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Shadowrun Novels #75
Shadowrun: Blackbird One: Base of Fire
MAKING OF A MAN…
Dashiell Riggins was just another hardscrabble kid growing up in rural Washington, doing everything a normal teenager would do—hanging out with friends, swimming in the river during summer break, keeping an uneasy peace with the powerful ork family that controlled their hometown.
Until one day changed everything; the day Dash goblinized. Transformed into a troll metavariant, Dash is now even more of an outsider. Sports allows him to find a place in his hometown, until another world-shaking event shatters his carefully built life again, forcing Dash to leave everything behind and start over.
And in the Sixth World, there’s only one place where a person can remake themselves into someone stronger, tougher, faster, better than they were before. Dash signs on the dotted line and sets out on a journey that will transforms his life from that day on…
The Blackbird series is a short novel trilogy with strong military, Shadowrun-historical, and Native American Nation themes. Fans of the Kincaid series will enjoy a first-person narrative exploring the history of the Sixth World through Dash’s eyes as he experiences the world of shadowrunners from a perspective a half-step removed from the shadows...on the battlefield, not the streets, as paramilitary action spills from one famous conflict to the next, spanning decades and three action-packed stories.
Dashiell Riggins was just another hardscrabble kid growing up in rural Washington, doing everything a normal teenager would do—hanging out with friends, swimming in the river during summer break, keeping an uneasy peace with the powerful ork family that controlled their hometown.
Until one day changed everything; the day Dash goblinized. Transformed into a troll metavariant, Dash is now even more of an outsider. Sports allows him to find a place in his hometown, until another world-shaking event shatters his carefully built life again, forcing Dash to leave everything behind and start over.
And in the Sixth World, there’s only one place where a person can remake themselves into someone stronger, tougher, faster, better than they were before. Dash signs on the dotted line and sets out on a journey that will transforms his life from that day on…
The Blackbird series is a short novel trilogy with strong military, Shadowrun-historical, and Native American Nation themes. Fans of the Kincaid series will enjoy a first-person narrative exploring the history of the Sixth World through Dash’s eyes as he experiences the world of shadowrunners from a perspective a half-step removed from the shadows...on the battlefield, not the streets, as paramilitary action spills from one famous conflict to the next, spanning decades and three action-packed stories.
199 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 20, 2022
11 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Russell Zimmerman
45 books46 followersRussell ("Rusty" when he's not working) got started in writing as a freelancer for wargames like Warmachine, and since then has contributed to dozens of projects including fan-favorite fiction in Shadowrun and writing the international award-winning PC game Satellite Reign.
His most noteworthy work has been for the Shadowrun role-playing game and associated properties, and in more recent years he's become a regular contributor to the universes of BattleTech and Warhammer 40,000, as well.
During his career he's spilled some ink for a wide variety of genres and games, including Vampire 20th Anniversary, Earthdawn, Mutants & Masterminds, Gangs of the Undercity, multiple video games, and more! By working for Shadowrun, BattleTech, and Earthdawn, he's finished the old-school FASA trifecta, and is as such officially unstoppable.
His most noteworthy work has been for the Shadowrun role-playing game and associated properties, and in more recent years he's become a regular contributor to the universes of BattleTech and Warhammer 40,000, as well.
During his career he's spilled some ink for a wide variety of genres and games, including Vampire 20th Anniversary, Earthdawn, Mutants & Masterminds, Gangs of the Undercity, multiple video games, and more! By working for Shadowrun, BattleTech, and Earthdawn, he's finished the old-school FASA trifecta, and is as such officially unstoppable.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 3, 2022
This is a nice slice of life book that has nothing to do with Shadowrunning, but everything to do with living in the 6th World.
This series is going from the 30s to the 80s.
The first half is a young man growing up in a small Cascade Orks town. It's all about small town politics, goblinization and racism. It also helps fill in the blanks of NAN life and transformation. That ends with the Night of Rage.
The second half is a crazy, brutal Basic Training. It's way more intense than normal Basic and dangerous.
It's nice to see where these larger than life characters come from and how they got as good as they are.
My only worry is by the prologue/epilogue and possibly final book the protagonist will be damn near 70. I understand that he is supposed to be in all of the major events, but the timeline might be too long now
This series is going from the 30s to the 80s.
The first half is a young man growing up in a small Cascade Orks town. It's all about small town politics, goblinization and racism. It also helps fill in the blanks of NAN life and transformation. That ends with the Night of Rage.
The second half is a crazy, brutal Basic Training. It's way more intense than normal Basic and dangerous.
It's nice to see where these larger than life characters come from and how they got as good as they are.
My only worry is by the prologue/epilogue and possibly final book the protagonist will be damn near 70. I understand that he is supposed to be in all of the major events, but the timeline might be too long now
August 16, 2022
that was a bit different
love russell Zimmerman's books. this is a brand new character. and i guess is an origin story intended to be followed by followup books. its a decent read. looking forward to next one
love russell Zimmerman's books. this is a brand new character. and i guess is an origin story intended to be followed by followup books. its a decent read. looking forward to next one
December 19, 2024
This has got to be the most dull Shadowrun book I've read in many years of reading them. I get it Zimmerman, this kid plays stickball, I don't need you taking 10 pages of this book to explain the rules of stickball to me. Every paragraph is torturously meandering and labors to get to the point, using 80 words where 10 would suffice and Zimmerman often rehashes the same events over and over. Got it Russ, sports are important to this community, we can move on, don't need that 6th monologue from the coach telling me how she's going to beat the character into shape so he can sports better. Didn't need that 3rd paragraph about what was in this guy's duffel at basic training, 2 was plenty.
I was interested to read a story from a Native American character's perspective outside of the sprawls since that's uncommon in SR but I was mostly turned off by the writing here.
I sure hope the second book is better than this first one because I accidentally bought it as well. I really enjoyed the Kincaid novels and I had higher hopes for Zimmerman
I was interested to read a story from a Native American character's perspective outside of the sprawls since that's uncommon in SR but I was mostly turned off by the writing here.
I sure hope the second book is better than this first one because I accidentally bought it as well. I really enjoyed the Kincaid novels and I had higher hopes for Zimmerman
September 19, 2022
Two thumbs up from a military vet
I’ve been reading Shadowrun books since the ‘90s, and this is by far one of my favorites. A gritty coming of age story of a Fomorian Troll who seems to be out of place, yet fate has him right where he needs to be.
The descriptions of his boot camp experiences were realistic and detailed enough that the author’s style had me nodding my head and remembering my own experiences as a recruit 20-some years ago.
Definitely worth the read. Already purchased the second book in the series, and cannot wait to see where Dash ends up next.
I’ve been reading Shadowrun books since the ‘90s, and this is by far one of my favorites. A gritty coming of age story of a Fomorian Troll who seems to be out of place, yet fate has him right where he needs to be.
The descriptions of his boot camp experiences were realistic and detailed enough that the author’s style had me nodding my head and remembering my own experiences as a recruit 20-some years ago.
Definitely worth the read. Already purchased the second book in the series, and cannot wait to see where Dash ends up next.
December 20, 2022
Good read... But...
Overall the story is well written, most of the characters are interesting, some come off a bit flat feeling more like extras to fill out the story. The parts where the author gets preachy drag a bit most of the story is fast paced and engaging. Over all it's a good read if a bit packing compared to the classic stories.
Overall the story is well written, most of the characters are interesting, some come off a bit flat feeling more like extras to fill out the story. The parts where the author gets preachy drag a bit most of the story is fast paced and engaging. Over all it's a good read if a bit packing compared to the classic stories.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews