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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Shadowrun Novels

Posted by: Lance Hawvermale Feb 25 2007, 04:31 PM

Are they still in print? Going forward with more in the future? Dead in the water?

Thanks,

L

Posted by: fistandantilus3.0 Feb 25 2007, 05:30 PM

There was a group of htem that was just put out in the last year or two, starting with a trilogy by Steve Kenson. As for the older novels, you can still find them pretty easily in used book stores. SOme good stuff there. Any particular ones you were looking for, or recommends? As far as new ones, what we've heard is that there's no new ones in the pipes ATM besides the set that were just recently published.

Posted by: Lance Hawvermale Feb 25 2007, 05:44 PM

My editor, John Helfers, co-wrote one with Jean Rabe. I enjoyed it, though John indicated the series might be terminated by the Powers That Be. I guess that's not surprising, considering the niche market, but I wanted to ask if it were true.

Posted by: fistandantilus3.0 Feb 25 2007, 05:48 PM

As I understand it, the ones that were published were all the ones that were slated to go out. There's no more that they're planning on putting out ATM, so we've been told. Wether that equates to "terminated" though, I can't really say.

Posted by: ATimson Feb 26 2007, 05:24 AM

It's not so much that the line was "terminated", with its implication of it being premature, as that Roc didn't renew the contract beyond the initial six books.

It doesn't help that the books didn't really have a game to tie into; Shadowrun Duels was dead, while the books (including Aftershock; header date aside, it's a 2063 book, and there's at least one point inside where it's made clear it's 2063 not 2070) didn't really tie into the current Shadowrun RPG either.

Posted by: Trigger Feb 26 2007, 08:17 AM

I had the feel that Aftershock was a 2070 novel, since the ork hacker chick was using AR and VR and never had to use a jackpoint to get online.

Posted by: ATimson Feb 26 2007, 11:55 AM

QUOTE (Trigger)

I had the feel that Aftershock was a 2070 novel, since the ork hacker chick was using AR and VR and never had to use a jackpoint to get online.

AR/VR aren't exactly new, though I suppose applying the terms to the Matrix is; we've seen similar things in, at a minimum, the first four of the recent books (Aftershock under contention being #5, and I haven't read #6 yet), if without those names.

As for needing a jackpoint... Yes, Max did.

[ Spoiler ]

I think that's it, in terms of her Matrix accesses in the book. Unless you have any other examples that I missed...?

Posted by: tisoz Feb 26 2007, 11:19 PM

What are the titles to the new books?

There is the trilogy by Kenson, Born to Run, Poison Agendas, and Fallen Angels. Then Hardy's Drops of Corruption. There is an Aftershock by Helfers/Rabe. Is there a 6th?

Posted by: ATimson Feb 27 2007, 12:09 AM

QUOTE (tisoz)

Is there a 6th?

A Fistful of Data by Stephen Dedman; it came out in October, I believe.

Posted by: Trigger Feb 27 2007, 12:37 AM

Yeah, A Fistful of Data is the 6th book.

Also I am hoping that more SR novels do come out sometime...I have enjoyed reading many of the old ones and all of the new ones and I hope that more follow them.

Posted by: Thane36425 Feb 27 2007, 12:52 AM

As I recall, the requirements were that any story one wrote would have to either feature existing characters, like those in Duels or the rulebooks, or at least have several in cameo roles. AR/VR was also required and things like that. I didn't pay too much attention though since it said they weren't really looking at publishing any novels.

Posted by: Fragmintz Feb 27 2007, 04:37 PM

Where is a good place to start with the SR novels? I have been eying a lot of them on Amazon.com, and think I will pick up Never Deal with a Dragon first. What do you guys suggest?

Posted by: Butterblume Feb 27 2007, 05:04 PM

Makes sense to start with the first .

The two subsequent books (they form a trilogy) are also worth reading. Not because they are particularly good, but because they set the framework for a lot of people (kind of a self-fullfilling prophecy here ).

Posted by: tisoz Feb 28 2007, 02:04 AM

QUOTE (Fragmintz)

Where is a good place to start with the SR novels? I have been eying a lot of them on Amazon.com, and think I will pick up Never Deal with a Dragon first. What do you guys suggest?

