What do you think?
Rate this book
Shadow Unit #2
Shadow Unit 2
The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit hunts humanity's worst nightmares. But there are nightmares humanity doesn't dream are real.The BAU sends those cases down the hall.Welcome to Shadow Unit.The Shadow Unit series was created by award-winning authors Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear.Contains three “Ballistic” by Sarah Monette, Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear & Amanda Downum“Endgames” by Emma Bull“Overkill” by Elizabeth Bearplus bonus material.
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 24, 2011
12 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
Emma Bull
83 books690 followersEmma Bull is a science fiction and fantasy author whose best-known novel is War for the Oaks, one of the pioneering works of urban fantasy. She has participated in Terri Windling's Borderland shared universe, which is the setting of her 1994 novel Finder. She sang in the rock-funk band Cats Laughing, and both sang and played guitar in the folk duo The Flash Girls while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Her 1991 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel Bone Dance was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. Bull wrote a screenplay for War for the Oaks, which was made into an 11-minute mini-film designed to look like a film trailer. She made a cameo appearance as the Queen of the Seelie Court, and her husband, Will Shetterly, directed. Bull and Shetterly created the shared universe of Liavek, for which they have both written stories. There are five Liavek collections extant.
She was a member of the writing group The Scribblies, which included Will Shetterly as well as Pamela Dean, Kara Dalkey, Nate Bucklin, Patricia Wrede and Steven Brust. With Steven Brust, Bull wrote Freedom and Necessity (1997), an epistolary novel with subtle fantasy elements set during the 19th century United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Chartist movement.
Bull graduated from Beloit College in 1976. Bull and Shetterly live in Arizona.
Her 1991 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel Bone Dance was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. Bull wrote a screenplay for War for the Oaks, which was made into an 11-minute mini-film designed to look like a film trailer. She made a cameo appearance as the Queen of the Seelie Court, and her husband, Will Shetterly, directed. Bull and Shetterly created the shared universe of Liavek, for which they have both written stories. There are five Liavek collections extant.
She was a member of the writing group The Scribblies, which included Will Shetterly as well as Pamela Dean, Kara Dalkey, Nate Bucklin, Patricia Wrede and Steven Brust. With Steven Brust, Bull wrote Freedom and Necessity (1997), an epistolary novel with subtle fantasy elements set during the 19th century United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Chartist movement.
Bull graduated from Beloit College in 1976. Bull and Shetterly live in Arizona.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 26, 2018
Just as good as the first book in the series. I think "Ballistic" has been my favourite "episode" so far.
August 4, 2020
My only complaint is the "online" chat bits. I quickly started skipping over them. Enjoying the continued character development and learning about relationships between the team members. (Brady's ROTC comment made me choke on my sandwich!) I also like that the villains aren't all totally bad -- adding affected children to the mix is both brutal and genius -- and that their abilities seem *almost* possible... as do Chaz's and Hafidha's.
New casting suggestion: Kathy Bates as Dr. Frost.
New casting suggestion: Kathy Bates as Dr. Frost.
October 27, 2018
Three novellas this time, plus assorted extras. Seems like the authors are really starting to get a feel for the world and characters, with the former getting more fleshed out and the latter more nuanced and interesting. Out of the three longer stories, Ballistic was my favourite. Looking forward to more.
December 2, 2018
This was just as enjoyable as the first volume... the more of these I read, the more I wish they had been picked up by a tv channel and turned into a weekly series I could watch. :)
August 27, 2021
Still my jam, oh dear gods, so fine.
December 14, 2012
Every work has an audience, and is written toward an intended audience. It's no use saying the author wrote it for herself; even if she believes she did, she still had someone else in mind, someone she imagined would read it.
Shadow Unit's intended audience is LiveJournal. Period. From the interstitial "blog entries" to the dialogue to the descriptions to the relationships, this is a LiveJournal fan community work. There are many times I had to stop and ask myself, "Would someone really say that, if she weren't nostril deep in LJ fan community?"
It's not all a bad thing--the LJ community tends to be literate beyond the SF/geek fanbase, and so that adds a layer that you won't find in the kind of TV shows this story is based on. But there are still deep problems with the characters that I find myself withdrawing from, just as I have found myself withdrawing from the LJ community.
The first and biggest problem with LJ-flavored fiction is the old "men written as women with penises" problem. There's a "blog" (LiveJournal has never been particularly bloggy to me--it's really a much more literate and game-devoid early version of Facebook based not on who you know but who you find) entry in which Chaz Villette reveals he is going on a date. He actually (jokingly) begs someone to dress him and do his hair. Now that's something adorable you would see on LJ. That's not how I perceive (I'm putting the onus on me here) a federal agent to behave in a public, albeit friendslocked forum.
(Let's be serious here. Would any federal agent, knowing what he knows about the law and what can be done to get around, even flout it, would put this kind of thing out on LiveJournal, of all services?)
And there's the whole "dress me, do my hair!" thing as a young man (the youngest man on the team), who has a macho (but gay) Texan and a 60's throwback they call "Duke" after the Doonesbury character, as colleagues, would likely never be caught saying, never mind squealing with two of the three woman who look at him in a motherly sort of way. I know, stereotypes.
It's probably just me, but I find the LiveJournal flavor so pervasive, that it puts me off the whole project. I can't make it work in my head, and when I do, it feels sticky, like onehanded use of the keyboard.
I enjoy the characters, and the stories are fairly well constructed, though poorly written. Having to backtrack once or twice to figure out who is speaking or what is happening in a scene is my problem. I'm reading too fast or I'm not paying attention. When I have to backtrack every third or fourth scene, or I have to reread to figure out why a character I thought was dead is suddenly speaking is the author's problem. (Or, since I've withdrawn from LJ culture, again my problem? Not getting the shorthand?)
It's not working for me. That doesn't mean it won't work for you. But I'm feeling like the wallflower at the party (or worse, one of the cheerleaders who quit the squad), and that is never how your reader should feel.
Shadow Unit's intended audience is LiveJournal. Period. From the interstitial "blog entries" to the dialogue to the descriptions to the relationships, this is a LiveJournal fan community work. There are many times I had to stop and ask myself, "Would someone really say that, if she weren't nostril deep in LJ fan community?"
It's not all a bad thing--the LJ community tends to be literate beyond the SF/geek fanbase, and so that adds a layer that you won't find in the kind of TV shows this story is based on. But there are still deep problems with the characters that I find myself withdrawing from, just as I have found myself withdrawing from the LJ community.
The first and biggest problem with LJ-flavored fiction is the old "men written as women with penises" problem. There's a "blog" (LiveJournal has never been particularly bloggy to me--it's really a much more literate and game-devoid early version of Facebook based not on who you know but who you find) entry in which Chaz Villette reveals he is going on a date. He actually (jokingly) begs someone to dress him and do his hair. Now that's something adorable you would see on LJ. That's not how I perceive (I'm putting the onus on me here) a federal agent to behave in a public, albeit friendslocked forum.
(Let's be serious here. Would any federal agent, knowing what he knows about the law and what can be done to get around, even flout it, would put this kind of thing out on LiveJournal, of all services?)
And there's the whole "dress me, do my hair!" thing as a young man (the youngest man on the team), who has a macho (but gay) Texan and a 60's throwback they call "Duke" after the Doonesbury character, as colleagues, would likely never be caught saying, never mind squealing with two of the three woman who look at him in a motherly sort of way. I know, stereotypes.
It's probably just me, but I find the LiveJournal flavor so pervasive, that it puts me off the whole project. I can't make it work in my head, and when I do, it feels sticky, like onehanded use of the keyboard.
I enjoy the characters, and the stories are fairly well constructed, though poorly written. Having to backtrack once or twice to figure out who is speaking or what is happening in a scene is my problem. I'm reading too fast or I'm not paying attention. When I have to backtrack every third or fourth scene, or I have to reread to figure out why a character I thought was dead is suddenly speaking is the author's problem. (Or, since I've withdrawn from LJ culture, again my problem? Not getting the shorthand?)
It's not working for me. That doesn't mean it won't work for you. But I'm feeling like the wallflower at the party (or worse, one of the cheerleaders who quit the squad), and that is never how your reader should feel.
December 27, 2014
“Ballistic” by Sarah Monette, Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear & Amanda Downum
Very solid, although I would have preferred a different ending.
“Endgames” by Emma Bull
“Overkill” by Elizabeth Bear
I find Sol a difficult character to get a grip on, but he does liven up the dialog.
Sol: "My sister. A fearsome creature: an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church and fifth-grade teacher. Who also runs the local gifted-and-talented program, can kick-start a '67 Harley-Davidson XLH Sportster, and refuses to marry on the grounds that matrimony is a tool of the patriarchy. That's her story and she's sticking to it, anyway, although I suspect her continued single state has more to do with a refusal to choose between the devoted gentleman caller she's been entertaining since 1983 and her 'best friend,' a lovely academic poet at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, who also happens to have limpid brown eyes of the first water and write lesbian erotic poetry that's been published in thirteen languages, two of them English."
