Shadowrun
Catalyst Game Labs => Catalyst's Shadowrun Products => Topic started by: Sendaz on <12-25-14/1108:40>
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Just finished this book the other day.
As the second physical Shadowrun novel (fire and frost being first) I have gotten in a very long time (had all of the older books under Fasa and most of Wizkids releases) I was glad to see they seem to be really reviving the solid books and have snapped up Dark Resonance already as well as really looking forward to the February release of some more.
Don't get me wrong, I am not a Luddite and have purchased several of the SR e-novels by Critias, Patrick and others, but there is just something about the feel of a book that is comfortable. There is supposed to be a digital release of this novel I hear so that is good for those who prefer digital.
Still, it is a nice change that the physical release came first, whereas it is reversed for the game corebooks which tend to be digital first then a lengthy wait for the hardcopy.
Anyway, this is an interesting read.
First there is the style of delivery.
For over three quarters of the book the chapters alternate between the current mission and flashbacks ranging from hours to days before the mission.
While reading the Game of Thrones series has gotten me used to flipping between multiple viewpoints with each new chapter, the overall flow of all the different threads tends to be moving parallel alongside each other through the same timeline.
Here you have things happen in one chapter and then in the next chapter roll back the clock to see a bit more about the characters or events, revealing more about them or seeing some foreshadowing for what is coming.
It can seem a bit odd, but it does attempt to flesh out the characters and atmosphere in a very short order.
And atmosphere abounds here. The novel itself could well serve as a springboard for a location book on Lagos, it really conveys the flavour of the region. Yes, Feral Cities covers Lagos, but there is a difference between reading about the place and seeing someone actually having to deal with the **** on the streets.
I was flipping through pages half expecting maps / artwork / stat blocks. Sadly none of those, but it would not have been out of place. I do miss the occasional sketch drawing in the novels, like the original FASA days. Yes it was only a handful of images, but it was a nice touch and one maybe they should bring back.
The group build is pretty standard SR style, covering all the bases. They all have their own issues and/or secrets which do tie into why they are there. Again the flashbacks try to add some background to the characters, but it can leave you scratching your head at times, though it does tie together eventually. One example has the Sammy dispatch some opposition with his guns and then the flashback chapter mentions how he is mainly a blademan and how he is most comfortable being in the zone with his blade- his moment so to speak, often looking for situations to achieve this. At first this seems like ' ok? did we need to know this?' but later on his seeking of that 'moment' does come into play.
Between the main storyline and flashbacks, there are plenty of ideas for party dynamics and character do's and don'ts so I think this may make a good reading for a person new to the game and wanting a feel for a party at work.
The story revolves around a group of runners having to make a delivery and the obstacles they face in trying to do this. It does read like a gaming session with the various elements clashing with the party, but we soon find it is not nearly as random as expected and there is at least one or more other agendas in play. The more Machiavellian GMs will appreciate how the events have been set up and why. One's past does have a way of catching up with you one way or the other.
There are some contrived bits. Like when their main boat ride gets blown, rather than try to secure a new boat they decide to hike over the much more dangerous 12 km bridge with big gaps in it (so no vehicles can cross it) because they 'didn't have time'. Later on when they basically get sucked right off the bridge via a mysterious wave back to starting point and again head back onto the bridge, I think I would have found the time to get that boar (though if there are more attack waves that may still be an issue) or better yet flying, even if it meant having to misappropriate something. Insanity afterall is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. But in this case it works as they finally make it over.
Was the wave an elemental or spell? Given how toxic/dangerous the water can be the fact they all end up on the shore pretty much intact makes me think the former, but that raises other questions as well we will not dwell too long on.
One interesting point I noticed is that the majority of the gear is unnamed, ie it's not name branded left and right. Many writers try to reinforce that it's a SR Story by citing "checked to see his Hammerli 620 light pistol was in it's holster" or spending time explaining how the Excalibur cyberdeck was the top of the line. Here it's just a machine gun or a bike for the most part and doesn't try to bog itself down with product placement for the latest issue of Street Samurai Catalog X.
I admit I am a bit torn by this. On one hand we like to see SR items being reinforced in the fluff, but sometimes when reading a book, did you really need to know the exact make of each and every piece of equipment in the party?
The ending may not leave everyone happy, but then SR is not all sunshine and rainbows and bad things can and do happen, especially when he deck has been stacked against you from the start. But again we get to see how a team handles things as they come and complete the job despite the odds, albeit in a bit of an unorthodox yet still fitting style.
The main party death I do feel was a bit anti-climatic, but then the world of SR is a brutal one and not everyone gets to die a heroic and noble death.
If I have one major complaint, it is that the novel feels a bit rushed. Yes, the actual main event actually all happens in one afternoon and I can understand that by using select flashbacks to bring up the relevant bits it kept the book much leaner and meaner. The characters and environment are engaging enough that you sort of wish there was just a bit more time to spend with them.
But then you run the risk of stretching it out in a multi-novel series that can drag in places, so I guess I can live with this alternative.
All in all I give it an 4.2 out of 5.
It's a nice light reading which should appeal to SR fans and again to players new to the game hungry for fluff.
The style of sequencing may be a little distracting to some, but it does what it's meant to do and short of going down the Game of Thrones route, it is a suitable substitute for a one off novel.
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Thanks so much for the review. This book, along with Dark Resonance are staring at me here, asking to be read...however, am still waiting on the digital versions (my preferred method these days). Very much looking forward to these...so happy to see SR fiction coming back to the fore.
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Looks like the digital release is up:
BattleCorps (http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3400)
DTRPG (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/142050/Shadowrun-Hell-on-Water)
Yay!! ;D
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Thanks for the info. Amazon has it too. Just in time, since I will suffer a long trip soon and I've just finished Fire & Frost (story was good, though characters needed more development).
