one cyberpunk city/planet, with a hard-bitten secret cop teaming up with a traumatized gridrunner (except he's also a gridrunner, arguably better than she is) to take down a conspiracy that goes all the way...
(One of the reviews here says that the reviewer read this book multiple times and really likes it, though it's a bit cliche.)
Yeah, so? This is, in many ways, a perfectly serviceable book for an RPG tie-in: it certainly shows what an adventure in this game system could be, with some combat, some sneaking around, some interpersonal rolls, and of course, hacking.
It really does fall down for me by being so very cliche, with the main female character being defined by her trauma, which motivated her, but also motivates the guy, who has all her skills, but better. There's some things in here that could be used to make a fun adventure, but ... I wish this had been a short story.
What? Star*Drive was the generic space opera setting for Alternity, featuring big spaceships, fragile coalitions, weird aliens, a threat from beyond known space. But it was also the (late) 90s, so they had hacking rules.
So only natural that they would commission a cyberpunk novel for that setting. What that means is that, instead of wide open space adventures, most of the action takes place in one cyberpunk city/planet, with a hard-bitten secret cop teaming up with a traumatized gridrunner (except he's also a gridrunner, arguably better than she is) to take down a conspiracy that goes all the way...
(One of the reviews here says that the reviewer read this book multiple times and really likes it, though it's a bit cliche.)
Yeah, so? This is, in many ways, a perfectly serviceable book for an RPG tie-in: it certainly shows what an adventure in this game system could be, with some combat, some sneaking around, some interpersonal rolls, and of course, hacking.
It really does fall down for me by being so very cliche, with the main female character being defined by her trauma, which motivated her, but also motivates the guy, who has all her skills, but better. There's some things in here that could be used to make a fun adventure, but ... I wish this had been a short story.
December 13, 2007
The character development is a bit wierd so far. The flashbacks are kind of annoying, but that is only because I find the story so interesting. This girl seems like a psychopath, she is almost crazy about her brother.
It wont take me long to finish though since it's only 300 pages and the words are a bit larger.
edit: couldn't finish this one. It sort of lost me half way through and I am just not interested in finishing it. The first half was excellent but the second half didn't live up to my expectations.
On to a better book. Skip this one.
It wont take me long to finish though since it's only 300 pages and the words are a bit larger.
edit: couldn't finish this one. It sort of lost me half way through and I am just not interested in finishing it. The first half was excellent but the second half didn't live up to my expectations.
On to a better book. Skip this one.
May 15, 2013
Gridrunner is a gritty and fairly awesome cyberpunk novel that I've read several times. It was one of the first books I read simply for the joy of it, and I've had a soft spot for it ever since. Though it won't be breaking any best-seller records, it's got quality writing and some savvy (if somewhat dated) sci-fi technology that reminds me of the work from Michael Crichton.
The characters and plot are interesting if a tad cliche, but anyone who enjoys the gritty, cyberpunk setting should give this a read.
The characters and plot are interesting if a tad cliche, but anyone who enjoys the gritty, cyberpunk setting should give this a read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews