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Sand Runner #2
Cage Runner
For fans of The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner, comes the second installment in the action-packed Sand Runner series... CAGE RUNNER.
Kai has survived the No Limits Race, outsmarting the system and choosing to do what’s right rather than win at all costs. But his actions triggered events beyond his control, and now his enemies threaten both him and those he cares about.
When Emily disappears without warning, Kai sets out on a dangerous search for her across the lawless sectors of the megacity, forging new alliances and making new enemies along the way. But once again, Emily may have an agenda he knows nothing about, and one that will test both his courage and his loyalty.
Can Kai find the answers to his questions and save the person he loves before it’s too late?
Read CAGE RUNNER to find out.
Kai has survived the No Limits Race, outsmarting the system and choosing to do what’s right rather than win at all costs. But his actions triggered events beyond his control, and now his enemies threaten both him and those he cares about.
When Emily disappears without warning, Kai sets out on a dangerous search for her across the lawless sectors of the megacity, forging new alliances and making new enemies along the way. But once again, Emily may have an agenda he knows nothing about, and one that will test both his courage and his loyalty.
Can Kai find the answers to his questions and save the person he loves before it’s too late?
Read CAGE RUNNER to find out.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 12, 2018
27 people want to read
About the author
Vera Brook
18 books143 followersVera Brook is a neuroscientist turned science fiction, fantasy, and romance writer. Her short fiction has appeared in Analog SF, Cast of Wonders, Factor Four Magazine, and Utopia SF, among other places. She is also the author of the Sand Runner Series (dystopian SF) and the Ever After Series (contemporary romance). Vera is a bookworm, and perpetually torn between reading books and writing them.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 18, 2018
Amazing, breathtaking and fantastic.
I fell in love with this series a few months back. Sand Runner will always hold a special in my heart. It has to be one of the best dystopian books I have ever read. I was patiently waiting for Cage Runner to come out because I've been dying to know what happened to my favorite characters Kai and Emily. This book has a different pace and the story has evolved in to so much more. You get to see some of my favorite characters from Sand Runner and see what they have been up to and you get introduced to new characters. My favorite new character is hands down Leah. She is smart, brave and compassionate. If you wanted a new best friend she would be it. I also liked Val and the Rats. I'm already dying for book 3. I feel like I can't breathe without this story. It needs to be made into a movie. I'm going to continue to share this story with all my friends and family because it is unforgettable.
I fell in love with this series a few months back. Sand Runner will always hold a special in my heart. It has to be one of the best dystopian books I have ever read. I was patiently waiting for Cage Runner to come out because I've been dying to know what happened to my favorite characters Kai and Emily. This book has a different pace and the story has evolved in to so much more. You get to see some of my favorite characters from Sand Runner and see what they have been up to and you get introduced to new characters. My favorite new character is hands down Leah. She is smart, brave and compassionate. If you wanted a new best friend she would be it. I also liked Val and the Rats. I'm already dying for book 3. I feel like I can't breathe without this story. It needs to be made into a movie. I'm going to continue to share this story with all my friends and family because it is unforgettable.
April 27, 2018
Building from a plausible technological base, Brook combines the passion of young adult dystopia with the moral greys of cyberpunk to create a fast-paced science-fiction thriller that will appeal to a range of readers.
This book is the second in the Sandrunner series. Spoilers might strike from any direction.
After giving away first place in the No Limits Race, Kai hoped he could settle down with Emily. However, with the money he won from the race gone, he is drawn into the underground extreme racing scene. And, when Emily disappears, he must travel even deeper into the decayed underside of society.
Brook applies the same skill to urban slums that she applied to disadvantaged outskirts and shining enclaves in the previous volume, creating a plausible and engaging insight into new parts of the post-replicator world.
With a greater focus on survival, investigation, and the broader uses of technology—and less on extreme racing—this book might potentially be of even greater interest to readers seeking cyberpunk or dystopia than its predecessor.
However, this shift in setting and challenges is an expansion rather than a sudden swerve: there is still plenty of running drama.
References to the previous book are well-integrated, neither leaving the reader without context nor forcing information on them to the detriment of plausibility. As such—while some gaps might remain—this book is capable of standing alone.
Brook opens powerfully, with Kai’s decision at the end of the previous volume to share his winnings with others in need forcing him back into the same choice between poverty and gladiatorial racing that he faced at the start of the first book. However, the disappearance—and possible betrayal—of Emily after he had grown to both rely and love her makes his situation even more emotive.
