Into The Shadows: A Review of Shadowrun

Secrets of Power

If you like science fiction, fantasy, or both, then Shadowrun is just for you. An eclectic mix of cyberpunk and fairytale, the story follows bands of shadowrunners – magical and cybernetic outlaws, if you will – living on the fringes of society and braving the darkest places in some of the world’s toughest cities in a grim future filled with all the creatures of myth, including powerful wizards, fire-breathing dragons, brutal orks, sly elves, and nimble dwarves. Within this wondrous magical realm also lies the technosavvy infrastructure of world dominating megacorporations and their massive towers that cast deep shadows in which the shadowrunners dwell, complete with the artificial computer generated world known as the Matrix where hackers, known as deckers, brave the intricate, and deadly, simulated environment.

In the Secrets of Power trilogy, the first three books of the Shadowrun series, we enter the life of Samuel Verner, an aspiring employee of the Renraku Arcology in Seattle, Washington and unwitting hero. He starts out living the life of his dreams until all that he knows is turned upside down in a freak encounter with a group of shadowrunners aimed at bringing down evil megacorps like Renraku. At first he is forced into their leagues, but soon discovers that a different world, the real world, exists within the shadows of the megacorps and realizes his own latent abilities to control magic that sets him on a path to fulfill his destiny as a wizard. His journey takes him from one corner of the Earth to the other as he reluctantly accepts his role in both the magical and mundane worlds, meeting new and old friends alike as well as some of the most unforgiving of enemies. Lies and treachery meet young Sam behind every dank city back alley and open countryside that determine to keep him from achieving his goals.

And the power struggle continues...

As far as the three books in this trilogy go, Never Deal With A Dragon, Choose Your Enemies Carefully, and Find Your Own Truth, I like them all equally. They were all fast-paced adventures filled with non-stop action and with good characterizations and plot development. Despite each book featuring an adventure that contrasted greatly from one another, continuity is not sacrificed and the characters react well to the environments and situations they are placed in. Of the story structure, I’d have to say that the only thing I didn’t particularly care for were the sudden scene changes, which most of the time happened with little or no explanation. The main shadowrunner characters were solid, hardened veterans and evolved with the usual bumps and bruises expected from people in a world such as theirs. They especially behaved much like a family with the common flaws and conflicting opinions with, at times, some not-so-unflinching loyalty. The villains, though selfish and lacking compunction, expressed similar flaws and were relieved of the usual clichés and stereotypes attributed to their roles. The locations were well detailed that painted an excellent picture of familiar sites and cities with this unique interpretation of the future. The right amount of backstory was included throughout the books as to not make them too wordy and congested while keeping the plot coherent and exciting.

While the ending wasn’t exactly the most climactic I’ve ever read, it did tie up all the loose ends and resolve the characters’ stories begun in the first book while providing open endings for possible reprisals in succeeding books. If I had to rate this trilogy out of five stars, I’d give it a four, and much praise to the author Robert N. Charrette for such keen insight into a fantastical future that included my own home city of Seattle. If magic and all the creatures of myth were to suddenly return to the Earth, I would expect it to be just like Shadowrun. Though I have never read any of Charrette’s other books, I am certainly going to start now. Of this ongoing series, he has written two others entitled Never Trust An Elf and Just Compensation, both of which I have yet to read. If they are anything like the previous books, those are two I’m definitely going to be picking up. Based off of his work so far, I would like to see Charrette return to helm another adventure. If you are a fan of the Shadowrun roleplaying and video games, these novels should be included in your collection. Even though most of the books in the series are stand-alone stories and are as good as any place to jump in and start reading, I recommend picking up the Secrets of Power trilogy, not just because they are the first of the Shadowrun tales, but because they are worth it.

The Matrix Revisions: The Best Agent

The Two Sides of Agent Smith

A program...

Not many computer programs have style like Agent Smith. Calm, collected, and often times ornery, he was the epitome of order and chaos and pretty much put a face on the bad side of the Matrix. Both liked and hated respectively, Smith gave us a few surprises not just in his personality, but with his abilities, as well. In both the films and video games, he remained the ultimate bad guy, on a mission to put an end to it all. Smith was certainly larger than life in many ways in the blockbuster movie trilogy, but redefined this term, especially the “larger” part, as he added something special to his repertoire in the video game Path of Neo.

