[Herr Brackhaus]

Having just finalized my collection of Shadowrun novels (that last one must have taken me a solid year to find), I'll be reading and posting reviews of all 40+ novels that have been released so far.

As you might imagine, this will take quite some time, so I'll keep updating this post whenever I finish a book, or whenever I come across something particularly interesting.

I haven't played Shadowrun since 2nd Edition, so I'm delving into this with a clean slate of sorts; I may or may not look up and recommend further reading for each book, depending on how understandable the content was for someone with little knowledge on the subject.

First up; Never Deal With a Dragon, by Robert N. Charrette.

I'm about halfway through at this point, so I should have a review up in a few days.

[AJCarrington]

Will be looking forward to this...have read most of the earlier novels and most of the recent ones...big gap to fill in between. Time...sigh...

[Jamelfr]

I am also eager to read your reviews. Good luck with your project!

[Namikaze]

As much as the reviews would be welcome here, they'll be more appreciated by the writers if the reviews get cross-posted to the various publication and distribution sites as well.

[Herr Brackhaus]

AJCarrington, Jamelfr
Glad to hear it. The first novel has proven to be a very interesting read so far.

Namikaze
Most of these are out of print and/or publishing, as far as I can tell, most likely since the first one was published in 1990. I was planning on posting a review on Amazon, just in case, though.


Here's the format I had in mind for these boards. This is just a rough draft for the first novel so far.

Book Title: Never Deal With A Dragon
Author Name: Robert N. Charrette
Publication Date: 1990
Themes: Megacorporations, Wage Slaves, Dragons, R&D (AI, Bioware(?)), Double-Crossing
Main Character(s): Samuel Verner, Sally Tsung,
Characters of interest: Haesslich, Dodger, Alice Crenshaw,

Review Text:
The first novel in the "Secrets of Power" series, Never Deal With A Dragon sets the scene for an introduction to the 6th World, with Samuel Verner, a Renraku researcher with more than just an idle curiosity, playing the leading role.

More to come.

[Jamelfr]

Looks great to me.

I would suggest adding data about the author and the year of publication.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Jamelfr
Good suggestion, will do.

[The Tekwych]

Sorry for the format. This list looks good as a spreadsheet but might be difficult here.
Order - Title - Author - ISBN - Date

By FASA and ROC:
1   Never Deal with a Dragon   Robert N. Charrette   0-1401-5239-3   1990-12
2   Choose Your Enemies Carefully   Robert N. Charrette   0-1401-5240-7   1991-02
3   Find Your Own Truth   Robert N. Charrette   0-451-45082-5   1991-06
4   2XS   Nigel Findley   0-451-45139-2   1992-02
5   Changeling   Christopher Kubasik   0-451-45163-5   1992-06
6   Never Trust an Elf   Robert N. Charrette   0-451-45178-3   1992-08
7   Into the Shadows   Jordan K. Weisman (editor)   0-451-45189-9   1992-10
8   Streets of Blood   Carl Sargent & Marc Gascoigne   0-451-45199-6   1992-12
9   Shadowplay   Nigel Findley   0-451-45228-3   1993-02
10   Night's Pawn   Tom Dowd   0-451-45238-0   1993-04
11   Striper Assassin   Nyx Smith   0-451-45254-2   1993-06
12   Lone Wolf   Nigel Findley   0-451-45272-0   1994-02
13   Fade to Black   Nyx Smith   0-451-45287-9   1994-04
14   Nosferatu   Carl Sargent & Marc Gascoigne   0-451-45302-6   1994-08
15   Burning Bright   Tom Dowd   0-451-45368-9   1994-11
16   Who Hunts the Hunter   Nyx Smith   0-451-45369-7   1995-05
17   House of the Sun   Nigel Findley   0-451-45370-0   1995-07
18   Worlds Without End   Caroline Spector   0-451-45371-9   1995-10
19   Just Compensation   Robert N. Charrette   0-451-45372-7   1996-01
20   Black Madonna   Carl Sargent & Marc Gascoigne   0-451-45373-5   1996-04
21   Preying for Keeps   Mel Odom   0-451-45374-3   1996-07
22   Dead Air   Jak Koke   0-451-45375-1   1996-10
23   The Lucifer Deck   Lisa Smedman   0-451-45377-8   1997-01
24   Steel Rain   Nyx Smith   0-451-45593-2   1997-03
25   Shadowboxer   Nicholas Pollotta   0-451-45600-9   1997-05
26   Stranger Souls   Jak Koke   0-451-45610-6   1997-07
27   Headhunters   Mel Odom   0-451-45614-9   1997-10
28   Clockwork Asylum   Jak Koke   0-451-45620-3   1997-11
29   Blood Sport   Lisa Smedman   0-451-45625-4   1998-01
30   Beyond the Pale   Jak Koke   0-451-45674-2   1998-03
31   Technobabel   Stephen Kenson   0-451-45699-8   1998-05
32   Wolf and Raven   Michael A. Stackpole   0-451-45995-4   1998-07
33   Psychotrope   Lisa Smedman   0-451-45708-0   1998-10
34   The Terminus Experiment   Jak Koke & Jonathan E. Bond   0-451-45704-8   1999-01
35   Run Hard, Die Fast   Mel Odom   0-451-45737-4   1999-02
36   Crossroads   Stephen Kenson   0-451-45740-4   1999-04
37   The Forever Drug   Lisa Smedman   0-451-45747-1   1999-06
38   Ragnarock   Stephen Kenson   0-451-45774-9   2000-02
39   Tails You Lose   Lisa Smedman   0-451-45818-4   2001-02
40   The Burning Time   Stephen Kenson   0-451-45839-7   2001-08

