Shadowrun 15: Burning Bright (v. 15) [Paperback]

Tom Dowd (Author)

Book Description

Series: Shadowrun | Publication Date: November 1, 1994

When Mitch Truman, the heir to a vast entertainment conglomerate, vanishes, his father hires tracker Kyle Teller to find the young man, but a dark and evil power is growing beneath the city of Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Roc (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451454456
• ISBN-13: 978-0451454454
• ASIN: 0451453689
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,090,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All around excellence., October 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shadowrun 15: Burning Bright (v. 15) (Paperback)

Though Nigel Findley was the one of the last true Shadowrun authors, Tom Dowd recently took the late novelists place. Burning Bright has an edge, a quality, that most of the other(and more recent) Shadowrun novels lack. The characters are excellent, as is the plot. I was always confused about what happened in Chicago in the late months of summer. This novel clarified everything.

I honestly didn't find many errors. The actual plot slowed down a little, but before I could get impatient, everything picked back up again. A must read for the Shadowrun fan. Actually, a must read for the casual reader, as well.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best Shadowrun Novel ever., September 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shadowrun 15: Burning Bright (v. 15) (Paperback)

Not infrequently I get into debates/arguments about the utility of novels in game universes (for example, do the Forgotten Realms novels make the Realms a better, or worse, game setting?) In those debates, "Burning Bright" is the example I use of a good use of game-related fiction.

Most game-related novels, whatever their other merits, end up with one grave flaw, which over time weakens the utility of the setting as an RPG universe - they end "happily," with the heros triumphant and villans humbled (Zhentil Keep is nuked, Tethyr unified under benign government, etc, etc). This makes the setting gradually less interesting as a place to adventure in. Most authors seem to lack the stomach for anything other than a happy ending, and most readers seem to agree. Also, most such novels answer more questions than they leave you with (reducing the game world's mystery), solve more problems than they introduce (reducing the "threat level").

In Burning Bright, Tom Dowd was bold enough to take another path. He took the road less travelled by, and that made all the difference. In addition to solid characters and a engaging storyline, this book's ending paved the way for a very dangerous, dark game setting (Bug City). While publically exposing the bugs, it left the problem not only unsolved, but more dangerous - and eventually this storythread led to Yeats, Penchyk, and the Empowerment Coalition.

This was one of the first SR novels I ever read, and if only all game related fiction were this good, RPG gaming might not be a withering hobby. . .

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Hard to Find..., December 9, 2009

By 

Kenneth Chu "SincereAgape" (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadowrun 15: Burning Bright (v. 15) (Paperback)

A better Shadowrun book. Burning Bright is easily one of the best books of the Shadowrun novel line. The book centers around the bug spirit attack in the city of Chicago, 2050. This was an event which transcended Shadowrun history and served as the large metaplot for the role-playing game. Tom Dowd, the writer behind many of the 6th World's plot lines, weaves a wonderful narrative about a mage who is hired to find the missing son of a corporate family, from there history is made.

The early Shadowrun novels are the best of the series. Burning Bright is a book many hardcore Shadowrun fans should read at some point. The novel is now over eighteen years old, and is probably one of the rarer Shadowrun novels to find. Pick this book up along with anything written by Nigel D. Findley.