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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Novels question

Posted by: Luke Hardison Jul 13 2004, 04:34 AM

I know this comes up every now and then, and for whatever reason I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Is there an order to Shadowrun Novels? I found Changeling, Find Your Own Truth, and Fade to Black at a used bookstore, and read them (in that order).
Today I received:

Headhunters
Beyond the Pale
Clockwork Asylum
Shadowplay
Shadowboxer
2XS
Just Compensation
Blood Sport
Night's Pawn
Who Hunts the Hunter
Lone Wolf
Never Trust an Elf
Stranger Souls
Worlds Without End
Technobabel

Is there an order here that I'm missing? Or just one that anyone would suggest? There's 15 books, so I could order them randomly and roll 6d3 .......
No, really. What do you guys think?

Posted by: Plastic Rat Jul 13 2004, 06:09 AM

I know the Nigel Findley novels have only two books to read in order, and that's '2XS' first, and then 'House of the Sun'.

Because I think Nigel Findley is the god of shadowrun, and should the afterlife exist, is one person I WOULD like to meet, I read them in the order he wrote them in.

That order would be: Lone Wolf, 2XS, Shadowplay, House of the Sun. (Although, technically 2XS and House of the Sun follow the same story)

The Dragonheart saga goes through: Stranger Souls, Clockwork Asylum and Beyond the Pale.

The Secrets of Power Trillogy goes: 'Never Deal with a Dragon', 'Choose your enemies carefully' and 'Find your own truth'

As far as a grand overarching order for all of the novels, I don't believe there is one. The only order you might want to try is reading them in the order they were published, roughly. That way you shouldn't end up reading say...'Burning Bright (Bug City)' after ''Technobabel (Renraku Arc)"

Posted by: KosherPickle Jul 13 2004, 07:19 AM

QUOTE (Luke Hardison)

I know this comes up every now and then, and for whatever reason I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Is there an order to Shadowrun Novels?

http://www.shadowrunrpg.com/products/complete.php has all the novels listed. From a cursory glance, the numerical order of the product numbers seems like it doesn't deviate much from the order in which they're meant to be read.

Posted by: shadd4d Jul 13 2004, 10:18 AM

If you like the bugs, make sure you get a copy of Burning Bright.

Don

Posted by: Pistons Jul 13 2004, 01:23 PM

I'd read them in roughly (exactly for the Dragon Heart trilogy, however) this order:

1. Never Trust an Elf
2. Night's Pawn
3. Just Compensation
4. 2XS
5. Who Hunts the Hunter
6. Lone Wolf
7. Shadowplay
8. Blood Sport
9. Headhunters
10. Shadowboxer
11. Worlds Without End
12. Technobabel
13. Stranger Souls
14. Clockwork Asylum
15. Beyond the Pale

Posted by: shadd4d Jul 13 2004, 01:27 PM

Just Compensation comes after 2XS. The Brotherhood is still around. Just Compensation is part of the fallout from Chicago, Pistons.

Man, your order's really wrong here. Technobabel is after Dunkelzahn's death.

Don

Posted by: Pistons Jul 13 2004, 01:32 PM

I see you missed the word "roughly." If you want to get really picky, two of the Dragonheart trilogy happen after Dunk's death as well. Most folks I know don't like to break up their reading of a trilogy, so putting Technobabel before it isn't out of line. Neither would it be putting it completely after.

Posted by: Ancient History Jul 13 2004, 01:35 PM

All the references in my site list the novels in the order they came out (excpet for Into the Shadows, which is really a double entry that I just decided should be retroactively locked into slot #7 like the re-print suggests).

Or, hey! You could follow the handy link someone else already provided above!

Posted by: shadd4d Jul 13 2004, 01:56 PM

QUOTE (Pistons)

Hey man, I meant no offense. Having never read the Dragonheart trilogy, I was unsure of its placement and thought Technobabel in its entirety comes afterward and didn't run concurrently.

Wired Reflexes has a http://www.wiredreflexes.com/sr/shadowrun/reviews/masons_reviews/index.php. Scroll down and you'll see them numbered according to their printing. Some of the novels are, however, concurrent or simply retro (novel 8 before novel 7 as an example).

Don

Posted by: Ancient History Jul 13 2004, 02:44 PM

QUOTE

Hey man, I meant no offense. Having never read the Dragonheart trilogy, I was unsure of its placement and thought Technobabel in its entirety comes afterward and didn't run concurrently.

The latter is forgivable, the former...erk!

And that's not a list, that's Mason's novel reviews and synopsis. I don't always agree with Mason as to the particular actraction of a book, but the depth he's gone into is stunning.

Posted by: shadd4d Jul 13 2004, 03:06 PM

Scroll downwards, AH. He's got them listed according to when they came out. His reviews (the ones that are there anyway) touch on if the books are concurrent or retro as I mentioned.

I agree partially, but I liked Burning Bright the best and really did not like anything by Nyx Smith.

BTW, don't you have a book to review?

Don

Posted by: Black Isis Jul 13 2004, 04:53 PM

Burning Bright.

Best Tie-in Fiction Ever.

It's one of the few books I go back and reread every year or so. That said, Nigel Findley's books are all really good, and Night's Pawn is good, although the style is a little different from what you may be used to (its style is closer to Neuromancer than the straightforward stuff you usually see in the RPG Tie-in market). None of the other Shadowrun novels strike me as being particularly memorable, although they aren't particularly horrible either.

Posted by: DeadNeon Jul 13 2004, 09:11 PM

QUOTE (Plastic Rat)

That order would be: Lone Wolf, 2XS, Shadowplay, House of the Sun. (Although, technically 2XS and House of the Sun follow the same story)

I've always thought the order of the Findley novels was 2XS, Lone Wolf, then House of the Sun. I think Shadowplay take place between 2XS and Lone Wolf.

I always thought 2XS was the first, since it was, to the best of my knowledge, the first novel Findley wrote.

Towards the end of Lone Wolf, Argent makes reference to Sly and Dirk, which is why i think Shadowplay took place between 2XS and Lone Wolf.

Then, at the beginning of House of the Sun, Dirk calls Argent and gets Wolf.

Then again, its been the better part of a decade since i've read them. I could be mistaken.

Posted by: shadd4d Jul 13 2004, 10:34 PM

You are correct. The cycle would be 2XS, Shadowplay, Lone Wolf, House of the Sun. Remember, SLY is hiring Dirk in Cheyenne.

Don