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dryhop's review against another edition
3.0
The editing
I can forgive a few mistakes. We passed a few quite early. Parts were tough to read with poor punctuation and indented paragraphs that were in the middle of sentences.
As a Shadowrun fan, I honestly believe that this book missed out on a huge part of the lore and world, which is a shame. I will say that I liked having a character from inside the corps. You don't really think of that if you've only played the game since you are always a runner.
I can forgive a few mistakes. We passed a few quite early. Parts were tough to read with poor punctuation and indented paragraphs that were in the middle of sentences.
As a Shadowrun fan, I honestly believe that this book missed out on a huge part of the lore and world, which is a shame. I will say that I liked having a character from inside the corps. You don't really think of that if you've only played the game since you are always a runner.
vyria's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
moreilly1917's review against another edition
5.0
Innovative for its time. Wish I could have read this book when it was released. Regardless I still enjoyed it. Steamy scale 0 of 5 (Audible)
jeremiah_mccoy's review against another edition
4.0
The best in the series
The Secrets of Power series is a solid entry point for Shadowrun, but the quality is a rising scale. The third book is much better and wraps up the series well. The only complaint with the series I really have is the Morgan la Fey plot, which felt like it should have been its own separate book. It was a little abbreviated in this story. Minor complaint. Over all, I still really enjoyed this book. I read it when it first came out and the rereading still holds up.
The Secrets of Power series is a solid entry point for Shadowrun, but the quality is a rising scale. The third book is much better and wraps up the series well. The only complaint with the series I really have is the Morgan la Fey plot, which felt like it should have been its own separate book. It was a little abbreviated in this story. Minor complaint. Over all, I still really enjoyed this book. I read it when it first came out and the rereading still holds up.
clarag's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book in conjunction with my father who has read all 40 books in this series. Little did he know is that the book is based on a tabletop RPG game system. I had promised him I'd at least read the first three and we can talk about it, which made him happy so there you go. I did end up enjoying the setting, world and characters though I feel it suffered from some things. they kept introducing characters, giving them a background and personality only to kill them three pages later so I never know who to like or dislike
The book was really fast paced, sometimes too much so. I still ended up liking it and will keep to my promise of at least reading the first trilogy.
The book was really fast paced, sometimes too much so. I still ended up liking it and will keep to my promise of at least reading the first trilogy.
champaignj's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this series as a teenager and was surprised at the negative reviews here on Goodreads. I'm re-reading it and I feel it holds up much better than other reviewers seem to think.
This isn't "The Old Man and the Sea". It's cyberpunk with elves. It delivers very competently over many fronts and is a good read on top of all that.
This isn't "The Old Man and the Sea". It's cyberpunk with elves. It delivers very competently over many fronts and is a good read on top of all that.
thepassivebookworm's review against another edition
I just lost interest in everything. I love the franchise, though, so I may give this another chance when I'm ready.
iggymcmuffin's review against another edition
1.0
Scattered, confusing, riddled with plot holes and 100 pages too long for the story that the author was trying to tell.
marka's review against another edition
3.0
Ok, but only for fans of the genre
I read the Shadowrun series when I was around 16 years old and really liked it then. I wanted to read it again now twenty odd years later to see if it was actually trash or not.
In a nutshell, yes it is trash or at least trashy but not as bad as I expected. This is no Philip K Dick. But is well crafted for a highly specialised genre.
My first impressions were not good. The descriptions seem quite lazy. The writing did nothing to draw me in. In particular the main protagonist Sam doesn't really come to life. He is the stereotypical reluctant hero.
The plot as intriguing enough. Though there are some problems with the pacing of the action which are made worse by the fact that some scenes fail to create the suspense they deserve.
But there are some well executed scenes that to me lift the novel slightly above seeming like fanfiction.
If I remember correctly, Never Trust An Elf was better. I would only recommend this to fans of the genre looking for another book to read.
I read the Shadowrun series when I was around 16 years old and really liked it then. I wanted to read it again now twenty odd years later to see if it was actually trash or not.
In a nutshell, yes it is trash or at least trashy but not as bad as I expected. This is no Philip K Dick. But is well crafted for a highly specialised genre.
My first impressions were not good. The descriptions seem quite lazy. The writing did nothing to draw me in. In particular the main protagonist Sam doesn't really come to life. He is the stereotypical reluctant hero.
The plot as intriguing enough. Though there are some problems with the pacing of the action which are made worse by the fact that some scenes fail to create the suspense they deserve.
But there are some well executed scenes that to me lift the novel slightly above seeming like fanfiction.
If I remember correctly, Never Trust An Elf was better. I would only recommend this to fans of the genre looking for another book to read.