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Shadowrun Novels
Shadowrun: Tower of the Scorpion: A Shadowrun Novella
BEWARE THE SCORPION'S STING.. . Rashida bint Tariq bin Feroze al-Nazari steals through the deadliest shadows in the Dubai, in the Caliphate of Arabia. In a merciless land policed by the Caliphate Guard, under a government that exacts harsh penalties against any shadowrunner, Rashida has to break into the Saqr Tower and get out with the intel she’s getting paid to retrieve. Hired to steal a black op software package from Raqmu Enterprises, Rashida calls on her team of shadowrunners to help with the smash-and-grab. And this run isn’t just for the nuyen. The people behind Raqmu Enterprises killed Rashida’s family. Failure isn’t an option. But death doesn’t scare Rashida. A Scorpion shaman, she fights for her life every day against the spirit that grants her the power to destroy her enemies, but ultimately seeks to consume her very essence. Amid the treacherous desert sands, Rashida must battle enemies within and without if she is going to survive…
117 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 23, 2019
12 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Mel Odom
282 books273 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
aka Jordan Gray
Mel Odom is a bestselling writer for hire for Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms, Gold Eagle's Mack Bolan, and Pocket's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel book lines. His debut SF novel Lethal Interface made the Locus recommended list . The Rover was an Alyx Award winner. He has also written a scientific adventure of the high seas set in the 19th century entitled Hunters of the Dark Sea. He lives in Oklahoma.
aka Jordan Gray
Mel Odom is a bestselling writer for hire for Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms, Gold Eagle's Mack Bolan, and Pocket's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel book lines. His debut SF novel Lethal Interface made the Locus recommended list . The Rover was an Alyx Award winner. He has also written a scientific adventure of the high seas set in the 19th century entitled Hunters of the Dark Sea. He lives in Oklahoma.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 7, 2022
In short, it's too short...
A brief dipping of the toes into a cyberpunk vision of the Middle East. Complete with all the requisite shenanigans and intrigue that comes with the standard story model of a heist precariously tipping over the edge but never entirely falling over it. It's a very typical Shadowrun tale with some mild aspirations towards expanding its world a little.
There's certainly something here at the level of story and setting that could give rise to something entertainingly different from your usual Shadowrun fare but in practice, it doesn't really work out that way. Everything feels a bit too sketched out with not enough content inbetween the lines. Most characters are suggestions rather than fully realised people, the plot dives headlong to its finale and the ending arrives with not a whole lot of ceremony to it.
I appreciate brevity as a reader and I think the writer has done their best to accommodate a rapid fire narrative whilst telling the required minimum story required to proceed to the next event and so on. A little bit more flesh on the bones of this story would have helped though, if only to invest me more in the wider picture here and its many players. There is certainly potential here but it's largely left unrealised by the end.
As it is, it's a satisfactory take on a little used corner of the world of Shadowrun but never quite the ride I thought I was setting off on at the start. No doubt there's a follow-up or sequel in the works, it's sold as a novella but could have just as easily been the opening act of a more fully fledged tale in its own right. Not a recommendation to buy or avoid in this case, I'm pretty much indifferent on it.
A brief dipping of the toes into a cyberpunk vision of the Middle East. Complete with all the requisite shenanigans and intrigue that comes with the standard story model of a heist precariously tipping over the edge but never entirely falling over it. It's a very typical Shadowrun tale with some mild aspirations towards expanding its world a little.
There's certainly something here at the level of story and setting that could give rise to something entertainingly different from your usual Shadowrun fare but in practice, it doesn't really work out that way. Everything feels a bit too sketched out with not enough content inbetween the lines. Most characters are suggestions rather than fully realised people, the plot dives headlong to its finale and the ending arrives with not a whole lot of ceremony to it.
I appreciate brevity as a reader and I think the writer has done their best to accommodate a rapid fire narrative whilst telling the required minimum story required to proceed to the next event and so on. A little bit more flesh on the bones of this story would have helped though, if only to invest me more in the wider picture here and its many players. There is certainly potential here but it's largely left unrealised by the end.
As it is, it's a satisfactory take on a little used corner of the world of Shadowrun but never quite the ride I thought I was setting off on at the start. No doubt there's a follow-up or sequel in the works, it's sold as a novella but could have just as easily been the opening act of a more fully fledged tale in its own right. Not a recommendation to buy or avoid in this case, I'm pretty much indifferent on it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review