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 Nov 16 2005, 04:38 PM
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#1
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Moving Target  Group: Members Posts: 332 Joined: 19-September 05 From: Nashville, Tn Member No.: 7,761  |
OK. I've been playing SR for 3 or 4 years now. I actually like the Rules to it. I find the world great to. SR4 i'll pretend never happened. I have read through most of the core rule books.
However i have not read any of the fiction books. I plan on going to pick some up soon, and i was wanting some suggestions on what to read first; best authors ect... I would also like to ask what other non-SR movies and books you all like. I'm not asking the old "SR feel books and movies" question. Just generaly speeking. O. YES! and i must ask WTF is BABY |
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Nov 16 2005, 05:03 PM
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#2
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Creating a god with his own hands Group: Members Posts: 1,405 Joined: 30-September 02 From: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 Member No.: 3,364 |
Anything by William Gibson. Snow Crash and The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan.
No Idea. Question Seconded. |
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Nov 16 2005, 05:09 PM
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#3
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
Walter Jon Williams - especially "Hardwired" and "Voice of the Whirlwind".
"When Gravity Fails" by George Alec Effinger. -Siege |
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Nov 16 2005, 05:36 PM
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#4
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 637 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,528 |
I'd say anything by Mr. Morgan. His latest is an interestinc view into Shadowrun corporations Some of the CoDominion Stuff by Pournelle, mostly the short stories Gibson I'd take with some Salt (Lemon and Tequilla). The second trilogie starting IIRC with "Virtual Light" is quite nice And while not a book: Soylent Green! Birdy |
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Nov 16 2005, 05:46 PM
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#5
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,065 Joined: 16-January 03 From: Fayetteville, NC Member No.: 3,916 |
Heh.
For twisted cop/crime dramas - "The Usual Suspects", "LA Confidential", "Payback", "Ronin". War flicks - "Soldier", "Aliens", "Saving Private Ryan", "Blackhawk Down". There isn't a single movie, in my opinion, that embodies SR, although several come close. -Siege |
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Nov 16 2005, 06:11 PM
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#6
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,174 Joined: 13-May 04 From: UCAS Member No.: 6,327 |
Good book! I endorse his recommendation! :D I heard there's a sequel to this novel, I'll probably be reading sometime soon. |
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Nov 16 2005, 06:52 PM
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#7
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
There is actually a *HUGE* movie thread somewhere. The only cyberpunk movies that immediately leap to mind as being worth half a moment is Blade Runner (VERY good) and Johnny Mnemonic (NOT very good).
As for authors, Stephenson I enjoyed in Snow Crash and the first three quarters of Diamond Age (although the latter has nothing to do with SR). Bruce Sterling is another author who I generally enjoy immensely in the genre. There is a website, the Cyberpunk Library, with a lot of stuff available for free. I would also recommend Metrophage and the short story Dog Fight (the latter of which is the single best short story I've ever read ever). |
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Nov 16 2005, 06:55 PM
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#8
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,748 Joined: 5-July 02 Member No.: 2,935 |
I wasn't very impressed with Altered Carbon, but my reccomendations still stand.
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Nov 16 2005, 07:22 PM
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#9
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Target Group: Members Posts: 53 Joined: 11-November 05 From: Tri-Cities, WA - USA Member No.: 7,947 |
My favorite Gibson book was Mona Lisa Overdrive, followed very closely by All Tomorrow's Parties. Dammit. You beat me to it. And Nezumi beat me to Sterling. Those are really the quintessentials, IMHO. I'd also recommend Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (Bladerunner was based off that), it's a very dark-humor dystopia type thing. Hmm. The Secrets of Power trilogy of Shadowrun novels was good. For Shadowrun novels. IMHO, they still suck compared to real books. Steel Rain was awesome, though. Pick that one up if you find it. [EDIT] Wow... three edits in a row to correct one sentence. I'm damn tired.[/EDIT] |
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Nov 16 2005, 07:29 PM
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#10
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Freelance Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 7,324 Joined: 30-September 04 From: Texas Member No.: 6,714 |
Hammered, by Elizabeth Bear, and if you like it, Scardown, the sequel.
Vets, by Stephen Leather. Hardwired, by Walter Jon Williams (don't see if anyone mentioned it yet). Sharkman Six, by Owen West (himeslf a Marine officer, Force Recon), and the sequel Four Days to Veracruz (both have good action, great characters, and the second had kind of a Shadowrun feel to it). |
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Nov 16 2005, 08:12 PM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 565 Joined: 7-January 04 Member No.: 5,965 |
'2XS' and 'House of the Sun' are wonderfull. 'Lucider Deck' is good.
I just finished reading 'Tails you Lose', which was quite good. for non-SR stuff... Roger Zelazny's 'Donnerjack' is a wonderfull book, and focuses on an online matrix where the supernatural has become real. |
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Nov 16 2005, 09:48 PM
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#12
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,086 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 364 |
Since no one's spoken to the WTF question yet, in Shadowrun context, BABY stands for Big All-Black Yearbook, a reference to the special limited edition version of the core rulebook that FASA put out for SR3. Since FanPro also put out a black-covered limited edition to SR4, technically, there are 3rd Edition BABYs and 4th Edition BABYs, but I've not seen the term tossed around much in reference to 4th edition.
