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Shadowrun Novels #23
The Lucifer Deck
CONJURED KILLER RUNNING WILD ON THE NET
Life on the streets in 21st-century Seattle can be tough, especially for a young ork like Pita. And it gets a lot tougher when she witnesses a corporate mage murdered by the violent spirit he just conjured from another dimension. Now she's in a heap of trouble with the dead mage's employer, an organization with something to hide.
Fortunately, KKRU reporter Carla Harris is in a position to help. Carla needs a big story to give her career some juice, and Pita's predicament might be the ticket. Because Pita's pursuer - MCT, the mega-huge computer film - has hired the heavy hand of the Yakuza crime organization as muscle, things heat up pretty fast. Moreover, the entity that MCT's mage foolishly summoned is very, very old, and unlike any power on earth. It has infiltrated the telecommunications matrix with devilish cunning - and unless Pita can thwart it with her newly acquired magical powers, Seattle's throat will be wide open for the cutting...
Life on the streets in 21st-century Seattle can be tough, especially for a young ork like Pita. And it gets a lot tougher when she witnesses a corporate mage murdered by the violent spirit he just conjured from another dimension. Now she's in a heap of trouble with the dead mage's employer, an organization with something to hide.
Fortunately, KKRU reporter Carla Harris is in a position to help. Carla needs a big story to give her career some juice, and Pita's predicament might be the ticket. Because Pita's pursuer - MCT, the mega-huge computer film - has hired the heavy hand of the Yakuza crime organization as muscle, things heat up pretty fast. Moreover, the entity that MCT's mage foolishly summoned is very, very old, and unlike any power on earth. It has infiltrated the telecommunications matrix with devilish cunning - and unless Pita can thwart it with her newly acquired magical powers, Seattle's throat will be wide open for the cutting...
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
6 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Smedman
79 books114 followersLisa was very much the tomboy growing up in Vancouver, British Columbia--playing in the woods behind her house, building tree forts, damming the creek, playing army with GI Joe dolls, swinging on ropes, playing flashlight tag, building models and go-carts (which she later rode down the street). She also liked reading science fiction novels from the 1940s, the Doc Savage series, and the Harriet the Spy books.
In 1984, she began her professional writing career, first as a journalist then as a fiction writer. She counts science fiction authors Connie Willis, Robert J. Sawyer, and H.G. Wells, and classic books such as Treasure Island, as influences.
Several of Lisa's short science fiction and fantasy stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies, and in 1993 she was named a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest for science fiction and fantasy writers. She has also had three of her one-act plays produced by a Vancouver theater group.
Lisa is the author of Extinction, one of several novels set in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game’s Forgotten Realms universe. Released in 2004, Extinction made the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.
After authoring several science fiction and fantasy novels, Lisa recently turned her hand to children's books. From Boneshakers to Choppers (2007) explores the social history of motorcycles. Her interest in motorcycles goes way back--as a teenager, Lisa enjoyed trips up the British Columbia coast, riding pillion on friends' motorcycles. She later purchased her own bike, a 50cc machine, to get around town.
Lisa is one of the founders of Adventures Unlimited, a magazine providing scenarios and tips for role-playing games. She has written short fiction for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game's Ravenloft and Dark Sun lines. She has also designed a number of adventures and gaming products for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Cyberpunk, Immortal, Shatterzone, Millennium's End, and Deadlands. Her original games include Valhalla's Gate, a tabletop skirmish miniatures game drawn from Norse mythology and runic lore. An avid gamer, Lisa belongs to the Trumpeter Wargaming Club.
After working for more than 20 years as a journalist, Lisa now divides her time between writing fiction and contributing to the Vancouver Courier (she edits and writes the History's Lens column). Besides a diploma in journalism, she also has a degree in anthropology. She is fascinated by history and archaeology, particularly the Bronze Age. Her future plans include writing more historical fiction, alternative historical fantasy, and game tie-in novels. Lisa is also interested in building models and dioramas, and tabletop miniatures gaming.
She lives in Richmond, British Columbia, with her wife, their son, four cats, and two pugs.
In 1984, she began her professional writing career, first as a journalist then as a fiction writer. She counts science fiction authors Connie Willis, Robert J. Sawyer, and H.G. Wells, and classic books such as Treasure Island, as influences.
Several of Lisa's short science fiction and fantasy stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies, and in 1993 she was named a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest for science fiction and fantasy writers. She has also had three of her one-act plays produced by a Vancouver theater group.
Lisa is the author of Extinction, one of several novels set in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game’s Forgotten Realms universe. Released in 2004, Extinction made the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.
After authoring several science fiction and fantasy novels, Lisa recently turned her hand to children's books. From Boneshakers to Choppers (2007) explores the social history of motorcycles. Her interest in motorcycles goes way back--as a teenager, Lisa enjoyed trips up the British Columbia coast, riding pillion on friends' motorcycles. She later purchased her own bike, a 50cc machine, to get around town.
Lisa is one of the founders of Adventures Unlimited, a magazine providing scenarios and tips for role-playing games. She has written short fiction for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game's Ravenloft and Dark Sun lines. She has also designed a number of adventures and gaming products for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Cyberpunk, Immortal, Shatterzone, Millennium's End, and Deadlands. Her original games include Valhalla's Gate, a tabletop skirmish miniatures game drawn from Norse mythology and runic lore. An avid gamer, Lisa belongs to the Trumpeter Wargaming Club.
After working for more than 20 years as a journalist, Lisa now divides her time between writing fiction and contributing to the Vancouver Courier (she edits and writes the History's Lens column). Besides a diploma in journalism, she also has a degree in anthropology. She is fascinated by history and archaeology, particularly the Bronze Age. Her future plans include writing more historical fiction, alternative historical fantasy, and game tie-in novels. Lisa is also interested in building models and dioramas, and tabletop miniatures gaming.
She lives in Richmond, British Columbia, with her wife, their son, four cats, and two pugs.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 4, 2025
Der Roman hat einige Schwächen, die so gar nicht in mein Bild von Shadowrun passen:
- Die Sicherheit des MCT Netztes ist ein Witz. Der "Run" der Reporterin in das geheime Forschungslabor gerät zur Farce. Und dann kommt noch das Intermezzo mit dem Höllenhund. Grausig.....
- 2 Hochrangige Exec von MCT und Renraku lassen sich von einem orkischen Reporter eines Piratensenders vor laufender Kamera erpressen. Ist klar.....
Auch die Geschichte an sich ist viel gewollt und wenig gekonnt. Fehlt mal wieder ein logischer Übergang, dann weiß unsere Protagonistin weiter. Woher? Egal, notfalls muss das Totem herhalten.
Die Charaktere sind furchtbar klischeehaft. Vor allem die Reporterin ist kaum auszuhalten.
Leider ein Shadowrun Roman der überflüssigen Sorte. Lesbar, aber die Autorin hat kein Gefühl für diese Welt. Schade, der eigentliche Hintergrund des Romans ist vielversprechend. Da hätte man mehr draus machen können.
Nur was für Shadowrun-Freaks.
- Die Sicherheit des MCT Netztes ist ein Witz. Der "Run" der Reporterin in das geheime Forschungslabor gerät zur Farce. Und dann kommt noch das Intermezzo mit dem Höllenhund. Grausig.....
- 2 Hochrangige Exec von MCT und Renraku lassen sich von einem orkischen Reporter eines Piratensenders vor laufender Kamera erpressen. Ist klar.....
Auch die Geschichte an sich ist viel gewollt und wenig gekonnt. Fehlt mal wieder ein logischer Übergang, dann weiß unsere Protagonistin weiter. Woher? Egal, notfalls muss das Totem herhalten.
Die Charaktere sind furchtbar klischeehaft. Vor allem die Reporterin ist kaum auszuhalten.
Leider ein Shadowrun Roman der überflüssigen Sorte. Lesbar, aber die Autorin hat kein Gefühl für diese Welt. Schade, der eigentliche Hintergrund des Romans ist vielversprechend. Da hätte man mehr draus machen können.
Nur was für Shadowrun-Freaks.
November 12, 2020
My third SR story written by Smedman that I've read, after Tails You Lose and The Forever Drug. I've enjoyed each of her forays into the Shadowrun world. The one deals with themes of racism, hermetic and shamanistic magic, corporate intrigue/blackmail and gives insights into SR's world of journalistic snooping. All convincingly woven into a tight story.
Another reviewer mentioned that this is about decking. Um no, it isn't. There is some Matrix stuff, but it's hardly given much treatment compared to say, Never Deal with a Dragon or Born to Run.
3.75 stars.
Another reviewer mentioned that this is about decking. Um no, it isn't. There is some Matrix stuff, but it's hardly given much treatment compared to say, Never Deal with a Dragon or Born to Run.
3.75 stars.
April 27, 2021
How I really got into playing my troll character. The teenage Ork protagonist is relatable and sympathy inducing.
July 4, 2017
A good idea, but the execution wasn't so good. I think this may have been one of the author's first books as it kind of read that way. It was another Shadowrun book that covers what happens when you try to make the supernatural and high-technology work in hand, with disasterous results. If you really like the decking end of the Shadowrun world, give it a go, but it;s not exactl required reading.
August 8, 2011
Pretty good overall; an interesting story idea and an interesting execution of the awakening of a magical talent.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews