SHADOWRUN BURNING BRIGHT BY TOM DOWD

Copyright 1994.

Kyle Teller is a mage and former FBI agent. He now works as a freelance investigator. He has been hired by Timothy Truman the CEO of the powerful entertainment megacorporation Truman Technologies. His son has gone missing and it is up to Kyle to find him. His investigation in Chicago soon leads to the presence of powerful insect spirits from another dimension. The spirits break out on a raid on their hive. The government quarantines the city to contain these powerful insect spirits. Kyle finds himself trapped in the containment zone. He searches for his ex-wife and daughter while mounting an assault on the main hive with a small tactical nuke. If they fail, then the government will drop a deadly pesticide on the city killing everyone.

The is the second book that Dowd did and very much the better of his two contributions to the series. This is the first that stars a mage or one who can use magic in the awakened world of the future. It is the first that really gives us a sense in this series of what magic is capable of. He does a lot of astral projection and creates these familiar spirits to help him. Dowd did a game book for the series called Bug City. Basically, it was the book that gave players the mechanics and scenarios to play in a Chicago taken over by these interdimensional insects spirts. It was canon for the Shadowrun universe, and he did a tie in novel. A fun book that starts out as a detective novel. Then turns into some kind of corporate/government conspiracy. Finally ends as a post-apocalyptic type of book. One of my favorites of the series.

SHADOWRUN NOSFERATU BY CARL SARGENT & MARC GASCOIGNE

Copyright 1994

The elf mage Serrin Shamander is in New York doing some research and saves the mayor from being assassinated. He becomes a celebrity and decides to go to Europe to escape the spotlight. Only in Germany someone tries to kidnap him. He goes to Seattle and hires an old ork friend Tom to be his bodyguard. His rich friend in Britain hires a decker named Michael to also help. A message from a young street kid named Kristen in Cape Town points to a worldwide conspiracy. Someone is kidnapping elf and human mages. Soon they find that there is a powerful and ancient elf vampire or Nosferatu behind the kidnappings. The Nosferatu has a plan to produce a drug to make all humans and other metahumans that aren’t elves complacent. They have to assemble a force to attack his lair in Germany.

This is the second of the three books that these two authors did for the series. They use a character that was from their first book. Once again, I enjoyed their writing. They seem to have a strong ability to assemble a strong cast of likable and diverse characters of different backgrounds. They fight an ancient and powerful evil. We get to see the Germany and South Africa of this future fictional universe. Now called Azania, South Africa is a loose confederation of states and still stratified by race. Now those of mixed-race are the lowest in society. Berlin is an anarchic free city where anything goes. The book also has an ending with some powerful organization that is secretive and above the law. They also sort of tell the main character this and rub his nose in the fact they are beyond his retribution. An enjoyable book in the series.

SHADOWRUN FADE TO BLACK BY NYX SMITH

Copyright 1994.

Rico lives in the Newark of 2055. It is an urban crime infested hellhole. Crime, violence and poverty rule with brutal gangs controlling pieces of the city. (Sounds like nothing has changed in the future.) Rico has been hired to break out a scientist being held against his will. A challenging job that will give a hefty payout for him and his team. The snatch goes off without any complications or loss of life. Only the guy they snatched doesn’t want to go to the corporation that hired them He wants to go somewhere else. Rico being a man of honor will not force him back. What follows are them breaking out the man’s wife from the corporation. The wife trying to kill him and revealing he really isn’t who he is. Corporate intrigue and their security teams out to get Rico. Being an honorable man has a high price to pay in the world of 2055.

This is the second book from Nyx Smith. Like his first book I enjoyed reading it. It had interesting characters and plenty of action. I did find some of the twists to be a bit hard to believe. In fact, it did get a bit convoluted. There were also some subplots that seemed to go nowhere. Still, it kept my interest which is something I find important for a book to do. While not my favorite writer in this series, Nyx can still deliver a good book.

SHADOWRUN LONE WOLF BY NIGEL FINDLEY

Copyright 1994.