This interweaving of virtue vs pragmatism and loyalty vs betrayal builds through the book as Kai must choose who he is willing to trust while struggling to fend off allegations that his motives aren’t pure.
In parallel with Kai’s arc, Emily is caught up in the corporate manoeuvring that follows the failed race-fixing. This broader scale narrative both contrasts with the close-focus of Kai’s attempts to survive and provides insight into Emily’s situation that increase the drama of Kai’s search.
Kai remains a sympathetic protagonist. He is somewhat direct and simplistic in the way of teenagers, creating for himself problems that a more mature person might avoid; yet he is not shallow, neither arrogantly refusing to adapt nor constantly bemoaning his fate. As such readers are likely to be more often pleased by his remaining virtue than frustrated by his naïvety.
Emily provides a more cynical viewpoint, yet remains passionate enough to seem a plausible youth. Depending on the their view of young adult romance, readers of the previous volume will find her either free of incessant moping over her separation from Kai or somewhat heartless.
The supporting cast, both new and returning, are similarly a good blend of trope and individual: scavengers all display the same streetwise kid putting on a show, but each have nuanced interests and personalities; business executives all display the casual callousness of those distanced from visceral survival, but each have different goals and desire to harm others simply because they can.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I recommend it to readers seeking plausible yet dramatic dystopian science-fiction.
I received a free copy from the author with a request for a fair review.
This book is the second in the Sandrunner series. Spoilers might strike from any direction.
After giving away first place in the No Limits Race, Kai hoped he could settle down with Emily. However, with the money he won from the race gone, he is drawn into the underground extreme racing scene. And, when Emily disappears, he must travel even deeper into the decayed underside of society.
Brook applies the same skill to urban slums that she applied to disadvantaged outskirts and shining enclaves in the previous volume, creating a plausible and engaging insight into new parts of the post-replicator world.
With a greater focus on survival, investigation, and the broader uses of technology—and less on extreme racing—this book might potentially be of even greater interest to readers seeking cyberpunk or dystopia than its predecessor.
However, this shift in setting and challenges is an expansion rather than a sudden swerve: there is still plenty of running drama.
References to the previous book are well-integrated, neither leaving the reader without context nor forcing information on them to the detriment of plausibility. As such—while some gaps might remain—this book is capable of standing alone.
Brook opens powerfully, with Kai’s decision at the end of the previous volume to share his winnings with others in need forcing him back into the same choice between poverty and gladiatorial racing that he faced at the start of the first book. However, the disappearance—and possible betrayal—of Emily after he had grown to both rely and love her makes his situation even more emotive.
This interweaving of virtue vs pragmatism and loyalty vs betrayal builds through the book as Kai must choose who he is willing to trust while struggling to fend off allegations that his motives aren’t pure.
In parallel with Kai’s arc, Emily is caught up in the corporate manoeuvring that follows the failed race-fixing. This broader scale narrative both contrasts with the close-focus of Kai’s attempts to survive and provides insight into Emily’s situation that increase the drama of Kai’s search.
Kai remains a sympathetic protagonist. He is somewhat direct and simplistic in the way of teenagers, creating for himself problems that a more mature person might avoid; yet he is not shallow, neither arrogantly refusing to adapt nor constantly bemoaning his fate. As such readers are likely to be more often pleased by his remaining virtue than frustrated by his naïvety.
Emily provides a more cynical viewpoint, yet remains passionate enough to seem a plausible youth. Depending on the their view of young adult romance, readers of the previous volume will find her either free of incessant moping over her separation from Kai or somewhat heartless.
The supporting cast, both new and returning, are similarly a good blend of trope and individual: scavengers all display the same streetwise kid putting on a show, but each have nuanced interests and personalities; business executives all display the casual callousness of those distanced from visceral survival, but each have different goals and desire to harm others simply because they can.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. I recommend it to readers seeking plausible yet dramatic dystopian science-fiction.
I received a free copy from the author with a request for a fair review.
March 29, 2018
This was a strong follow-up to Sand Runner. I love the world Vera Brook has created – it’s close enough to ours to be entirely comprehensible, but with some nasty twists that are utterly plausible for the close future.
It was also fun to spend more time with Kai. Bless him, I alternately wanted to hug him and slap him for doing the right thing even when his moral code was clearly going to leave him at a massive disadvantage. And yet, it’s his loyalty and willingness to put himself on the line that lead to the friendships that provide help when he needs it.