The Original Agent

First, let’s briefly reacquaint ourselves with Smith. For years he was an Agent of the Matrix, designed to carry out the task of keeping Red Pills (people who have been freed from the Matrix) in check. Like his counterparts, he functioned within the limits of the artificial world. But unlike them, Smith expressed discontent at being trapped in such a place, a zoo or prison as he called it, with “disgusting mammals”. Eventually, the rules changed and found the Agent freed from the confines of the Matrix and allowing him to run unchecked within the system. Smith had found a new purpose compelling him to destroy both the Matrix and the real world, the results of which took a drastic turn for the worst for him when the final battle saw his own destruction.

Mega Smith Complex

Okay, so most of us know Smith’s story in The Matrix Trilogy and how it all turned out. Those of you who do not, then it’s probably best to stop reading right here. Or, if you don’t care about the spoilers, then feel free to continue. Two things of interest about Agent Smith involve the climaxes to The Matrix Revolutions and the video game The Matrix: Path of Neo. In the film, Neo and Smith had the gritty showdown in the rainy megacity at the end, culminating in Neo’s sacrifice to be copied by the former Agent in order to put a stop to him. It was a success, as all of the Smith clones that had been copied up to that point were destroyed. The Matrix was then restored and the war between Zion and the Machines came to an end. Decent ending for a movie, but this is not so for the video game. In Path of Neo, Neo and Smith followed the same rain soaked fight in the city just as the movie did, with one difference; Neo did not sacrifice himself to Smith in the end, but in fact bested him in the fight. The frustrated Smith and his clones began piling debris on top of themselves, building up to a towering Mega Smith body. Neo then fought this monstrosity and was able to defeat it without sacrificing his life in the process. The resulting explosion from Neo’s fatal blow to Mega Smith was tremendous, shattering the debris body and wiping out the rest of the clones in the Matrix. Zion realized the war was over and the ballad We Are The Champions by Queen sounded the victory. All was well.

Resolved?

What I think is that this would’ve been an awesome ending for the movie. I have no problem with the original ending and agree that it fit well, but the Mega Smith ending was a good one and would definitely have looked good on film. It isn’t to say that Neo couldn’t have sacrificed himself anyway to defeat it – it would be appropriate for the story – but even if he hadn’t, this ending is the type of treat well suited for the anticipation of the climax we had waited four years to see. The movie’s box office revenue was less than the other two films partly because of the sudden and anticlimactic resolution. As it stands, the Wachowskis felt the film’s ending would have been too boring for the video game, so created the alternate Mega Smith ending its place. But is this not also true for the film itself? Most people I’ve talked to felt the ending to the movie was unfulfilling. I’d be willing to see a special edition of The Matrix Revolutions with Mega Smith included as the alternate ending, provided there was an extended battle sequence filmed to fill in for what the video game couldn’t show in cinematic footage. Maybe even throw in a last minute fight on top of the broken head of the Mega Smith between Oracle Smith and Neo. You know, to add that last minute flavor of required dialogue and old fashioned fist fighting between good guy and bad topped with a spectacular demise of one or both men. It may just be wishful thinking, but I hope the Wachowski brothers consider it. With all the advances in CGI technology, they wouldn’t need to hire Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving to reprise their roles for the new ending; that is, if they refused to reprise their roles. If they agreed, great, film the scenes with the original stars and more power to them. Release the whole set as a cheap DVD movie purchase or a two-for-one deal as a Blockbuster movie rental. It would certainly do some justice to the trilogy.

Further thoughts...

This is a trilogy of movies that will not likely see further sequels. Explicitly stated several times, this is all there will be. There might possibly be remakes, but that wouldn’t be the same. The closest you can get to a sequel with these movies is the ongoing story of The Matrix Online and a few of The Matrix Comics episodes. Too bad for Agent Smith, I must say. That’s one character I’d certainly like to see again, if not in a sequel, then at least in a film version of the grandiose ending that the video game provided us. Give one to the fans and Agent Smith. After all the guy has been through, he deserves to go out with something more than a bang.