Is Hell on Water more like a "pure-action" novel or is there some "film noir" elements in it ?
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More towards Film Noir; the entire tale is written much like how you'd expect a talented storyteller to spin a tale. It catches your attention, flits from place to place to keep you from getting bored, adds in the necessary detail. I love the style.
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Thanks. Instant-buy then for me.
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Thanks for the info. Amazon has it too. Just in time, since I will suffer a long trip soon and I've just finished Fire & Frost (story was good, though characters needed more development).
You might also want to keep a look out for Dark Resonance...I was able to pick up a copy from Amazon just before Christmas.
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Not arguing against your review since each is entitles to their preferences and that's that, but I just wanted to point out that brand-naming everything is kind of a cyberpunk hallmark. It not a Shadowrun thing, it's. Ore generally cyberpunk. The goal is to illustrate that the characters live in a world where brands are so omnipresent that they can't think of things without thinking of the brand.
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Thanks for the info. Amazon has it too. Just in time, since I will suffer a long trip soon and I've just finished Fire & Frost (story was good, though characters needed more development).
You might also want to keep a look out for Dark Resonance...I was able to pick up a copy from Amazon just before Christmas.
Thanks, finally found the book on the fifth(!) page of results on Amazon. Out of stock unfortunately and not yet available in digital format.
The goal is to illustrate that the characters live in a world where brands are so omnipresent that they can't think of things without thinking of the brand.
Which is why I've had so much difficulty when I first read Neuromancer (my first cyberpunk read too). In the first pages, things are only named by their brand and gosh, I was so lost at first (even if I got used to it after a while).
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Digital is HERE! (http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/142050/Shadowrun-Hell-on-Water)
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Not arguing against your review since each is entitles to their preferences and that's that, but I just wanted to point out that brand-naming everything is kind of a cyberpunk hallmark. It not a Shadowrun thing, it's. Ore generally cyberpunk. The goal is to illustrate that the characters live in a world where brands are so omnipresent that they can't think of things without thinking of the brand.
You are quite right that the endless ads are a staple of the cyberpunk setting and that this often carries over into the books as well. that is why I pointed out that this was an interesting point because the author (who is a line editor to boot) departed from that said norm by not branding everything in the book.
I did not say I explicitedly liked or disliked it, but rather was torn as one is very used to seeing product placement, while at the same time it is nice not having to have said product names endlessly repeated, because more often than not you end up with just a few favorites (like the iconic Predator for example) taking the spotlight in the books while the rest end up never being used or mentioned.
Again, it gives the feel of being very new reader friendly who probably wouldn't know the difference between a Hammerli 620 and a Predator III even if they were mentioned.
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Ah, yes, I see. I would suspect making it accessible for non-Shadowrun players is most likely an important consideration, indeed.
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I don't know if Cayman and X-Prime have been featured in some other story but if I was Cayman I would probably have killed off X-Prime long ago ... Love them as a team though ^^
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Yikes, without a doubt, the worst Shadowrun novel I've ever read right from the old 1st edition setting too. It's going to take time before I can even think about testing out Dark Resonance or continuing with the Fiction line.
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Yikes, without a doubt, the worst Shadowrun novel I've ever read right from the old 1st edition setting too. It's going to take time before I can even think about testing out Dark Resonance or continuing with the Fiction line.
Wow...any more details on what you didn't like? I plan to dive into this one next week.
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Personally, I loved the book; it has an unconventional writing style, which could be a problem to some folks. It doesn't follow your usual gritty, brand-name infused neon-lights and acid rain style for cyberpunk. The book is told from the perspective of a 'traditional' storyteller, the kind you'd hear around the campfire. That makes more sense, since it's a 'run in Lagos. He doesn't care what brand or model of gun the characters carried, he just says whether it's a pistol or a rifle or something else. Regardless, he definitely isn't an omniscient storyteller, and it's worded that way. It starts part-way through the run, with the storyteller pausing at certain points to flesh out how they got to said point, to flesh out the identities and personalities of the team.
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Interesting...thanks. Guess I'll just have to check it out for myself ;)
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I would imagine that one problem with the story is the lack of technology and the main plot is very basic. I mean, they are trying to cross a bridge!
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I don't know if Cayman and X-Prime have been featured in some other story but if I was Cayman I would probably have killed off X-Prime long ago ... Love them as a team though ^^
Cayman is profiled in Street Legends.
X-Prime appears in the opening fiction to the first chapter of Dirty Tricks.
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I was quite disappointed by Fire & Frost (too many plot holes and obvious rewrites) but I really enjoyed Hell on Water. It was different from other SR novels, both in tone, style and atmosphere. The plot is pretty simple, but that didn't annoy me. I was reminded of movies like The Gauntlet or 16 Blocks: a group of people try to get from point A to point B without getting killed, and you learn more about them along the way. It's not the most memorable story ever, but it worked for me.
After reading it, I had ideas for runs set in Lagos, which in my opinion proves the novel does its job well.
For French-reading people, I wrote a more detailed review on my website (http://fondationdraco.free.fr/?p=1442).
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For French-reading people, I wrote a more detailed review on my website (http://fondationdraco.free.fr/?p=1442).
And if you don't speak French, Google Translate does a pretty good job with this.
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And if you don't speak French, Google Translate does a pretty good job with this.
I keep forgetting we are in the future and decent automatic translation is actually available ;D
I've added a Google Translate widget directly on the site by the way.
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Will be starting one this book over the weekend (what else are airports and planes good for ;))...sounding like it should be right up my alley.