Customer Reviews

Shadowrun 02: Choose Your Enemies Carefully

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The second book of Robert Charrette's 'Secrets of Power' series is better than the first novel. He weaves several sub-plots into an at least semi-coherent whole, but many of the flaws present in his first book are present in this as well.

There are few characters for the reader to really identify with. His 'hero' Sam Verner is a whiney, pedantic, and obtuse. He possesses few character traits that lead you to care about him, but we are forced to follow him nevertheless.

If you enjoyed the first book, or are a fan of shadowrun then you will love this. The concept is interesting, and the writing style is adequate, if not particularly memorable. The reading level for this book (as with his other two) seems to be about seventh grade level. If you are seeking a deep, meaninful novel that makes you think, then I suggest that you pass this one by. Otherwise dig in. It is a nice 'mindless' read that I pull out from time to time when I don't want to tackle anything more compelling.

This book has to be one of the best I've read since I finished the previous book in the seiries. An interesting plot (though all the threads do not join together at the end) and good characters. All around a good book.

The second book in the Secrets of Power trilogy. In this book, the main character (Sam Verner) learns the true fate of his sister, and struggles to find out more. He begins to lose trust in even his closest friends. Read the book to find out more. An entrancing novel. Again I find myself lost in the writings of Robert N. Charrette.

The main flaw of "Choose Your Enemies Carefully" is that if suffers from the sophomore slump. This book is a classic example of "If you have not read the prequel, you will not get anything going on in this story." If you do not intend on reading the entire Secrets to Power Trilogy, then there is no good reason for you to read this book.

The writing itself starts off very slowly. You have to wait about 75 pages into the book until the first exciting scene occurs. In his previous novel, "Never Deal With a Dragon," the author weaves a terrific narrative towards the beginning of the book about a Shadowrun that goes semi-bad, and as a reader that scene got me into the book. "Choose Your Enemies Carefully." did not have that effect much later into the novel. The romance between Hart and Sam does feel a bit contrived, but it was done semi-well from the prospective of Hart's point of view. In fact one of the better subjects touched upon in this novel was the development of the Katherine Hart character. The professional, attractive elf magician's battle with her duty and her feelings for Sam was one of the main highlights of the novel. Another strong aspect of the book was the mystery surrounding the Hyde-White character. Also, the final battle scenes were depicted very nicely when the characters make the run against the druid inner circle.

Overall the story was not as strong as the first novel in the trilogy, but I did enjoy it. Is the novel worth paying $8.00-10.00? No. But if you're in the process of reliving some Shadowrun nostalgia and looking to read the stories which started them all, then pick up this book if you can purchase it for less then $5.00.

I am going to start by saying that I like Charrette's books, but not on account of this one. Almost no convincing attempt is made to explain why the characters act and feel the way they do. Sam's reaction to Dodger's "betrayal" makes no sense, he was acting in Sam's best interests. Coincidentally, the lies he betrayed Sam with turn out to have the same effect in the end as if they were truth. Hart, the exotic elf and top knotch shadowrunner, who betrayed and tried to kill Sam, for some reason falls in love with him. Sam is constantly labeled to be average looking, but he becomes the lover of two beautiful women in this trilogy. I found the magical scenes boring, the best parts of this book were the Matrix runs, which Charrette does well in all of his books that I have read. This book has rushed feel to it, as middle books of trilogies sometimes do.

This book was absolutly SLOW! Compleatly different from the first, it features random violence and contrived romance. Not worth more than a buck.