Shadowrun
Catalyst Game Labs => Catalyst's Shadowrun Products => Topic started by: Sendaz on <12-19-14/1118:37>
-
Having seen and enjoyed the Infected section in Run Faster along with Patrick's comments on new writer Kevin Czarnecki's work in the section, we did a quick search to see what else they might be doing and am pleased to see 'Red' will be coming back in his own novel Crimson (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadowrun-kevin-czarnecki/1119642325?ean=9781936876822) with a projected date of Feb 2015.
Thanksgiving. 2070. Shadowrunning vampire Rick "Red" Lang used to live in a world hunting infectious insectoid spirits and twisted mages, but now he's awakened after eight years to find the world has gotten impossibly stranger. After being retrieved by agents of his long-time ally Needles, Rick embarks on a quest to piece together the events of his lost time, and find his place among the conflict that rages among ghouls and the eldritch forces that have begun to encroach from beyond our reality. He journeys through the neon-drenched ruins of a leveled Chicago and its augmented facades as he teams up with Pretty, a beautiful ghoul, and Slim, hacker extraordinaire, as they weave their way through the schemes and power plays of a dangerous new conflict that threatens to shatter the delicate balance between peace and an all-consuming chaos.
Looking forward to it. 8)
Edit: oops, just realized I should have stuck this in the upcoming product thread.
Mea Culpa.
-
Great news!! Always looking to get more SR fiction. Would be kinda nice if they dice another short story anthology one of these days...love that format.
-
There was talk of another print anthology in a semi-recent Critical Glitch podcast interview with Jason and John Helfers, the novel line guy, but I'm not sure what the status on that is. I'd like one, too, though.
-
Also noticed these on BN:
Shaken: No Job Too Small (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadowrun-russell-zimmerman/1119642326?ean=9781936876839)
Jimmy Kincaid is an elven p.i., damaged mage, and friend to the downtrodden. He roams the streets of 2074 Seattle, dispensing justice the only way he knows how—fast and direct. But when a mage contacts him to let him know hie magical mentor has died—and left him a datachip—Kincaid thinks his old professor was simply taking care of some minor unfinished business. But the professor hires Kincaid to find out who killed his mentor, an old enemy from Kincaid's past pops up as the prime suspect—the same vampire that stripped him of his magic. Now Jimmy's got two reasons to tie up this loose end—permanently. But the bloodsucker's involvement goes deeper than Kincaid first realizes, and soon he's running for his life while trying to figure out exactly what his old mentor was up to—and why so many will kill to get their claws on it.
Deniable Assets (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadowrun-russell-zimmerman/1119642326?ean=9781936876839)
When a magical grad student on the trail of a ancient, powerful relic uncovers lost writings that reveal a link between the Sixth World and the long-lost, magical Second World, she sets off a chain reaction of megacorporaate machinations and cold-blooded killers who will do anything to get their hands on her. the only question is, will they sell her to the highest bidder, or throw in on her quest to find a true artifact that could change the Sixth World forever?
These are also scheduled to be released in Fab 2015...date might simply be a placeholder for the pre-order.
-
Woot, new works by Critias, Mel Odem AND the new guy Mr. Czarnecki? Sounds more like Xmas than Valentines day. ;)
So yeah, guess Feb is just the default space holder date for the next lot of books, but one of them might be out.
A bit of Book Roulette. ;)
P.S. The Deniable link still go to the No Job Too Small page, though it does have a link to Deniable Assets further down.
-
Deniable Assets (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadowrun-mel-odom/1119642327?ean=9781936876846#)
Mel Odom wrote some pretty bitchin' stuff back in the day, especially Preying For Keeps.
There was talk of another print anthology in a semi-recent Critical Glitch podcast interview with Jason and John Helfers, the novel line guy, but I'm not sure what the status on that is. I'd like one, too, though.
As would I.
-
Heyas! Patrick said I should "out" myself here, so, yeah, I'm Kevin Czarnecki. :)
Damn glad you enjoyed the piece! I'm pretty excited for Crimson's release. Adding to the canon is a big bucket list item.
No way it could have happened without Patrick. The guy is a perfect creative partner.
