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posthumusly's review
5.0
Very good - the action never got boring. Loved the planetside aspect of the book as well.
jazzrizz's review
4.0
Great start to hopefully a new series. It was a slow listen for me, but I think it was more me than the book.
The Tar Heel has a very diverse cast of characters. The captain's "last run" before retirement doesn't go quite according to plan.
Jackson Rook might be a smuggler, but he's also a mech-pilot that's been compromised, and an innate sense of right and wrong. He's loyal to a fault.
I really hope there's a 2nd book. The ending definitely set up future books.
The Tar Heel has a very diverse cast of characters. The captain's "last run" before retirement doesn't go quite according to plan.
Jackson Rook might be a smuggler, but he's also a mech-pilot that's been compromised, and an innate sense of right and wrong. He's loyal to a fault.
I really hope there's a 2nd book. The ending definitely set up future books.
reader89's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
brents's review
5.0
Super fun sci fi shoot'em up with plenty of heart.
I've been trying a lot of different sci fi books during the month of July 2021 as I take a little break from reading fantasy. It has honestly been kind of a mixed bag even though I love sci fi generally. After reading a book that was really slow and somewhat disappointing like Pandora's Star I really needed a more exciting sci fi romp. I kind of got that with Old Man's War, but ultimately it still didn't really scratch that itch. Gun Runner absolutely did.
I had a pretty good feeling it would hit the spot based on the other Larry Correia works I had read, the back cover description, and of course that bad ass kaiju monster on the cover. The gist of the story is that in the far future as humanity has expanded across the galaxy we follow a former soldier named Jackson Rook. His career as a soldier ends in horror and years later has turned to smuggling weapons. His crew ends up selling a war mech to the leader of a planet called Swindle to help the people there fight the horrible monsters that treat the human inhabitants as prey. However, questions are raised and there is more going on than meets the eye.
In the author statement in the back the two co-authors stated the project of writing this book started with them getting together at a con and saying what would happen if they just wrote a book with the idea of including "what's cool". The answer they decided on was "giant robots, bandits, and murderers". Later spaceships, space battles, and horrific alien monsters must have been thrown in there as well. Of course all that stuff turns my interest up to 11, but you could have all of that and if the execution is poor it wouldn't be worth the time. The execution here though is excellent. They didn't just throw in all of that "cool" stuff at the expense of a good story and, yes, really good characters. I really wasn't even expecting that, but by the end of the book I felt very emotionally connected to all of the happenings of Jackson, Jane, The Captain, Tui, even some of the little bots. I was really surprised at how well the character relationships are developed here as well. Even the villains are well developed. Despite having a somewhat silly name the main bad guy is has real motivations and sees his own actions as righteous as the best actions to take for this world. No mustache twirling here. And of course on top of all of that there is excellent action and tech including giant mechs.
If I had to nitpick any downsides I'd probably say that I wasn't really invested in some of the character backstory that sets up some of the mystery to be explored in future books. We're supposed to be hooked and wondering about certain things, but it just fell a little flat for me. Maybe the subsequent books in the series will change my mind, but this really feels like a more contained story. The other thing I'll say is that if you're looking for epic scope space opera with planet hopping this really isn't that. The overwhelming bulk of the story takes place on Swindle. The good news is that it's still really good and the story doesn't stagnate.
Overall I really really enjoyed this, and I have seen no one else talk about this book in discord, on booktube, or even here on Goodreads. It seems like that is where most of the people I talk to get their recommendations. This book is a really good example of how you can still find a really great read by just browsing a book store, and picking up something based on your own intuition.
I've been trying a lot of different sci fi books during the month of July 2021 as I take a little break from reading fantasy. It has honestly been kind of a mixed bag even though I love sci fi generally. After reading a book that was really slow and somewhat disappointing like Pandora's Star I really needed a more exciting sci fi romp. I kind of got that with Old Man's War, but ultimately it still didn't really scratch that itch. Gun Runner absolutely did.
I had a pretty good feeling it would hit the spot based on the other Larry Correia works I had read, the back cover description, and of course that bad ass kaiju monster on the cover. The gist of the story is that in the far future as humanity has expanded across the galaxy we follow a former soldier named Jackson Rook. His career as a soldier ends in horror and years later has turned to smuggling weapons. His crew ends up selling a war mech to the leader of a planet called Swindle to help the people there fight the horrible monsters that treat the human inhabitants as prey. However, questions are raised and there is more going on than meets the eye.
In the author statement in the back the two co-authors stated the project of writing this book started with them getting together at a con and saying what would happen if they just wrote a book with the idea of including "what's cool". The answer they decided on was "giant robots, bandits, and murderers". Later spaceships, space battles, and horrific alien monsters must have been thrown in there as well. Of course all that stuff turns my interest up to 11, but you could have all of that and if the execution is poor it wouldn't be worth the time. The execution here though is excellent. They didn't just throw in all of that "cool" stuff at the expense of a good story and, yes, really good characters. I really wasn't even expecting that, but by the end of the book I felt very emotionally connected to all of the happenings of Jackson, Jane, The Captain, Tui, even some of the little bots. I was really surprised at how well the character relationships are developed here as well. Even the villains are well developed. Despite having a somewhat silly name the main bad guy is has real motivations and sees his own actions as righteous as the best actions to take for this world. No mustache twirling here. And of course on top of all of that there is excellent action and tech including giant mechs.
If I had to nitpick any downsides I'd probably say that I wasn't really invested in some of the character backstory that sets up some of the mystery to be explored in future books. We're supposed to be hooked and wondering about certain things, but it just fell a little flat for me. Maybe the subsequent books in the series will change my mind, but this really feels like a more contained story. The other thing I'll say is that if you're looking for epic scope space opera with planet hopping this really isn't that. The overwhelming bulk of the story takes place on Swindle. The good news is that it's still really good and the story doesn't stagnate.
Overall I really really enjoyed this, and I have seen no one else talk about this book in discord, on booktube, or even here on Goodreads. It seems like that is where most of the people I talk to get their recommendations. This book is a really good example of how you can still find a really great read by just browsing a book store, and picking up something based on your own intuition.
claytell's review
5.0
I really enjoy Correia's books. They are fun and entertaining. Just read and enjoy.
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