Rick Larson is an undercover cop for the private policing firm Lone Star that handles the contract for Seattle. He has managed to infiltrate The Cutters a notorious street gang. One day he recognizes a corporate official with some Tir based corporation that is working with The Cutters. Soon his cover is blown, and he barely escapes a Cutter team sent to kill him. An extraction operation by Lone Star ends with him almost getting killed by a Lone Star tactical squad. Lone Star has been compromised and someone high up wants him dead. On the run from both the Cutters and his corporate employer he turns to Argent a Shadowrunner fixer. They manage to find a conspiracy to produce a magical biological weapon that a high executive in Lone Star is working with an elf corporation located in the Tir.

This is the third Shadowrun book that Findley has written. Like the others is has a very crime noir feel to it. Findley is my favorite author for this series. His stories are always very interesting and filled with characters that bring the story to life. Rick Larson is a perfect lone wolf type of cop. He is dedicated and a bit idealistic about the work he does. This idealism starts to shatter when exposed to the truths of the world. He hates Shadowrunner but finds in Argent someone who shares his sense of honor while his employers are corrupt to the core. When reading this series if you get a Nigel Findley book you know you are getting a quality book.

SHADOWRUN NIGHT’S PAWN BY TOM DOWD

Copyright 1993

Jason Chase is a shadowrunner. One day he gets a visit from a young girl that he was hired to bodyguard as a kid. She is on the run from terrorists. She has stumbled on a plot to assassinate her father who heads a major tech corporation. She needs to get to her mother in Seattle to warn her father since she is estranged from him. Chase takes her from New York to Texas to Denver evading various forces out to get them. He soon finds out the plot is also directed at him, and a person though long dead is still alive.

This is the first of two books Dowd did for the Shadowrun series. He is a good writer and has some well fleshed out characters. It did seem to start out slow and does meander around a bit. If you stick with it though you get an unexpected twist and understanding of the big picture. The book does end on a note that seemed to set it up for a possible sequel. His next book was a completely different story.

SHADOWRUN SHADOWPLAY BY NIGEL FINDLEY

Copyright 1993.

Sly is a decker that is getting old and wants to retire. On a typical run to retrieve data on a minor executive that a competitor can use, she retrieves a file from a dying decker. Soon every corporation and government is out to get her. The file has a way to read fiber optic data and would give any corporation of government a big advantage in this information dependent world. She teams up with a young teenage gang member named Falcon that dreams of becoming a shaman. They have to avoid the various hit teams and find a way to post this data, so everyone has access to it.

This is Nigel Findley’s second book and definitely an excellent entry in the series. In fact, I think that Findley may be my favorite author in the series. He knows how to write interesting characters and situations that keep you invested from beginning to end. This book also gives us a look at the corporate workings in this world. The Zurich-Orbital is the corporate court that keeps the system running is on a space station. It makes sense that these extraterritorial corporate entities have to have some kind of authority to keep them in line. Definitely one of the best books in the series.

SHADOWRUN STREETS OF BLOOD BY CARL SARGENT MARC GASCIOGNE

Copyright 1992.

Geraint is a noble from Wales and in the House of Lords. A rich and power man of influence in 2053 Britain. He finds himself part of a group of diverse individuals. Serrin an elf mage from Seattle on a quest for vengeance. Francesca a high-class decker from California. Rani a Punjabi ork an eighteen-year-old street samurai from the lowest level of British society. They have to join forces to stop a modern-day Jack the Ripper who is killing prostitutes with the same names as the original ripper.

This book in the series gives us a view of British society in the Shadowrun universe. We did have a book set in England in the second one. That one though didn’t really give us a good view of British society. This one does. The authors have a very good understanding of Britain and give us a very authentic feel of the world. It is a country with lots of pollution and a heavily stratified by class. The story builds up slowly with exploring the various characters and their stories. I especially liked Rani the young ork. She had an authentic wide-eyed innocence about her but a fascinating story. The story came to an exciting conclusion and ended though with very ambiguous victory.

The two authors would go on to write two more novels for the series.

