Shadowrun #3: Fallen Angels [Mass Market Paperback]

Stephen Kenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2006

Kellan Colt has come far in her magical training. But she still doesn't know the truth about her shadowrunner mother or the secrets of the amulet she possessed. Troubled by disturbing dreams, Kellan is drawn into the paranoiac elven homeland of Tir Tairngire where she must unravel the most difficult riddle of all: who can she really trust in the shadows?

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Roc; First Thus edition (March 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451460766
• ISBN-13: 978-0451460769
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brave New World Revisited, April 20, 2006

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Shadowrun #3: Fallen Angels (Mass Market Paperback)

Once upon a time there was a series of books based on the Shadowrun game. Whether by luck or good planning, the stable of writers was excellent, and the series scored many successes. Set in a future (2063) after a climb in the 'magical quotient' of the world caused many mythical races to suddenly re-express themselves. Also reappearing are various magical creatures, from wyverns to the great, intelligent dragons. But the world did not return to medieval times. Instead, both magic and high technology coexisted and the political organization of the world shattered only to reform in unexpected fashion. Seattle was now part of the Salish-Sidhe Council, close to Portland and Tir Tairngire, the country of the elves.

In this comparatively lawless world, where the poor are very poor, and mages, adepts, deckers, and bionically enhanced warriors are easy to find, a new counter-culture has arisen - shadowrunners - people who will take great risks for hire or the possibility of great wealth. This is a fertile environment for adventures of every sort, and I pride myself in having the complete set of the original series. Now, much to my delight, Shadowrun seems to have gotten a second wind. Stephen Kenson is the lead off author and he has managed to do a great job.

With my typical skill I managed to start my reading with the third volume in the new series, Fallen Angels. Kenson's lead character is Kellan Colt, a fledgling runner who has developing magic skills. In this volume Kellan, who is still trying to deal with being the daughter of a shadowrunner who she barely knew, and an unknown father, has started training under Lothan the mage and Midnight, a respected runner. With only some relics left her by her mother Kellan follows Midnight's lead and becomes in several runs that have unexpected results. A mysterious fixer seems intent on killing her, and a run with Midnight leads her to Tir Tairngir, where humans are barely tolerated.

This is a game of cross and double-cross, in which Kellan's task is to find out who her friends really are and survive a confrontation with spirit powers which are far beyond her capacity to bind. This is a classic Shadowrun tale, and I found myself happily reading away as if the intervening years had never happened. Despite being the third volume, Fallen Angels stands quite well on its own, although there are some potential spoilers. Consider tracking down all three volumes (I'm going to) and starting from the beginning. This is a rich story world that never fails to entertain.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You Can See the Ending..., August 29, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Shadowrun #3: Fallen Angels (Mass Market Paperback)

From a miles away. Fallen Angels is the collimation of the opening trilogy of this Shadowrun re-launch which includes multiple characters from the Shadowrun Duels action figure line. As a few of the others reviewers have stated before, the first two books of this trilogy were not bad and enjoyable; Fallen Angels on the other hand can be described in one word, "disappointing."

Let me just start off by saying that this book was very predictable. The moment you were introduced to Midnight you knew that she was going to be the main villain in the trilogy, and after reading the prologue/flashback, this all but confirmed it. There was no plot twist at the end; there was no intrigue or frankly no reason for the reader to keep reading about halfway through the book. Midnight in herself was an okay character, but as a villain her threat rating in fairly low when you have a sword swinging physical adapt, a trigger a happy ork bouncer, a chromed up fixer, and a large troll battle mage after a simple thief who's main physical prowess is that she is a crack shot with the pistol.


One of my greatest frustrations with this book was the description of Tir Tairngire. For those of you who are new to the Shadowrun universe, Tir Tairngire is the elven home world which is located in the 6th world around Oregon. Tir Tairngire is supposed to be one of the most exotic settings in the world of Shadowrun and was considered a Pandora's Box for previous Shadowrun writers and campaigns. It was a country so sublime that no author was able to describe it in words. Yet, in Fallen Angels we finally have a story which takes place partially in Tir Tairngire and Kenson manages to describe it as 'just another slum, but with the elven language on the street signs.' The romance between Kellan and Orion was a nice welcoming moment, but the actual moment it came to fruition felt awkward in a sense. In my mind I said to myself "It's about time." about the two of them expressing their feelings for each other, but the dialogue felt rushed. One welcoming moment however was when Akimura explained to Kellan's friends the back story between Kellan's parents, which I would rather read about then what occurred in this novel.

I have been a fan of Kenson's Shadowrun novels since Crossroads and a few years ago Ragnarock was one of my favorite books, but this trilogy overall has not been as epic or enjoyable as some of the Shadowrun books which were published in the 90s. I was expecting more from Kenson, and Fallen Angels certainly felt like a book in which he was given a page limit or had to meet a word quota in order to accomplish, rather then a labor of love. I have read better stories from the author and hope that he has another opportunity to bring back Tommy Talon sometime in the near future.

2.0 out of 5 stars Poorly written bore, May 2, 2008

By 

Inspector Gadget "Go Go Gadget Reviews" (On the trail of Doctor Claw) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shadowrun #3: Fallen Angels (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed the first two books in this new Shadowrun series (both by Stephen Kenson) but I am afraid this third entry, which closes off the Kellan Colt story, is a poorly constructed and badly written mess.

A lot of the book is padding and it's clear there's not really a lot of story to it. Lots of boring things happen and numerous, generic characters appear doing all sorts of uninteresting things. Lots of deception, backstabbing, plotting and truckloads of pure exposition but none of it engaging in the slightest.

I think that this has actually put me off the rest of the Shadowrun books. A shame, really.