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Message no. 1
From: Jak Koke <jkoke@****.EDU>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 23:05:15 -0800
>3> Striper Assassin
> I don't tend to like overly powerful characters, but the chilling
>mindset portrayed here was excellent, and is a great read for GM's for
>generating some NPC personalities. I require any runner who wants to playa
>shapeshifter in my games to read this. Sadly, it is out of print.

Is Striper Assassin really out of print? I doubt this. Maybe Roc reports it
out of print, but I believe FASA has copies.

This thread is pretty interesting to me since I've written now <gasp> four
SR novels. Just finished Beyond the Pale, Book Three of the Dragon Heart
Saga which begins with Stranger Souls (due out in late May). I just got the
cover flats for this and I must say that the cover ROCKS! <big grin>

I'm especially interested in the discussion of low power vs high power
characters because Ryan Mercury (the main character in the Dragon Heart Saga
trilogy) is certainly the highest power character I've ever created, and yet
for the scope of what I'm trying to do in the trilogy, I firmly believe it's
a necessity. He is, after all, Dunkelzahn's best undercover operative, and
he goes up against the worst the Sixth World has to offer. However, I still
have tried to give him a rounded character, complete with inner conflict and
the necessity to change throughout the course of the book.

The second novel, Clockwork Asylum, was probably the most difficult for
this, being the middle book of a trilogy. Ryan's character was already
defined and developed in Stranger Souls, so I had to create a situation in
which he is forced to change furthur as he deals with some issues. I think I
succeeded, though you all will have to be the judges.

Beyond the Pale, the last book, nearly wrote itself, though, because I'd
already laid out all the precursor elements of plot and character in the
first two. I knew how I was going to wrap it up, and I got to do the most
fun part of all (at least to me) which is simply to detail out the action,
dialogue and setting. To focus on the oh-so-important details. To free
myself from worrying about what happens (I just read if from the outline) to
showing how it happens. That's my favorite part of writing.

In Dead Air, my characters were far less powerful; however, I still think
they were on par with most experienced shadowrunners. Again, I tried to give
them (especially Jonathon Winger) fully developed (non-archetypal)
personalities. Whether I succeeded or not is a matter of debate. :)

Right now, I'm trying hard to find the time to finish my web site so that I
can put up a preview of Stranger Souls (and a scan of the cover), but I
think it'll be a few more weeks at least. After taxes are due for sure. :(

Just for the record. I enjoy most SR novels, with a few dismal exceptions
which I won't mention. If forced to pick favorites, I'd have to say
Shadowplay by Nigel Findley was good, as was Lone Wolf. Never Deal with a
Dragon by Bob Charrette is up there (though I didn't think the other two
Secrets of Power books were on par with it). I liked Burning Bright by Tom
Dowd and thought it was well written, but it was so good that I was a bit
disappointed (how can that be?) because I didn't think it was fully
realized. To me, it read like an excellent fictional intro into Bug City,
and it left too much hanging. I also thought Night's Pawn by Dowd was good.

Generally, I like Nyx Smith's writing. His present tense style is unusual,
but I think he pulls it off fairly well. It adds a sense of urgency to the
text and allows him to do some things that would otherwise be difficult, but
it may (overall) put more constraints on his versatility with the prose.

His character Striper is a vivid one, though I do think Machiko from Steel
Rain is more fully developed. In fact, Steel Rain is quite good IMO, but
I've read it more recently than the others and that may be affecting my
assessment.

Of Carl Sargent and Marc Gascoigne's books, Nosferatu stands out above the
other two, IMO.

Christopher Kubasik's one SR novel, Changeling, was very nice for character
development, and Mel Odom's books are good for non-stop action and
high-suspense.

Well now I seem to be rambling, myself.

