Non-SR authors writing Shadowrun, Who'd you like to see? Options

[winterhawk11]

The 'new SR novel' thread has gotten me to thinking about Shadowrun stories written by other authors, and also about who it might be cool to see trying their hand at an SR novel (or a short story, even). What do folks think? Who's out there whose style would lend itself to writing in our little world?

Me personally, I'd love to see an SR story by Chuck ("Fight Club") Palahniuk. :)

[nick012000]

Matthew Reilly. If you've ever read any of his books, I think you'd agree.

[ShadowDragon8685]

None of them. The last time someone who was a fan of the settting but, in the status of being an established author of other settings, yet a newbie at writing for that setting sunk his mitts into a setting, the Star Wars fans got landed with the Yuuzahn Vong.

[Adarael]

David Brin. David Brin is one of the finest authors of cyberpunk currently extant... which is a real shame, cuz he's only written two stories that are really cyberpunk. But MAN, when he does it, does he do it good.

See: The Stones of Significance (hypertech/Diamond Age cyberpunk - and punk in the sense of 'questioning the establishment' rather than 'fighting the man') and Piecework (biotech worker story. amazing stuff).

[brohopcp]

Neal Stephenson.

[Critias]

[Musashi Forever]

[brohopcp]

I like Stackpole. His cloak and dagger mission planning is nice in the x-wing series. He also pulls off the character ego required for a career runner. If he wrote an SR series, I'd read it. The only question, would it be gritty enough?

[Musashi Forever]

[Smed]

Steven Brust

[Aku]

i think id like to see what david farland can do with seattle. I have to say, i just finished, his third book, i think it was in the Runelords series... and i have to say, it was the first time in a long time i can remembering actually being blind sided by something that i totally didnt see coming.

[Backgammon]

Richard Morgan (Altered Carbon and +). Very relevant to the post-Cyberpunk genre, and his work just rocks from an SR fan perspective (btw thanks to whoever mentionned Altered Carbons in one of the cyberpunk books threads... it's great!!)

Also, China Miéville (Perdido Street Station) for his unparalleled understanding of urbanism and its' descriptions.

[PBTHHHHT]

George R. R. Martin, his political intrigues would be great. And being able to write from different character viewpoints, even characters you hate in the beginning.

[caramel frappucc...]

This topic reminds me that I have still not yet read Fight Club. :(

[CountZero]

Ryk Spoor (Digital Knight)
John Ringo (Legacy of the Aldenata series, Empire of Man series - with David Weber).
Kohta Hirano (Hellsing).

[Dog]

John Steakley; read Armor?
Connie Willis
Robert J. Sawyer
Paul McAuley
Hell, Stephen King would be interesting, or even Ann Rice maybe.
But most of all, me.

[SL James]

It'd make a great TPB written by any of the usual suspects, but as a novel Gaiman would be my first pick because it wouldn't, you know, suck. But really anyone who doesn't turn it into fetish porn for SR players by going into minutiae about tech or magic or random useless crap (like Stephenson, which drives me fucking nuts. I don't care about the details of someone's stockings fetish or how to eat Captain Crunch) while forgoing actual story (at least most SR novels have going for them in possessing decent pacing) while not writing Gibsonesque crap.

[hyzmarca]

[Perssek]

Sometimes I dream of Alan Moore writing the Secrets of Power saga in a way it wouldn´t suck. Well, it´s not so bad, it got my wife hooked on SR, but come on...

Or, like someone posted, David Brin - I love his first Uplift novels, and I think he would be a nice addition to the SR literary universe.

[Enigma]

Provided someone was there to slap Matthew Reilly when he started to get too exited, and to take the sugar, speed and red cordial away from him, he would write a decent novel. Pacing is a classic problem with game books and he does it well. Not so sure about the ending on his latest book, however.

Personally, I think that a classic example of what not to do in a Shadowrun novel is anything written by Lisa Smedman (I think that's how it's spelt). No other author I've ever read can manage to make an entire novel so boring it simply cannot be read in one go, while still making every character flat, pointless and annoying to the point of wanting to burn the book. Please for the love of God someone make her go back from whence she came.