-
I just read the excerpt for Crimson, and I'm definitely going to get my grubby little paws on it as soon as possible. I love how you've written it up.
-
Seconded.
Just got Dark Resonance yesterday at B&N and while am still reading through the novel, I just noticed the dark trimmed pages toward the back and flipped to them out of curiosity only to have discovered the excerpt for Crimson there.
Very nice bit and definitely left us hungry for more.
-
Heyas! Patrick said I should "out" myself here, so, yeah, I'm Kevin Czarnecki. :)
Damn glad you enjoyed the piece! I'm pretty excited for Crimson's release. Adding to the canon is a big bucket list item.
No way it could have happened without Patrick. The guy is a perfect creative partner.
Always appreciate the authors/freelancers showing up to chance about their work...much appreciated. ;) Really, REALLY looking forward to getting more SR fiction out there...hopefully our enthusiasm translates into solid sales ;D
-
Wanna see a better image of the cover for Crimson than is found on the Upcoming Releases page?
You're welcome.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152528406061021&set=a.468238421020.256567.657346020&type=1&theater
-
Woot!
Thanks Patrick. :)
-
I should mention that a new short story anthology is also in the works.
Jason H.
-
Arg! My Facebook! ;)
-
Honestly, tried to link to mine, but....
-
Honestly, tried to link to mine, but....
Problem solved (Much larger version behind the link):
http://shadowrun.tumblr.com/post/110003983131/cover-image-for-crimson-the-upcoming-shadowrun (http://shadowrun.tumblr.com/post/110003983131/cover-image-for-crimson-the-upcoming-shadowrun)
(http://41.media.tumblr.com/a42b50d3ab37f776a3e1a1f0be339c0b/tumblr_nj7s2bZuNN1s1wdzzo1_500.jpg)
-
Naw, you know me. I love the attention. 8)
-
One-handing an AS-7 or something like that? Much respect...
-
+10 Internets for awesomeness.
-
Great cover...quite looking forward to this ;D
-
anyone seen these on the store shelves yet or a revised release date?
-
anyone seen these on the store shelves yet or a revised release date?
The thread title says Thanksgiving 2015. Seems like that might be a target.
-
anyone seen these on the store shelves yet or a revised release date?
The thread title says Thanksgiving 2015. Seems like that might be a target.
I hope not.
The book setting is at Thanksgiving 2070s, when I wrote the title for the thread I mentioned a Bloody Thanksgiving in 2015 referring to the setting and it coming out this year.
Let's hope it is not prophetic because I would like to dig into it before that holiday. :P
-
Durka. :P
I forgot you created the thread.
-
Well checked in at B&N and there are none in store or in the warehouse though they still have them on order, so has not been released yet by someone higher up the chain like the distributor or publisher and no revised date yet.
-
Ah, distributors...the bane of our existence....
-
Or maybe the gentle souls at Fear The Dark hijacked them because Red portrays a Vamp who still wants to fit in and thus goes against their own agenda? :P
Was hoping for a solid book, I still like the feel of a tome in my hands, but even if the pdf comes out that would be something.
-
As usual ::), I plan to pick up both...but will actually read the digital version. Can't remember, but thinking the digital release has lagged print release 3-4 weeks???
-
while we wait, how about a taste (https://www.tumblr.com/search/kevin%20r.%20czarnecki) of what Red's doing when not saving the world. :P
-
Nice find, thanks Sendaz
-
Kevin mentioned somewhere around here that there was a printer snafu and the new drop date is March 6. So keep antagonizing your local B&N store!
-
Kevin mentioned somewhere around here that there was a printer snafu and the new drop date is March 6.
Missed this Patrick...thanks for the update.
-
So beware the Pridie Nones of Martius :P
-
The "Ides of March"...???
-
Ides is the 15th for March,
Pridie Nones Martius is the 6th of March, or the day of the (hopeful) release. :P
-
Ahhh...Latin...now I know why it's dead... ::)
The fact that I'd been up most of the night on a plane could have been a contributing factor as well... ;D
-
still no update at the stores, but then it is a Friday and the distributors are notorious for cutting out early so probably didn't update anyone before they headed out. :P
Hopefully Monday brings good news....
-
There seems to be conflicting info from the local B&N store. "Says it released last month, but we don't have it in the store. There are a couple on order...but what the heck? It says I can't order it, and it's unpublished! Okay, this is messed up."
She said she'd look into it, but no promises. So no Crimson in the wild in the Texas Pothandle, at least not yet.
-
Yeah it is giving the poor system a ministroke, but it can get worse.
Used to work in Recieivng for B&N so seen some of the shenanigans the system goes through.
With none in warehouse it can't even send out the automatic 2 copies a store should get but the system is trying to track the first 90 days of a product's release (something they came up with for sales trending and anticipating future interest in a series) but with none in stock there are no sales so that part is just sitting there twiddling virtual thumbs.
What will be really funny is if they don't get the book printed in the 3 month window, then the 90 day mark comes up and because there was no sales, it will pull the standing order at the store level and tell the store to return the books to warehouse. But there might not be a book to return so you get the command : Return 2 Stock 0. Annoying glitch but really no harm no foul..... yet.
Now go forward a week or two and bam the book finally gets printed and sent to warehouse which may still have a standing order for 2 to a store so sends them to store. So now we are at Stock 2.
But wait... the Return code is probably still up as HQ may not have reset the Trending counter and refreshed min stock count so we are Stock 2 Return 2, meaning those 2 books will probably get pulled and put on the returns wall before they even hit the shelf, unless the Receiving personnel have the presence of mind to realize this is still a new release and override the return command and put out on the shelf manually. They can not remove the return code without someone higher up the food chain adjusting the system count, but they can let the person covering sci fi section to add it to the list of no pulls so it gets a chance to be bought.
I had to do this for a few of the sci fi books/manga just to keep them on the shelf, so yeah ...
-
That hurts my head just trying to follow it. And the way today has gone, it really didn't need any help.
-
Inventory management IS a science...get it right and you're Walmart or Amazon...get it wrong and you're out of business ::)
-
Still no sign of Crimson or Deniable Assets.
Wouldn't be so bad if they could update the expected release date. :P
-
Not surprised about Deniable Assets - it's not due out until after Borrowed Time.
I check every day for Crimson...I want to add it to my collection, dammit! :)
-
So.... Is there any news on the release for this? First Valentine's Day, then March 6th.... Here it is, the end of March, and no sign of it. BN doesn't know anything....
-
Rumors abound that the main warehouse with the entire run of the novels mysteriously burned down and the only intact section of wall still standing was found to have the following written on it in soot and blood:
Fear The Dark
P.S. Seriously Red, Knock It Off....
-
If it was possible to give you a +1 here, Sendaz, I would. That was great!
-
Hurm.. Rereading my post, it could come off as confrontational... Not my intent. I'm just curious as I'm excited to read it.
-
Hurm.. Rereading my post, it could come off as confrontational... Not my intent. I'm just curious as I'm excited to read it.
I do not think anyone took it that way so would not overly worry about that.
All of us are waiting for the book with great anticipation.
It is just a sad fact that publishing dates in this industry do tend to be very .... fluid. some of the previous editions stuff used to drive me up the wall for some of the release dates.
I was hoping it would be out by the time I fly back to the States for our Easter Break to visit since the UK tends to lag behind on getting the releases sometimes, though they have gotten better over the last few years.
-
Somebody on Reddit claims to have gotten hold of a copy at Emerald City Comic Con. Anyone else heard of anyone who did?
-
Saw a post on FB...someone was able to pick up a copy of Crimson at their local FLGS ;D
-
It has been spotted in the wild, apparently. Just not at Barnes & Noble.
-
Listed for sale at TheWarStore.com (http://www.thewarstore.com/product101639.html)
-
Also available at Noble Knight Games (http://www.nobleknight.com/ProductDetailSearch.asp_Q_ProductID_E_2147577361_A_InventoryID_E_2148224381) and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Shadowrun-Crimson-Novel/dp/1936876825/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428454351&sr=8-1&keywords=crimson+shadowrun).
-
Any word on the E-version?
-
Nothing yet, but suspect we'll see something fairly soon now that it's out there.
-
Just got confirmation that my copy is en route...should have it in time for my trip to Boston next week ;D
-
still no sign of it at B&N so may just have to bite the bullet and order from Noble Knight/Amazon when I get back to the UK.
-
Well, BN (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadowrun-kevin-czarnecki/1119642325?ean=9781936876822) is now showing it in stock...depending on where you are, and his much time you have, you might be able to get it in...
-
still no sign of it at B&N so may just have to bite the bullet and order from Noble Knight/Amazon when I get back to the UK.
Well, I'm in the UK and as much as I want to read this, I'm not willing to fork out $12.98 (minimum) for shipping. The book isn't even listed on Amazon UK, so it would have to be imported.
Guess I'll wait for the e-book version.
-
Well, BN (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadowrun-kevin-czarnecki/1119642325?ean=9781936876822) is now showing it in stock...depending on where you are, and his much time you have, you might be able to get it in...
Which is odd as yesterday morning it showed as not available, then your post was up and it did show as available, but now this morning the page is back to saying not available and I just got off the phone with the store who did a warehouse check for me and none of their warehouses are showing any again, so not sure if that was a hiccup or someone jumping the gun on status before they actually realised they have not arrived yet or they are still on the way, just not in warehouse yet.
Hmm... was looking at maybe doing an Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=9781936876822) order to my US location, but now Amazon says out of stock , but will ship when restocked.
May go with Noble Knight as they do have it after ringing them to confirm, just need to figure out best place to send it as am all over the map the next few days. :P
-
Yeah...appreciate the challenge ;) Good luck!! ;D
-
My FLGS had it on the shelf tonight, so its out there.
-
Well, my local B&N finally got it, so I got mine....
-
couldn't find a FLGS or B&N that had it in before I had to pop back to the UK, but it's on order with Amazon so just have to be a bit more patient until it gets here. :P
-
Got my copy online late last week...just in time for the movers to show up and pack it up... :-\
Now we just need those digital editions... ;)
-
CAN you copy/digitize a vampire book?
I mean does it even cast a reflection for the scanner to read? :P
-
IT'S HERE!!!
DrivethruRPG has Shadowrun:Crimson available as an ebook download:
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/148228/Shadowrun-Crimson
I know what I'm reading tonight!
-
Indeed! ;D
Also available from BattleCorp (http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3438).
-
Bought it yesterday and completed it this morning.
I would call it an interesting read, dealing with an unusual story. I like the vulnerability of the main character and how the current situation in Chicago was described. I found it to lack something. It felt it lacked direction in a sense.
Still I'd give 4 out of five.
-
Was able to finish this while traveling last week and must say that I really enjoyed it. Hope we see more of Red in his new environs in the (near?) future. ;D
-
I would call it an interesting read, dealing with an unusual story. I like the vulnerability of the main character and how the current situation in Chicago was described. I found it to lack something. It felt it lacked direction in a sense.
My thoughts exactly. It was a nice read, but it lacked direction. I actually found myself enjoying it more when I realized it was, in fact,
[spoiler]the story of the ghoul pack and not Red's story.[/spoiler]
Although to be honest, some character interactions felt rather cliché and Red was a bit too Mary Sue-ish for my taste. I mean
[spoiler]He was awakened before the Awakening, became both a Vampire and an Elf, he was in Bug City, met Tamir Grey, he was a hero of the Arcology... At this stage I almost expected him to have been a personal friend of Dunkelzahn and have Harlequin's phone number ^^
That resume screams "player character" (basically listing the campaigns the player/character took part in) but feels a bit too much for an actual in-universe character, you know?[/spoiler]
That said, I appreciated the fact he's not painted as a superpowered individual and is actually pretty vulnerable. And the main threat of the book was pretty cool, in a nightmare-inducing way :)
-
SammyStan: Oh my God, they killed Gypsi!!!
KabbalistKyle: YOU BASTARDS!!!!
Heh. :)
Finally got my physical copy, yeah I am old timey sort who still prefers the feel of a solid book in my hands when possible, and practically devoured it.
