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On the Run
After the police order him to forget his missing wife, Kil Bruner's search leads him to deformed psychos, secret societies of wierd giants, time-warping superhumans, and warring conspiracies ready to destroy Earth
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
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91 people want to read
About the author
Gordon R. Dickson
589 books377 followersGordon Rupert Dickson was an American science fiction author. He was born in Canada, then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota as a teenager. He is probably most famous for his Childe Cycle and the Dragon Knight series. He won three Hugo awards and one Nebula award.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 14, 2014
This had the makings of a very good sci fi novel. In fact, I was going to give it five stars -- until I reached the ending, which was the most anticlimactic ending I've ever read!
The book begins with Kil and Ellen enjoying an anniversary dinner out. Then, somehow, time stops and everyone is frozen in place. Kil watches helplessly as an old man comes out of nowhere and takes Ellen away with him. Then life begins again and Kil spends the rest of the book in search of his beloved wife. First he goes to the World Police. As a "Class A" citizen, he has certain rights. There are three classes of citizens -- A, B, and C. And you have to move around in this novel. Class A's have to move every six months. C's have to move every month. I think this is one of the glaring holes in the novel. Aside from being told the moving around the world so often is to stop people from bombing each other (???), no other good explanation is given. An entity called "Files" has determined this. Anyway, the World Police can't, or won't, help Kil, so he's forced to go to a private detective. This detective tells him as only one person, he's not big enough to find a missing person, but suggested he see an Ace, a leader of another group of people Kil had been unaware of -- Class Ones, Twos, and Threes. They live in the Slums and have to move very frequently. Oh yeah, and everybody has a Key attached to their wrist which they use to access everything from doors to bank accounts. No one can survive in this world without a Key. However, the old man who took Ellen away didn't wear a Key, Kil noted.
Kil goes down to the Slums where he stands out like a sore thumb. He meets with an Ace, and it doesn't go well. He meets a streetwise person named Dekko who he hires to help him. Soon, Dekko has informed him that various Societies exist that could possibly help, as they have so many members. All of these people could be on the lookout for Ellen and find her. So Kil joins the Thieves Guild to get into a Society. There's an even bigger Society that Dekko wants to investigate, and while spying on this group, Kil is captured while Dekko gets away. Kil is hypnotized to bow to the will of Mali, the leader, who wants to enlist Kil's aid in finding out about a group called The Project and something called Sub-E. He thinks Ellen is tied into all of this. Kil eventually escapes.
Soon Kil is taken by the Police and he is interviewed for his mental stability. He's a Stab, as opposed to an Unstab (the lower classes). Since he admits that his search for his wife supersedes his allegiance to The Police, he's reclassified from an A to an Unstab Two and his rights are stripped of him. He's forced to return to the Slums, where he's almost killed. Dekko finds him again, though, and then Mali does too. As they're all talking, the Police raid them and Mali's sister is killed.
I know this sounds very confusing, but it's fairly linear and makes sense while reading. Kil escapes and throws his Key away, living in a cave up in the California mountains. Dekko somehow finds him again (is he magical?), and Kil tells him he wants a submarine to go looking for Ellen. Dekko gets him one, they go under the sea, and find a dwelling at the bottom housing The Project and Ellen. Now I'm not going to give away the ending, but I will mention that Dekko is revealed as the head of the Police, Mali shows up, and a showdown between the three world powers occurs. This is where things become really unsatisfying for me. I just couldn't believe Dickson resorted to his "solution" for solving this world-threatening problem. It's so idealistic, it's beyond comprehension. Maybe when this book was published in 1955, it might have made sense. Maybe I'm too cynical. Maybe I'm hardened and jaded. But this book ended with a whimper after having been a real page turner the whole way through and I am very disappointed. I still cautiously recommend this book to sci fi fans, but there's no way I can give it five stars. Three stars.
