Clockwork Asylum: Book Two of the Dragon Heart Saga (Shadowrun) by Jak Koke

Shadowrun Novels Germany #31

by Jak Koke

In this second book of the greatest epic in Shadowrun history--the maelstrom of cyber-magic and political intrigue following President Dunkelzahn's assassination rages out of control. Ryan Mercury, Dunkelzahn's secret agent, is torn between his duty and his desire to find a killer. But when a spirit wrongly concludes that Ryan is working for the enemy, he anoints a cyberzombie to carry out a hit of its own. Now with an impressive arsenal of allies, weaponry, and the Dragon Heart, Ryan just might pull off the save of the century--if he doesn't lose his life first!

Genres: Cyberpunk, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1997

About the author

Jak Koke writes and edits from Seattle, where he lives with his partner, Karawynn Long. Jak has authored seven published novels and many short stories under his own name. He has also ghost-written novels and edited manuscripts by other authors. He is currently the Managing Editor of an award-winning small press — Per Aspera Press.

Reviews

[E J · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 to 2 stars. Frankly, I prefer it when SR does noir investigations, verbal sparring and corporate intrigue. There's a chapter in Never Deal with a Dragon that is a brilliant example of tense negotiation, and while this book has a face-off between the head of Ares and Ryan, it's too brief. Subsequently, this book reads like a B-movie action blockbuster. The dialogue is average to poor and I have no idea where the shadow part of Shadowrun comes in when all the combat is done in broad daylight and occurs so frequently. Even the main hero says something like "why am I not being stealthy when I've devoted my life to the Silent Way?" The core tenet of Shadowrun is that if combat ever occurs, a run is in serious danger or it's fugazi. But, gunfights and melee are the primary means of dealing with problems here; it's just not Shadowrun.

And what the fuck is up with Nadja Daviar? She is supposed to be a corporate tigress and a bit of a badass when it comes to "face" work, a VP candidate with all the attendant character strengths and resilience. Here, she's just a cliched damsel-in-distress and melts like a flaky drip at the mere touch of the male hero, Ryan. To tell the reader that she's able to "turn on" her serious, political wheeling and dealing side is not only lazy character exposition, but straight up psychotic and Machiavellian, and not in an interesting or convincing way. It's far from convincing. It's a complete and utter fucking failure. I don't give a fuck about how sexy she is, and if you're the type that gets piqued by that, you're a fucking failure too.

The Lucero and Darke chapters were an utter waste of time too. They all read the same; blood, blood, blood, yawn. Jak Koke cheaply uses sex to maintain interest throughout and, in the case of the replacement mage, uses sex to generate some kind of adolescent emotional attachment to Ryan. Oh, Ryan worked with her while he was undercover and wouldn't have minded bonking her and vice versa. Great. What the fuck does that have to do with the gravity of the Dragon Heart being in enemy hands as well as the fate of humanity under threat of demonic forces?

In summary, get fucked.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review here:

https://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/...

Better than the first, although I'm noticing the mages in this series half the life expectancy of a Spinal Tapp drummer.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the first one more but it was still really good.

[Nikolis Asimakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a pretty solid sequel. The story kept up a good pace and the characters were even more detailed. We are reaching the final showdown (I believe in the third and final book) and all the pieces are in place. The only thing I completely disliked (and the reason I gave this 4/5) is the extensive use of previous content as a flashback. I understand the need for flashbacks in a sequel. A new reader comes, with no knowledge of the previous books. A fan comes, but hasn't read the previous book for a while. But in this book there are at least 10 pages worth of copy-paste, word-for-word scenes from the previous book. I started this one right after I finished the previous, so you can imagine my dismay when I had to read the same stuff over and over again. At least the flashbacks stopped quite early in the book and I got the chance to focus on the rest of the story.

[Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Dragonheart Saga. This covers the continuing efforts of the now vice president Nadjia Daviar and head of the Draco Foundation (the corporation created in the Big D's Will to execute the provisions of said will) as well as Ryan Mercury, the great dragons right-hand shadowrunner operative. When they start sniffing around in sensitive places, they end up drawing down the wrath of some pretty big enemies and end up having to deal with a crazed cyber-zombie - a creature with so many cybernetic enhancements that his parent organization has to necromantically bind his spirit to his flesh to keep his monstrous form going.

Havok ensues as Ryan and Nadjia continue to try to find out what Dunkelzahn's game is.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weil der zweite Teil der Drachenherz-Saga der Mittelteil einer Trilogie ist, wird meine Rezension wahrscheinlich Spoiler zu Band 1 enthalten.
Worum geht es?
Nach dem Tod von Dunkelzahn hat Ryan Mercury mittlerweile sein Gedächtnis wieder und er hatte auch das Drachenherz schon in den Händen, das er braucht um Dunkelzahns letzten Auftrag zu erfüllen, aber der Cyberzombie Burnout hat es ihm aus den Händen gerissen. Also müssen Ryan und sein Team erst ihn jagen um das Herz wieder in ihren Besitz zu bringen.
Hier ging es mir ähnlich wie in Teil 1. Ich wurde gut unterhalten, aber viel mehr auch nicht, wobei die Kapitel in Atzlan bzw. auf den Metaebenen schon ein wenig eintönig waren, weil eigentlich nichts wirklich neues dort passiert ist. Daher gibt es von mir noch mal 3 ⭐.

[Marco Baier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I read this series about three times. The series is one of my favorite in the Shadowrun Universe and it has one of my most favorite villains in it. :)Go Burnout!