Chaz: "You're totally making at least half of that up."
Sol: "Believe what you like. It's the Midwest. People can fail to see just about anything if you give them half a chance to ignore it."
September 4, 2025
A rich explosion of character development, deepened by every action the character took, beat in tandem with the mystery, mayhem, and suspense. Of course Elizabeth Bear is involved in the Shadow Unit’s hunt. Nikki Lau snapped into focus, taking point in several investigations, although Daniel Brady continued to develop at her side. Hafidha and Chaz shone with dangerous uniqueness, trying to seize their lives and be heroes, catching killers whom could be them, one night. Worth charmed me with not only her skill, but her humour, capable of teaming up with Hafs and teasing Chaz. Falkner revealed a softer side, while the mysterious and manipulative Reyes simply revealed himself in tantalizing snatches, yet his heart was exposed, along with his humanity. I was drawn into the drama, touched by the brave banter in the face of a threat none of the Shadow Unit quite understood, even though they were the best hope to fight that threat. Moments of internet snark as well as witty character dialogue lightened the heaviness of the hunt for gammas doing dark deeds, even as those spiralled towards destruction, leaving Chaz, Hafs, and their entire unit wondering how much time they had left. It’s impossible to look away from that spiral, or the individuals blazing brightly amidst it.
Read
February 19, 2012This is the second volume of the virtual TV show, consisting of three episodes/novellas with a sprinkling of shorter pieces from Season 1. Focus here is mainly on the individual cases, with some character development thrown in, and a few hints towards the bigger picture. The middle story by Emma Bull failed to grab me for some reason, but the other two are nail-bitingly, edge-of-your-seat-sittingly intense. Characterization deserves a special mention, not only the way the individual characters are drawn with just a few significant strokes, but also how their relationships are mapped out - it is a joy to watch them interact with each other.
May 31, 2012
More of the team working together, more discovery of who they are as individuals. Also more about the world of Shadow Unit - its lot like this one with a slight twist. The team seeks out crimes that indicate the presence of the anomaly - and here I'm a bit vague...its been the weakest part of the story for me but I like the people so much I am completely fine with ignoring that. The crimes can be pretty awful - don't think that the absence of a camera makes descriptions less graphic. It is, after all, what these writers do - and they do it well. Still no sense of which actors are slated to play the parts and that pleases me immensely.
March 31, 2019
These really do read like a police procedural with a bit of the supernatural thrown in. The way they are written, however, makes it seem so much more realistic than the vast majority of the werewolf or vampire or other random creature who happens to be/be in love with/live next door to some sort of police or other public force investigator. Perhaps it is the collaboration between the authors and the resulting shifting tone and perspective, but whatever the reason so far this series is a good solid read with characters developing and growing as the stories progress.
March 3, 2022
This is part 2 of 3 for "Season One" of Shadow Unit, and I found the stories even more nuanced that part 1. We see a wider range of Gammas who aren't simply monsters. We also get even more insight into the lives of the characters. Hopefully seasons 2 and 3 will make their way into Smashwords before I get too antsy.
July 12, 2011
I love these! The author states in the intro that the books are styled after a TV episode, and that really shows in the fast pace of the books, which is enjoyable. Everything about them is like my favorite episodes of "Criminal Minds."
October 26, 2011
While still excellent this volume feels a little lighter than Shadow Unit 1. There are more journal entries and such rather than meaty stories. But the characters are still engaging and it didn't slow me down. After the running start, this volume gives a bit more character development.
September 2, 2016
This one was better than the first. The writers are finding their stride and becoming comfortable with the characters and the world they're building. Still categorize this as guilty-pleasure reading, though, which explains the four stars. ^_-
August 23, 2011
Combo of Criminal Minds and X-Files. Still very good. Now I've started having dreams about it.
September 15, 2011
This series just keeps getting better.
November 3, 2012
another great section of stories....the characters are really starting to become more fleshed out in this one as the "season" progresses.
January 3, 2013
Still finding out what the Unit does and exploring the characters.
October 27, 2013
unusual characters, well done
January 6, 2016
Again, reading this as part of the Season 1 Bootleg, but I continue to love these stories SO MUCH.
December 31, 2015
3.25. Not as strong as the first volume, but still interesting. Will give the next volume a go as I like a lot of the characters... Though I must admit some of the others feel faceless to me.
July 13, 2015
The series reminds me of fringe in the best possible ways.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews