Jordan Weisman

Ah, one of my all time favourite RPGs. It is in the second half of the 21st century. Magic has returned to the world, large sections of the population have mutated into new sub-species of humanity (which become named dwarves, elves, orcs, trolls, etc, for their resemblance to figures of myth), mega corporations hold more power than nations, a new information structure that replaced the World Wide Web allows true immersive cyber reality, nations have fractured and monsters can be found in the show more dark back alleys.

in concept, it always sounded to me very much like some old-fashioned, sword&sorcery, Tolkien fanatic Middle Earth Roleplaying gamers had the following conversation:


Larry: dud, did you read [b:Neuromancer|22328|Neuromancer (Sprawl Trilogy, #1)|William Gibson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1285017005s/22328.jpg|909457] yet?

Curly: man, that was so awesome! and i'm just reading a book called [b:Snow Crash|830|Snow Crash|Neal Stephenson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275669886s/830.jpg|493634], where this hacker is REALLY a hacker because he's like awesome with a katana!

Moe: wow! that sound's awesome! i thought some more katanas would have made Neuromancer even better. you now what else would have made it truly awesome?

Larry and Curly: What man?

Moe: some like orcs and trolls and elves and wizards...

all: woooooooow


and, to be honest, the first edition was a bit like that, with a horribly clunky system, but by third edition not only had the system evolved into something more workable (and a few tweaks of my own improved further, like making dice rolls open-ended and allowing multiple successes) the authors had begun to use the ideas of fracturing society (and humanity) to point a mirror at some real-world issues. the most obvious is racism. when skin colour is no longer the most obvious physical attribute, and the blueprint of what is human has to be suddenly expanded to include shapes so far from the baseline this obviously causes problems (as [a:Terry Pratchett|1654|Terry Pratchett|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1235562205p2/1654.jpg] once said "black and white live in perfect harmony - and gang up on green").

Three examples. One adventure involved the characters encountering the ghost of a young orc boy in a hospital and their investigations uncovering that a leading politician isn't who he had seemed. In the early days of 'goblinisation' (as the process 'mutation' was called) a wealthy couple swapped their suddenly deformed young son with an foundling, who grew up to be the politician. The city of San Fransisco is now a protectorate of Japan (in the desettlement that resulted in the break up of the USA Japan moved into to 'Frisco to protect Japanese interests and stayed) the changed human subtypes are not granted citizenship and are forced to live outside the city, crossing checkpoints early in the morning to work at menial jobs - a clear analogy to the Palestinian territories today. In earlier editions, the descriptions of the orc and troll subspecies (or meta humans, as they are called) described them as having a higher physical strength but low intelligence, and being largely nocturnal. In third edition, these sociological reports are referred to, but the question of whether the intelligence discrepancy is down to educational discrimination and the so-called nocturnalism down to not wanting to mix more than necessary with other people when you're treated like a mutant.

Throw in lots of action, gunplay, car chases, cyber crime, political shenanigan and gunplay (i know i mentioned it twice, the players like their big guns) and you have an entertaining, involved background in which to grow interesting characters and have some stonking adventures. show less

In a lot of ways Cathy's Book reminded me of a paranormal Princess Diaries (and I mean that comparison in a good way)- girl obsessing over boy, the self-deprecating journal entries, IM chats - but here it's taken to the next level. There are lovely drawings to illustrate the narrative and a 'packet' with gorgeous watercolors and other 'evidence' that Cathy discovers. The format was really intriguing and beautifully done. I've always liked 'scrapbook' style stories - they just feel so... show more authentic. Like you're actually peeking at someone else's life in all its messy hodgepodge. Or maybe like you're assembling a case. It's always appealed to me, so that was a big bonus of Cathy's Book.

As to the interactive aspects - they didn't do all that much for me as I tend to do my reading when I'm 'unconnected'. That said, I think the phone numbers and websites will probably appeal more to the target audience of teens.

The story is fun - I loved the part where Cathy sneaks her way into Victor's lab, she shows ingenuity even in the face of hilarious mishaps. I'm still not sure how I feel about the Grand Secret, but I hope that will sort itself out in the next few books. And the story is certainly addictive enough that I want to find out what happens to Victor, Cathy and Emma (probably my favorite character - she's hilarious).

More at my blog.

FTC Disclosure: I received a free review copy from the publisher. show less

Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com

CATHY'S BOOK is being marketed as a new kind of young adult novel. It's interactive, with a pocket of 'evidence', real phone numbers and websites, and other extras to help you learn more about the case. To be honest, though, that wasn't what made me love this book. Sure, the extras are cool and all, but I don't think they are necessary (and that's a compliment to the book, really!). CATHY'S BOOK could have stood on its own as a wonderful young show more adult novel.

It's the story of, as the title suggests, a girl named Cathy. I suppose she's fairly normal at first (though she is a better artist than most of us--I love the drawings in this book!), but she quickly finds herself mixed up in some shady business, due to her involvement with Victor, her older possible-boyfriend. I can't say too much without giving away the awesome plot twists, but nothing turns out the way you think it will! It all comes together quite nicely in the end, though. The startling revelations that finish this story, however, could set up a great sequel, and I hope that one is at least being considered!

CATHY'S BOOK is fantastic for a number of reasons. There are great pictures (and usually I'm not a fan of pictures in novels--I think it distracts from the writing), it's well-written, the characters (especially Cathy) are realistic, and the plot is quite suspenseful! It's not all action and suspense, though--there's a bit of romance thrown in (that is, after all, the reason for Cathy's involvement in the first place), which makes it fun. The only thing that might subtract from the awesomeness of this book, I think, is the fact that the publishers or whoever made this decision seemed to think the great story needed 'extras' to make it worth reading. None of the press I've read on this book mentions the great novel; instead, it talks about the 'extras.' That is not what makes this book worth it, not at all! show less

Into the Shadows is series of short stories that help flesh out much of a future Seattle landscape that provides a partial backdrop for Shadowrun and many major players that occupy its decrepit streets and luxurious corridors. Each story follows a unique group as they are tasked with completing a task before them and how they deal with it when their caper inevitably goes wrong. The tone for each story varies per author giving them a unique flavor and viewpoint. As you dive deeper into the show more anthology you begin to realize that all these individual stories and the characters within are actually connected.

I thoroughly enjoyed these stories and loved how they worked together to tell pieces of the whole story. I didn't feel lost throughout though some of the more technical jargon I allowed to slip through the cracks. None of this diminished my understanding of what was going on. I do wish I could spend more time with the characters to fill them out a bit more, but all the authors did a tremendous job with the pages they had. show less