Customer Reviews

Shadowrun 4: 2XS

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is by far the absolute best of the Shadowrun novels. Non-stop action, adventure and a plot so full of twists and turns that it'll have you backing up a few chapters to try and find out where you've "heard that somewhere before".

Every chapter of this book gives you a glimpse into the life of the most unusual shadowrunner to hit the streets yet. A man of complex history and complex ideals. The most amazing thing is that as the book continues, nothing happens that shouldn't. No cheap cop-outs to solve a complex situation. No easy victory. No characters begin to act in a way that is unlike their established demeanor. Everything is so well thought out and planned and executed perfectly. When you turn the last page, you'll know the smell of the every allyway and the sound of an HK Assault rifle fired from a moving vehicle. And you will miss reading about characters who are gone.

I'm going to check to see if the follow up book, " House of the Sun" or something, is in stock. I've been told that it is almost just as good. If you can find a copy of 2XS, you will have found the best of a great thing.

You gotta read it, 5 stars, it goes really fast and it's so exciting. Big conspiracy in this one. A little scary in places, even. The author-to-reader dialogue of Findley is precious. Unfortunately, Findley died in his early 30s of a heart attack. Don't be mistaken -- his novels, placed in this "mass market series" are real art.

Many Shadowrun fans consider 2XS the greatest Shadowrun novel of all time. This statement is hard to dispute. Nigel Findley was a wonderful author, and from what I have heard an even better person. Out of all of the Shadowrun authors who have written stories based of the world, Findley's characters have are still the most dynamic, cherished, beloved...As a writer the characters Findley created were his strengths.

The main character of the book is Dirk Montgomery. A former lone-star cap with the will of a lion and the eye of the tiger when it comes to doing the right thing. Dirk Montgomery is Harry Dresden, before Dresden was even conceived in Jim Butcher's mind. The book is written in first person, like the Dresden files. Dirk is a down on his luck detective who left Lonestar for its corruption to become an independent Shadowrunner. He is a mundane with minimal cyberware, instead relaying on his skills, wits, and intuition for survival. There are also some other wonderful characters in this novel as well such as Buddy, the manic depressive, drum loving, grouchy, rowdy, personality disorder decker who happens to be one of Dirk's friends till the end. Jocasta Yzerman, a weather women trid star who breaks the mold when it comes to women in the refrigerator, and of course Argent, the main hero of "Run Hard Die Fast." For those of you who are fans of Argent and have read Run Hard Die Fast, the events which Argent's speaks of the demise of the Wrecking Crew, occur in this novel.

The book is a gritty detective noir, full of suspense. And the plot is centered around the death of Dirk's former lover, who happens to be Jocasta's sister. All around Seattle there have been numerous kidnappings and reported disappearances. Dirk investigates to only find himself knee deep in a story which goes much deeper then a few kidnappings. Among the missing is Dirk's only family member, his sister Theresa. Thus, when Dirk tries to pull out of the craziness surrounding him, he is dragged right back in. The ending is a wonderful climax to the book and the build up is even better.

If you are a fan of Shadowrun and want to purchase a book to help you fall in love with the world, 2XS should be a the top of your list. It's that good. Or at least in the top five.

I actually enjoyed the sequel to this book "House of the Sun" a lot better, but mainly because it builds off the characters in and events which happened in this novel.

After being introduced to Shadowrun last year, I had been meaning to start reading some of the related fiction for some time. After scouring the internet, I decided on my first two books on the basis of their reviews: 2XS, and Never Deal with a Dragon. 2XS was far and away the better of the two.
As both a book and a tie-in to the Shadowrun universe, 2XS is exceptional. The characters are engaging and believable. The plot is riveting, but without the confusion that comes from characters double- and triple-crossing each other. And the setting! It's more than just a few place names- be the end, I felt like I knew the places and people of Seattle in 2052 like I'd been there myself.
If you already know about Shadowrun's Universal Brotherhood organization, you can expect to have a little bit of the mystery given away. However, I didn't find that to diminish the suspense in the least.
I'd highly recommend 2XS for both newbies and veterans of Shadowrun.

I'll admit, I stole this book. I saw it on the bookshelf at my Dormitory and thought, "Hey, I'm kinda board, this looks interesting." I never thought that this book would be so great. I've never read any Shadowrun books before, and all I know about it is that it was an old RPG campaign setting that never really took of. (That doesn't mean anything, Planescape is the best campaign setting ever, but they discontinued it for quite some time) It is supposed to be a blend of Sci-Fi and Fantasy... yeah I know their pretty much the same thing, but still, it's refreshing to see that if there were once elves and orcs and other creatures, what would happen if they were still living with us throughout the future?

What's cool is the multi-genreness of this book. It's a basic hard-boiled detective novel, set in a dark future (i.e Bladerunner), with fantasy creatures and characters, (i.e Lord of the Rings). What else could you ask for? Character.

Character is the most important part of the story, and if anybody's taken a writing class they would know this, that the characters are what mak the story. You have to care for the character, actualy care if they die or not, if they fall in love or not, if they make it out of this with sanity intact or not.

Dirk Montgomery is a great character. From the mold of those Film Noir, Detectectives, which was then super injected with a tough, street smart, morally upright, drinker substatce, and painted with a broad spectrum of emotions.

The Minor Characters are great, and I don't want any spoilers, but you will care when they die... or not die... or something.

Yeah, pick up this book. It's a real good read that will have ou thinking afterwards, and looking for more.

With the exception of a couple of the later novels, I've read every Shadowrun book from its initial run during the 90's and early 2000's. '2XS' is near the top, imo, and in the opinion of quite a few others, it seems.

Nigel Findley was arguably the best writer for Shadowrun, and Dirk Montgomery was un-arguably his best character. Part Philip Marlowe and part Rick Deckard, Dirk's a mundane (no magic) detective working the Seattle Sprawl. Up until now, he's mostly worked smaller cases, nothing too crazy. Now he's in over his head. His former girlfriend is found dead, and he's soon involved in a far-reaching conspiracy that seems to get crazier by the second. It's told in the first-person, hard-boiled style of Chandler and Hammett, which just adds to the already noir-ish atmosphere of Shadowrun.

Okay, negatives first: Findley's writing, structurally, does not seem quite up to par compared to his later work, which steadily improves over the course of his next couple books, and imho, peaks with 'House of the Sun,' his second and final "Dirk" novel, and unfortunately the last he'd ever get to write, as he died soon after. But considering that this is only his second novel, after 'Into the Void,' for the Spelljammer (D&D) universe, this is understandable.

Positives: The actual story here is top notch, and sub-standard prose from Findley is still better than just about any other Shadowrun author, with the exception of maybe Dowd, Stackpole, and Kubasik, whose novels I'd put on a similar level with Findley's. Of course, they didn't have near the level of output that Findley had. Anyway, we're not reading these novels for their "literary merit." '2XS' is easily in my top 10 for Shadowrun books, and a must-own if you are into the series. If you're into detective fiction from the 30s and 40s as well, you're in for a double treat, as no one was better at injecting that 'noir' feeling into the world of Shadowrun, always keeping the level of mystery and suspense at a high level. Not to mention heavy doses of paranoia. This IS Shadowrun, after all, and Findley was perhaps its most unique voice.

4.5 stars as far as gaming-related fiction goes.

Ranking among Shadowrun novels, imo- 5th

This shadowrun book introduces Dirk Montegomery to us. He is a small time shadowrun in big mess. This book coupled with the sequel House of the Rising Sun makes for fast paced reading-lots of action and great one-liners

Woah Dirk Montgomery is the best shadowrun heros. If you like action mysterious plots and investigations, this book's for you. And you'll laught too. Nigel Findley is a real clown heh heh.

This is the book that still hasn't been matched in the whole series, only House of the Sun came close, and who is the author of HOTS, coincidence? I think not. (though Mel Odom is pretty close)

This bokk has it all: tough heroes, monstrous enemies, and an unpredictable plot, all in the fantastic world of Shadowrun.