Hunter's Run George R.R. Martin 9780007260225

A powerful tale of betrayal, trickery and sheer human grit from a dream-team of authors

In a fight outside a bar Ramon Espejo kills a man. Next day, all hell breaks loose. The dead man was a big shot, a diplomat on a mission to the out-world of Sao Paulo. Ramon goes on the run, heading north toward unexplored territory, land so far only glimpsed from orbit during the first colony surveys.

Ramon has gone from being nothing in the hills of Mexico to being nothing on Sao Paulo. He makes a bare living prospecting for minerals. Maybe God meant him to be poor, or he wouldn't have made him so mean. He can't even remember why he killed the European, only the drinking, and the rage that followed.

Better to be alone in the wild landscape ... off the map, beyond law and civilization. Each trip out he's sure will be the big one that'll make him rich. This one, too.

Instead he finds something else, something terrifying. Or rather, it finds him, and uses him: as humans are used by species more intelligent than themselves. But Ramon Espejo is about to prove what a man is capable of. Ramon is about to demonstrate what it is to be human; to be angry, intelligent and alive. And he is about to discover his function in the broad flow of the universe. And why it was he killed the diplomat in the first place...

George R.R. Martin is the author of the bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire series and award-winning writer of books and screenplays.
Gardner Dozois is a science fiction writer and editor who has won a record fifteen Hugo Awards for his work. He was the editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004.
Daniel Abraham is a writer of science fiction and fantasy novels.

'Hunter's Run is a good old-fashioned adventure story in which one man is pitted against the law, the elements, terrifying creatures, and himself ... gripping and enjoyable' Lisa Tuttle, The Times

'Intriguing ... dark and gritty ... the Byzantine political intrigue bears Martin's hallmark, and although it's not fantasy, those awaiting the next instalment of his Song of Ice and Fire sequence could do worse than pick this up' DeathRay

'Adventure here meets psychological development and a rich setting' Sunday Age (Australia)

'An action-packed sci-fi tale, which questions what makes us human' Glasgow Herald