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Borderlands
Borderlands: Gunsight
An original novel set in the universe of the award-winning video game! The Borderlands cannot be conquered! Mordecai and Daphne have gotten themselves in a tough spot near the highly dangerous town of Gunsight, one of the most remote outposts on the planet Pandora, out in the boonies of the boonies of the Borderlands. Daphne has been taken prisoner by Jasper, a local warlord who controls the area around Gunsight . . . except for that other settlement, the former mining town Tumessa. There’s some kind of big secret operation going on in Tumessa—another warlord, a particularly mutated Psycho named Reamus, is somehow making money. And he’s been relentlessly raiding Gunsight and kidnapping Jasper’s people. Jasper may be scum, but he needs those people for raids on other towns, so it all has to balance out. Mordecai needs to negotiate for Daphne’s release, but now the only way he’ll ever see her alive again is to kill his way into Tumessa, find out what’s going on there, and report back to Jasper—only then will Mordecai get a paycheck and the girl. Mordecai doesn’t want the job, but he is pretty devoted to Daphne . . . and somehow, he just might be able to turn this entire mess to his advantage. . .
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 27, 2013
10 people are currently reading
289 people want to read
About the author
John Shirley
320 books462 followersJohn Shirley won the Bram Stoker Award for his story collection Black Butterflies, and is the author of numerous novels, including the best-seller DEMONS, the cyberpunk classics CITY COME A-WALKIN', ECLIPSE, and BLACK GLASS, and his newest novels STORMLAND and A SORCERER OF ATLANTIS.
He is also a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He has been several Year's Best anthologies including Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, and his nwest story collection is IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is out from TOR books; his Halo novel, HALO: BROKEN CIRCLE is coming out from Pocket Books.
His most recent novels are STORMLAND and (forthcoming) AXLE BUST CREEK. His new story collection is THE FEVERISH STARS. STORMLAND and other John Shirley novels are available as audiobooks.
He is also a lyricist, having written lyrics for 18 songs recorded by the Blue Oyster Cult (especially on their albums Heaven Forbidden and Curse of the Hidden Mirror), and his own recordings.
John Shirley has written only one nonfiction book, GURDJIEFF: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS LIFE AND IDEAS, published by Penguin/Jeremy Tarcher.
John Shirley story collections include BLACK BUTTERFLIES, IN EXTREMIS, REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WEIRD STORIES, and LIVING SHADOWS.
source: Amazon
He is also a screenwriter, having written for television and movies; he was co-screenwriter of THE CROW. He has been several Year's Best anthologies including Prime Books' THE YEAR'S BEST DARK FANTASY AND HORROR anthology, and his nwest story collection is IN EXTREMIS: THE MOST EXTREME SHORT STORIES OF JOHN SHIRLEY. His novel BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE telling the story of the creation and undoing of Rapture, from the hit videogame BIOSHOCK is out from TOR books; his Halo novel, HALO: BROKEN CIRCLE is coming out from Pocket Books.
His most recent novels are STORMLAND and (forthcoming) AXLE BUST CREEK. His new story collection is THE FEVERISH STARS. STORMLAND and other John Shirley novels are available as audiobooks.
He is also a lyricist, having written lyrics for 18 songs recorded by the Blue Oyster Cult (especially on their albums Heaven Forbidden and Curse of the Hidden Mirror), and his own recordings.
John Shirley has written only one nonfiction book, GURDJIEFF: AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS LIFE AND IDEAS, published by Penguin/Jeremy Tarcher.
John Shirley story collections include BLACK BUTTERFLIES, IN EXTREMIS, REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY WEIRD STORIES, and LIVING SHADOWS.
source: Amazon
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 20, 2021
Borderlands: Gunsight by John Shirley is Media Tin-in novel based on the universe of 2K Games Borderlands video game franchise. Borderlands, it’s not just for watching things get shot and die — it’s for reading, too! Borderlands: Gunsight is the kind of book many would consider “summer reading.” It can be finished over a weekend, is broken up in easy-to-pick-up-and-put-down chapters, and doesn’t require a lot of thinking. It’s like a summer movie — it won’t win any awards at the end of the race, but you’ll have a great time during the ride. Gunsight is a tale within a tale. The story begins in Fyrestone, where Marcus Kincaid, an arms dealer and the owner of the ammo-dispensing vending machines, discovers his warehouse has been broken into. Fans of the game will likely recognize Marcus from visiting one of the endless vending machines peppered throughout the Borderlands games. In a world of no guarantees, you can always count on Marcus guns!
Inside the warehouse he finds a group of children, looking for food. While he considers the idea of blowing them all away and calling it a day, his softer side takes over and decides to invite the kids back to his place for some food. Realizing he has a captive audience after the meal, and many stories to tell, he tells the children of the dangerous down of Gunfight (as if there really ever is a peaceful town in this world), and of Mordecai and Daphne.
Mordecai is the sharpshooting hunter character from the original Borderlands. Mordecai is sort of anti-hero, certainly not goodly in any way, but more on the good side of the good/evil spectrum. He has the propensity to enjoy drinking to the point of drunkenness, has a nagging girlfriend Daphne, but is a crack-shot when it comes to shooting things, especially with a long-range rifle.
To cut to the chase, Daphne gets kidnapped by the local bandit warlord, Jasper. To add to the complexity of the situation, there’s another warlord, Reamus, who is kidnapping Jasper’s men. In order to get Daphne back, Mordecai is going to need to help Jasper take down Reamus.
Needless to say, you can expect to see a lot of double-crossing.
Gunsight is written by John Shirley, who has written other tiein books based on Borderlands, as well as other video games like BioShock and Halo.
If you’ve enjoyed the Borderlands games, and the characters and lore, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll enjoy reading Borderlands: Gunsight.
It weighs in at just over 300 pages, and can be easily read over the course of a weekend. Like a handy save-spot in a game, Gunsight’s chapters average out to about 10 pages each, which makes picking it up quick and easily, even if you only have a short amount of time to spare.
Overall, like the games, the book doesn’t take itself too seriously, often dealing with situations with a bit of humor.
Inside the warehouse he finds a group of children, looking for food. While he considers the idea of blowing them all away and calling it a day, his softer side takes over and decides to invite the kids back to his place for some food. Realizing he has a captive audience after the meal, and many stories to tell, he tells the children of the dangerous down of Gunfight (as if there really ever is a peaceful town in this world), and of Mordecai and Daphne.
Mordecai is the sharpshooting hunter character from the original Borderlands. Mordecai is sort of anti-hero, certainly not goodly in any way, but more on the good side of the good/evil spectrum. He has the propensity to enjoy drinking to the point of drunkenness, has a nagging girlfriend Daphne, but is a crack-shot when it comes to shooting things, especially with a long-range rifle.
To cut to the chase, Daphne gets kidnapped by the local bandit warlord, Jasper. To add to the complexity of the situation, there’s another warlord, Reamus, who is kidnapping Jasper’s men. In order to get Daphne back, Mordecai is going to need to help Jasper take down Reamus.
Needless to say, you can expect to see a lot of double-crossing.
Gunsight is written by John Shirley, who has written other tiein books based on Borderlands, as well as other video games like BioShock and Halo.
If you’ve enjoyed the Borderlands games, and the characters and lore, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll enjoy reading Borderlands: Gunsight.
It weighs in at just over 300 pages, and can be easily read over the course of a weekend. Like a handy save-spot in a game, Gunsight’s chapters average out to about 10 pages each, which makes picking it up quick and easily, even if you only have a short amount of time to spare.
Overall, like the games, the book doesn’t take itself too seriously, often dealing with situations with a bit of humor.