Emily’s quest added a lovely twist of urgency, but I’m afraid my plausibility radar was triggered by one scene. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but the thing that she steals … well, I’m not trained, but I don’t believe you could just reach in and pull it out. I’m pretty sure you’d need some specialist equipment (and more time than it seemed to take).
But aside from that, this was a fun sequel and I’m looking forward to the next in the series to see how it works out for Kai and Emily.
It was also fun to spend more time with Kai. Bless him, I alternately wanted to hug him and slap him for doing the right thing even when his moral code was clearly going to leave him at a massive disadvantage. And yet, it’s his loyalty and willingness to put himself on the line that lead to the friendships that provide help when he needs it.
Emily’s quest added a lovely twist of urgency, but I’m afraid my plausibility radar was triggered by one scene. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but the thing that she steals … well, I’m not trained, but I don’t believe you could just reach in and pull it out. I’m pretty sure you’d need some specialist equipment (and more time than it seemed to take).
But aside from that, this was a fun sequel and I’m looking forward to the next in the series to see how it works out for Kai and Emily.
March 13, 2018
I'm having a terrible time reviewing this without completely spazzing out because I freaking LOVE Brook's writing style!
Cage Runner by Vera Brook is just as good as Sand Runner, also by Vera Brook.
It is a rare gem indeed when the author slays not only the first book but also the second.
Once again I was fully immersed in Kai and Emily's story, and rushed through a book that I swore I'd go slow on. And now I'm stuck here waiting for the next- and why is it that the most boring books get 1000 pages and great ones like these only get 248? It's not fair!
Fast paced and suspenseful, creative and imaginative, heartfelt and loyal and addictive. How can I describe something that's indescribable?! I could spend a few hours googling words that fit this book and not capture and describe it's whole.
This book is seriously good. I'd go so far as to say I loved it.
The plot consumed me, the dystopian world is nearly real enough to touch, and the well-written characters Kai, Emily, Andy, Neen, Slayer, Leah, Green, Val, Ana, and the rest- are all unforgettable.
I read over 200 books a year, and the details of some books, even ones I loved, will fall into shadow in the back of my mind- but this series is always crystal clear.
Vera Brook, I'm gonna need another book ASAP.
Cage Runner by Vera Brook is just as good as Sand Runner, also by Vera Brook.
It is a rare gem indeed when the author slays not only the first book but also the second.
Once again I was fully immersed in Kai and Emily's story, and rushed through a book that I swore I'd go slow on. And now I'm stuck here waiting for the next- and why is it that the most boring books get 1000 pages and great ones like these only get 248? It's not fair!
Fast paced and suspenseful, creative and imaginative, heartfelt and loyal and addictive. How can I describe something that's indescribable?! I could spend a few hours googling words that fit this book and not capture and describe it's whole.
This book is seriously good. I'd go so far as to say I loved it.
The plot consumed me, the dystopian world is nearly real enough to touch, and the well-written characters Kai, Emily, Andy, Neen, Slayer, Leah, Green, Val, Ana, and the rest- are all unforgettable.
I read over 200 books a year, and the details of some books, even ones I loved, will fall into shadow in the back of my mind- but this series is always crystal clear.
Vera Brook, I'm gonna need another book ASAP.
March 20, 2018
I really enjoyed this book, which is well-suited for older-YA readers and adults who like a little Hunger Games/Legend inspired fiction. It was filled with action from beginning to end and the character and story development flowed smoothly. I can't wait for the next book in the series.
March 4, 2018
Book two in this series did not disappoint. I've been waiting to get my hands on it! Kai's story is fascinating to me and I love the world building of this book series. I was bummed when it ended, though I did enjoy the fact that it was quite long. I know authors hate to hear this, but can we have book three now, please?
March 26, 2018
Where's book #3!?!
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Sand Runner. And I'm yet again surprised by where this second book takes us. You meet new friends, interact with some old foes, and trip over who's the good guy and who's the bad. I'm intrigued by where this story is going, and truly cannot wait to see what happens next!!!
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Sand Runner. And I'm yet again surprised by where this second book takes us. You meet new friends, interact with some old foes, and trip over who's the good guy and who's the bad. I'm intrigued by where this story is going, and truly cannot wait to see what happens next!!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews