NEWS

Novel Question

  • 15 Replies
  • 6224 Views

jayhawk1106

  • *
  • Guest
« on: <01-03-11/0934:48> »
Hi there!  I'm new.....ish.  Long time reader of SR rulebooks, but never actually played with anyone.  No one I know plays and my wife is afraid of those online recruiting.  lol  So I take to novels to get my fill.  My question is I just got a Kindle for Christmas.  And I got the first book in the series, Never Trust A Dragon.  But the only ones after that are the Nigel series.  Are there plans to put the rest of the books on Kindle or should I just go ahead and get the hardcopy versions?  Thanks!

Crimsondude

  • *
  • Freelancer
  • Prime Runner
  • ***
  • Posts: 3086
« Reply #1 on: <01-03-11/1043:24> »
You would probably be better looking for used copies somewhere. I cannot say what the plans are but I know the prices of used are comparable or better. Try used bookstores (One here is next door to a gaming shop and carries almost every SR novel for half cover price). Amazon, eBay or craigslist can have them for even less. Although fact is that Findley's novels are the best along wih Tom Dowd's Burning Bright.

Also you should look at Play by Post here or Dupshock or elsewhere. I have played SR for twenty years--all online. I am still trying to arrange my first tabletop SR game after a month of plans and missed dates for various reasons.

ssjevot

  • *
  • Newb
  • *
  • Posts: 26
« Reply #2 on: <01-03-11/1445:00> »
I managed to get every Shadowrun novel off of eBay for $20 (including shipping) a while back.  If you look you can find them.

jayhawk1106

  • *
  • Guest
« Reply #3 on: <01-04-11/0917:14> »
@crimsondude

I'll be sure to check out the play by post.  After you suggested it, I read some of them and it seems fun.  I'll have to re-read the core books and figure out my character so I can play!  I hope they accept noobs!   ;D

Crimsondude

  • *
  • Freelancer
  • Prime Runner
  • ***
  • Posts: 3086
« Reply #4 on: <01-04-11/1622:28> »
Excellent. It can be a lot of fun. It doesn't move as quickly as a tabletop game, but it certainly accomodates one's schedule and the time allows more thought to go into writing posts. Critias, who I met on a pbp site eleven or so years ago, calls it collaborative fiction. And he's right. Outside of dice rolling it is a pretty cool way to tell a story and not just kill or steal shit.

I actually collected our last big campaign as I ran several mini games at once into a 300+ page pdf novel that's posted in the Fan Fiction forum below (There's Nothing Free In This World). Amost all of it -- outside the intros and epilogue -- is composed of reformatted transcripts of actual posts. There is also a link buried in my tumblr (link in my sig).

Acme

  • *
  • Guest
« Reply #5 on: <01-07-11/0632:31> »
Yeah, I realize that the e-readers are the thing of the future, but nothing beats hardcopy.  I mean, I just found the crown jewel of my SR collection at Powell's for SEVEN BUCKS.

For those wondering, I'm referring to Into The Shadows- the collaboration piece that came out very early and is usually impossible to find.  It's got some of Stackpole's earliest Wolf & Raven stories.  :D

Anywho- e-readers are fine, but books you don't have to recharge.

FastJack

  • *
  • Administrator
  • Prime Runner
  • *****
  • Posts: 6374
  • Kids these days...
« Reply #6 on: <01-07-11/0909:02> »
Yeah, I realize that the e-readers are the thing of the future, but nothing beats hardcopy.  I mean, I just found the crown jewel of my SR collection at Powell's for SEVEN BUCKS.

For those wondering, I'm referring to Into The Shadows- the collaboration piece that came out very early and is usually impossible to find.  It's got some of Stackpole's earliest Wolf & Raven stories.  :D

Anywho- e-readers are fine, but books you don't have to recharge.
I've only kept 5 SR novels over the years (many because I re-read them, the others I loved, but never felt like going back again). Secrets of Power trilogy, Into the Shadows compilation and (just autographed at GenCon 2009) Wolf & Raven by Mr. Stackpole. All good reads.

raggedhalo

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 709
« Reply #7 on: <01-07-11/0919:11> »
IMO, Burning Bright is the single best Shadowrun novel I've read.

The Dragon Heart trilogy made me want to punch myself in the face :-(
Joe Rooney
Freelancer (Missions and otherwise: here's my stuff, plus CMP 2011-05 Burn Notice)

My Obsidian Portal profile

jayhawk1106

  • *
  • Guest
« Reply #8 on: <01-07-11/0925:30> »
Interesting read, Crimson. 