You may want to try ebay for a collection of the earlier novels, then they should be cheaper per copy and you pay for shipping the group, not each individual book. I think I've seen them sell for about $2-3 each in bulk with shipping working out to about $.50 a piece.

Posted by: JM Hardy Feb 28 2007, 05:41 PM

The summary of the current novel situation as given above is correct; I'll simply add that alternatives are being thought about/explored; there are a number of us who want to see SR novels continue, and we hope to keep pushing until this happens. When/if anything happens, I'll be sure to tell you folks--if others haven't beaten me to the punch.

Jason H.

Posted by: Chrome Shadow Feb 28 2007, 08:23 PM

I have all the original 40 SR novels!!!

Plus 3 of the new ones...

I liked (almost) all of them a lot...

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Feb 28 2007, 09:32 PM

QUOTE (Fragmintz)

Where is a good place to start with the SR novels? I have been eying a lot of them on Amazon.com, and think I will pick up Never Deal with a Dragon first. What do you guys suggest?

...another good place to check (if your hometown has any) is your local independent & used book dealers. No waiting, no shipping charges, & you get to see exactly what you are buying.

Granted, here in Portland I am spoiled because we have one of the best in the nation in Powell's "City of Books". I have seen just about every SR novel on the shelf there at one time of another. If you are fortunate (or unfortunate depending on your perspective) to live in Chicago, there is also a Powell's there too.

Posted by: fistandantilus3.0 Feb 28 2007, 10:13 PM

QUOTE (Fragmintz @ Feb 27 2007, 11:37 AM)

Where is a good place to start with the SR novels? I have been eying a lot of them on Amazon.com, and think I will pick up Never Deal with a Dragon first. What do you guys suggest?

Kyoto's spont on in my book (punny) as far as used boko stores. If oyu've got them, check them first. You can probably find what you're looking for on Amazon, but you'll usually pay the same price (or more) in shipping as you did for the book. If you find an old SR novel on there (and you will) it'll be in a used book store. If you get more than one, they'll likely be from more than one store. The prices for those books are pretty good, so you could end up paying $2 for a book, and $4 for shipping, for each book.

Do a search on here for other book suggestions, because the question comes up a lot, and people have made many helpful suggestions.

Most common suggestions, and I tend to agree wtih them, are :

Anything by Nigel Findley, especially 2XS

Burning Bright ,which is different form the Burning Time. The first involves Bug City, the second in by Steve Kenson which goes over 2061, his character Talon, and has a tiny little piece about the spirit of Ghostwalker reappearing and some Shedim stuff.

Headhunters- has Jack Skater's team, which is a cool team

Psychotrope - some people like it, some don't, but it has an interesting, and recurring cast of characters that come up later in SR SBs, and it goes over the events of the Seattle blackout in 2060. Also takes palce almost entirely in the matrix, so good for that sort of stuff.

Technobable - mre matrix, but deals with the otaku, and the arcology a bit

A number of people also like Wolf and Raven which is a series of short stories about a robin hood type runner named Wolf, by Michael Stackpole. If you like his writing style, which I do (or did at least, been a while), pick it up. Also has interesting characters, and some interesting ideas for your less than standard runs.

Oh yeah, beyond just old novels, I also recommend JM Hardy's Drops of Corruption. Unique main character for one, good low life type game, and also has the very subtle drop bear reference.

Posted by: Eugene Feb 28 2007, 10:44 PM

I'm a fan of the novels, too, and I hope that either more of them can be written, or the "BattleCorps fiction strategy" looked into failing that.

Just finished "Drops of Corruption" and I agree, it was a lot of fun. Even if I didn't see the drop-bear reference.

Posted by: fistandantilus3.0 Feb 28 2007, 10:46 PM

Don't feel bad, it was very veiled. Even the Elders had to get direction from Hardy to find it. It's on pg 48 IIRC. Taking a word from a couple different sentences.
Suffice to say that Hardy is no friend of the IEs.

Explore and find the Truth:
http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=8806&st=0

Posted by: Jame J Feb 28 2007, 11:01 PM

I read the Stephen Kenson trilogy. It was good, but kinda high-school level writing.

Posted by: JM Hardy Mar 1 2007, 01:51 AM

QUOTE (Eugene)

Glad you thought DoC was fun!

The BattleCorps option is definitely on the table--in fact, last I checked, site design was moving ahead.

Jason H.