Shadowrun Novels, Suggestions? |
Shadowrun Novels, Suggestions? |
Nov 2 2010, 04:08 AM
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#1
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Target Group: Members Posts: 17 Joined: 16-October 10 Member No.: 19,117 |
About to hit eBay for some Shadowrun novels.
Any suggestions? |
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Nov 2 2010, 05:21 AM
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#2
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 328 Joined: 3-March 10 Member No.: 18,233 |
Anything by Nigel Findley... 2XS being my fav. Mel Odom has some nice ones. The Grand Daddy of SR series would be the Find Your Own Truth series by Robert Charrette (sp?). That series intro'd the iconic and classic SR characters of Sally Tsung, Ghost Who Walks, and Dodger.
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Nov 2 2010, 05:44 AM
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#3
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Target Group: Members Posts: 34 Joined: 22-July 09 Member No.: 17,419 |
Fade to Black and Who Hunts the Hunter by Nyx Smith were both really strange, but they really shaped my view of Shadowrun.
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Nov 2 2010, 06:03 AM
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#4
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 315 Joined: 30-December 08 Member No.: 16,720 |
The majority of the SR novels are not about professional Shadowrunner teams, perversely. Most are about someone who is pulled into the shadows by a specific circumstance or event over the course of the novel. Which is not to say there aren't good stories that can be told that way, but it's like the majority of D&D novels being about people who don't like adventuring or adventurers.
Mel Odom does good work, and of course Nigel Findley. I preferred Robert Charette's Battletech books to his SR works personally. Check out Into the Shadows, the braided anthology (two versions of this, one had Neddy, Nameless and some of the other iconic types, the later one had a different story in its place). Also Michael Stackpole's Wolf and Raven, collecting all the Wolfgang Kies shorts. |
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Nov 2 2010, 06:27 AM
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#5
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Freelance Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 7,324 Joined: 30-September 04 From: Texas Member No.: 6,714 |
It's really kind of a crap shoot. SR novels, like most franchise series, are real "hit or miss," and generally subject to the taste of the individual reader. You'll find Findley's work tends to be pretty universally praised, along with the Find Your Own Truth set, but other than that it's really all up in the air. Particularly since so many of them aren't about Shadowrunners (like Saber mentioned), it really comes down to taste. Lots of folks hate Dead Air, for instance, but it's one of my favorites (even though it's mostly about a Combat Biker pro athlete, not real Shadowrunners)...
Your best bet is probably just to see what's the biggest lot you can find on eBay for the cheapest, and take it from there. |
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Nov 2 2010, 02:04 PM
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#6
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,179 Joined: 10-June 10 From: St. Louis, UCAS/CAS Border Member No.: 18,688 |
Dead Air was Rollerball on motorcycles, with cyberware. It was...eh.
Lone Wolf was all right, though I continually prod folks towards Night's Pawn, being the first SR book I ever read and still by far the best in my mind. Echo the sentiments for Wolf and Raven, definitely worth reading. |
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Nov 2 2010, 04:01 PM
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#7
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Immortal Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,358 Joined: 2-December 07 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Member No.: 14,465 |
Dead Air was Rollerball on motorcycles, with cyberware. It was...eh. Lone Wolf was all right, though I continually prod folks towards Night's Pawn, being the first SR book I ever read and still by far the best in my mind. Echo the sentiments for Wolf and Raven, definitely worth reading. Dead Air is a Sim, not a real life event. Supposedly. Night's Pawn is good. Wolf And Raven had parts of it written before the main rulebook was even written... And makes me wish to know more about how those fellows are doing... Wolf was an example in SR4 BBB, IIRC... |
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Nov 2 2010, 05:19 PM
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#8
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 252 Joined: 26-August 10 From: Greensboro, NC Member No.: 18,971 |
If you like the stuff in SR about the approaching doom of the Horrors (or the Enemy) The Dragonheart(?) trio is fun.
I can't remember the name of it, but there's the one about the Hermetic who gets called in on a missing persons, days before Area nukes Chicago. It's great, in a tragic/horrorific sort of way. Burning Bright, is the name, or something like that. |
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Nov 2 2010, 05:29 PM
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#9
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,179 Joined: 10-June 10 From: St. Louis, UCAS/CAS Border Member No.: 18,688 |
Dead Air is a Sim, not a real life event. Supposedly. Night's Pawn is good. Wolf And Raven had parts of it written before the main rulebook was even written... And makes me wish to know more about how those fellows are doing... Wolf was an example in SR4 BBB, IIRC... Sim or no, Dead Air is still Rollerball on motorcycles, down to the name of the protagonist. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) |
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Nov 2 2010, 07:12 PM
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#10
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 10,289 Joined: 2-October 08 Member No.: 16,392 |
Never Deal with a Dragon
and Psychotrope |
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Nov 2 2010, 09:34 PM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 165 Joined: 4-August 10 From: West Seattle, WA. Member No.: 18,888 |
Changeling gets my vote along with "wolf and raven", and "into the shadows"....but two great books about shadow teams would be "Run hard die fast" and "Fade to black".
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Nov 3 2010, 01:39 AM
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#12
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 935 Joined: 2-September 10 Member No.: 19,000 |
My three favorite are probably Shadowplay, Never Deal With A Dragon, and Fade to Black, in roughly that order.
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Nov 3 2010, 01:53 AM
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#13
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 328 Joined: 3-March 10 Member No.: 18,233 |
A good primer on how a shadowrunning teams should behave and work together... Preying for Keeps.
A good character background intro novel in which Joe Average becomes a Shadowrunner... Never Deal With A Dragon. A good character background of someone going through SURGE or Golbinization... Changeling. A good novel that gives insight to all the varied atmospheres and the overall dystopia that is the world or SR... Run Hard, Die Fast |
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Nov 3 2010, 03:24 AM
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#14
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Target Group: Members Posts: 17 Joined: 16-October 10 Member No.: 19,117 |
Excellent feedback, thanks.
Any of these set in the Seattle sprawl? |
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