The PBP forum here seems to be lacking for GMs it seems.  I'd throw my hat into the GMing ring, but I don't know if people will like a noob GMing.   :)

Mystic

  • *
  • Freelancer
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 982
  • Word Mercenary
« Reply #9 on: <01-07-11/1224:42> »
I've only kept 5 SR novels over the years (many because I re-read them, the others I loved, but never felt like going back again). Secrets of Power trilogy, Into the Shadows compilation and (just autographed at GenCon 2009) Wolf & Raven by Mr. Stackpole. All good reads.
I used to use Into the Shadows as my SR primer for newbies, and WnR is also one of my favorites. I also recommend Steven Kenson's works featuring Tommy Talon. As for novels...lets just say it's easier for me to say what I DONT have.

 ;)

Bringing chaos, mayhem, and occasionally cookies to the Sixth World since 2052!

"Just because it's easy for you doesn't mean it can't be hard on your clients"-Rule 38, The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries, Schlock Mercenary.

Crimsondude

  • *
  • Freelancer
  • Prime Runner
  • ***
  • Posts: 3086
« Reply #10 on: <01-08-11/0035:27> »
Interesting read, Crimson. 
Thanks. I think.

If you go to The Written Word link the "Espionage and the Shadows" pdf is what got me the job writing part of Spy Games. The site that hosts the page and TNF is a giant pbp site--still the most advanced one even though it was last upgraded last century. Of course Dave is also credited for creating Firefox and Safari. He knew his shit.

Quote
The PBP forum here seems to be lacking for GMs it seems.  I'd throw my hat into the GMing ring, but I don't know if people will like a noob GMing.   :)
Well shit. Dumpshock too? Bastard lazy players. ;)

Mystic

  • *
  • Freelancer
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 982
  • Word Mercenary
« Reply #11 on: <01-08-11/0537:16> »
IMO, Burning Bright is the single best Shadowrun novel I've read.

The Dragon Heart trilogy made me want to punch myself in the face :-(

I wanted to punch Ryan Mercury in the face. Other than that, I liked the series.
Bringing chaos, mayhem, and occasionally cookies to the Sixth World since 2052!

"Just because it's easy for you doesn't mean it can't be hard on your clients"-Rule 38, The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries, Schlock Mercenary.

Acme

  • *
  • Guest
« Reply #12 on: <01-08-11/0817:53> »
IMO, Burning Bright is the single best Shadowrun novel I've read.

The Dragon Heart trilogy made me want to punch myself in the face :-(

I wanted to punch Ryan Mercury in the face. Other than that, I liked the series.

Actually... I think I wanted to punch Jak Koke in the face.  I mean come on... sex as cure for amnesia?  ::)

JM_Hardy

  • *
  • Administrator
  • Omae
  • *****
  • Posts: 404
« Reply #13 on: <01-08-11/0843:13> »
Hi there!  I'm new.....ish.  Long time reader of SR rulebooks, but never actually played with anyone.  No one I know plays and my wife is afraid of those online recruiting.  lol  So I take to novels to get my fill.  My question is I just got a Kindle for Christmas.  And I got the first book in the series, Never Trust A Dragon.  But the only ones after that are the Nigel series.  Are there plans to put the rest of the books on Kindle or should I just go ahead and get the hardcopy versions?  Thanks!

Sorry to be slow on the original question, but we hope to have more novels out electronically as time goes by. I don't have a timeframe on that, though.

Jason H.
Jason M. Hardy
Shadowrun Line Developer

"The thing is, I’m serious about what I do, and the people with whom I associate are serious about what they do. We’re all serious people. Look, I can even make a serious face. See?" --Quinn Bailey

raggedhalo

  • *
  • Omae
  • ***
  • Posts: 709
« Reply #14 on: <01-10-11/0515:50> »
I wanted to punch Ryan Mercury in the face. Other than that, I liked the series.

I enjoyed them, but then tried to explain the plot to a friend of mine and realised how absurd it was.  So...the Big D becomes an amnesiac free spirit (wait...what?) who then doesn't use his massive assensing powers to determine that what's-his-face is a TRAP, and then he becomes a super-powerful free spirit in a cyberzombie body?

Grrrrrrr!

I actually think that's my complaint about a lot of Shadowrun novels; they often introduce concepts that are way outside normal Shadowrun stuff, they often resolve or advance metaplot elements, and they don't allow players to engage (unless a GM sits down and turns them into a run).  But I guess that 150 different variations on Fade To Black might not exactly shift any units.
Joe Rooney
Freelancer (Missions and otherwise: here's my stuff, plus CMP 2011-05 Burn Notice)

My Obsidian Portal profile