The book begins with Kil and Ellen enjoying an anniversary dinner out. Then, somehow, time stops and everyone is frozen in place. Kil watches helplessly as an old man comes out of nowhere and takes Ellen away with him. Then life begins again and Kil spends the rest of the book in search of his beloved wife. First he goes to the World Police. As a "Class A" citizen, he has certain rights. There are three classes of citizens -- A, B, and C. And you have to move around in this novel. Class A's have to move every six months. C's have to move every month. I think this is one of the glaring holes in the novel. Aside from being told the moving around the world so often is to stop people from bombing each other (???), no other good explanation is given. An entity called "Files" has determined this. Anyway, the World Police can't, or won't, help Kil, so he's forced to go to a private detective. This detective tells him as only one person, he's not big enough to find a missing person, but suggested he see an Ace, a leader of another group of people Kil had been unaware of -- Class Ones, Twos, and Threes. They live in the Slums and have to move very frequently. Oh yeah, and everybody has a Key attached to their wrist which they use to access everything from doors to bank accounts. No one can survive in this world without a Key. However, the old man who took Ellen away didn't wear a Key, Kil noted.
Kil goes down to the Slums where he stands out like a sore thumb. He meets with an Ace, and it doesn't go well. He meets a streetwise person named Dekko who he hires to help him. Soon, Dekko has informed him that various Societies exist that could possibly help, as they have so many members. All of these people could be on the lookout for Ellen and find her. So Kil joins the Thieves Guild to get into a Society. There's an even bigger Society that Dekko wants to investigate, and while spying on this group, Kil is captured while Dekko gets away. Kil is hypnotized to bow to the will of Mali, the leader, who wants to enlist Kil's aid in finding out about a group called The Project and something called Sub-E. He thinks Ellen is tied into all of this. Kil eventually escapes.
Soon Kil is taken by the Police and he is interviewed for his mental stability. He's a Stab, as opposed to an Unstab (the lower classes). Since he admits that his search for his wife supersedes his allegiance to The Police, he's reclassified from an A to an Unstab Two and his rights are stripped of him. He's forced to return to the Slums, where he's almost killed. Dekko finds him again, though, and then Mali does too. As they're all talking, the Police raid them and Mali's sister is killed.
I know this sounds very confusing, but it's fairly linear and makes sense while reading. Kil escapes and throws his Key away, living in a cave up in the California mountains. Dekko somehow finds him again (is he magical?), and Kil tells him he wants a submarine to go looking for Ellen. Dekko gets him one, they go under the sea, and find a dwelling at the bottom housing The Project and Ellen. Now I'm not going to give away the ending, but I will mention that Dekko is revealed as the head of the Police, Mali shows up, and a showdown between the three world powers occurs. This is where things become really unsatisfying for me. I just couldn't believe Dickson resorted to his "solution" for solving this world-threatening problem. It's so idealistic, it's beyond comprehension. Maybe when this book was published in 1955, it might have made sense. Maybe I'm too cynical. Maybe I'm hardened and jaded. But this book ended with a whimper after having been a real page turner the whole way through and I am very disappointed. I still cautiously recommend this book to sci fi fans, but there's no way I can give it five stars. Three stars.
October 10, 2021
Originally published in 1956 as Mankind on the Run, this story by Gordon R. Dickson (best-known in my eyes as the creator of the Dorsai series) was republished as simply On the Run by Grosset & Dunlap’s Ace Books (science-fiction) division in 1979. For either era, post-Korean War or post-Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb, this is bold social imagining. Whether from the threat of dissidents fomenting revolutions or the threat of over-population, this view of the future (thankfully, not one that has, as of yet, come true solves the problem with impermanence.
Each member of society is classed according to the following strata: Stab A (Those of the greatest stability and least threat to the established governance and economy = Stability A and the privilege of staying in one place for up to six (6) months), Stab B (similar, but only three months), Stab C (not a particular threat, but only stays for one month), Unstab 1 (not too stable, so must move every three (3) weeks), Unstab 2 (gets only two (2) weeks of grace and are known as “Crims” because of their criminal potential, Unstab 3 (gets only one (1) week to be the longest tenure and are know as “Potes” or potential dangers to world safety and security) (p. 31).
Kil Bruner has everything going for him. He’s a Stab A and makes a comfortable and flexible living as a mnemonics engineer. But his whole world turns upside-down when his wife offers a tearful good-bye during a cliff-diving performance and immediately disappears. She doesn’t just disappear. Time Stops. She’s there one moment and gone the next. So, the rest of the novel centers on Kil trying to find his wife, so obsessed that he risks employment security, stability status, and his life to try to find her. Along the way, he discovers incredible conspiracies—most harmful, but one vital to his ongoing dignity and purpose.
Loyalty, betrayal, double-crosses, and death to sympathetic characters all play a role in this, primarily, fast-moving story. There’s a surprise revelation of one character’s identity and motivation that didn’t seem telegraphed to me. But outside of the double-crosses, the intriguing (and unnerving) social structure, and the surprise revelation, there didn’t seem to be a lot of substance to this story. For me, it just didn’t hold together all the way through
Each member of society is classed according to the following strata: Stab A (Those of the greatest stability and least threat to the established governance and economy = Stability A and the privilege of staying in one place for up to six (6) months), Stab B (similar, but only three months), Stab C (not a particular threat, but only stays for one month), Unstab 1 (not too stable, so must move every three (3) weeks), Unstab 2 (gets only two (2) weeks of grace and are known as “Crims” because of their criminal potential, Unstab 3 (gets only one (1) week to be the longest tenure and are know as “Potes” or potential dangers to world safety and security) (p. 31).
Kil Bruner has everything going for him. He’s a Stab A and makes a comfortable and flexible living as a mnemonics engineer. But his whole world turns upside-down when his wife offers a tearful good-bye during a cliff-diving performance and immediately disappears. She doesn’t just disappear. Time Stops. She’s there one moment and gone the next. So, the rest of the novel centers on Kil trying to find his wife, so obsessed that he risks employment security, stability status, and his life to try to find her. Along the way, he discovers incredible conspiracies—most harmful, but one vital to his ongoing dignity and purpose.
Loyalty, betrayal, double-crosses, and death to sympathetic characters all play a role in this, primarily, fast-moving story. There’s a surprise revelation of one character’s identity and motivation that didn’t seem telegraphed to me. But outside of the double-crosses, the intriguing (and unnerving) social structure, and the surprise revelation, there didn’t seem to be a lot of substance to this story. For me, it just didn’t hold together all the way through
January 9, 2019
Strangely appealing, in a slightly dated, pulp sci-fi sort of a way. I don't recall constant movement being proposed as a solution to any sort of troubles in recent reads, so that was interesting.
As to the whole psi thing, it ended things well, if abruptly, but rounded off the story nicely enough.
As to the whole psi thing, it ended things well, if abruptly, but rounded off the story nicely enough.
March 21, 2016
This one is an early novel of his (1956) and appears to be his second.
Overall I found it enjoyable and from an era of SF I like. A dystopian feature where the government controls everybody's movements where each person gets a key that allows them to move around where they are allowed. In addition people are limited to how long they can live in one place and different classes have various amounts of days they can live in one location. Of course there is a lot going on in the background most people are unaware of.
On this background a man's wife is taken before his eyes by someone who subsequently disappears. The novel follows his story as he does everything he can to find his wife with no help from the government. I liked the atmosphere of the novel and it mostly works against this odd plot.
Overall I found it enjoyable and from an era of SF I like. A dystopian feature where the government controls everybody's movements where each person gets a key that allows them to move around where they are allowed. In addition people are limited to how long they can live in one place and different classes have various amounts of days they can live in one location. Of course there is a lot going on in the background most people are unaware of.
On this background a man's wife is taken before his eyes by someone who subsequently disappears. The novel follows his story as he does everything he can to find his wife with no help from the government. I liked the atmosphere of the novel and it mostly works against this odd plot.
June 2, 2025
Over a hundred years ago, the world was engulfed in what became known afterwards as the Lucky War (as in, it’s “lucky” that the human race survived.) The new world order that emerged from the war decided that “nationalism” was the major thing that led to the conflict, so a new set of rules was instituted. No person could live in one area for more than six months, and that’s for a Stable Class A citizen. There’s an underclass known as the Unstabs, who are allowed as little as two weeks in one place before being forced to move on.
This is enforced with Keys, wrist-mounted devices that all citizens wear, that will only open doors that have been set to accept those Keys. No one can survive without their Key, and the Keys won’t work in a certain area beyond your time limit.
Kil Bruner and his wife Ellen are Stable Class A citizens enjoying their last night in Acapulco before they must relocate to Germany. Fortunately, as a mnemonic engineer, Kil can work anywhere. Kil and Ellen love each other very much. So it’s a shock when time freezes and a Keyless old man takes Ellen away. She’s clearly unhappy but agrees to go.
To everyone but Kil, it’s as though no time has passed at all, and no one saw Ellen disappear. Kil reports this to the local police, who are unbelieving and baffled. He’ll have to take this to the World Police in Duluth in what used to be Minnesota.
The World Police turn down the missing person case on the flimsy excuse that Ellen went “willingly” but Kil doesn’t quite twig that this doesn’t make sense. After a private detective admits he can’t handle the case, Kil is forced to try his luck in the Unstab community with their local temporary leader, the Ace King. This goes horribly wrong, and Kil gets beaten badly.
Kil’s nursed back to health by an Unstab “runner” named Dekko, who has taken an interest in Kil’s search for Ellen. His fees are quite reasonable, and Kil could use an ally.
For the first time, Kil must see the flaws in his society and the plight of the underclass. This complicates his search, as he must learn to navigate new social situations while trying to find the connections he needs to unravel exactly what happened.
Kil is a more interesting protagonist than Blake (of "Crossroads of Time" which this book was originally packaged with), as his intense love for Ellen gives him a strong motivation to move forward with his search even when things look bleakest and everyone around him warns that it’s impossible. He’s also got a nasty temper, a flaw that gets him in over his head more than once.
There’s some decent social commentary, as Kil is a privileged person forced to see just how much he’s relied on that to shield him from the downsides of a rootless civilization. There are people who are trying to overthrow the current social order, but unfortunately their leader is more interested in putting himself and his people in charge than in fixing things.
We also meet a couple of people who’ve definitely been done dirty by the system. Melee, a woman whose mental illness has trapped her in the ranks of the Unstab and basically gone untreated since, and Toy, a man who would have been a hero in a time that needed action heroes, but instead has to settle for being a thief. Both of them end tragically, though Toy at least gets to go out in a cool way.
The ending reveals what’s been going on behind the scenes, and Kil develops a way to resolve things that will fix his civilization. It’s kind of out of left field, with only slight clues in the buildup. And that abruptness kind of degrades the story a bit.
This was originally printed as part of an Ace Double as "Mankind On the Run". It’s got interesting ideas, but the ending really lets it down.
This is enforced with Keys, wrist-mounted devices that all citizens wear, that will only open doors that have been set to accept those Keys. No one can survive without their Key, and the Keys won’t work in a certain area beyond your time limit.
Kil Bruner and his wife Ellen are Stable Class A citizens enjoying their last night in Acapulco before they must relocate to Germany. Fortunately, as a mnemonic engineer, Kil can work anywhere. Kil and Ellen love each other very much. So it’s a shock when time freezes and a Keyless old man takes Ellen away. She’s clearly unhappy but agrees to go.
