REVIEW - NEVER DEAL WITH A DRAGON
"Watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never, ever, cut a deal with a dragon" - No words capture the spirit of Shadowrun more than these, and it is from Never Deal with a Dragon that they are taken. The first in the Secrets of Power trilogy, this book does a fantastic job of introducing the reader to the world of Shadowrun. Like any game novel, the amount of new information and jargon can be a little intimidating, especially if you are coming to it knowing nothing about the setting. The plot of Never Deal with a Dragon combats this problem by employing a lead who also knows little about the world of the Shadows, and educates the audience through him. While it remains a somewhat specialist read, with a little concentration anyone could enjoy this novel.
Although Shadowrun aficionados will insist that Shadowrun is not a science fiction setting, there are definitely science fiction elements. The compound genres 'cyberpunk fantasy' or 'science fantasy' describe it more accurately. The World of Shadowrun is set around fifty years ahead of ours. Technology is wildly advanced, with robotic augmentations of every type imaginable, very common and available to anyone who can afford them. The Matrix, Shadowrun's omnipresent worldwide information network, is an integral part of everyday life and serves as a constant reminder of how large a role technology has in society. Finally, an event known as the Awakening heralded the beginning of the Sixth World (we live in the fifth) - the day that Magic returned to Earth. Shadowrun posits that humanity used to live with magic, hundreds of years ago (vaguely during medieval times) and that it has now decided to come back. All those legends about dragons and knights, witches and faeries? 100% true, according to Shadowrun. Elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls, goblins and every kind of fantasy-nasty you can imagine - even dragons - have returned to live alongside humanity. Some people have been blessed (or cursed?) with the gift of magic. An unluckier few are affected by goblinisation - the process of painfully transforming into an orc, goblin, or other metahuman type. Both magic and technology influence the world in very strong ways.
Although officially published in 1990, Never Deal with a Dragon feels very strongly like a product of 1980s culture. Leading man Samuel Verner, later known as 'Twist', fits the build of your typical 80s underdog hero. He's just an ordinary guy who strange things start happening to - all the while attracting a slew of attractive ladies. For Sam, it begins when his promising career as a researcher for Renraku Computer Systems (the fifth largest megacorporation in the world) is disrupted when his sister (Janice) becomes afflicted by goblinisation. He is separated from Janice (his only known relative), and relocated from Japan to Seattle by the company. En route, his plane is hijacked by a group of shadowrunners. Sam has to work with these runners in order to survive, and his life cannot go back to what it was after this exposure to the shadows. Although his main goal is always to find his sister, Sam finds himself wound tighter and tighter into a complex web of intrigue and conflicting agendas involving other megacorporations, renowned runners and, of course, dragons, during his quest to find her.
I find cultural capital a fascinating concept, and Shadowrun provides interesting insights into the way Japan was valued during the late 1980s. Shadowrun is most definitely a product of that period in the late 80s and early 90s during which it seemed Japan's economic success heralded a new age of dominance and power for the small country. In the setting generally, the presence of Japan on the world stage is strong. The plainest evidence for this is that three of the ten AAA Megacorporations ('The Big Ten') are Japanese. The corporation Sam works for, Renraku, runs itself using very traditional Japanese philosophies, and the customs of Japanese politeness are deeply imbedded in the company's culture. Never Deal with a Dragon features many insights into the ways that Japanese culture has influenced the world in Shadowrun's fictional future. The inclusion of these predictions makes the novel very interesting as an artifact of cultural history.
Never Deal with a Dragon features a web of intrigue and overlapping agendas and clearly proves that, in the world of Shadowrun, the presence and power of the megacorporations is impossible to avoid. It is a great read if you are a Shadowrun fan, hoping to become more familiar with the setting, or just love cyberpunk and have an open mind. It may be a little too setting specific to have much wider appeal, but for a game novel - a genre with much notoriety- it is refreshingly well written.
Although Shadowrun aficionados will insist that Shadowrun is not a science fiction setting, there are definitely science fiction elements. The compound genres 'cyberpunk fantasy' or 'science fantasy' describe it more accurately. The World of Shadowrun is set around fifty years ahead of ours. Technology is wildly advanced, with robotic augmentations of every type imaginable, very common and available to anyone who can afford them. The Matrix, Shadowrun's omnipresent worldwide information network, is an integral part of everyday life and serves as a constant reminder of how large a role technology has in society. Finally, an event known as the Awakening heralded the beginning of the Sixth World (we live in the fifth) - the day that Magic returned to Earth. Shadowrun posits that humanity used to live with magic, hundreds of years ago (vaguely during medieval times) and that it has now decided to come back. All those legends about dragons and knights, witches and faeries? 100% true, according to Shadowrun. Elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls, goblins and every kind of fantasy-nasty you can imagine - even dragons - have returned to live alongside humanity. Some people have been blessed (or cursed?) with the gift of magic. An unluckier few are affected by goblinisation - the process of painfully transforming into an orc, goblin, or other metahuman type. Both magic and technology influence the world in very strong ways.
Although officially published in 1990, Never Deal with a Dragon feels very strongly like a product of 1980s culture. Leading man Samuel Verner, later known as 'Twist', fits the build of your typical 80s underdog hero. He's just an ordinary guy who strange things start happening to - all the while attracting a slew of attractive ladies. For Sam, it begins when his promising career as a researcher for Renraku Computer Systems (the fifth largest megacorporation in the world) is disrupted when his sister (Janice) becomes afflicted by goblinisation. He is separated from Janice (his only known relative), and relocated from Japan to Seattle by the company. En route, his plane is hijacked by a group of shadowrunners. Sam has to work with these runners in order to survive, and his life cannot go back to what it was after this exposure to the shadows. Although his main goal is always to find his sister, Sam finds himself wound tighter and tighter into a complex web of intrigue and conflicting agendas involving other megacorporations, renowned runners and, of course, dragons, during his quest to find her.
I find cultural capital a fascinating concept, and Shadowrun provides interesting insights into the way Japan was valued during the late 1980s. Shadowrun is most definitely a product of that period in the late 80s and early 90s during which it seemed Japan's economic success heralded a new age of dominance and power for the small country. In the setting generally, the presence of Japan on the world stage is strong. The plainest evidence for this is that three of the ten AAA Megacorporations ('The Big Ten') are Japanese. The corporation Sam works for, Renraku, runs itself using very traditional Japanese philosophies, and the customs of Japanese politeness are deeply imbedded in the company's culture. Never Deal with a Dragon features many insights into the ways that Japanese culture has influenced the world in Shadowrun's fictional future. The inclusion of these predictions makes the novel very interesting as an artifact of cultural history.
Never Deal with a Dragon features a web of intrigue and overlapping agendas and clearly proves that, in the world of Shadowrun, the presence and power of the megacorporations is impossible to avoid. It is a great read if you are a Shadowrun fan, hoping to become more familiar with the setting, or just love cyberpunk and have an open mind. It may be a little too setting specific to have much wider appeal, but for a game novel - a genre with much notoriety- it is refreshingly well written.
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