So, I picked up the 4th edition book (My first Shadowrun book) and read it through. It's an awesome setting, but I feel like I'm missing a lot of the richness of the setting - I haven't been here for the past 3 versions and am missing a lot of the flavor text. Where should I begin?

I've read the Psychotrope, 2XS, and Never Deal with a Dragon novels, and I'm working my way through the short stories in Into The Shadows.

Are there any other novels or sourcebooks that YOU feel are integral to the setting?

Thanks in advance,
Malicx

Shadows of North America would probably help a lot.

I always really liked shadowbeat (music and culture related stuff).

I also would suggest whatever one of the "seattle" books you can get your hands on.

And then there is the whole question of whether you enjoy immortal elves and tie ins with other game systems or not. But that's a whole extra aspect.

Sprawl Survival Guide is also great for flavor text. It is all about living the the Shadowrun world from the peoples perspective.

-Strobe

Dunkelzahn's Secrets is a good one. Bit hard to find, though.

Neo-Anarchists guide to Real Life is a great book, Neo-Anarchists guide to North America too. They're a bit tough to find now though but I think they are available as PDF's from battlecorps. The article on the fast food joint is actually a remarkably insightful commentary on just what life in the 6th world is like. Basically the entire restaurant is designed with security in mind, from vehicle barricades in the front to security guards with the ability to flood the entire restaurant with stun gas. Really says something about the society when the biggest selling feature of the most popular fast food joint in the world is the fact that you won't get killed while eating there.

Thanks a lot for the information so far guys. I'll keep an eye open for these books and check out battlecorps.

And if you want a lot of data, once you get into the game a little further, go to Ancient History's website.

http://ancientfiles.dumpshock.com/index.html

Also, Year of the Comet has a lot of things happening in it that are more current than most of those other books had. Like Ghostwalker taking over Denver and such.

I suggest Sprawl Survival Guide for the feel of the world and everyday life (its 2064 but extrapolating many of the differences is easy given the Life in the Seventies section of SR4.

For specifics and details on the Sixth World, I suggest the Shadows of series (North America, Europe, and Asia) as well as Runner Havens and New Seattle.