Adios,

--Jak

Jak Koke | "Though I am not naturally honest,
jkoke@****.edu | I am so sometimes by chance."
La Jolla, CA | --Shakespeare (The Winter's Tale)
Message no. 2
From: Mark Steedman <M.J.Steedman@***.RGU.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 13:33:02 GMT
Jak Koke writes
>
> This thread is pretty interesting to me since I've written now <gasp> four
> SR novels.
> Just finished Beyond the Pale, Book Three of the Dragon Heart
> Saga which begins with Stranger Souls (due out in late May). I just got the
> cover flats for this and I must say that the cover ROCKS! <big grin>
>
Awaited, unfortunately unlike sourcebook the novels don't always seem
to jump the atlantic double quick, i enjoyed the only one out so far.

> I'm especially interested in the discussion of low power vs high power
> characters because Ryan Mercury (the main character in the Dragon Heart Saga
> trilogy) is certainly the highest power character I've ever created, and yet
> for the scope of what I'm trying to do in the trilogy, I firmly believe it's
> a necessity. He is, after all, Dunkelzahn's best undercover operative, and
> he goes up against the worst the Sixth World has to offer. However, I still
> have tried to give him a rounded character, complete with inner conflict and
> the necessity to change throughout the course of the book.
Yes one would expect him to be good. This is often a matter of
personal preference in both books and games.
Difficult to comment except very generally (so i'll stay with other
stuff for examples) but i have found books with decently capable
characters fine (eg Kyle out Burning bright is a very good mage, (for
change the comments made about him in Bug city reasonably match the
character, though this should be no suprise)), and (getting away
from SR) i and lots of other folks really like David Eddings stuff
despite the fact that Belgarath and company are immensely powerful
people.

> In Dead Air, my characters were far less powerful; however, I still think
> they were on par with most experienced shadowrunners. Again, I tried to give
> them (especially Jonathon Winger) fully developed (non-archetypal)
> personalities. Whether I succeeded or not is a matter of debate. :)
>
I would say yes.

Mark
Message no. 3
From: Brett Borger <bxb121@***.EDU>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 08:36:11 -0500
>Is Striper Assassin really out of print? I doubt this. Maybe Roc reports it
>out of print, but I believe FASA has copies.

Maybe. The local bookstore couldn't get it, but I don't know whom they buy
from.

>This thread is pretty interesting to me since I've written now <gasp> four
>SR novels. Just finished Beyond the Pale, Book Three of the Dragon Heart
>Saga which begins with Stranger Souls (due out in late May). I just got the
>cover flats for this and I must say that the cover ROCKS! <big grin>

Eagerly waiting.....

BTW, does anyone know if FASA has done some work-arounds with how they sell
books? My local gaming store used to get the novels months before the local
bookstore, but the last two (Lucifer Deck and Steel Rain) never came into
the store....the clerks said CHESSEX had cancelled the order, saying that
ROC/FASA/Someone wasn't printing them.

>I'm especially interested in the discussion of low power vs high power
>characters because Ryan Mercury (the main character in the Dragon Heart Saga
>trilogy) is certainly the highest power character I've ever created, and yet
>for the scope of what I'm trying to do in the trilogy, I firmly believe it's

High power characters CAN be done, certainly. Just look at Night's Pawn.
The advantages there are that the character is powerful because of
experience, contacts, and the such. You never get the impression he is
all-powerful to any extent that defies belief, but he still manages to do a
whole heck of a lot.

I would have to say that the largest abuse of powerful characters comes in
w/ Sargeant and Gascoigne. Serrin seems normal enough, but you have a ton
of immortal elves bopping about, not mention 3 dozen all-powerful religious
magic groups. The power of the bad guys is such that you can't comprehend
it....and it isn't something like Shadowplay where you know the corp will
get you eventually....the corp is still an enemy you can conceive of. No,
the enemy is usually 3 or 4 warring powerful magical groups, and the
characters (namely rich boy and the decker, who are far more powerful than
any character I could identify with) are tossed about randomly, succeeding
pretty much by luck, and then one vital intuitive realization, that I
usually don't share.

>a necessity. He is, after all, Dunkelzahn's best undercover operative, and
>he goes up against the worst the Sixth World has to offer. However, I still
>have tried to give him a rounded character, complete with inner conflict and
>the necessity to change throughout the course of the book.

"The worst the Sixth World has to offer" sounds like a dangerous phrase :)
....reminiscent of the magical groups mentioned above. OF course, you could
mean just about anything. Basically, I'll admire the character more if he
succeeds without frequent fall back onto a)Money b)position of
influence/power c)his ungodly training that allow him to pull (insert action
film star here) tricks.

>The second novel, Clockwork Asylum, was probably the most difficult for
>this, being the middle book of a trilogy. Ryan's character was already
>defined and developed in Stranger Souls, so I had to create a situation in
>which he is forced to change furthur as he deals with some issues. I think I
>succeeded, though you all will have to be the judges.

I must say I admire someone for being able to write novels. Personally, I
have thousands of stories begging me to write them, but every time I try, I
get a few pages in, and my mind gets bored with this chapter (since it's
already figured it out) and wants to write the next. After a few chapters,
my mind is ready for the sequel. Plus, I have trouble expressing the
concept in my mind into a story that isn't cheesy or mellodramatic. In
this, even the authors I've criticized here have me well-beaten.

>Beyond the Pale, the last book, nearly wrote itself, though, because I'd
>already laid out all the precursor elements of plot and character in the
>first two. I knew how I was going to wrap it up, and I got to do the most
>fun part of all (at least to me) which is simply to detail out the action,
>dialogue and setting. To focus on the oh-so-important details. To free
>myself from worrying about what happens (I just read if from the outline) to
>showing how it happens. That's my favorite part of writing.

For me the OTHER part is the fun part. Details suck....creating a weaving,
twisting plot that almost overwhelms you at the moment, but in retrospect
seems straight as an arrow....this is fun.

While I can't write, this does prove a great ability as a GM. Since as a GM
I can rely on personal interaction and speech to communicate my story.

>In Dead Air, my characters were far less powerful; however, I still think
>they were on par with most experienced shadowrunners. Again, I tried to give
>them (especially Jonathon Winger) fully developed (non-archetypal)
>personalities. Whether I succeeded or not is a matter of debate. :)

Personally, I prefer non-archetypal, but really, a character can be very
well developed and still be only a street sam (or whatever). After all, we
all fall into stereotypes,but we certainly aren't one-sided. And I thought
Winger was well-developed. I'm not a sports fan or you might have made the
top. :)

>Just for the record. I enjoy most SR novels, with a few dismal exceptions
>which I won't mention. If forced to pick favorites, I'd have to say
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Tease! :)

>realized. To me, it read like an excellent fictional intro into Bug City,
>and it left too much hanging. I also thought Night's Pawn by Dowd was good.

I'd love to read a follow up to it, but since they included Kyle in Bug
City, it's doubtful it will happen.

>Generally, I like Nyx Smith's writing. His present tense style is unusual,
>but I think he pulls it off fairly well. It adds a sense of urgency to the
>text and allows him to do some things that would otherwise be difficult, but
>it may (overall) put more constraints on his versatility with the prose.

hmm.. his ....style....is all right, but the characters fail to grip me
with the same sense of urgency they feel. Machiko is facing all sorts of
dilemmas....but I didn't feel her sense of urgency to resolve them, I was
only curious. With a Great novel, I become the character to a large degree.

>His character Striper is a vivid one, though I do think Machiko from Steel
>Rain is more fully developed. In fact, Steel Rain is quite good IMO, but
>I've read it more recently than the others and that may be affecting my
>assessment.

Striper is VERY vivid, thus my like of it for that purpose. Steel Rain
wasn't too bad, but see above.

>Of Carl Sargent and Marc Gascoigne's books, Nosferatu stands out above the
>other two, IMO.

Yes. Aside from too many immortals roaming around and my usual complaints,
the only thing I didn't like here was the intuitive jump all the characters
made that I didn't. Why did they decide their enemy was a Nosferatu Elf?
There just didn't seem to be any real evidence, but they all worried and
fretted about it.

>Christopher Kubasik's one SR novel, Changeling, was very nice for character
>development, and Mel Odom's books are good for non-stop action and
>high-suspense.

I loved changeling, and I've been disappointed not to see more from that
author. Mel Odom.....I'm not up on my authors, did he write Fade to Black?

-=SwiftOne=-
Message no. 4
From: Mark Steedman <M.J.Steedman@***.RGU.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 15:25:09 GMT
Brett Borger writes
>
> I would have to say that the largest abuse of powerful characters comes in
> w/ Sargeant and Gascoigne. Serrin seems normal enough,
Yes, there have been a few hints that his wife is an elf who is
following the paths through multiple lifetimes (see Tir Ne Nog)
though she doesn't know it which spoils an otherwise believeable
street brought up character overwhelmed by the world
hopping lifestyle of the rich kids that saved her.
I haven't seen any hints that Serrin is anything other than an old
and experienced runner, his serious interest in defensive magic and
paranoia are good fits (his desire to get acess to libriaes for
research, detect enemies lock) He also gets beat at magic any time
the 'big boys' show up (unfortunately the latter are too common.)
despite probably being a few grades initiate himself (but not many).

Mark
Message no. 5
From: "Fisher, Victor" <Victor-Fisher@******.COM>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 11:33:06 -0500
Mark Steedman said:
>Yes, there have been a few hints that his wife is an elf who is
>following the paths through multiple lifetimes (see Tir Ne Nog)
>though she doesn't know it which spoils an otherwise believeable
>street brought up character overwhelmed by the world
>hopping lifestyle of the rich kids that saved her.
>I haven't seen any hints that Serrin is anything other than an old
>and experienced runner, his serious interest in defensive magic and
>paranoia are good fits (his desire to get acess to libriaes for
>research, detect enemies lock) He also gets beat at magic any time
>the 'big boys' show up (unfortunately the latter are too common.)
>despite probably being a few grades initiate himself (but not many).


I personally liked the whole past lifes segments between Serrin and
his wife [I'm an old, cynical, romantic at heart]. And it all just
expands on the whole 'wheel of reincarnation' brought up in the Tir na
Nog sourcebook. Just because the character is tied into 'cosmic' events,
doesn't make him any less real. I'm looking for an interresting
character, not a collection of stats I can put in a game.
And you already know my feelings about all of the Msseurs. Sargeant
and Gascoigne writings. It's one of the FEW writers I'm actually
chomping at the bit for their next book to come out. Being a afficianado
of Da'Vinci, I know they did a lot of research on their 'immortal elven'
character. And the whole background on the Jack the Ripper murders, a
man who, in comparison to the serial killers of today, doesn't rank that
high of a body count, but remains indellibly etched in our consciousness
because he was one of the first to be acknowledged. I like this a lot in
my books. When the writer does research like that, it adds a whole new
depth to the storyline, as opposed to making it up as they go along
[there are a few who can 'make it up as they go along so well it seems
factual and real, BUT not many...].
These were stories about runners who had been in the game for quite
a while, and survived to reap the rewards of their labors. And carried
the scars of their pasts with them. It's only fitting they confront
menaces of an equal, even greater caliber, not run of the mill
'newbies'. 'A man is judged by the friends he has, and the enemies he
faces'. Pitting characters like this against 'low-level' charaters would
only serve to demean them, and make for a really boring story.
Geraint is a character who has 'made it, but where do you go from
there? Serrin is an man [elf] who carries the scars of his past
[physically and mentally] with him every day, looking for justice and
peace in a world where he knows he won't find it, except in the arms of
his wife. Only here does he feel whole. Rani is very typical of the
treatment many females of Indian lower caste receive, in a culture where
status is prized above all. These were real characters to me, and made
the book.
The story may have been only 'B' grade, but these were people who,
if they really existed, i'd be glad to have by my side in a run, or
sharring a pint with at the local pub, trading old stories. That's why
they appeal to me.
Message no. 6
From: "Fisher, Victor" <Victor-Fisher@******.COM>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 11:52:15 -0500
>Jak Koke [Whoohoo!] wrote:
>This thread is pretty interesting to me since I've written now <gasp> four
>SR novels. Just finished Beyond the Pale, Book Three of the Dragon Heart
>Saga which begins with Stranger Souls (due out in late May). I just got the
>cover flats for this and I must say that the cover ROCKS! <big grin>
>
>I'm especially interested in the discussion of low power vs high power
>characters because Ryan Mercury (the main character in the Dragon Heart Saga
>trilogy) is certainly the highest power character I've ever created, and yet
>for the scope of what I'm trying to do in the trilogy, I firmly believe it's
>a necessity. He is, after all, Dunkelzahn's best undercover operative, and
>he goes up against the worst the Sixth World has to offer. However, I still
>have tried to give him a rounded character, complete with inner conflict and
>the necessity to change throughout the course of the book.
>
>The second novel, Clockwork Asylum, was probably the most difficult for
>this, being the middle book of a trilogy. Ryan's character was already
>defined and developed in Stranger Souls, so I had to create a situation in
>which he is forced to change furthur as he deals with some issues. I think I
>succeeded, though you all will have to be the judges.
>
>Beyond the Pale, the last book, nearly wrote itself, though, because I'd
>already laid out all the precursor elements of plot and character in the
>first two. I knew how I was going to wrap it up, and I got to do the most
>fun part of all (at least to me) which is simply to detail out the action,
>dialogue and setting. To focus on the oh-so-important details. To free
>myself from worrying about what happens (I just read if from the outline) to
>showing how it happens. That's my favorite part of writing.
>
>In Dead Air, my characters were far less powerful; however, I still think
>they were on par with most experienced shadowrunners. Again, I tried to give
>them (especially Jonathon Winger) fully developed (non-archetypal)
>personalities. Whether I succeeded or not is a matter of debate. :)
>
>Right now, I'm trying hard to find the time to finish my web site so that I
>can put up a preview of Stranger Souls (and a scan of the cover), but I
>think it'll be a few more weeks at least. After taxes are due for sure. :(
>
>Just for the record. I enjoy most SR novels, with a few dismal exceptions
>which I won't mention. If forced to pick favorites, I'd have to say
>Shadowplay by Nigel Findley was good, as was Lone Wolf. Never Deal with a
>Dragon by Bob Charrette is up there (though I didn't think the other two
>Secrets of Power books were on par with it). I liked Burning Bright by Tom
>Dowd and thought it was well written, but it was so good that I was a bit
>disappointed (how can that be?) because I didn't think it was fully
>realized. To me, it read like an excellent fictional intro into Bug City,
>and it left too much hanging. I also thought Night's Pawn by Dowd was good.
>
>Generally, I like Nyx Smith's writing. His present tense style is unusual,
>but I think he pulls it off fairly well. It adds a sense of urgency to the
>text and allows him to do some things that would otherwise be difficult, but
>it may (overall) put more constraints on his versatility with the prose.
>
>His character Striper is a vivid one, though I do think Machiko from Steel
>Rain is more fully developed. In fact, Steel Rain is quite good IMO, but
>I've read it more recently than the others and that may be affecting my
>assessment.
>
>Of Carl Sargent and Marc Gascoigne's books, Nosferatu stands out above the
>other two, IMO.
>
>Christopher Kubasik's one SR novel, Changeling, was very nice for character
>development, and Mel Odom's books are good for non-stop action and
>high-suspense.
>
>Well now I seem to be rambling, myself.
>
>Adios,
>
>--Jak
>
>Jak Koke | "Though I am not naturally honest,
>jkoke@****.edu | I am so sometimes by chance."
>La Jolla, CA | --Shakespeare (The Winter's Tale)

I liked the novel 'Dead Air'. It was a nice little twist when
Winger ends up becoming the thing he most despised. I was a little sory
when his Troll bodyguard was killed, but that's the hallmark of a good
character.
I'm a little confused though, how if the 'reader' was seeing the whole
thing as a simsense movie, they whould have known about the switch.
[probably the staticky fade out took place before the hospital scene].
Preying for Keeps was okay, but didn't have the 'umpth' of Dead
Air. The ork character, and Skater were the best delineated though, and
made the book for me. The others didn't stand out as much, and didn't
leave that much of an impression [IMO]. But above all the BIG events,
the story dealt with PEOPLE, and that's why I liked it.
Thanks for the preview of your upcoming novels. I'm looking forward
to catching them.
Message no. 7
From: Drekhead <drekhead@***.NET>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 13:45:21 +0000
On 27 Mar 97 at 11:52, Fisher, Victor wrote:

<snipped review of "Dead Air">

Be careful when talking about events in books. Some people may not
have read them yet. You should use a spoiler space like this:

SPOILERS BELOW - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

And now you can say what you want to say without pissing anyone off.

Just some friendly advice.







====DREKHEAD==============================================================
Tim Kerby | Never relax. Your run may be over, but someone,
drekhead@***.net |somewhere, is just starting his and the target
drekhead@***.com | could be you.
drekhead@*******.com | ---http://users.aol.com/drekhead/home.html---
=========================================================================
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.1
GB d-(+) s: a C++(+++)>++++$ U--- P L+ E? W++>$ N o? K-? w+()>--- O++>$ M--
V? PS+ PE++ Y PGP- t++>$ 5 X+ R+ tv+ b++ DI++(+) D++ G e>++ h--- r+++ y+++
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------
Message no. 8
From: "Fisher, Victor" <Victor-Fisher@******.COM>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 15:57:46 -0500
Now that the tap's cracked, let's throttle this sucker open wide!
What's everybody's favorite CYBERPUNK novels and why? [I'll be sure to
include spoilers if I let anything vital slip ;-]

First up would have to HardWired, by Walter John Williams. Someone
mentioned earlier about one of the Striper books being written in a
present tense style that added a sense of immediacy to the whole thing.
HardWired has that, in spades!
If you gotta put a label on things, the lead protagonist characters
are great archetypes of maybe how a rigger and a street sam would act.
'Real world' bytes [ala Robocop, and the Bubblegum Crisis comic book put
out by Dark Horse] add a sense of depth to the whole thing. You could do
worse than to pick up a few pointers on oddbal cultures, rigger runs,
merc forces, and gunfights in general [just because your jacket's
bulletproof, doesn't mean it won't feel like a sledgehammer in the back
when you get hit, or leave a clear water wealt in the morning!]
For a really different twist on the usual 'Western' version ofa
cyberpunk future, try Effinger's novels, When Gravity Fails, Fire in the
Sun, and The Exile Kiss. The lead character is a detective in the mold
of Sam Spade and Magnum P.I. While the mysteries may fall a little flat
for some, the most enjoyable part of these stories is the rich, almost
alien [to western eyes] culture of the Middle East as seen thru the eyes
of the lead, Audran. GM's depicting a Middle Eastern setting for their
campaigns [there's a little blurb on religion, and racial tolerance of
metahumans by Islamic culture in the front of the Grimoire] definitely
need to read it. R. Talisorian has a sourcebook written by Effinger
himself that's also very informative.
Lastly, I'd chose any of the Borderland series, ed. by Teri
Windling, I believe. Not really cyber, but definetely punk,and lot of
good stuff about elves in the 'REAL WORLD'.
> Okay, here's handing off the ball to anyone that wants it.
Message no. 9
From: The Bookworm <Thomas.M.Price@*******.EDU>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 19:55:36 -0600
On Thu, 27 Mar 1997, Fisher, Victor wrote:

> First up would have to HardWired, by Walter John Williams. Someone
> mentioned earlier about one of the Striper books being written in a
> present tense style that added a sense of immediacy to the whole thing.
> HardWired has that, in spades!
> If you gotta put a label on things, the lead protagonist characters
> are great archetypes of maybe how a rigger and a street sam would act.
> 'Real world' bytes [ala Robocop, and the Bubblegum Crisis comic book put
> out by Dark Horse] add a sense of depth to the whole thing. You could do
> worse than to pick up a few pointers on oddbal cultures, rigger runs,
> merc forces, and gunfights in general [just because your jacket's
> bulletproof, doesn't mean it won't feel like a sledgehammer in the back
> when you get hit, or leave a clear water wealt in the morning!]

LOL. i just happen to have Hardwired sitting next to the keyboard:). I
definatly agree that its a good book and echo your comments on it. It
also has good ideas on corp/civilian interactions and their views of each
other. The rigger character and the (larg) sections on his panzer runs
are both interesting reading and would be food for thought on the LAV
thread taking over part of this list. Dont want to get to detailed
because i dont want to ruin it for anyone. If you want to buy it i would
say your best bet would be to look in a used bookstore since the copyright
date is from 1986 so i doubt its still in print.

Thomas Price
aka The Bookworm
thomas.m.price@*******.edu
tmprice@***********.com
Message no. 10
From: Brett Borger <bxb121@***.EDU>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 23:31:00 -0500
> The story may have been only 'B' grade, but these were people who,
>if they really existed, i'd be glad to have by my side in a run, or
>sharring a pint with at the local pub, trading old stories. That's why
>they appeal to me.

I guess the problem is that these people WEREN'T ones I could see
existing....too unreal. Too advantaged.

-=SwiftOne=-
Message no. 11
From: Lady Jestyr <jestyr@*******.DIALIX.COM.AU>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 1997 17:16:48 +1100
> Now that the tap's cracked, let's throttle this sucker open wide!
> What's everybody's favorite CYBERPUNK novels and why? [I'll be sure to
> include spoilers if I let anything vital slip ;-]

Hmmm... I think Otherland, by Tad Williams, is going to be way up there
on the top of my list - once I've finished it. Apart from that, my faves
would have to be Idoru and Virtual Light, both by William Gibson.

Lady Jestyr

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A titanic intellect in a world full of icebergs
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Elle Holmes jestyr@*******.dialix.com.au
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1503/
http://jestyr.home.ml.org/
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Now a Geocities Times Square Community Leader!
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Message no. 12
From: "MARTIN E. GOTTHARD" <s457033@*******.GU.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Book Reviews
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 09:16:26 +1000
> > Now that the tap's cracked, let's throttle this sucker open wide!
> > What's everybody's favorite CYBERPUNK novels and why? [I'll be sure to
> > include spoilers if I let anything vital slip ;-]
>
> Hmmm... I think Otherland, by Tad Williams, is going to be way up there
> on the top of my list - once I've finished it. Apart from that, my faves
> would have to be Idoru and Virtual Light, both by William Gibson.
>

Hear hear...... For those of you that haven't already read Otherlands;
It's really really good. I'd use more superlatives, except that they'd
do nothing more for it.

It's an especially good read if your interested in the long-term social
cultural and economic ramifications of wide spread net access and virtual
reality...... It's pretty chilling, when you think about it.

Oh and BTW; Don't read the following if you don't want the plot spoiled
(partially)

[spoiler space]
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!

The bit that really got me thinking was the small paragraph about the
major corps pulling financial funding out of the Mars Project...... Why
should they fund exploration of another world when they can create their
own very amenable worlds right on earth, with personal and exclusive access.

Quite a scary and accurate possibility given humanities greed reflexes, i
think.


Bleach

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