By Wizkids and ROC:
1   Born To Run   Stephen Kenson   0-451-46058-8   2005-11
2   Poison Agendas   Stephen Kenson   0-451-46063-4   2006-01
3   Fallen Angels   Stephen Kenson   0-451-46076-6   2006-03
4   Drops of Corruption   Jason M. Hardy   0-451-46083-9   2006-05
5   Aftershock   Jean Rabe & John Helfers   0-451-46101-0   2006-07
6   A Fistful of Data   Stephen Dedman   0-451-46116-9   2006-10

By CGL as ePubs:
1    The Vladivostok Gauntlet Olivier Gagnon   2010   E-CAT26S030
2    Spells & Chrome John Helfers (editor)      2010-10
3    Sail Away, Sweet Sister Patrick Goodman   E-CAT26S041 2011
4    Neat Russell Zimmerman      2012-11
5    Nothing Personal Olivier Gagnon   2013   E-CAT26S038
6     Fire and Frost Kai O'Connal   2014-8
7     Another Rainy Night Patrick Goodman   E-CAT26S022   2014



ROC no longer has an online presence of their own.

Penguin still lists ROC as one of their imprints but does not offer a digital way to communicate general questions.

A search of Penguin’s Permission Requests does not find any of the Shadowrun titles / authors listed as currant IP of Penguin.

Penguin is now a part of Random House but not listed on their publishers page. Random House also does not recognize any of the Shadowrun authors in their about our authors database.

Random House is owned by Bertelsmann

Several of the authors published by ROC in the 90s are now available as ePubs under the publishing name Random House.

You can contact Random House here to ask about the currant status of the Shadowrun series of novels. When contacting them be polite and spell out your interest (They are now the largest english language publisher in the world). Ask about digital ePubs of the 40 novels in the Shadowrun Novels published by their ROC imprint between 1990 and 2001.

Many of the titles were re-published in Europe in 2006. If anyone can find out who the publisher was I will try to dig further into where the rights now stand and what it will take to have legal digital editions created of these books

[Patrick Goodman]

I applaud this project.

One thing I'd be interested in is the date the novel is set in, if provided (07/24/2054). It's not a deal-breaker, of course, but it would be a useful item for me.

[Herr Brackhaus]

The Tekwych
Woah, thanks! That confirms I have all the books, if nothing else

I'll definitely borrow that table for the list, and thank you for your exhaustive work on rights. I'll get in touch with Random House and ask what the status is; I do own a Kindle, and having these as ePub books would be very good, as the state of some of my softcovers are... rather poor.


Patrick Goodman
Happy to hear that; I can certainly include a date if provided, or a rough estimate if not. The first novel, for instance, is set before the Renraku Arcology shutdown, which means it's most assuredly set before 2060. I'll see if I can find a more specific reference to date; there are some personnel changes for instance that may or may not be used as reference dates.

Good idea, thanks for the suggestion.

[AJCarrington]

A couple of additional titles to add:

ePubs
E-CAT26S030 The Vladivostok Gauntlet
E-CAT26S038 Nothing Personal
E-CAT26S041 Sail Away, Sweet Sister

Harebrained Studios
Shadowrun Returns Anthology

[Patrick Goodman]

Another Rainy Night (another Catalyst e-pub; I'd actually have to go look up the pub number as I don't remember it off the top of my head)

ANR is set almost entirely in October 2073. My story in the SRR Anthology ("Blowing Sky High") is set sometime in 2054, as is the rest of the book. I think it's sometime in spring, but a specific date was never needed. Some say SRR Antho is an alternate universe, but I'm perfectly willing to say it's not. In fact, the "protagonist" (and I use the term loosely) of "BSH" makes an appearance in Sail Away Sweet Sister, which is from Nov 73 to Jan 74.

I figured I asked for the game date, I might as well supply them where possible....

[AJCarrington]

Another Rainy Night (another Catalyst e-pub; I'd actually have to go look up the pub number as I don't remember it off the top of my head)

E-CAT26S022

Can't believe I missed that one...sigh...thanks.

[The Tekwych]

Thanks guys. I knew I was missing some ePubs. I can update those files as well. I like the idea of in universe dates. I know the First three Robert N. Charrette novels are 2052-53 and the stories go from there. Into the Shadows, if I remember, is a series of shorts happening around the night of Rage and of corse,  Jak Koke's trilogy tells what was really happening around The Big D's election and demise.

Now I need to start reading them again. Way to may great stories.

[cantrip]

Cool project!

I just picked up 'Crossroads' and my wife (who is currently playing in my current game) and I had the following conversation:

Her: Is that a giant ant on the cover?
Me: ....
Her: It does look like a giant ant.
Me: Ummm....<makes best unbelievable cover up face>...Ppshaw...no of course not, there's no such things as giant ants in the Shadowrun Universe!!!
Her: <Raises eyebrow> There's a guy standing in front of it.
Me:...that's uhh, perspective, the ant is in the foreground...<trails off weakly>
Her: And where are we running next?
Me:...Chicago...
Her: No Ants, huh?
Me: Of course not!
Her: Your doing that hand steepling thing again...
Me: <whips evil GM hands apart> What?!? Was that my phone, I'm going to check!
Her: <shakes head and puts up with me>

I have such a cool wife!