• Star Runners

  • By: L E Thomas
  • Narrated by: Donald R Emero
  • Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (435 ratings)

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Star Runners  By  cover art

Star Runners

By: L E Thomas
Narrated by: Donald R Emero
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Publisher's summary

I wish I could tell you how cool this is.

With those words uttered by his best friend during an online chat, Austin Stone, a high school senior, forces himself to accept the fact his friends are leaving him behind.

With average grades, less than stellar play in baseball, and a single mother struggling to make ends meet, it looks as if Austin's only way to continue his education would be through some kind of miracle.

His only escape is playing an online space simulation, Star Runners. It seems to be the only environment in which he excels. However, being a champion Trident Starfighter isn't something you want to brag about in public nor will it help earn a scholarship.

But as soon as Austin is about to give up on college he reaches the top of the elite server. He receives an invitation from a school shrouded in secrecy promising to unlock his hidden potential. With no other options, Austin takes the offer.

What Austin doesn't realize is that his dream of going to college has just opened up the cosmos and will challenge everything Austin thinks he knows about himself and the universe.

©2014 Logan Thomas (P)2015 Logan Thomas

What listeners say about Star Runners

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    196
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    56
  • 2 Stars
    27
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    62
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    26
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    189
  • 4 Stars
    123
  • 3 Stars
    52
  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    11

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good Overall Story... But Predictable. Easy Listen

Overall I thought this was a worthwhile listen and well worth the credit. Even though it kept my attention, I did find it pretty predictable and thought it ranked in the category of "Simple Young Adult" story rather than true science fiction.

The storyline follows a young male just graduating from high school roughly a year after the death of his father. He has aspirations of college, but he and his single mother can't afford the tuition. During his free time he and his best friend play a space dogfight-type video game on the internet. Both are in the top 5 players in the game worldwide. After his best friend wins the top spot on the game's rankings, he is offered a scholarship to a mysterious elite university. A year later when the main character beats the one person in the game who has never been beaten and also reaches #1, he also gets offered a scholarship to another elite university (where mysteriously everyone seems to be a player of the same online space video game).
To make a long story short, the video game played by all of the characters is actually a simulation for real-life space fighters. As it turns out, the space navy for the human worlds in our area of the galaxy uses earth as one of its recruiting grounds (unbeknownst the the people or governments of earth).

The story was definitely interesting and I didn't get board while listening, but it did have it's downsides... Firstly, I found the entire book VERY predictable. I knew exactly where the storyline was going and there were essentially no surprises at all. Also, although I have listened to a lot of different Science Fiction books and series, I do generally like there to be SOME science. I don't need to be walked through an hour explanation of how something works, but I do like there to be some explanation or justification of the technology used in the story... This book had almost nothing to that end.

The narrator was actually pretty good, but there were a few places that I lost track of which character was actually speaking, so I only give 3 of the 4 or 5 stars I usually give to narrators.
Story gets 3 stars because of its predictability and lack of innovation. However, I'm giving an overall score of 4 stars because, as I said, I did enjoy the book and the story.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

shrugged ryhmes with lugged last I checked

Solid 3 stars, it was a fun story that kept me fairly interested. The narrator did a par performance but every time someone shrugged (which happened quite often) I cringed when he said they "shrudged."

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Never Again!

This past week I've had the good fortune to find 3 of my favorite listens with the last one being Star Runners! BUT with Star Runners, as with the other 2, it's a series of one! Never again! I will check " see series" and make sure there's at least 2 books in the series! Now I'm possession of a list of at least six of these 1 book teases, trying to be patient and with fingers crossed that none scrape by me when they're released. The only reason I have a date for one is I'm welcome to prebuy!
But venting aside this was a fun, engrossing book that had what I like: a John Wayne western set in space. You know the kind with plenty of action,with strong good guys, and just enough romance to tell the handsome males from the winsome females. There's even the cagey mentor and the young hero that will ultimately save the day. Too cookie cutter for many but it's the listens I enjoy. The narrator does a good job but I was worried when I first started the book because he started in a flat, almost monotone, reading. It didn't last long. My only complaint about the author is he was wordy and took too long to set up his prime characters. Once everyone was "away at school", things proceeded along at a good pace but I feel the author could have blue lined one chapter for sure, maybe more.
Like the concept of space westerns? Ante up a credit!


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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Surprisingly Good

Star Runners was a welcome surprise: what could have been a rather silly retread of The Last Starfighter wass actually an engaging and decently written story with a grounded main character. Author Thomas allowed the story to grow organically, refusing to rush through the pre-sci fi scenes and never allowing the main character to be a Marty Stu male wish fulfillment fantasy. Although not perfectly written, I greatly enjoyed Star Runners.

Story: Austin Stone is approaching graduation from high school with a growing awareness that his future has few options other than blue collar drudgery: his grades are ok, he is decent at softball, but fails to really stand out at anything. Financial constraints mean college is out of the picture and his mother is still grieving from the loss of his father several years past. His one escape: the sci fi based Star Runners game. He, along with best friend Josh, has made it to the elite server; he's even managed to defeat uber player Scorpion. When a special college comes calling with a full scholarship dangling, he knows he has one chance to change the course of his life. But the school is much more rigorous in its demands - even harsher than a military school. As students begin to drop out one by one, he begins to question himself and his abilities. Until the day he is taken to a secret basement and then to another world - one of many in need of defense against ruthless pirates. The Star Runners game might just be real.

Although the premise of the Last Starfighter is intact (Read: boy excels at video game that is secretly a recruitment agent), this book has much more depth. We're given a full back story and quite a bit of character growth across the entire story arc. I found that the more I read about Austin, the more I really liked the character. At this beginning, he starts off fairly unlikeable - a rather clueless but earnest loser. But as he faces trials at home, at the school, and then in space, with each triumph or defeat, he learns.

Those expecting a Mos Eisley assortment of aliens will be disappointed - all are humanoid. Nor do we get to the sci fi aspect until the last 20% of the book. A chunk of the book is dealing with the academy - difficult curriculum, bullies, friends, foes, and general growth. It makes the accomplishments (and failures) in space much more believable and realistic since we were able to see all the history that goes into each of Austin's actions.

The only let down for me was that I listened to the audible version and the narration was a bit odd. The narrator did a decent job but had such a strong Minnesota/Canadian accent that it created a dissonance between Austin being from Atlanta but talking like an extra from the movie Fargo (minus the 'youbetchas').

I'm looking forward to reading book 2.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Shrug

The other uses the word shrugged, as in shrugged his shoulders, a lot. The narrator mispronounced it every time. Very annoying.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Aggravatingly good

I was really impressed with the story. The most frustrating part of the whole experience was the bad narrator choice.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • AJ
  • 03-06-15

Great Read

What made the experience of listening to Star Runners the most enjoyable?

Good storyline that keeps you interested.

What did you like best about this story?

This story continues to build with the hero gaining with each new experience.

What does Donald R Emero bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I prefer a good performance like this to bring out the depth of the characters involved. Emero does just that.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have loved to but at 10 hours plus I just couldn't do it. Took me two settings.

Any additional comments?

L. E. Thomas is an excellent author and I hope to see more stories in the future.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

pretty good

i certainly hope there is more to come. narration is well done and the flow of the story is pretty smooth. this feels like a back story to a series i havent read yet. so again i hope there is more coming.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Tom Swift for the 21st Century

Great tale for teenage boys who don't otherwise enjoy reading. The author has talent for writing flight and battle scenes. Character development and conflict, not so much. Conflict was very 2 dimensional and unsatisfying. Lots of questions remain unanswered for next few books.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

You know what's coming......

And you enjoy every minute of it. That is until the end, when there's no book 2.

A classic themed story, like a cross between "the last star fighter" and stargate. The story was a bit Juvenal, and the characters not very smart, but the story will leave you feeling good inside.

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2 people found this helpful