Breaking down the term into parts, we get:
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Nov 16 2005, 09:51 PM
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#13
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,174 Joined: 13-May 04 From: UCAS Member No.: 6,327 |
Kinda wish they would make more books without the front art cover and such. The all-black look is rather nice looking in my view.
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Nov 16 2005, 09:57 PM
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#14
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,070 Joined: 7-February 04 From: NYC Member No.: 6,058 |
He has four books out, actually. Altered Carbon, Broken Angles and Woken Furies all deal with the same character (Kovacs), and Market Forces, while ostensibly not connected to the others in any way (and taking place in the 21st century) drops enough hints to make you realize it's in the same "universe" - it gives a peek at how corporations (and institutions like the Envoys) have developed into what they are in Kovacs' time. |
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Nov 17 2005, 07:07 AM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 268 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Brisbane, Australia Member No.: 78 |
Strange Days is a must see Shadowrun type movie. It has full on simsense recordings in it, it covers racial tension, seedy criminals living on the edge of society etc. |
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Nov 17 2005, 02:52 PM
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#16
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Creating a god with his own hands Group: Members Posts: 1,405 Joined: 30-September 02 From: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 Member No.: 3,364 |
Holy cow!
I can't believe I forgot about Walter Jon William's Hardwired ultimate rigger book right there. has some cyberspace aspects of it too, but not as much. definitely gritty, shows a major rift between the orbitals (corporations) and the groundsiders. EDIT And while Broken Angels by Richard K Morgan (second book in the series) is interesting, it's not very cyberpunk. more of a dark science fiction. |
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Nov 17 2005, 07:55 PM
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#17
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Neophyte Runner Group: Members Posts: 2,453 Joined: 17-September 04 From: St. Paul Member No.: 6,675 |
Add to that Zodiac and The Big U by Stephenson |
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Nov 17 2005, 09:08 PM
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#18
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,546 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
While The Big U is supposed to be well written, and I suppose Zodiac was as well, I fail to see how either (the former being a humor book about life at University and the latter being a modern setting eco-terrorist book) are really 'shadowrun-esque'. Do I simply need to read them to appreciate it?
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Nov 17 2005, 09:16 PM
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#19
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Running Target Group: Members Posts: 1,070 Joined: 7-February 04 From: NYC Member No.: 6,058 |
Big U is sort of... surreal, and very tongue in cheek and I wouldn't call it SR-esque. Zodiac, on the other hand, while not really SR-like at all in terms of atmosphere, does have all kinds of stuff that could be relevant to life as a runner - like B&E, working the research and contact angle, manipulating people, industrial sabotage, corporate plots and coverups, etc. |
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Nov 17 2005, 11:44 PM
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#20
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Creating a god with his own hands Group: Members Posts: 1,405 Joined: 30-September 02 From: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 Member No.: 3,364 |
they drive a tank down a dorm hall... :rotfl: |
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Nov 17 2005, 11:57 PM
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#21
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Target Group: Members Posts: 53 Joined: 11-November 05 From: Tri-Cities, WA - USA Member No.: 7,947 |
IMHO, most of Stephenson's stuff, while not necessarily having anything at all to do with Shadowrun directly, is so full of random tidbits of information (ala Cryptonomicon, the Baroque Cycle) and a general SR-like "style" (tons of cons going on through nearly all his books) that it most certainly can't hurt to read them.
Please note, however, that even if you enjoy the hell out of the Baroque Cycle books, they're huge books and tend to have trouble keeping people like me interested when the hero, a syphilitic vagabond, is not involved in the story. |
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Nov 18 2005, 12:32 AM
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#22
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King of the Hobos Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,117 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 127 |
Not exactly a book per-se, but I can remember reading the first few issues of a Vertigo comic called The Losers a while back that reminded me of Shadowrun somewhat, especially the first issue. Change the Humvee for a car and faked medic alert bracelet transmission and swap out the military Chinook for a DocWagon bird and you'ce got a plan that could be lifted right into a game. Plus the team and different roles just gave off a strong runner vibe to me.
Probably have to see what they did with that some time I actually have some money to spare. :) |
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Nov 18 2005, 12:53 AM
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#23
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Target Group: Members Posts: 53 Joined: 11-November 05 From: Tri-Cities, WA - USA Member No.: 7,947 |
Hell, if comics count, read the shit out've deadpool. And then learn how not to play shadowrun ::grinn::
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Nov 18 2005, 03:22 AM
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#24
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 332 Joined: 19-September 05 From: Nashville, Tn Member No.: 7,761 |
well just back form the book store. pickins were slim. i got 2xs by Nigel Findley, and Burning Bright by Tom Dowd
opinions? |
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Nov 18 2005, 04:06 AM
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#25
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 135 Joined: 8-November 05 From: Toronto, Ontario - Canada Member No.: 7,934 |
Run Hard Die Fast by Mel Odom was a fun read. The story was a little hokey, but Odom is realy good at writing fights.
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