Definitely a fun read and struck a decent balance between telling the story and still fairly fitting in with the game mechanics of the universe he is in.
Don't get me wrong, I love Michael Stackpole's Wolf, but even the author admitted he wrote most of it without even know how much of how the game worked back then.
It still makes for a great read, but was hell when you were trying to replicate it for a campaign at the time and there have been novels since that sort of caused all sorts of canon confusion. ( We are looking at you Gascoigne & Sargent, great read but canon headaches galore)
Plus they have Metacooking, making use of what an awakened world has to offer for chow, an Art I thoroughly endorse. ;D
Like Hell on Water it gives a pretty good feel for the areas they are located in, making this a nice addition to campaign/missions material for those wanting more.
Is it a little over the top at times?
Yes, but then it reads like a player's campaign put to ink so we can well understand how crazy can creep in and thus forgive this a bit.
Again it gives the feel of being written by players for players.
All in all, we enjoyed this and look forward to more,
[spoiler]Especially a prequel dealing more with Gypsi and the events leading up to her unfortunate end. [/spoiler]
We give this a 4.5 out of 5.
-
I really appreciate the reviews, everyone. I'm always game for constructive criticism. I'll try and address some of the things I've been seeing.
I'm glad folks saw that the real story is about the pack and Chicago. Red is just the medium.
That being said...
The original form of this story was just a piece of short fiction as background for a character I'd been running for a long time. Then Rob Boyle asked if I'd expand it. So I somehow turned it into a novel. I'd just recently been diagnosed with porphyria, and Shadowrun and Red were part of my coping mechanism. And then he dropped it, so it sat on a shelf. One of the original intents of the story was to help players get the transition into 4th ed, but by the time I was a freelancer, it was 5th, and I'd gone to college for writing. Going back and reading it now, I can feel the difference in the writing between how I write now and how I wrote back then, something like a decade ago.
One day on the boards, it came up in conversation that I had a novel sitting on my shelf. John took a look, said he wanted it, and we set about updating it.
I might have miscommunicated Red's origin, since a lot of people keep calling him a spike baby, which he is not. Part of the intent of the book is to talk about vampires that have been around since the 5th age, and how they might spread or survive in a low-mana environment. Red being an Elf or Awakened is the result of latent SURGE activated by Infection. Again, we wanted to show some of the other angles of Infected, much like Patrick's Dwarven vampire. The book, I hope, gave a glimpse into life as an Infected, the things they have to deal with, and Chicago in general. At least, before the corps get their hands on it. And we have things cooking for the Infected, for Chicago, and more things I can't even mention, all of which I tried to give a little advance notice of in this book.
A few folks mentioned that Red having done runs into the Arcology during it's shutdown, or tangling with bug spirits in the 50s, means he was there for all the big plot developments. Personally, I look at the number of runners who had done the same and just lump him in with them. And I was kinda surprised, considering how many major events he's missed on, given his age.
There's something my group reflected on after a three year campaign. They'd been through a lot, survived much, and not all of them had made it from the beginning. And as they accumulated successes and stories and strange encounters, even the least exotic of them became more and more exceptional. By the end, we shouted together, "It's snowing!" And we realized that any given runner is already a weirdo in the cosmopolitan Sixth World. If they keep surviving and evolving, they are just that stranger. If you've got ten years of running under your belt, you're either a cliche, or a snowflake. Either way, if it makes for a good story, I say embrace it. Because in the end, RPGs are getting together with your friends to tell stories. Different folks have different ideas about what makes Shadowrun and even stories in general great. For my money, I think the Sixth World is big enough for all kinds, and I like a novel about someone on the fringe. Hopefully for at least one idealistic, anachronistic vampire. ;)
I do hope everyone who picks it up enjoys reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. If not, it's cool. Even Shakespeare has his detractors, and I'm no bloody Shakespeare. ;) If so, I'm thrilled to have brought a smile and some escapism. Passing on that legacy from the likes of PN Elrod and Aaron Alston is all I could ask for.
This is becoming more sweeping than I intended.
tl;dr
So, yeah, there's some of me in Red. In that, he's definitely Mary Sue. I own that freely. :)