I'm reading The Lost Chalice by Vernon Silver, which is a look into the world of antiquities smuggling. Very interesting and readable!

Also finished Effinger's When Gravity Fails, which was almost as good as everyone says.

I finally found all three books in the set, after about 20 years...
...And I think the 1st is the best.

I think there was a supplement for CP:2020 for the Gravity Fails world, in the same way there was one for HardWired.

Just finished reading Moxieland [by Lauren Beukers]...
...Not a bad book, with some good ideas, that I'm sure to include somewhere - crowd control methods, payment systems.

Involves a nearfuture South Africa, DNA altering implants, consumer culture, Corporate characters, gangs, activists, streetjournalists [finally]...
...Many of the things I associate with Cyberpunk as a genre.

im towards the end of the sr novel technobable. ive enjoyed it. next was on my list was the forever drug but it got destroyed. so ill be starting up the terminus experiment next.

Are the others still good, even if they aren't as good as the 1st?

I really liked all 3. I wouldn't say the 1st is the best, even. They're all equaly good in my mind.

All 3 books are good [and highly recommended reading]...
...But after waiting such a long time to get and read them, I don't think they lived upto my expectations [which is my fault, not theirs].

Just finished reading Broken Angels [by Richard Morgan] - again.

One of a selection of books, I just keep re-reading and always enjoyable [especially when read as part of the trilogy].

So many good ideas, it's scary [enough to inspire a whole RPG - Eclipse Phase discussions constantly refer to Morgan's books].


From a RPG perspective, it shows how Player Characters from different backgrounds can be pulled together as a team [ninja infiltrator, marine/soldier, corporate, fixer, archaeologist, techie], how their specialities complement each other [combat specialists are no good at providing financial backing, ninjas are no good at being archaeologists, etc] and how an archaeological dig can be a viable scenario/adventure.

Just finished "The Way of Shadows", by Brent Weeks, and I really enjoyed it. The "magic" in the world was quite interesting - a lot of parallels to SR IMHO - and a pretty dark, gritty story line.

AJC

Currently reading S.J. Rozan's "Reflecting the Sky," which is a triad-involved kidnapping story set in Hong Kong. Lots of nice details about living there for anyone in a HK based game...

Reading: Picked up The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye by Chandler after a suggestion from Blade. ZOMG. Chandler's books are so fucking good, especially when read on a beach in Mexico. Thanks for that one Blade, totally loved it. Now have to buy all of them! Also reading Eclipse Phase. Love it even more than I thought I would.

Watching: Still watching True Blood. Really need to go see District 9.

Gaming: Playing some Battlefield 1943 on Xbox (the DLC game) and friend just lent me Red Faction 2. Pretty fun.

You're welcome, I've read all the novels and some of the short stories enjoyed them all. I've recently read Chandler's first short stories, with a main character different from Marlowe (and not just a Marlowe under another name) and they're pretty good too. They are different from the Marlowe stories with less wisecracks and less "poetry" but a bit more action and more "street-level". The fun thing is that all you have to do to get a Shadowrun story was to replace "Negro" with Troll, "Mexican" with Ork and the rich/powerful guys (and maybe the pretty girls too) with elves.

Time for an update for me too:
Reading: Recently finished Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard. Really interesting auto-biographical book about a British boy growing up in Shanghai when World War 2 breaks out. The story is great, well written and full of details that could be very useful in some Shadowrun games. Currently reading the first book of the Secrets of Power trilogy. Fun to see how Shadowrun was seen by its creators at the beginning (actually most of it hasn't changed that much).

Watching: Recently seen Godzilla vs. Megalon which is one of the best Godzilla movie I've ever seen and Godzilla and Mothra: Battle for Earth which is one of the most disappointing. Oh, and the last Futurama movie... nothing much to see there, I laugh a lot more with a regular 20 minutes episode than I laughed during the entire movie.

Playing: Just Cause: I'm surprised with how much fun I have playing this game compared to what I've read about it. I'm not that much bothered by the bugs and it's a lot of (mindless) fun. Mass Effect was a good surprise too. Too bad the side-quest are completely dull because the story parts are really good and the conversation system a great way to give fine control on your character's personality. Men of War is a great strategy/tactics game, with actual strategy and tactics, even in the single player game. This also means it's quite hard, but in a good way. It's part Dawn of War 2/Company of Heroes (but far more tactical), part Close Combat (but far easier to understand), part real-time Jagged Alliance. I really recommend it to all strategy/tactics fans. I've also been offered The Path recently. You can't really say it's a game, more like a work of art. Still interesting, though.

Reading: House of Leaves, which is great fodder for Eclipse Phasian horror if you can read the book as more a b-movie horror with a jigsaw puzzle aspect rather than some pretentious tour de force as it's mistakenly labeled.

I think the biggest mistake anyone can make is reading House of Leaves as a book, and not looking at it as a game that happens to be in book form. I'm actually dead serious. All of the intertextual stuff in the book, the hidden allusions, and the connections to other media are what make it totally fun to play. As a novel - a story in and of itself - it's good, but it's not some kind of second coming of the written word.

