New Shadowrun fiction anthology released!, Spells & Chrome is out, with 15 new stories, one Stackpole reprint Options

[Critias]

Never let it be said I disappoint, then.

Seriously, it's not my intention to denigrate the authors of the short stories in this collection or their work, if for no other reason than I simply haven't read most of it. Of the stories I did read that I know are in the anthology - Kenson's and Stackpoole's reprint - they are both solid pieces of work. I do think that not letting the actual SR freelancers submit was a shitty thing to do.

If it makes you feel better, the "actual SR freelancers" weren't the only ones that didn't get that shot. I got a handshake on it (after a long series of emails) at GenCon, that some fiction of mine -- submitted, read, and replied to with praise -- would be considered for this anthology project, about two years ago. Then, like magic, I stopped getting PMs replied to, stopped getting emails replied to, etc, etc, for months and months. When the lead developer position changed hands, yet more messages were exchanged, I was promised (again) that I would be contacted in the future about it, then they went back to ignoring my messages rather then even having the decency to just say "no." And now, ta da, here's the anthology.

The really funny part is that this string of fiction, and these strings of communication, aren't the first time I've gotten the cold shoulder where Shadowrun fiction is concerned. I've written three different stories so far (and that's counting this latest batch of a half-dozen short stories, presented and formated in serial fiction form, as just one story) for Shadowrun, had them all read, received all kinds of positive feedback and promises, and then been suddenly ignored.

Guess the joke's on me.

[FlakJacket]

...this packs in 15 new stories with one Michael Stackpole classic,

Classic, is this the same as reprint? If so I'm assuming that it's his piece from Into the Shadows, one of the stories from Wolf and Raven, or possibly a piece of fiction from one of the sourcebooks? Either was it's a little disappointing for me as whilst granted it's good for a lot of the new players that have been brought in via Third and Fourth Edition since those books were published it effectively makes a fifteenth of the book dead wight as it were. Still, nice to see us getting some new fiction. Will reserve judgement on it until I read it.

[Ancient History]

Classic, is this the same as reprint?

Yes.

If so I'm assuming that it's his piece from Into the Shadows, one of the stories from Wolf and Raven, or possibly a piece of fiction from one of the sourcebooks?

I believe it's from one of the adventure modules, but I don't know which one was picked.

[Cardul]

Admittedly, I can see the idea of having well-known writers with published novels as something for the first of these. Why? Because this is about setting the
hook to get people to take that first taste of the setting. I would hope that future anthologies would be more open to the Sourcebook Fiction authors.

The thing is....What has William Keith ever written for Shadowrun? He is the (still living) Grey Death Legion author. Same with Kevin Killiany and Steven Mohan. It
seems those authors were picked solely for the cross-over potential for Battletech Players. I would make the same speculation of Phaedra Weldon, but apparently
she created another novel series outside of stuff relating to Battletech/SR, so is a good potential "hook 'em and reel 'em in" author.

However, I wholeheartedly agree with the people wanting it in Dead Tree. However, the Dead Tree of the novels is likely going to be like Holostreets and
Duke Nuke'em Forever and the return of the Battletech Martial Olympiad events: we might see them...one day...but don't hold your breath.

[Demonseed Elite]

I've been impressed with very few Shadowrun novels or anthologies, and unsurprisingly, the ones I was impressed with were written by the original SR game designers.

[MindandPen]

I travel, a lot (200,000 miles last year). Having something simple like my Kindle to read books when sitting on an airplane or airport is significantly easier than pulling out the laptop. While an actual book is good - and I have all my SR stuff in both hard and softcopy - it is nice to have 100+ books on my Kindle to choose between.

In short, I buy both.

-M&P

[hermit]

Stanza for iPhone is very nice, but for some reason Stanza for desktop is quite poor. I was just checking out Adobe Digital Editions and I like it better for desktop ePub use. It has working search, and it scrolls text. Give it a shot.

Jason H.

Works better so far, thanks.

As for the stories: Just starting to get into them, but the Stackpole Story is curiously all about Tir elves and seems unchanged from Elven Fire. Since this doesn't mesh well with the Horizon Disneyland run by an orc (for maximum orxploitation) that 4th put in the Tir's place, I am slightly surprised. It even mentions a 'High Lord'.

[Demonseed Elite]

I travel, a lot (200,000 miles last year). Having something simple like my Kindle to read books when sitting on an airplane or airport is significantly easier than pulling out the laptop. While an actual book is good - and I have all my SR stuff in both hard and softcopy - it is nice to have 100+ books on my Kindle to choose between.

In short, I buy both.

-M&P

I love my Kindle. Though I can't really see using it for RPG books (novels, sure). I still buy physical books, but after a leaky roof destroyed a box of books I had in a closet, I came to realize that I didn't need physical books for many things I read.

[hermit]

Works better so far, thanks.

Edit: Does this program just engulf all your RAM too, over time? It's demand started out moderate, but I had to shoot it at a demand of around 600K, which was grinding my machine to a halt.

Oh, and 'The Art of Diving in the Dark' also is pretty good. The idea of reincarnation is a little off what is usually done in Shadowrun, but not THAT far off, as it has been played with in 1st and 2nd already. PErsonally, I like such stuff, but YMMV.

And for the next story till the enxt lecture begins. Seems someone's been channeling Lovecraft.

[nezumi]

For loving a setting set in the future where almost everything is digital, I find it a bit ironic that a lot of you refuse to read something that's not made out of paper. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

I also love a setting where 80% of the population is too poor to afford real food. I'd rather get something I might find for $2 at the library store, or $10 on Amazon, than something that requires a $200 dedicated reading device.

(Plus, I can burn the book for heat in the winter. Burning a kindle stinks up the box.)

[DireRadiant]

The only paper book I've bought in the past 12 months have been SR4ALE.

I've bought and read over 100 books in the past 12 months.

Haven't been to a bookstore in ages.

[hermit]

Also, the book is more durable and will never require updates, cannot be manipulated by amazon, google or whoever from afar - nobody will delete books you bought, but it can and will happen on a Kindle, and will never, ever, die on you because the battery's empty.

In Story review news, Dead names is kinda meh. Nicely written, but a bit too blunt in it's homage to HPL for my taste. Weakest story so far.

On to Snake in the City, by Jennifer Harding ... a story about Mamba, and in Lagos. This looks interesting.

[Ancient History]

Heh. I remember proofreading that one.

[Stahlseele]

Motherfucking Snakes in motherfucking Lagos? O.o

[hermit]

So, Snake in the city. Was this a flavour piece for DotA? Because it seem to take place just before DotA 1. Nice to get to know Mamba a bit better, and generally good writing, which makes this a good story again.

Onwards to the Good Fight (Yes, In am reading this backwards). All in all, good story; some of the cyberware descriptions of Khaine are wonky - Wired aren't capable of working in different settings and a couple of other things - but that is, IMO, forgivable (though YMMV). Nice writing.

[Ancient History]

So, Snake in the city. Was this a flavour piece for DotA? Because it seem to take place just before DotA 1.

It was intended to be a DotA prequel/tie-in. Which should give you a smidgen of an idea of how long this thing's been in the works.

[hermit]

So this was once slated to come out before DotA? Well ... at least it got out, I suppose.

[Tiger Eyes]

So this was once slated to come out before DotA? Well ... at least it got out, I suppose.

Yep...

[hermit]

Still a pretty story, if I may say so.

[svenftw]

For loving a setting set in the future where almost everything is digital, I find it a bit ironic that a lot of you refuse to read something that's not made out of paper. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

Holdouts. It happens every time something new comes along. Give it another generation and the attachment to paper will be forgotten.

Speaking of PDFs though, has there been any news on 30 Rides? I've been checking diligently and thought it was supposed to come out last month, although a delay would not be surprising obviously.

[hermit]

30 Rides? Did they translate the cars from German Arsenal?

[svenftw]

I dunno, it was in a sticky post a few months back, slated for release sometime in the near future. Of course that near future has come and gone, I was just wondering if it was canceled altogether or if it was in a holding pattern or... something.

[JM Hardy]

I dunno, it was in a sticky post a few months back, slated for release sometime in the near future. Of course that near future has come and gone, I was just wondering if it was canceled altogether or if it was in a holding pattern or... something.

It hasn't been canceled. Our next eBook release (not counting Missions) should be Rotten Apple 2; 30 Rides should follow that.

Jason H.

[hermit]

If I may ask, what would Rotten Apple 2 cover? And 30 Rides?

[darthmord]

Also, the book is more durable and will never require updates, cannot be manipulated by amazon, google or whoever from afar - nobody will delete books you bought, but it can and will happen on a Kindle, and will never, ever, die on you because the battery's empty.

In Story review news, Dead names is kinda meh. Nicely written, but a bit too blunt in it's homage to HPL for my taste. Weakest story so far.

On to Snake in the City, by Jennifer Harding ... a story about Mamba, and in Lagos. This looks interesting.

The main reason I refuse to get into electronic reading media (electronic readers) has two parts...

Part 1 - I'm not sinking a few hundred dollars into a dedicated book reading device. I'm a dead tree person and will be until the end.
Part 2 - DRM. Too many companies are more concerned about DRM and protecting their assets than they are about serving their customer base. If those companies are going ignore me, then they don't want me. That's fine.

I'd like to see someone DRM a dead tree version.

Jason H,

You (CGL/TOPPS) could make every book for SR (that has ever been released) available for ePub. I won't buy them. I refuse to buy such devices because of their limited use and functionality. Maybe if they were like commlinks from SR circa 2070 you might entice me. Until such time though, I won't be a customer of that format.

I'm quite okay with my house smelling like a library. It's one of my favorite smells. The older, the better. Some of the books in my collection are early 1900s. So yeah, you have a long row to hoe to entice a dead tree book owner like me.