SHADOWRUN #7 INTO THE SHADOWS EDITED BY JORDAN K. WEISMAN

Copyright 1992

A Plague of Demons by Tom Dowd

Brandon Cross is hired to find a missing daughter. He discovers insect spirits taking over some women.

Graverobbers by Elizabeth T. Danforth

Two hackers go into Natural Vat HQ to hack the computer of a recently deceased executive.

Tailchaser by Paul R. Hume

Thorn is hired by Cortez an exec from Natural Vat to steal data from United Oil. He hires some top-notch mercenaries and Shadowrunners for the job.

Striper by Nyx Smith

Striper is a weretiger and assassin for hire. Someone has put a contract on her life, and the trail leads to an executive at Natural Vat.

Whitechapel Rose by Lorelei Shannon

Jack the Ripper is a decker hired to steal information from Natural Vat.

Turtle in the Tower by Ken S. Andre

A tarot reader hooks up with a mysterous man named Jaxxon. They get involved with a ninja attack on the warehouse of Bob’s Cartage and Freight which handles food for Natural Vat.

Free Fall by Tom Dowd

Two simsense stars want to escape their contract with MegaMedia and get help from the President of Natural Vat.

Would It Help to Say I’m Sorry? by Michael A Stackpole

Two street samurai Tiger Johnson and Iron Mike are hired to lean on someone to pay back their loans. Only the apartment turns out to be a setup and the two have to escape being framed for an explosion and killing of a Lone Star cop.

It’s All Done with Mirrors by Michael A. Stackpole

Raven and Wolf rescue the two from the last story. They get involved with helping Nadia Mirin who escaped an attempt on her life. Raven helps her with a plot by the Yakuza to get the shipping contract for Natural Vat.

This is an anthology to the Shadowrun series. It is a mixed bag but most of the stories are good. It does have a theme with Natural Vat that links well with the final story. Some of the characters used in this would surface in later books. Most notable the Striper character. Also included is a glossary of slang and a timeline of this fictional future.

SHADOWRUN #6 NEVER TRUST AN ELF BY ROBERT N. CHARRETTE

Copyright 1992.

Kham is an Ork living in Seattle and a shadowrunner. He is hired to guard some elves as they retrieve a crystal from a cave in the countryside. Soon after Kham and his family are attacked by mysterious men. They were sent by the elves to get rid of the witnesses to the theft. He has to fake his death and find out why the crystal is so important. He soon finds himself in the middle of a fight between powerful elves and the dragon Lofrywn. A plan that wants to bring the elves to domination of the world.

This book was written by Charrette who did the first trilogy for this series. He brings back some minor characters from the trilogy and gives them more prominence. Kham now is a central character, and he gives us a good perspective on Orks. We find out they age quickly and have short life spans. Elves apparently have been born before the return of magic, and some are immortal. Other characters from the trilogy are Neko and the evil elf Urdli. Dodger and Laverty make a short appearance as well as Sally Tsung and Ghost. The story was fun and filled with plenty of action. I think that Charrette is my favorite writer for this series. He would only do one more in the future.

SHADOWRUN #5 CHANGELING BY CHRIS KUBASIK

Copyright 1992

Peter Charris is a young 15-year-old who has above average intelligence. Only he goes through the goblinization and turns into a troll. His father a cold doctor treats him as someone who will be a child for the rest of his life. Peter rejects this and runs away vowing to find a cure to this change. Only the streets of Chicago are not a safe place, and he runs into the discrimination that metahumans face in society. He eventually gets in with a local mobster and becomes a hitman. He works at finding a cure and soon comes up with one. A hit against a woman who is a CEO that is working with his father forces him to make a choice. He turns against his employer to help her. On the run with a pregnant woman, he must find a way to rescue his father.

This entry in the Shadowrun series deals with someone going through the goblinization transformation. It shows us the life of these metahumans and their place in society. Peter struggles with his new lot in life. He eventually comes to accept the change and work toward a better life. Kubasik wrote an enjoyable book, and this is his only one in the series.