As a piece of media and experimental writing, though, it's total genius, because you'd have to be some kind of neurotic madman to have made it. Which, to my understanding, Danielewski is.

just finished the death gate cycle. Got the first 3 about 15 years ago, saw the last 4 2 weeks ago, bought them and read them. I recomend the series

If you like Chandler, you'd probably like Richard Stark (a Donald Westlake pseudonym), too.

Just got my hands on "Cyborg" [by Martin Caidin] after a visit to an open air book market in London.

This is the story that inspired the the 6 Million Dollar Man !!

Will be interesting to see how the original fares - after watching the tv show for so many years, and seeing how cybernetics are done in games such as Shadowrun/Cyberpunk/TORG/etc.

I am, right now, reading the WH40K novels dealing with the Fall of the Emperor.
Horus Rising and False Gods. Probably one or two more to follow i guess.
*I was there the day the Emperor died*
*I was there the day Horus fell*
OK, seems to be a bit more than 3 or 4 books O.o
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Horus_Heresy_Series

Just saw the movie District 9, very enjoyable. Can get somewhat a feel of how it'd be for a coporation sending in some elements into something similar to the barrens... though they have less buildings than what the barrens have in shadowrun. Anyway, this film is very much inspired by South Africa back during the apartheid, when they moved a district from Johannesburg to outside the city.

Also saw the movie, 9, it was okay but it really made me feel how much more I enjoyed Wall-E.

addendum: Saw a lot of movies with the 9 representation... but I'm gonna skip the upcoming film, Nine, it just won't be my cup of tea.

If you like District 9, see the original version that the chap did years before - viewable as short movies on YouTube.

Quite amazing !!

Already seen that, that's one of the reasons why I decided to check out the movie. Makes me think, man, he really should make Halo the movie, it might be enjoyable.
Speaking of which, has anyone seen the latest commercial for the Halo3:ODST?

District 9 ... so good, seen it twice in theatres so far. That's a DVD to own for our collection for sure.

That Halo3:ODST commercial is weird. I think they are supposed to be the man/boy's memories of dropping but who knows what the heck that is supposed to do with gameplay. I think the most convincing commercials I have ever seen for games in some way show gameplay and then the reaction of the gamer being one of enjoyment, especially with other gamers.

yeah, i wasn't judging it by the gameplay and such, just the commercial itself.

Latest read:
Black Lagoon Manga #7 (or was it 8? I think it's 7), it's a continuation, the entire book is a build up. Tensions in Roanapur is building, the Bloodhound of Valencia is back and looking to start a war, US blackops hiding out in the city, the uneasy alliance of the organized crime groups are about to explode, will the city remain standing in the aftermath? Will the Black Lagoon group survive? From what I hear, the next book will have action, but it doesn't end yet as there are more chapters I guess for book 9.

Finished War Machine by Andy Remic and enjoyed it. Nice thing about a space opera is that one can easily remove "planets" and exchange them for "countries/continents"... Found myself losing some interested towards the end...finishing off some of the plot threads was a little tedious and obvious...but a fun read nonetheless.

Next on the list is the first Gears of War novel: Aspho Fields

AJC

Currently reading Breakaway [by Joel shepherd].
1st book of a trilogy - Crossover and Killswitch, are the others.

Most of the way through it, and thoroughly enjoying it.
Getting much of the same buzz when I read Altered Carbon [by Richard Morgan].

Much like a book version of Ghost In The Shell [the manga film], it involves characters with augmentations, a high tech society, terrorists, a special crime division, replicant-like androids, high tech hacking.

Just finished watching.."The Kingdom", "Street Kings", and "Point Break" over the past two weeks.

Currently reading:
"Choose your Enemies Carefully" by Robert Charnette for the second time (Shadowrun novel). But I am thinking about switching to

"Stranger Souls" by Jak Koke, part one of the Dragon Heart Trilogy (Shadowrun novel)

Thanks for this suggestion. I am an archaeologist, and I play one on Dumpshock (among too many games!), so this definitely is on my list.

I recently read Justina Robsons - Keep It Real. Its sorta Shadowrunesque in that you have a cyborg lead character and elves, Demons and Fairies in a high tech society. I liked its depiction of elves and their culture though be warned it is a vieled romance novel whichis of course fun for me but may not be as much so for our testosterone diven chummers.

Thanks for this - I've got the first two books in that series but haven't got around to reading them yet.

AJC

I'd also add that the film Surrogates was pretty damn good - Even if Bruce Willis is looking more and more like Billy Joel each day! Such a great year in film for us dorks!

Err that movie looks terrible and full of plot holes. I remain unconvinced.

I on the other hand saw Zombieland with my zombie-loving wife (she loves me too, even though I'm not a zombie, in case you're wondering). VERY entertaining, LOADS of fun. It has gore and stuff but that shouldn't detract you, cause it's really a comedy with a nice romance story (so something for the estrogen driven chummers too). There is a marvelous cameo by an excellent old school comedian (won't spoil who) that's hilarious.

Yeah I've bamboozled some fella into taking me to see that this weekend. Gotta say, Woddy looks damn hot in the cowboy hat!

Over the years Woody took some of the darkest, most hedonistic roles in acting.

Still remember him from Cheers, playing "Woody." That was when he was the best.

im about to read the sr novel terminus experiment. anybody have any recomendations of shadowrun novels i should read?

Are SR novels worth reading? I say that recalling reading DnD novels and finding them remarkably formulaic and boring. That being said I am about to start the short story anthology Extraordinary Engines - a collection of Steampunk stories.

Disclaimer: I haven't read them all, and especially haven't read the most recent ones so maybe there are some good ones I've missed.

In my opinion, most of them aren't really worth it.
Some are just bad (poor stories, horrible writing, brown nipples...) and some are readable, but not worth reading when there's so many far better books out there.
The problem is that a lot were written by players rather than writers or by people who are actual writers but not very good ones, and not very knowledgeable about Shadowrun. Some lack story, some lack style and other lack Shadowruness... Some lack several of these or even all three.

Then there's 2XS by Nigel Findley, which is just a quite good Roman Noir set in the Shadowrun universe. House of the Sun by the same author with the same main character is not bad either, but lack that Roman Noir feel the first one has (except at the very end, which is very very Noir).

For fun, you can also read Black Madonna: it's Da Vinci Code except that it was written a few years before and has the Vatican launch a nuclear strike at the end.

I'm about a third of the way through the series and have enjoyed most that I've read. I've always had a soft spot for the initial trilogy, Secrets of Power, but that may be as much due to nostalgia as anything else.

AJC

ive read a handful of them. i own around 20. i enjoy them. then again there isnt much i dont enjoy.

@lass, you are really getting into steampunk arent you?lol

I've read them all. As long as you steer clear of the newest ones, especially the german stuff, you should find them quite enjoyable.

Other SR Novels I recommend.

1. Into the Shadows - Edited by Jordan Weisman.
2. Preying for Keeps - Mel Odom
3. Headhunters (Follow up to Preying for Keeps) - Mel Odom
4. Run Hard Die Fast - Mel Odm
5. Shadow Play - Nigel Findley
6. Wolf and Raven - Stackpole
7. Burning Bright - Tom Dowd (A story about Chicago getting nuked because of the large insect hive there.)


-"2XS" and "House of the Sun" are two books I highly recommend like the previous responders to your question.

Im still just getting me feet wet with Steampunk. Getting through Extraordinary Engines has been fun and looking over some of the RPG Steampunk based books has also been inspiring. I recently read Tim Power Anubis Gates which is meant to be sorta Steampunkish but really wasnt - unless your one of those that like magic in Victorian Times sorta types.

On a side note - Ive discovered Knight of the Dinner Table and its such a fun laugh!

For Steampunk, I recommend K.W Jeter's Infernal Devices which is one of the few steampunk books I've read that really deserve the "punk" part.

Recently read :-
Whitechapel Gods [SM Stirling] - much recommended by several people, it's a steampunk novel set in a Whitechapel cordoned off from the rest of London.
I did enjoy it, for the main part, but stopped enjoying it near the end.
Some great ideas, interesting steampunk things, and mainly good characters.

Triumff [Dan Abnett] - A cross between Black Adder, Discworld and Flashman, set in an alternate 2010 where the world hasn't really moved on from the renaissance.
Overall, I did enjoy it, but at times the humour felt a little forced and it felt like a rehash of some of the Sam Vimes stories.

Started watching Golden Compass and see lots of steampunk things to borrow and use elsewhere.

Wolf and Raven are wonderful...
...I read the original stories when they were published in Challenge magazine [I think it was], and spent years hoping they'd make it into book form.

Other than that, I highly recommend the Secrets of Power trilogy, Black Madonna and Streets of Blood [the latter because they're about Brits].

Forgot to say I read The Electric Church a while back.

VERY mediocre. Not bad, not good, just... average. I have no need to get the sequels.

Just finished Little Brother by Cory Doctrow, a great read and better than i expected, just starting River of Gods by Ian Mc Donald

Reading: DragonHeart trilogy and on the side Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher.
Films: Inglorious Basterds. Me like!
TV-series: NCIS and Top Gear is what catches my fancy at the moment. Otherwise it is Firefly, Farscape that I like the most.
Playing: Not enough. SR once a month if I am fortunate AND can get my players rounded up. Otherwise, not much.
Music: Erhhh, does musicals count?? And children's nurseryrhymes??

Only essential movie is This Is It!!!! Yes i'm talking MJ heeeeeeheeeeee!

Tried picking up Machiavelli's "The Prince" over the weekend. Put it down in favor of some fiction.

"Time Machine" And "The Invisible Man" by HG Wells.

Ive been Netflixing a great TV series from the 60s that is getting me writting up all sorts of Steampunk inspired stories - Watch The Wild Wild West! Not the crap one with Will Smith and giant mechanical spiders but the Robert Conrad series that combines SciFi with Western stories.