Shadowrun #5: Aftershock A Shadowrun Novel

The other reviewers did a nice job on the recap. In the end, I am a hardcore Shadowrun RPG fan. This book came closest in the series to explaining the new 4th edition environment. It was written at a higher reading level than the other books and I enjoyed it immensely. The first 3 books in the series tie together nicely but are neither challenging, nor original. Books 4 and 6 had some good points but lacked that 4th edition feel. If you want to see what 4th edition SR is all about read this book. The others were good for a 1 night read or to collect the series if you're into that. Otherwise, borrow them from a friend or local library.

Good solid sci-fi set in the shadowrun world. Just make sure you read the whole trilogy SR 4-6. The troll robin hood with the crazy standard not to "geek" anyone who is shooting and throwing grenades at his team gets a little tedious at times. In a great reveal at the end we find out who he realy is and the reason for his crazy behavior. The troll's team does some crazy James Bond like behavior like chopping down light poles with a mono whip while riding on the top of a swerving van and taking fire from several cars all to avoid killing anyone. Now let me ask you a question if you have a monowhip... How do you not kill people with it?

Let me preface this with some personal background: I'm big on screwing with the common perceptions of people. I've been an SR fan since way back (bought my copy of the first edition in August 1989) when I was in college the first time. I am now studying law for my second tour of academic duty. In between, I have worked construction, on a loading dock and as a bouncer (6'5" tall). Despite being an "Appalachian-American" (a fancy way of saying "hillbilly"), I don't have a twang and can speak six languages aside from English (I also spent time abroad teaching English as a second language). So to look at me, you would assume "brute" unless otherwise informed. That being said, I really enjoyed this book's concept of the hulking thing (Hood the troll) as the brains of the outfit with a serious compunction against homicide. I can also appreciate his fixation on a cultural icon (Robin Hood as presented by Errol Flynn). A similar fixation caused me to learn to fence back in college, a hobby I maintain to this day. The decker/rigger, Max, is an ork, again a member of a race frequently assigned to the brute-force/low-brow roles. Contrarily, the combat powerhouse is an elf physical adept, which is somewhat against type. I agree that the motivations and personality of Max (ork) are not particularly well developed, but for those of us who have played the game, how many times have we felt thoroughly shafted by our employers? For most of us, that happens in real life, we just don't usually have the opportunity to renegotiate our paychecks on the fly. I enjoyed the novel and look forward to more from this author/team.

i disagree completely with the above guy. i'm an old school SR fan and was glad to see someone take liberties with the normal roles of each race. yes, max wasnt very well written, but a refreshing twist on a race that's usually all muscle and no brain. ditto for the character "hood". not since "changeling" (#5 of the first series) has a troll been potrayed other that a brainless bruiser. it was nice to see a troll with taste.