Jerry Harris is a young 23-year-old 1st lieutenant assigned as an advisor to the ARVN for a tour from 1969 to 1970. He has to put up with the incompetence of the troops he leads as well as incompetent American officers and an inflexible and rigid Army bureaucracy. He transforms from a scared man who stutters to a very competent soldier. In the last days of his tour is captured by the NVA. He kills his captors and escapes. Only to find himself arrested for being AWOL. Luckily, he is exonerated but has to write a letter apologizing for stealing a .45 from the enemy.
This book tells the story of a MACV advisor through the style of a journal. I will say this is the most cynical book about the Vietnam war I ever read. The author has clear disdain for the South Vietnamese troops. He is forced to eat their food which consists of rice, rancid pork and chicken cut up bones and all. The Army bureaucracy and command are incompetent except for some exceptions. If you want a book that shows why we lost that war, this is the one to read.
Now I think the writer was a genuine advisor in the war. There is a very authentic feel to it. Some was clearly a bit exaggerated. The ending where he killed six NVA with his bare hands and escapes, only to be arrested for being AWOL. The .45 he had was registered to the ARVN and so was assumed he stole it. I’m sure he had to kind of spice up the story. This was Zebra Men’s Adventure, and it would be expected to jazz up the story for the audience. There probably was a grain of truth to the inflexible bureaucracy and incompetence going on. I think this book is an excellent one to read if you want to get a feel for being an advisor during the war.
The colonists making their way to New Pacifica come on what looks like an impassable barrier. A huge canyon that is miles deep and wide that stretches for thousands of miles. They have to figure out a way to cross it. True and Uly discover a Koba pathway to the bottom that most of the colonists go down to explore. Alonzo, Yale and the kids are left behind and attacked by Grendlers looking to steal the vehicles. They use a desperate plan to parachute the vehicles into the valley.
With the vehicles united with the colonists they soon discover that the valley offers them a comfortable existence. Soon they discover a Terrian tribe that uses wings to fly. This tribe befriends them and shows that there is a Fountain of Youth they use to stay young. Martin Morgan has dreams of using it for wealth. The tribe though has an enemy Terrian tribe, and the colonists continue to look for and find a way out of the valley.
This third book in the TV series is another enjoyable read. John Vornholt has written some really good Babylon 5 books, so he has experience in writing for TV series. It is a little goofy with the parachuting of vehicles into the canyon. Everyone seemed in character from the TV series, and this would have made an enjoyable episode.
The series was short lived, so it only got these three books. Reading these books has given me a new appreciation of the series and it is unfortunate that it didn’t get the chance to grow. If you love the series, you will enjoy the books. I also recommend checking out the series.
Well, another Christmas has come. I hope everyone has a fun holiday and happy New Year. I leave you with my favorite scene from by favorite Christmas movie.
The colonists heading toward New Pacifica are running out of water. They enter a great plain and get trampled by a huge herd of buffalo type animals. The water tank is damaged and they need water. A valley has the potential of water, but both the Grendlers and Terrians both warn against entering the place. The colonists ignore this and find an underground city. A strange and beautiful place which True and Uly soon discover is a tomb. Morgan goes hunting for treasure and falls into a trap. Now the colonists have to rescue him and escape the deadly traps.
This is the first original story written for the sci-fi series. It is an enjoyable book. It did feel like an episode to the series and would have made a good one. There is a mystery to this deserted city that is left to the two kids True and Uly to explore. Morgan’s greed gets everyone in trouble which is consistent with the character in the series. I always enjoy reading book adaptations of TV series as they give us new story to enjoy.
It is the 22nd century and Earth is a polluted uninhabitable planet. Most of humanity lives in comfort on space stations scattered throughout the solar system. Only a problem has developed from living solely on space stations. Children are developing a condition called The Syndrome. The Syndrome will kill a child by the time they reach nine years old. It is theorized that they need to live on Earth to get better. Only Earth is a dead planet. Devon Adair the richest woman in the system has a young son Uly that has been stricken by the Syndrome. She mounts an expedition to planet G889 which is an Earth like planet. The plan is to set up a colony on New Pacifica for the children of the Syndrome. Only the government doesn’t want this to happen and tries to sabotage the expedition. The ship makes it safely, but a malfunction causes it to crash thousands of miles from their destination. They have to recover vehicles to make a trek and also find out the planet has intelligent aliens.
This book is an adaptation of the pilot to the series from the nineties. The pilot was a ratings success but unfortunately never caught on and the series was cancelled after one season. The author does a good job of adapting the screenplay. She gives us some more backstory about Adair and her son Uly. Reading this brings back how good the series was. I personally enjoyed it and was disappointed it was cancelled after a cliffhanger like most good series for the nineties. It had an interesting premise and likeable characters. I have the DVD set and might have to give it another look.
INTERVIEW WITH THE LATE ANDREW BONIME by Eric S. Brown
An interview before his death of the producer. It talks about how he got involved with the movie and his favorite memories along with challenges it getting it made.
DOG WALKER by Robert E. Waters
The story of the woman at the start of the movie who gets taken by the Chud into to sewer with her dog. She was the wife of the police detective, and we find out about her.
THE DWELLERS by Nick Cato
The son of the NRC from the movie gets a job storing toxic waste in the sewers. He is also in a rock band and at the club turns into a Chud. Federal agents kill everyone in the club to cover it up.
THIS CITY WILL EAT YOU ALIVE by Ryan C. Thomas
An unemployed man goes down a tunnel in the subway to investigate a missing ticket agent. He gets eaten naturally.
DATE NIGHT by David Robbins
A woman who taught kids of the homeless picks up men at nightclubs to feed the little Chud children.
STRANGE GODS by Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes
A guy gets captured by a cult that worships the Chuds.
LOST AND FOUND by Greg Mitchell
The story of the young girl at the phone booth whose grandfather is attacked by a Chud. It tells how her uncle a shiftless drug addict manages to save her.
THEY ARE C.H.U.D. by Alex Laybourne
A police squad is trapped in the sewers and battles the Chuds. The survivor is rescued by a homeless man and the homeless battle the Chuds for control of the underground.
C.H.A.D. by Michael H. Hanson
A man leads a group of people in his apartment building as it gets overrun with Chuds.
SAMSA’S PARTY by Ben Fisher
The story of a homeless man that turns into a Chud.
THE WAY TO A MAN’S HEART by Tim Waggoner
What happened to the characters in the diner from the movie attacked by Chuds. One of the officers successfully tracks the Chuds down to rescue the waitress only to turn into a Chud.
DWELLER MESSIAH by Jason White
A kid from an abusive home befriends a homeless man. This leads him to be turned into a Chud and get revenge on his family.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT by Mort Castle
An anti-American rant that goes on about making Chicago a Chud tourist attraction. Thankfully a very short story.
TOXIC DISPOSAL by David Bernstein
The couple from the movie go back to their apartment to dispose of the dead Chud. They decide on dumping it in a dumpster, but it comes back alive and kills them.
MONSTEROUS ME by Martin Powell
Another story of a man turning into a Chud.
STEP ATE by Chad Lutzke
A recovered drug addict who manages a cafe has his ex who turned into a Chud locked in a storage room.
ZERO HOUR by JG Faherty
A special forces squad called Double Zeros are experts in hunting down Chuds. They go to West Virginia where toxic waste stored in abandoned mines have caused a Chud outbreak.
THE DEUCE by Philip C. Perron
A group in a greasy spoon get exposed to Chuds and are infected. They have to be eliminated by the government.
ALL AT SEA by Ross Baxter
A group of British Marines board a freight and find out it has been overrun with Chuds.
YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE HARLAN ALIVE by Jonathan Maberry and Eugene Johnson
Sheriff Bosch the detective from the movie is now a sheriff in a small Kentucky county. While investigating the disappearance of a senator, he finds a group of Chuds. Apparently, the senator was storing toxic waste in mines and some meth dealers turned into Chuds.
INTERVIEW WITH PARNELL HALL by Eric S. Brown
Interview with the screenwriter. How he got involved with the movie. The challenges to writing it as Daniel Stern wanted to change the character from a rookie cop to a hippie priest.
One of the great movies from the eighties has to be the low budget monster movie C.H.U.D. Which stood for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. As we later find out this was a government red herring to cover up the real acronym Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal. This gem of a movie has a following because as the interview show it was made by people who cared about making a quality movie.
This anthology gives us a fun look at the universe of the world of the movie. Except for one story all of them are excellent. Many give us backstories of the characters from the movies. If you love the movie, you should check out this anthology. It is a true tribute to the movie.
Sly is a decker that is getting old and wants to retire. On a typical run to retrieve data on a minor executive that a competitor can use, she retrieves a file from a dying decker. Soon every corporation and government is out to get her. The file has a way to read fiber optic data and would give any corporation of government a big advantage in this information dependent world. She teams up with a young teenage gang member named Falcon that dreams of becoming a shaman. They have to avoid the various hit teams and find a way to post this data, so everyone has access to it.
This is Nigel Findley’s second book and definitely an excellent entry in the series. In fact, I think that Findley may be my favorite author in the series. He knows how to write interesting characters and situations that keep you invested from beginning to end. This book also gives us a look at the corporate workings in this world. The Zurich-Orbital is the corporate court that keeps the system running is on a space station. It makes sense that these extraterritorial corporate entities have to have some kind of authority to keep them in line. Definitely one of the best books in the series.
Geraint is a noble from Wales and in the House of Lords. A rich and power man of influence in 2053 Britain. He finds himself part of a group of diverse individuals. Serrin an elf mage from Seattle on a quest for vengeance. Francesca a high-class decker from California. Rani a Punjabi ork an eighteen-year-old street samurai from the lowest level of British society. They have to join forces to stop a modern-day Jack the Ripper who is killing prostitutes with the same names as the original ripper.
This book in the series gives us a view of British society in the Shadowrun universe. We did have a book set in England in the second one. That one though didn’t really give us a good view of British society. This one does. The authors have a very good understanding of Britain and give us a very authentic feel of the world. It is a country with lots of pollution and a heavily stratified by class. The story builds up slowly with exploring the various characters and their stories. I especially liked Rani the young ork. She had an authentic wide-eyed innocence about her but a fascinating story. The story came to an exciting conclusion and ended though with very ambiguous victory.
The two authors would go on to write two more novels for the series.
Brandon Cross is hired to find a missing daughter. He discovers insect spirits taking over some women.
Graverobbers by Elizabeth T. Danforth
Two hackers go into Natural Vat HQ to hack the computer of a recently deceased executive.
Tailchaser by Paul R. Hume
Thorn is hired by Cortez an exec from Natural Vat to steal data from United Oil. He hires some top-notch mercenaries and Shadowrunners for the job.
Striper by Nyx Smith
Striper is a weretiger and assassin for hire. Someone has put a contract on her life, and the trail leads to an executive at Natural Vat.
Whitechapel Rose by Lorelei Shannon
Jack the Ripper is a decker hired to steal information from Natural Vat.
Turtle in the Tower by Ken S. Andre
A tarot reader hooks up with a mysterous man named Jaxxon. They get involved with a ninja attack on the warehouse of Bob’s Cartage and Freight which handles food for Natural Vat.
Free Fall by Tom Dowd
Two simsense stars want to escape their contract with MegaMedia and get help from the President of Natural Vat.
Would It Help to Say I’m Sorry? by Michael A Stackpole
Two street samurai Tiger Johnson and Iron Mike are hired to lean on someone to pay back their loans. Only the apartment turns out to be a setup and the two have to escape being framed for an explosion and killing of a Lone Star cop.
It’s All Done with Mirrors by Michael A. Stackpole
Raven and Wolf rescue the two from the last story. They get involved with helping Nadia Mirin who escaped an attempt on her life. Raven helps her with a plot by the Yakuza to get the shipping contract for Natural Vat.
This is an anthology to the Shadowrun series. It is a mixed bag but most of the stories are good. It does have a theme with Natural Vat that links well with the final story. Some of the characters used in this would surface in later books. Most notable the Striper character. Also included is a glossary of slang and a timeline of this fictional future.
Kham is an Ork living in Seattle and a shadowrunner. He is hired to guard some elves as they retrieve a crystal from a cave in the countryside. Soon after Kham and his family are attacked by mysterious men. They were sent by the elves to get rid of the witnesses to the theft. He has to fake his death and find out why the crystal is so important. He soon finds himself in the middle of a fight between powerful elves and the dragon Lofrywn. A plan that wants to bring the elves to domination of the world.
This book was written by Charrette who did the first trilogy for this series. He brings back some minor characters from the trilogy and gives them more prominence. Kham now is a central character, and he gives us a good perspective on Orks. We find out they age quickly and have short life spans. Elves apparently have been born before the return of magic, and some are immortal. Other characters from the trilogy are Neko and the evil elf Urdli. Dodger and Laverty make a short appearance as well as Sally Tsung and Ghost. The story was fun and filled with plenty of action. I think that Charrette is my favorite writer for this series. He would only do one more in the future.
THE BOOKS THAT TIME FORGOT. 