Shadowtalk: A Shadowrun Blog

I have my electronic copy of the new anthology, Spells & Chrome edited by John Helfers. I’m reading it on my Commlink… er I mean iPad although my iPhone is really closer to a Commlink than the iPad.

I’ve been reading the eBook during my morning workouts so I’m planning on doing a review of the first couple of stories just to get it on the ‘blog then adding a paragraph review to this entry as I read. The problem is going to be how to review the story without giving away the plot.

Ratings are a simple x out of 5 system. ‘O’ is good, ‘u’ is half of good, and ‘o’ rounds out the rating to 5 positions. I like to read both for entertainment and to get ideas about gaming. The rating consists of weightings for the above; entertainment value and gaming ideas but also for the likelyhood of rereading the book again.

The cover of the eBook should be familiar to folks who have the 20th Anniversary edition of Shadowrun. It’s the same picture but with a Blue script for “Spells” and “Chrome” in metallic chrome like characters.

There are 16 short stories in this collection, 15 new ones and one reprint from Michael A. Stackpole. The authors are a mixture of both known and unknown authors. Jason Hardy, Steve Kenson, and Jennifer Harding being fairly well known to Shadowrunners.

In addition to the list of stories (which really should have had the author’s name next to their story), the table of contents has links to the Introduction, a page About The Author, a brief four page Shadowrun Timeline, a brief four page Shadowrun Terminology, and a couple of pages on significant events titled What You May Have Missed.

The first story, Trade Secrets by Jason M. Hardy is heavily into Augmented Reality (AR) with some nanotech thrown in for additional spice. The story was released free on Facebook a couple of months back so I read it then and again a few days ago. The descriptions of the environment bring up interesting ideas for playing in AR, assuming you can get your ‘runners into character. About the only complaint was that the plot seemed to be a much smaller part of the overall story.

Rating: OOOoo

Next up is Bloody Fingers by Jason Schmetzer. This is a much grittier story set in the Barrens, south of London. The story has representatives of most of the archetypes that make up a good Shadowrun team so it’ll be a familiar run to gamers. There are some good spots in the story. More turns than twists but Jason did a good job in telling a story.

Rating: OOOOo

As a brief interlude, let me drop a few lines about reading the book electronically. In general I like the iPad. It’s good for reading more gaming and computer related materials (reference stuff). Color, graphs, and tables are rendered quite well (I’m using Goodreader for PDFs).

I read books in a few places. For this eBook, I’m reading it at the gym. The iPad works quite well on the Elliptical machine and the time goes by pretty quickly. I read and swipe across the device to change pages. It’ll be good when the Barnes and Noble eBook reader catches up with the iPad.

I started Better Than by Jean Rabe yesterday and finished it this morning. It’s a pretty good story on the hazards of too much chrome and some of the Negative Qualities that can be selected. Several good ideas for GMs and Players.

Rating: OOOOo

And now a new Dirk Montgomery story called Caliban by Phaedra Weldon. In general it was a pretty good story and seemed to follow Dirks style pretty well. The story style is gritty which is something I particularly like. I have to say that the story dropped a few points with several typo’s in the story. Comlink and Commlink were used, sometimes in the same paragraph. At one point the two main characters talk about the PCC and the PPC, PCC as far as I know is the Pueblo Corporate Council. No idea what the PPC is and it was used several times. The worst part though?

but I had been paying attention enough to eek by

Really? Eek? Do you have a mouse in your pocket Dirk? I think you meant eke.

Other than that, the story was really well done. Typos are a particular annoyance for me and as you can see, I obsess over them just a little.

Rating: OOOOo (Tough call between 3 and 4 but ignoring the typos left it at a strong 4).

No Such Luck by Matt Forbeck is a pretty cool story. The plot seems strong and it moves along well. In one paragraph the Sears tower is mentioned and a sentence or so later, Manhattan. As far as I know, the tower is in what’s left of Chicago which is confirmed later in the story. Just the combination of the tower and Manhattan was a little confusing. And I don’t get why high ranking members of the Humanis Policlub would have a headquarters in a tall building in Chicago. Seattle sure, even New York but since Chicago was infested with Insect Spirits and even had a small, somewhat contained tach-nuc exploded, and was behind containment walls for some years, a Humanis Policlub location seems out of place. Still it was a good story.

Rating: OOOuo

Set in Los Angeles, Expectations by Kevin Killiany is a pretty good story. Flows well and everything fits together. Good corp info, good plot and a good run. About the only minor issue I have is that it seems, formulated. Almost a boilerplate Shadowrun. No real twists or surprises. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good solid story. I think its re-readability might be lacking.

Rating: OOOOo

Where the Shadows are Darkest by Steven Mohan, Jr. Overall a good story set in Lagos. Good use of area knowledge so helpful for GMs. A couple of typos in this story though. Comlink vs commlink, Ammit has an underline for some reason, and I think the book is infested with mice as eek is used again.

Or he could eek out a meager living,

I did really like the story though.

Rating: OOOOo

In Memory Of by Bradley P. Beaulieu is set in Sydney Australia. Bradley does a very good job with the story and with setting information. He brings the reader into the story and at the end, I was into the character enough to be happy for her.

Rating: OOOOu

Steve Kenson wrote Fade Away about a Yojimbo. A bodyguard but with a much deeper meaning. It has a lot of Japanese references which brings back memories of the 80′s when there was all that talk about Japan buying the US. This makes it a good read, if a bit nostalgic.

Rating: OOOOO

I’m getting ready to read the next story. Posting tomorrow. See you then, chummer.