I think Anne Rice would write just as bad a book as Ms Smedman, to be honest. I disliked all Anne Rice's books as being an internal monologue from a whingeing git. It is absolutely vital in order to achieve an entertaining, readable book for the reader to either identify with or care about the main character. Anne Rice is the author of one of the only two books I have ever literally thrown out the window in frustration (the other was Lisa Smedman).

I would like to see someone who writes a quality thriller have a go, as opposed to your standard cyberpunk authors. Perhaps John Sandford (the author of the Kidd series) who knows how to write a crime thriller well, or Michael Connelly (the author of the Harry Bosch crime series) who knows how to write a fast-paced thriller that keeps you drawn in.

To be honest, so much of the present SR fiction writing is so absolutely terrible that I wonder if a drunk strategically-shaven monkey with a typewriter wouldn't do better.

[SL James]

[caramel frappucc...]

[TheNarrator]

Gaiman is pretty bad ass. I wouldn't mind reading something set in the SR world by him. Ditto for Moore.

Neal Stephenson writes some damn good cyberpunk, in my opinion. I wouldn't mind seeing him write an SR novel, but I find his endings to sometimes be... a little abrupt. Also, since he's already got his own cyberpunk world that's similar to, yet different from, Shadowrun.... well, I can see how it could be problematic.

I haven't read "Wolf and Raven" but I enjoyed Michael Stackpole's X-Wing novels, so I wouldn't mind him coming back to SR. Aaron Allston was bad-ass on the X-Wing novels, so I'd love to see him try his hand. His Wraith Squadron was sneaky, underhanded and manipulative, and even had a character nicknamed "Face" who would disguise himself and talk his way past people, who was partnered with a guy who had to keep replacing parts of himself with cybernetics. That's totally Shadowrun. Plus, I'm just disappointed in general that there was never a tenth X-Wing novel and that the franchise decided to focus on the New Jedi Order and prequel crap instead. :(


And, just to add a new name to the mix: Brian K. Vaughan. Guy's my favorite comic book writer, hands down. He can do mature, serious and gritty stories while still interjecting some humor (Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina), he's willing to plant plot seeds and then slowly and sneakily develop them over long periods of time, he's got at having plot twists that make sense but still catch people off guard, and he's good at playing with pop culture. He's at his best when he's working with his own original characters (i.e. a team of Shadowrunners), but is also good at integrating new characters into existing settings (Runaways). And he totally knows how to work with a team dynamic, both in terms of dialogue and in everyone doing their part in a fight. So yeah, BKV doing an SR comic would pretty much make my day. :cyber:

[Valentinew]

Anybody heard of Jim Butcher? How do you think he's do as an SR author?

[Enigma]

SLJames - I've read all the Vince Flynn books. In my defence, I blatantly gut them for plot ideas then store the books somewhere convenient, like propping up my wobbly piano or mulching my garden. I haven't yet had the pleasure of Patrick Robinson.

I've thought of someone else who would be good - Steven Coonts, although I wouldn't have thought so until 'Wages of Sin' (the book I blame most of all for a rash of thief character ideas that is still going to this day). I note that Mr Coonts' attempt at near future writing will be conveniently blamed on the other idiot writing it - hopefully any SR attempt by him (wishful thinking as it may be) would involve more thought and less idiocy.

Wolf and Raven is a book that belongs in the dim, dark past of SR1 and should be hastily forgotten about, like an idiot relative who nobody wants to acknowledge exists and gets stored in the cellar.

In terms of Shadowrun books, I think Nyx Smith writes very atmospheric novels which really saved my interest in SR during SR2. They're eminently re-readable also, which I think is high praise. I also liked Nigel Findlay's work a bit and would be happy to see more by Dowd. I like to think of Jack Koke as having written the one novel everyone has inside them and done well (Preying for Keeps), however he unfortunately tried a second time and found he only really had one novel inside him. Headhunters was both incomprehensible and exacerbating, which doesn't even make sense.

And I thoroughly agree that Steven Kenson writes a mean sourcebook (look at Awakenings, for God's sake) and a horrible, pathetic novel. I've never laughed out loud at a book (note not WITH a book, AT a book) as much as his attempts at Shadowrun fiction. Talon is the worst example of a favourite character who can do no wrong in Shadowrun (because I firmly believe Ryan Mercury was and remains a bad acid trip, not the product of logical thought).