To everyone but Kil, it’s as though no time has passed at all, and no one saw Ellen disappear. Kil reports this to the local police, who are unbelieving and baffled. He’ll have to take this to the World Police in Duluth in what used to be Minnesota.
The World Police turn down the missing person case on the flimsy excuse that Ellen went “willingly” but Kil doesn’t quite twig that this doesn’t make sense. After a private detective admits he can’t handle the case, Kil is forced to try his luck in the Unstab community with their local temporary leader, the Ace King. This goes horribly wrong, and Kil gets beaten badly.
Kil’s nursed back to health by an Unstab “runner” named Dekko, who has taken an interest in Kil’s search for Ellen. His fees are quite reasonable, and Kil could use an ally.
For the first time, Kil must see the flaws in his society and the plight of the underclass. This complicates his search, as he must learn to navigate new social situations while trying to find the connections he needs to unravel exactly what happened.
Kil is a more interesting protagonist than Blake (of "Crossroads of Time" which this book was originally packaged with), as his intense love for Ellen gives him a strong motivation to move forward with his search even when things look bleakest and everyone around him warns that it’s impossible. He’s also got a nasty temper, a flaw that gets him in over his head more than once.
There’s some decent social commentary, as Kil is a privileged person forced to see just how much he’s relied on that to shield him from the downsides of a rootless civilization. There are people who are trying to overthrow the current social order, but unfortunately their leader is more interested in putting himself and his people in charge than in fixing things.
We also meet a couple of people who’ve definitely been done dirty by the system. Melee, a woman whose mental illness has trapped her in the ranks of the Unstab and basically gone untreated since, and Toy, a man who would have been a hero in a time that needed action heroes, but instead has to settle for being a thief. Both of them end tragically, though Toy at least gets to go out in a cool way.
The ending reveals what’s been going on behind the scenes, and Kil develops a way to resolve things that will fix his civilization. It’s kind of out of left field, with only slight clues in the buildup. And that abruptness kind of degrades the story a bit.
This was originally printed as part of an Ace Double as "Mankind On the Run". It’s got interesting ideas, but the ending really lets it down.
April 1, 2021
There were some interesting ideas in this book, but its execution eventually left me bewildered and confused.
Picture a world where people are limited in their time to be residents based on their psychological profile. The longest is six months. Why? Well, the great social structure has determined that moving people around regularly helps prevent folks from building up an organizational structure and cause trouble.
The story from there is very convoluted and contrived. When the hero loses his status, he finds himself in a whole new world. This world is part of the problem. He is confused by their own jargon as is the reader. They have their own slang for everything. This is where the reader begins to get lost and confused. It gets worse from there.
There is a good story here-- it just is very confusing and convoluted. The conclusion clears SOME of this up and Dickson presents some ideas about social constructs, etc. But overall, I can't recommend this one.
Picture a world where people are limited in their time to be residents based on their psychological profile. The longest is six months. Why? Well, the great social structure has determined that moving people around regularly helps prevent folks from building up an organizational structure and cause trouble.
The story from there is very convoluted and contrived. When the hero loses his status, he finds himself in a whole new world. This world is part of the problem. He is confused by their own jargon as is the reader. They have their own slang for everything. This is where the reader begins to get lost and confused. It gets worse from there.
There is a good story here-- it just is very confusing and convoluted. The conclusion clears SOME of this up and Dickson presents some ideas about social constructs, etc. But overall, I can't recommend this one.
April 11, 2024
gordon writing is so good to the time that he write them feel like he wrote yesterday not in the 50s,good stuff.
August 13, 2007
A quick reading sci-fi novel that doesn't feel "dated" to its 1956 writing origin. A hypothetical future where the world's problems have been solved by setting humans into castes and where no one gets to stay in one place for more than six months. Although things seemed to go far too smoothly for Kil in searching for his wife at first, the reason is revealed near the end. Believable, if a bit more fantasy than sci-fi at the end, and a good short read.
January 12, 2012
Grade B.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews