Shadowrun Legends

Wolf and Raven

By: Michael A. Stackpole

Narrated by: Robert Austin James

Wild in the Streets...

Wolfgang Kies is a shadowrunner with a secret. He's an untrained shaman whose totem is the Wolf. Struggling under the influence of the Old One's omnipotent powers, Wolfgang's only ally is Dr. Richard Raven, the elf and do-gooder vigilante Seattle turns to when all else fails. He knows Wolfgang's secret. He understands the pull of magical possession on vulnerable souls. Together, they are the only force strong enough to battle crime kingpin Etienne La Plante.

As the chrome-fisted Capone of the Seattle Sprawl, La Plante has at his command an army of grunge goons, razorboys, and icepick-packing street samurai. But when Wolfgang's on the prowl, every cyber-creep and crook is fair game. There’s only one hope against La Plante’s reign of terror—the one force Wolfgang fears the most... His own pure predatory fury.

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pretty fun

the stories and world building were pretty true to the source material.
the action was a little over the top but mostly easy to follow. as frequently happens, I became even more interested in a couple of the side characters and would like to hear stories about them.

please note there were some major editing snafus especially in the last few chapters. so if there was an editing quality I would have to write that low. and I am honestly surprised how obvious it was. but did not take away from the story itself.

I really enjoyed the characters and stories.

Great characters, well written. the anthology format of various connected stories was great. I like the way Wolf and Raven solve problems and approach challenges.

A little try-hard, but fun enough

I’ve been playing Shadowrun for 26 years and only just started reading the books. There are as many ways to write Shadowrun as there are to play it, so when I say that this one wasn’t quite my jam, it may be yours.

Stackpole tells a story like you would about your first character. Wolf reminded me of the characters I’d play as a teen - badass, cool as hell, and gritty. Not a lot of depth to him, mainly a vehicle for the story (and occasionally Stackpole’s apparent love of baseball). As an adult I recognize that I’m not the intended audience for this book, but I found myself wishing for more big picture stuff in this one. What’s it *like* living in the Shadowrun world? What motivates Wolf other than being a wiz runner?

What I love about SR is that the setting has a huge amount of lore in which you can explore social themes like poverty, corporatism, religion, technology, etc. (The Secrets of Power trilogy delves more into that kind of thing.) Wolf and Raven assumes you know this stuff already, I guess, and is really a collection of scenarios that feel like one shot adventures with your buddies. I like more exploration of characters and setting, and this one is pretty straight action and making sure the reader knows how cool Wolf, Raven, and Kid Stealth are.

The voice acting is a bit over the top, ranging from “gravely” to “more gravely”.

I found it to be entertaining enough, but didn’t get much out of it beyond that. Felt like a missed opportunity in one of my favorite settings.

Hate to slot and run, but that’s the chip truth, chummers.