December 27, 2015
Eh. Generally more of the same, in comparison to books one and two. The only thing is, I expected Brick to show in the book, since he was the one who was pictured on books cover. No such luck, I guess :) No matter. Mordecai saves the day and makes pages easier to flip. He and his current girlfriend, Daphne, are involved in many adventures, and get their chance to fight against loads of familiar creatures that we had already seen in a game.
January 26, 2014
It was okay. The story didn't grab me, but it was an easy read and had it's fun moments.
July 2, 2025
Borderlands: Gunsight follows in the footsteps of the previous Borderlands books (The Fallen, Unconquered) by being a boring paint-by-numbers adventure that did absolutely nothing to capture my interest and was a slog to finish.
I will freely admit that I don't think Borderlands in general has a good story -- that's okay, because I don't play the games for the story. I play for the fun abilities, interesting assortment of weapons, to spend time gaming with friends, and the occasional funny moment (either from the hit-or-miss writing or from my friends). But these books should be opportunities to expand the world of the series, tell better stories with cool characters and situations, and make me care more about the story of Borderlands. (I haven't played it, but I've heard the Telltale episodic videogame series Tales from the Borderlands basically does this, for example.)
Instead, what we get is probably one of the most predictable stories I've read in ages. As summarized on the back cover, Mordecai (one of the playable characters in the first game) is trying to rescue his girlfriend from the clutches of a bad guy. That about sums it up, and the majority of the novel is maybe one step above someone narrating gameplay to you. Mordecai sure does a lot of killing, although it's not written in a way that flows well visually in my mind or entertains in the slightest. He uses weapons from the games, shields from the games, and health packs from the game. He sends his pet bird, Bloodwing, off to attack enemies, just like in the games. He even teams up with Brick -- another playable character in the first game -- who also does a lot of shooting and punching, just like in the games. They drive around together in their vehicle, just like in the games. They even stop by Mad Moxxi's area, just like in the games. But it feels like it takes a lot of words for the author to describe each action, which makes what should be frantic and lively combat (like in the games) feel like our characters are stuck in a puddle of molasses.
There's only so much I can take in terms of monotonous descriptions of weapons and enemies and generic combat scenarios. I appreciate the attempt to translate gameplay mechanics to the page, as well as new locations from the then-recently-released Borderlands 2, and it sounds like it would've been fun to play. But I guess I'm looking for a bit more depth of character and emotion and plot from my books? At least the chapters are pretty short...
Ultimately, here's the bottom line: Some books really capture me and I devour them, some are sort of in the middle, but I was just bored out of my mind reading this one. The Borderlands is wild and dangerous, and it's no place for a book, apparently.
I will freely admit that I don't think Borderlands in general has a good story -- that's okay, because I don't play the games for the story. I play for the fun abilities, interesting assortment of weapons, to spend time gaming with friends, and the occasional funny moment (either from the hit-or-miss writing or from my friends). But these books should be opportunities to expand the world of the series, tell better stories with cool characters and situations, and make me care more about the story of Borderlands. (I haven't played it, but I've heard the Telltale episodic videogame series Tales from the Borderlands basically does this, for example.)
Instead, what we get is probably one of the most predictable stories I've read in ages. As summarized on the back cover, Mordecai (one of the playable characters in the first game) is trying to rescue his girlfriend from the clutches of a bad guy. That about sums it up, and the majority of the novel is maybe one step above someone narrating gameplay to you. Mordecai sure does a lot of killing, although it's not written in a way that flows well visually in my mind or entertains in the slightest. He uses weapons from the games, shields from the games, and health packs from the game. He sends his pet bird, Bloodwing, off to attack enemies, just like in the games. He even teams up with Brick -- another playable character in the first game -- who also does a lot of shooting and punching, just like in the games. They drive around together in their vehicle, just like in the games. They even stop by Mad Moxxi's area, just like in the games. But it feels like it takes a lot of words for the author to describe each action, which makes what should be frantic and lively combat (like in the games) feel like our characters are stuck in a puddle of molasses.
There's only so much I can take in terms of monotonous descriptions of weapons and enemies and generic combat scenarios. I appreciate the attempt to translate gameplay mechanics to the page, as well as new locations from the then-recently-released Borderlands 2, and it sounds like it would've been fun to play. But I guess I'm looking for a bit more depth of character and emotion and plot from my books? At least the chapters are pretty short...
Ultimately, here's the bottom line: Some books really capture me and I devour them, some are sort of in the middle, but I was just bored out of my mind reading this one. The Borderlands is wild and dangerous, and it's no place for a book, apparently.
January 26, 2020
Senza ombra di dubbio il migliore della trilogia. Tralasciando gli errori dettati da una pessima traduzione, gli scontri e le battaglie sono davvero entusiasmanti. Mordecai e Brick sono i protagonisti di questa avventura, avvenuta diverso tempo dopo rispetto al secondo romanzo e poco prima degli eventi di Borderlands 2 (il videogames... sempre se sono collegati). Nonostante questo però è sicuramente godibile in ogni caso, anche senza conoscerne la saga videoludica o senza aver letto i romanzi precedenti. Consigliato
October 22, 2019
A reluctant three stars.
Three complaints:
1. Lack of motivation for one dramatic moment ... which was unfortunately the climax
2. One dramatic moment glossed over for no reason
3. Two parts where Shirley seemed as if he lost track of what was happening
But I like the world and the characters and the wackiness of working game mechanics into a coherent story. There's no point in applying too much critical thinking to this one.
Three complaints:
1. Lack of motivation for one dramatic moment ... which was unfortunately the climax
2. One dramatic moment glossed over for no reason
3. Two parts where Shirley seemed as if he lost track of what was happening
But I like the world and the characters and the wackiness of working game mechanics into a coherent story. There's no point in applying too much critical thinking to this one.
June 12, 2024
Trash. Has nothing to do with Borderlands. A vehicle for the author's sexual fetishes. Awful at writing female characters and Borderlands in general.
March 24, 2015
If you like the borderlands games what gets better than stories based in the borderlands world with your favourite characters. There's familiar characters & locations so it all feels very familiar.
The story is based around Mordecai his girlfriend Daphne & their exploits in the adventure that involves them both with claptraps, manic bosses, tunnel rats and many other familiar characters from the borderlands games. All told in the usual round the camp fire style by the famous Marcus, with a few little interludes thrown in for good measure.
There are a few strange twists and turns that keep you interested to the end of the book.
Its well worth a read if you like the rest of the borderlands based books that's for sure.
The story is based around Mordecai his girlfriend Daphne & their exploits in the adventure that involves them both with claptraps, manic bosses, tunnel rats and many other familiar characters from the borderlands games. All told in the usual round the camp fire style by the famous Marcus, with a few little interludes thrown in for good measure.
There are a few strange twists and turns that keep you interested to the end of the book.
Its well worth a read if you like the rest of the borderlands based books that's for sure.
September 28, 2014
Pretty much what I expected after reading the previous two Borderlands books. Lots of action in the Borderlands world. There's a lot of familiar characters, locations, and items, so anyone who has played the games will be right at home.
Despite the fact that the book shows Brick on the cover, the story actually focuses on Mordecai. His girlfriend Daphne (who was introduced in the previous book) is kidnapped by a powerful war boss named Jasper. He holds Daphne hostage and blackmails Mordecai into working for him. From here we get plenty of excitement as Mordecai takes on Psychos, Tunnel Rats, Marauders, and many other staples of the Borderlands franchise.
Despite the fact that the book shows Brick on the cover, the story actually focuses on Mordecai. His girlfriend Daphne (who was introduced in the previous book) is kidnapped by a powerful war boss named Jasper. He holds Daphne hostage and blackmails Mordecai into working for him. From here we get plenty of excitement as Mordecai takes on Psychos, Tunnel Rats, Marauders, and many other staples of the Borderlands franchise.
January 14, 2015
It's a novel based on a video game. What did you want? If you like Borderlands and Mordecai, read it. :)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews