Shadowrun #6: A Fistful of Data: A Shadowrun Novel (Shadowrun) [Paperback]

Stephen Dedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 3, 2006

The all-new Shadowrun series continues...

The abandoned factory known as the Crypt is the home to society's cast-offs-as well as a coven for some of the most successful shadowrunners in town. But it is also the home to a long-buried secret that has caught the eye of a corporate mover who's willing to wage war against the Crypt to uncover it.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Roc (October 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451461169
• ISBN-13: 978-0451461162
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,234,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Where to begin? I grew up (though many would dispute this) on the outer limits of Perth's metropolitan area, far enough from a good library that I had to make up my own sf and horror stories. I continued to do this when I should have been studying, and after false starts at two other universities, received a B.A. in Creative Writing and Film in 1984. Since then, I've held too many boring jobs and a few interesting ones, including actor, tutor, experimental subject, editorial assistant for Australian Physicist magazine, education officer and used dinosaur salesman for the WA Museum, and the manager of a science fiction bookshop. I've been writing for fun for more than thirty years, and for money for twenty; I sold my first short story in 1977, and my first novel in 1995. I quit yet another boring job in 1996 to write full time, and am currently working on two novels and (usually) writing one new story a month.

My novels are THE ART OF ARROW CUTTING (Tor, 1997) and FOREIGN BODIES (Tor, 1999); I've also written a non-fiction book BONE HUNTERS: ON THE TRAIL OF THE DINOSAURS (Omnibus, 1998), and 13 of my best short stories are collected THE LADY OF SITUATIONS (Ticonderoga Publications, 1999). A bibliography can be found at www.eidolon.net/stephen_dedman

I still live in Western Australia, and enjoy reading, travel, movies, complicated relationships, talking to cats, and startling people.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Remarkably readable and interesting, October 20, 2006

By 

Mr. Tim Skirvin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadowrun #6: A Fistful of Data: A Shadowrun Novel (Shadowrun) (Paperback)

While I doubt that anyone would ever confuse Shadowrun novels with "high art", I have been impressed with the quality of the last few releases. The stories have been interesting, the writing more than adequate, and the material has covered areas that haven't been well-explored by the previous books in the world. Very good for a genre novel, and not half bad on its own.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasent change, August 2, 2007

By 

Brian T. Brenner "kingliono" (Sacramento CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shadowrun #6: A Fistful of Data: A Shadowrun Novel (Shadowrun) (Paperback)

Unlike many previous novels this one pits the underdogs against the big corporations... no wait, that is like all of the previous novels. So what makes this one a 4 star novel? The character driven plot line. The greedy corporate exec is attempting to kick out the squatters only the squatters happen to be shadow runners and they push back hard. I definitely recommend this novel to all Shadowrun fans. This one is not about the toys or the action, it is about the character interactions and the implications to past and future relationships between the mercenary tools of the corp and the shadow runner squatters. The novel is well written, well edited, keeps pace well while providing ongoing information about the characters. The novel is worth the time to read.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Boooriiing, May 5, 2007

By 

Justin Tate (Saint Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shadowrun #6: A Fistful of Data: A Shadowrun Novel (Shadowrun) (Paperback)

I remember when I first played Shadowrun back in the early '90s. I thought it was the most ingenious sifi/fantasy idea ever, and I still do, because it combines the best of both worlds - sifi and fantasy. So, I was dissapointed, but not surprisingly so, when I read this, my first Shadowrun novel. As with so many promisingly good sifi/fantasy cocepts, missing is the good storytelling - the "why should I care" factor. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't make myself care what happened to the characters, good guys or bad. The confrontations were anticlimactic and the diolog hokey and contrived. No story, reguardless of concept or setting, can be a success if the storyteller doesn't create empathy in the hearer/reader. But if the storyteller creates an emotional connection with the reader so that he/she cares what happens to the characters, well, it doesn't matter what the story is about. This book just doesn't have it.