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Shadow Unit #1
Shadow Unit 1
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. There, Stephen Reyes and his team pursue criminals transformed by a mysterious the anomaly.Welcome to Shadow Unit.The Shadow Unit series was created by award-winning authors Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear.Contains four “Breathe” by Emma Bull“Knock On Coffins” by Elizabeth Bear“Dexterity” by Sarah Monette“A Handful of Dust” by Will Shetterlyplus bonus material.
216 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 24, 2011
82 people are currently reading
1109 people want to read
About the author
Emma Bull
83 books692 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
July 7, 2012
My original thoughts before reading:
Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette?
Holy shit sherlock thats an authorgasm. ungh.
My Actual Review:
In Emma Bull's own words, Shadow Unit is fan fiction for a tv series that never existed. Bull thought up this fantastic urban fantasy type tv series, taking ideas from her old favourites such as x-files and The Man from UNCLE, and then brought on board some of her writer friends to collaberate and write for it.
To compare it to more recent tv shows, it has a lot in common with Alphas one of my favs. The series revolves around a small branch of the FBI, the 'Anomalous Crimes Task Force' also commonly called 'the shadow unit', whose job it is to identify and track down Gammas. Who are humans infected with an unknown substance (simply called the 'anomaly'). No one knows what the anomaly is, whether parasite, virus, bacteria etc, but it's effect on humans is to give them supernatural abilities, and then to bend their mind subtly to it's own purpose. Most Gammas end up using their abilities to harm or kill, and thats when the shadow unit gets called in.
The format of the book is as a collection of short stories, called episodes, each written by a different author, but all set within the same universe and timeline. The first episode Breathe makes a very good introduction to the series. As it brings in the character Daphne Worth who has just joined the Shadow Unit team, and is as new to all this as we - the readers - are. Worth was originaly an EMT (thats paramedic for us brits), who trained up to join the team after a nasty encounter with a Gamma that resulted in the death of her colleagues. After meeting the team, Daphne gets to go on her first case. Several victims have been found suffocated to death without any apparent external cause. The Gamma that did it is still out ther, and the team are racing against the clock to put all the evidence together and catch the Gamma before the Gamma takes its next victim.
If you can tell from my comment when I first noticed this series, I was a little excited about the authors involved. In my teens, I loved Emma Bull's lesser known cyberpunk novel Bone Dance. And in the last year or two I've turned into a huge fan of Sarah Monette, I just think she's the bees knees when it comes to fantasy involving lgbt characters, and I'm reading everything of hers that I can get my hands on. I haven't actually read any of Elizabeth Bear's solo work, but her collab work with Sarah Monette is really good. Her work on Shadow Unit has further convinced me that I need to explore some of her stuff soon.
The shadow unit series features a really interesting cast of characters that really draw you in, some great writing, and an inovative new twist to the urban fantasy/paranormal genre.
The episodes were all originally published on the Shadow Unit website. They're still all there and available free of charge if you wish to go through them that way. Theres a helpful wiki built thats immensly helpful. The page for reading order of the episodes is the best place to start if you want to go down that route.
Or.. Most of the episodes have been released collected together in ebook format. This being the first novel, a collection of the first four episodes and extra material. It's easier on the eyes than reading on the website, they're really cheaply priced (72 pence, you can't go wrong!), and of course you would be supporting the authors. Available on Amazon.
Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette?
Holy shit sherlock thats an authorgasm. ungh.
My Actual Review:
In Emma Bull's own words, Shadow Unit is fan fiction for a tv series that never existed. Bull thought up this fantastic urban fantasy type tv series, taking ideas from her old favourites such as x-files and The Man from UNCLE, and then brought on board some of her writer friends to collaberate and write for it.
To compare it to more recent tv shows, it has a lot in common with Alphas one of my favs. The series revolves around a small branch of the FBI, the 'Anomalous Crimes Task Force' also commonly called 'the shadow unit', whose job it is to identify and track down Gammas. Who are humans infected with an unknown substance (simply called the 'anomaly'). No one knows what the anomaly is, whether parasite, virus, bacteria etc, but it's effect on humans is to give them supernatural abilities, and then to bend their mind subtly to it's own purpose. Most Gammas end up using their abilities to harm or kill, and thats when the shadow unit gets called in.
The format of the book is as a collection of short stories, called episodes, each written by a different author, but all set within the same universe and timeline. The first episode Breathe makes a very good introduction to the series. As it brings in the character Daphne Worth who has just joined the Shadow Unit team, and is as new to all this as we - the readers - are. Worth was originaly an EMT (thats paramedic for us brits), who trained up to join the team after a nasty encounter with a Gamma that resulted in the death of her colleagues. After meeting the team, Daphne gets to go on her first case. Several victims have been found suffocated to death without any apparent external cause. The Gamma that did it is still out ther, and the team are racing against the clock to put all the evidence together and catch the Gamma before the Gamma takes its next victim.
If you can tell from my comment when I first noticed this series, I was a little excited about the authors involved. In my teens, I loved Emma Bull's lesser known cyberpunk novel Bone Dance. And in the last year or two I've turned into a huge fan of Sarah Monette, I just think she's the bees knees when it comes to fantasy involving lgbt characters, and I'm reading everything of hers that I can get my hands on. I haven't actually read any of Elizabeth Bear's solo work, but her collab work with Sarah Monette is really good. Her work on Shadow Unit has further convinced me that I need to explore some of her stuff soon.
The shadow unit series features a really interesting cast of characters that really draw you in, some great writing, and an inovative new twist to the urban fantasy/paranormal genre.
The episodes were all originally published on the Shadow Unit website. They're still all there and available free of charge if you wish to go through them that way. Theres a helpful wiki built thats immensly helpful. The page for reading order of the episodes is the best place to start if you want to go down that route.
Or.. Most of the episodes have been released collected together in ebook format. This being the first novel, a collection of the first four episodes and extra material. It's easier on the eyes than reading on the website, they're really cheaply priced (72 pence, you can't go wrong!), and of course you would be supporting the authors. Available on Amazon.
July 13, 2022
In any case, you can always read the entire series online and pay/donate what you like to the authors: http://shadowunit.org/). In addition to the stories listed in the goodreads description there are also peripheral materials in between, stuff that's happening in the characters lives that doesn't relate to the investigations, etc. I'm not sure if these are included in the kindle version as I'm not reading that edition. I will mention, since I'm writing this retroactively, having read further, that the extras sometimes contain information that gets referred to later.
“Breathe” by Emma Bull -- Nice introduction to the characters and set-up via the classic newbie-arriving-at-the-job device.
“Knock On Coffins” by Elizabeth Bear -- Kind of jarring after "Breathe" as the writing style and interpretation of the characters is so different.
“Dexterity” by Sarah Monette -- If your hand offends you, cut it off. If someone else's hand offends you, beat them to death.
Nice job adding a bit more nuance to the gamma concept.
“A Handful of Dust” by Will Shetterly -- Nice Eliot reference, although I have trouble believing the character in question is a big poetry lover. Still, as one agent points out, you can always google a good quote.
August 6, 2016
-Investigación, operaciones, fantasía y estilismos varios.-
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. Una nueva agente se incorpora a una división del FBI que enfrenta una serie de amenazas sobrenaturales generadas por una extraña fuerza que altera a algunas personas, dotándolas de capacidades por encima de lo normal y que en muchos casos hace que se vuelvan peligrosas. Recopilación en formato electrónico de historias publicadas previamente en la web y primer libro de la serie.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. Una nueva agente se incorpora a una división del FBI que enfrenta una serie de amenazas sobrenaturales generadas por una extraña fuerza que altera a algunas personas, dotándolas de capacidades por encima de lo normal y que en muchos casos hace que se vuelvan peligrosas. Recopilación en formato electrónico de historias publicadas previamente en la web y primer libro de la serie.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
September 13, 2016
-Investigación, operaciones, fantasía y estilismos varios.-
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. Una nueva agente se incorpora a una división del FBI que enfrenta una serie de amenazas sobrenaturales generadas por una extraña fuerza que altera a algunas personas, dotándolas de capacidades por encima de lo normal y que en muchos casos hace que se vuelvan peligrosas. Recopilación en formato electrónico de historias publicadas previamente en la web y primer libro de la serie.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Narrativa fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. Una nueva agente se incorpora a una división del FBI que enfrenta una serie de amenazas sobrenaturales generadas por una extraña fuerza que altera a algunas personas, dotándolas de capacidades por encima de lo normal y que en muchos casos hace que se vuelvan peligrosas. Recopilación en formato electrónico de historias publicadas previamente en la web y primer libro de la serie.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
December 23, 2013
This is definitely a series (if actually made) I would watch in all its geeky, X-Files meets Fringe meets Supernatural, glory. You've got a secret FBI unit made up of misfit toys--all with their own stories to explore--and a mythology that involves some sort of alien force/parasite that makes people behave in deadly ways unless it doesn't. Two members of the task force have actually been infected by this force but use it for good (even as they battle the side effects). Some of the episodes are stronger than others--the first, Breathe, and the last, Ballistic, stand out to me. However, anywhere Emma Bull goes, I will follow and this was a fun and intriguing trip into a text that was originally online (and still is, btw.) Strangely enough, I did not read this on the kindle but in good old fashioned paperback form (but there was no paperback version on goodreads).
December 4, 2012
Emma Bull! Wil Shetterly! Elizabeth Bear!
Write boring-ass fan fiction based on Criminal Minds!
Seriously, for all their jibber-jabber about this TV series and that TV series and how they're writing stories based on an imaginary new TV series they really want to see, this is just crappy Criminal Minds fanwank. All the characters from that show are here; basically what they've done is change their race or gender... or in the case of Penelope Garcia, her weight. (No fatties in Fantasy!)
The hook for me was that this was going to be a Fantasy (or perhaps Science Fictional) version of a police procedural. It's not. The Fantasy elements (and that's what they ultimately are) are minimal at best. Just an excuse for people to kill other people so theCriminal Minds team can walk around saying cryptic bullshit. Using the show as a jumping-off point is fine, but you have to do it *better*, not worse.
I wouldn't be so mad about this if these guys weren't (normally) so good at what they do. This is exactly like Robert Towne faffing off and writing Days of Thunder, that shitty NASCAR movie starring Tom Cruise. Except in that case at least Towne got paid millions of dollars to turn in a bog-standard 3rd act that any monkey could've written. I literally have no idea what the motivation for this thing was.
If you want to practice your writing by taking an existing TV series and trying to emulate its tone and style, that's a good idea. As a writing EXERCISE. You then delete it from your computer and write something good. You don't sell it to people. Life's too short to waste it reading fanfic.
Write boring-ass fan fiction based on Criminal Minds!
Seriously, for all their jibber-jabber about this TV series and that TV series and how they're writing stories based on an imaginary new TV series they really want to see, this is just crappy Criminal Minds fanwank. All the characters from that show are here; basically what they've done is change their race or gender... or in the case of Penelope Garcia, her weight. (No fatties in Fantasy!)
The hook for me was that this was going to be a Fantasy (or perhaps Science Fictional) version of a police procedural. It's not. The Fantasy elements (and that's what they ultimately are) are minimal at best. Just an excuse for people to kill other people so the
I wouldn't be so mad about this if these guys weren't (normally) so good at what they do. This is exactly like Robert Towne faffing off and writing Days of Thunder, that shitty NASCAR movie starring Tom Cruise. Except in that case at least Towne got paid millions of dollars to turn in a bog-standard 3rd act that any monkey could've written. I literally have no idea what the motivation for this thing was.
If you want to practice your writing by taking an existing TV series and trying to emulate its tone and style, that's a good idea. As a writing EXERCISE. You then delete it from your computer and write something good. You don't sell it to people. Life's too short to waste it reading fanfic.
October 23, 2014
I thought that being similar to Criminal Minds would make it as good. I was wrong.
This isn't similar to the TV series. Just replace serial killers without weirdness with series killers with some kind of anomaly. It is the only difference. The first story is almost a clone of A Higher Power . Only the way the people are being killed is changed. There are two more longer stories: one with a gamma - a person with an anomaly - who causes schizophrenia and the other with a rapists/killer who causes people to die of fear. Between those three, you have snippets from the lives of team members.
The characters are boring. Their attitude and thoughts would make sense after you've already seen or read a lot of episodes. I love anthologies, but this one bored me.
This isn't similar to the TV series. Just replace serial killers without weirdness with series killers with some kind of anomaly. It is the only difference. The first story is almost a clone of A Higher Power . Only the way the people are being killed is changed. There are two more longer stories: one with a gamma - a person with an anomaly - who causes schizophrenia and the other with a rapists/killer who causes people to die of fear. Between those three, you have snippets from the lives of team members.
The characters are boring. Their attitude and thoughts would make sense after you've already seen or read a lot of episodes. I love anthologies, but this one bored me.
Read
December 19, 2014The concept behind this shared-world series is fanfic/tie-in novelisations of a tv series that doesn't exist, which is basically a mashup of X-Files and Criminal Minds.
Easy reading stuff, although _very_ fanficcy feel in parts - we spend a lot more time on characters than cases. The second 'episode' is an office bbq. (The email/blog chats between some of the characters didn't work particularly well for me).
Still, being priced smartly (free first, and cheap episodes) it was easy to power through the first four novels. There's one character which is the clear authorial favourite and we've spent most of the time around him - the other characters have not had nearly so much time lavished on them.
So, readable but not so compelling that I'm likely to zoom through the entire series in one hit. May pick it up again if I want something I can dip into.
Easy reading stuff, although _very_ fanficcy feel in parts - we spend a lot more time on characters than cases. The second 'episode' is an office bbq. (The email/blog chats between some of the characters didn't work particularly well for me).
Still, being priced smartly (free first, and cheap episodes) it was easy to power through the first four novels. There's one character which is the clear authorial favourite and we've spent most of the time around him - the other characters have not had nearly so much time lavished on them.
So, readable but not so compelling that I'm likely to zoom through the entire series in one hit. May pick it up again if I want something I can dip into.
October 25, 2012
Shadow Unit is a different kind of book....it's a tie in set of stories for a TV show that never happened, except in the heads of it's creators.
Think of it as a cross between X-Files, Criminal Minds, Man From UNCLE, etc...more heavily on the Criminal Minds side.
Shadow Unit is a division of the FBI in the Anamolous Crimes Division, investigating the crimes of something they call "gammas", or people that have certain un-explainable powers. They setup and how they go about catching the criminals are straight from Criminal Minds, and that's the closest tie-in.
Each book is a set of short stories with little tie-in extras to give you more insight to the characters (like DVD-Extras).
There are currently 4 seasons of about 8 stories each season that you can read online free, or buy the eBooks. Each "season" does end with a season finale, just like a TV Show. It's obvious that they wanted to make it like a TV Show, and very easy to imagine this in your head as a TV Show.
Bottom line, the first book had 4 stories....the first two were kind of slow, but entertaining...the last two had more of that Criminal Minds flavor that I was looking for. I've heard it continues along that line in the later books, and I've already bought the 2nd one.
Think of it as a cross between X-Files, Criminal Minds, Man From UNCLE, etc...more heavily on the Criminal Minds side.
Shadow Unit is a division of the FBI in the Anamolous Crimes Division, investigating the crimes of something they call "gammas", or people that have certain un-explainable powers. They setup and how they go about catching the criminals are straight from Criminal Minds, and that's the closest tie-in.
Each book is a set of short stories with little tie-in extras to give you more insight to the characters (like DVD-Extras).
There are currently 4 seasons of about 8 stories each season that you can read online free, or buy the eBooks. Each "season" does end with a season finale, just like a TV Show. It's obvious that they wanted to make it like a TV Show, and very easy to imagine this in your head as a TV Show.
Bottom line, the first book had 4 stories....the first two were kind of slow, but entertaining...the last two had more of that Criminal Minds flavor that I was looking for. I've heard it continues along that line in the later books, and I've already bought the 2nd one.
December 12, 2014
Serial story, told like a blend of CSI and X-Files. Pretty interesting, and several seasons worth of "shows" to read.
May 11, 2024
Off to a good start. Rachel Neumeier is a (generally) trustworthy guide: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Her comments on this one are near the end.
I'll have some Kindle samples up in a bit: https://www.goodreads.com/notes/11680...
Looks like I'm going to get my $4 worth here . . . 😁
I liked three of the four episodes: the Bull, Bear, and Monette stories. I didn't much care for the Shetterley story. Keep in mind, these are basically psychic serial-killer stories, and can be dark indeed (see the Shetterley). Neumier remarks that the series gets even darker as it progresses, so I'm likely to call it good with this one. You'll definitely want to start with this episode. This was a 3.5 star read for me. Recommended reading, especially if you like grim-dark. The Shetterley was over the top of my horror tolerance, but well written. As I said, I got my money's worth.
Her comments on this one are near the end.
I'll have some Kindle samples up in a bit: https://www.goodreads.com/notes/11680...
Looks like I'm going to get my $4 worth here . . . 😁
I liked three of the four episodes: the Bull, Bear, and Monette stories. I didn't much care for the Shetterley story. Keep in mind, these are basically psychic serial-killer stories, and can be dark indeed (see the Shetterley). Neumier remarks that the series gets even darker as it progresses, so I'm likely to call it good with this one. You'll definitely want to start with this episode. This was a 3.5 star read for me. Recommended reading, especially if you like grim-dark. The Shetterley was over the top of my horror tolerance, but well written. As I said, I got my money's worth.
October 24, 2018
Shadow Unit is, essentially, what would happen if Criminal Minds and the sci-fi/urban fantasy genre had a secret fanfic lovechild. Now, I happen to love Criminal Minds, the sci-fi/urban fantasy genre and fanfic, so it's probably not entirely surprising that I found this series opener (consisting of four novellas and assorted titbits) pretty damn entertaining. I had my doubts at the beginning, with especially the first of the novellas just feeling a little too much and too obviously like CM meets the supernatural, but the further I read and the more I got a feel for the characters, the more I enjoyed this. Will definitely continue the series at some point.
April 21, 2018
Criminal Minds is one of my favourite tv shows so I've been putting off reading this book for ages as I wasn't sure if a supernatural / paranormal version on paper would work for me. Well it did - yay! ... In fact, at the moment I think I prefer the characters and the stories in the book to the tv series, so I will certainly be continuing with them.
August 25, 2021
Well, I see I've found my jam then. Good thing it's a series.
Woo!
Woo!
August 14, 2012
I'm a big fan of Elizabeth Bear, and like Emma Bull and Sara Monette just fine. Somehow this ended up being less than the sum of its parts for me. We get a team of FBI agents who investigate paranormal crime. Hard to go wrong with that, right? It's still unclear to me after reading this book exactly how someone gets triggered to be a "gamma" (someone who manifests some sort of mutant power after being triggered- it's all very random). Gammas are always bad and may be killed with impunity- no moral ambiguity there. Only reason to keep one alive is to study it.
Except- two team members are "betas"- folks who have mutant abilities who never kill anyone (except gammas). They seem to do just fine. Why? Not this book's problem.
The characters just felt too much larger than life. Everyone is hyper-ultra-aware of what every person says and does, and every team member is constantly "profiling" everybody. Words like "victimology" get thrown around as if I'm expected to go "ooh- science!" But everybody is also ultra-cool, ultra-hip, and ultra-enlightened to any race or sexuality issues. It also felt like paint-by-numbers diversity. We have a closeted white gay man, an "out" gay white woman, a black Cuban-American boss, a Jewish female second in command, a war veteran (also Jewish?), a Chinese PR specialist who also seems to do everything else while running backwards in high heels, a (probably) Middle-Eastern ethnic woman who is the coolest fashionista evah and has mad skillz with the computers, and an indeterminate tawny young man, supergenius.
I think I would have liked more depth and less coolness. Maybe I was just expecting something different than what these authors had decided to write.
Except- two team members are "betas"- folks who have mutant abilities who never kill anyone (except gammas). They seem to do just fine. Why? Not this book's problem.
The characters just felt too much larger than life. Everyone is hyper-ultra-aware of what every person says and does, and every team member is constantly "profiling" everybody. Words like "victimology" get thrown around as if I'm expected to go "ooh- science!" But everybody is also ultra-cool, ultra-hip, and ultra-enlightened to any race or sexuality issues. It also felt like paint-by-numbers diversity. We have a closeted white gay man, an "out" gay white woman, a black Cuban-American boss, a Jewish female second in command, a war veteran (also Jewish?), a Chinese PR specialist who also seems to do everything else while running backwards in high heels, a (probably) Middle-Eastern ethnic woman who is the coolest fashionista evah and has mad skillz with the computers, and an indeterminate tawny young man, supergenius.
I think I would have liked more depth and less coolness. Maybe I was just expecting something different than what these authors had decided to write.
June 12, 2012
Lured by names like Bear, Bull, Monette, and Shetterly I was eager to give Shadow Unit a look as soon as I heard about it. Which, apparently, was late in the game as there are a slew of these books already.
The conceit is an interesting one, in which the authors write "episodes" for a non-existent TV series. The "show' in question feels like a mash of Criminal Minds and shows with supernatural storylines, such as X-Files or Alphas.
My problem with the book is the fact I don't like Criminal Minds, and I didn't care for the choppy, episodic nature of the writing. Neither is truly a problem with the book, as they are both fully intended by the authors. It just wasn't my kind of writing.
At least it was a cheap look at the series, as it's all free online, and the Kindle version of the first book was a mere dollar. While it wasn't my cup of tea, I can't really complain about the cheap opportunity to explore a new series. Try it only if you like the elements mentioned above.
The conceit is an interesting one, in which the authors write "episodes" for a non-existent TV series. The "show' in question feels like a mash of Criminal Minds and shows with supernatural storylines, such as X-Files or Alphas.
My problem with the book is the fact I don't like Criminal Minds, and I didn't care for the choppy, episodic nature of the writing. Neither is truly a problem with the book, as they are both fully intended by the authors. It just wasn't my kind of writing.
At least it was a cheap look at the series, as it's all free online, and the Kindle version of the first book was a mere dollar. While it wasn't my cup of tea, I can't really complain about the cheap opportunity to explore a new series. Try it only if you like the elements mentioned above.
August 4, 2020
Interesting take on the FBI procedural. I hope no one compares Shadow Unit to X Files, because it's better than that. Good characterizations; I quickly came to like all the team. I've previously read work by all the authors, and they're in fine form here in this shared world. Very much looking forward to more in this series.
In case anyone is making up a casting list, I have Dennis Haysbert (24) as Reyes; Maggie Q (Nikita) as Nikki; Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) as Hafidha [I just kept picturing her Cosima character as Hafidha]; Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) as Chaz; Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wore Prada, Hunger Games, Burlesque) as Sol; Jada Pinkett Smith (Angel Has Fallen, Hawthorne) or Valerie Cruz (The Dresden Files) as Daphne; Chris Hemsworth (Thor) as Brady; and either Lili Taylor (6 Feet Under, The Impostors) or Laura Dern (Jurassic Park, Marriage Story) as Falkner.
In case anyone is making up a casting list, I have Dennis Haysbert (24) as Reyes; Maggie Q (Nikita) as Nikki; Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) as Hafidha [I just kept picturing her Cosima character as Hafidha]; Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) as Chaz; Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wore Prada, Hunger Games, Burlesque) as Sol; Jada Pinkett Smith (Angel Has Fallen, Hawthorne) or Valerie Cruz (The Dresden Files) as Daphne; Chris Hemsworth (Thor) as Brady; and either Lili Taylor (6 Feet Under, The Impostors) or Laura Dern (Jurassic Park, Marriage Story) as Falkner.
December 3, 2013
Shadow Unit is an online series of stories, called "episodes," gathered into seasons involving a team of FBI agents who investigate supernatural incidents. The episodes are freely available at http://www.shadowunit.org, but have also been made available as books for Kindle. This collection is the first four episodes of the first season (the season has eight episodes). Like many TV shows, these first episodes feel like a lot of establishment of character and background, but they are still entertaining and fun with an intriguing set-up. I expect to read more of them in the future.
partly-read
December 4, 2015Way too slow to get going for me, with lots of introduction of characters not doing much.
June 25, 2017
I bought this ebook for $0.99. You get what you pay for.
The concept is interesting and familiar: an FBI task force assigned to entities called "anomalies," a type of supernatural possession causing people to commit crimes, mostly murder.
Sarah Monette and Will Shetterly saved this from being a one-star experience. I love everything Sarah has written - it was what brought me to this book - and Will's writing was a pleasant surprise, though that might have been because the other parts of the story were so difficult to get through. Slogging through Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear's clumsy prose and lifeless, stereotypical characters, I was ready to abandon this book before I got to Sarah's section, which was itself enjoyable, but ultimately not worth the frustration.
I'm willing to concede that things probably got lost in translation when story was put into ebook form, but that doesn't motivate me to want to read any more of it. If it hadn't been so cheap, I would want my money back.
The concept is interesting and familiar: an FBI task force assigned to entities called "anomalies," a type of supernatural possession causing people to commit crimes, mostly murder.
Sarah Monette and Will Shetterly saved this from being a one-star experience. I love everything Sarah has written - it was what brought me to this book - and Will's writing was a pleasant surprise, though that might have been because the other parts of the story were so difficult to get through. Slogging through Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear's clumsy prose and lifeless, stereotypical characters, I was ready to abandon this book before I got to Sarah's section, which was itself enjoyable, but ultimately not worth the frustration.
I'm willing to concede that things probably got lost in translation when story was put into ebook form, but that doesn't motivate me to want to read any more of it. If it hadn't been so cheap, I would want my money back.
July 31, 2018
Way better than average "fan fiction"
This series has been described as "Criminal Minds" fan fiction, but while some of the roots do show, the writers go far above and beyond that descriptor. This first collection of "episodes" presents an intriguing cast of regular characters in the trail of Unsubs under the control of an (or are there many?) Anomalous being(s). Little is known r understood about the Anomalies beyond their causing a significant boost to the metabolism of their host, such that s/he needs to consume much greater quantities of food, and that their killings seem inhuman in various and ever changing ways. Hence, the "Shadow Unit", a sort of BAU for X-Files. I will definitely check out the next collection.
This series has been described as "Criminal Minds" fan fiction, but while some of the roots do show, the writers go far above and beyond that descriptor. This first collection of "episodes" presents an intriguing cast of regular characters in the trail of Unsubs under the control of an (or are there many?) Anomalous being(s). Little is known r understood about the Anomalies beyond their causing a significant boost to the metabolism of their host, such that s/he needs to consume much greater quantities of food, and that their killings seem inhuman in various and ever changing ways. Hence, the "Shadow Unit", a sort of BAU for X-Files. I will definitely check out the next collection.
April 14, 2020
This is a collaborative effort, a collection of authors writing fan fiction for a TV show that doesn't exist. It's sort of X-Files meets Hannibal, with the weird science, the profiling, the character reflection and exploration, and the violent imagery. I got involved with this back when it was a web page and some LiveJournal pages. (Yes, that long ago.) Now there are 15 volumes, and in the UK they're bundled. There are short stories and also vignettes only a page or three long that serve as character exploration. A lot of Shadow Unit is as much about the agents as it is about the bad guys they're trying to catch, which makes it different from most X-Filesy fiction that I've read which tend to use shorthand to tell us 'this character is like this archetype/character'.
October 3, 2024
Esta serie de noveletas y relatos largos nacieron de las mentes enfermas de un grupo de escritores de ciencia ficción y fantasía (más o menos reconocidos en el medio) que decidieron que querían hacer su propia serie "de televisión" de investigaciones paranormales, Así, Emma Bull (la autora de "Danza de huesos") y Elizabeth Bear (la autora de las series "White Space" y "Eternal Sky") juntaron a varios amigos escritores y se hicieron un sitio web donde se dedicaron a postear "capítulos" semanales de su serie televisiva (antes de que existiera Wattpad). Así nació "Shadow Unit", que eventualmente llegó a tener 11 libros publicados. Por cierto, el sitio web sigue en línea y esta es su URL: http://shadowunit.org/
December 6, 2023
Hard to classify. I started off thinking that several things pointed to it being written specifically as a spin-off of Criminal Minds, but with several characteristics changed up. As I got further into it, I found my mental image of the scenes played with Criminal Minds cast, & had a little difficulty picturing them as described. Well, except for the two Betas (Hafidha Gates and Chaz Villette are the world’s only betas). For those two it's easy: Hafidha, well picture a black version of Garcia. Chat Vilette, you don't even need changes, straight up copy of Spencer Reid.
The changes for dealing with the paranormal really were subtle, and believable at all sceptic levels.
The changes for dealing with the paranormal really were subtle, and believable at all sceptic levels.
July 23, 2018
I love the TV series "Criminal Minds", so of course I had to read this fanfic paranormal take on it. Fortunately it lived up to my expectations. It's well written, and while I did originally try to match all Shadow Unit members to their Criminal Minds counterparts (Chaz is obviously Spencer Reid!), they quickly developed enough of a personality of their own for the links to become less obvious, so I could appreciate the characters in their own rights.
While there are overreaching arcs, each episode can more or less stand on its own. This book takes you half-way through "season 1".
While there are overreaching arcs, each episode can more or less stand on its own. This book takes you half-way through "season 1".
January 8, 2020
An interesting beginning
Anomalies, humans twisted by some sort of long term infection that twists their brain chemistry and slowly gives them low level but dangerous super powers that are shaped by their desire for control, to fix the world of to obey rules imposed on them in childhood drama. Powers that let them commit crimes or murders... And the FBI agents that have to find them before they become serial killers.
The writing is excellent, but some of the stories are a bit graphic, so definitely adult fiction (and not in a sexual way).
Anomalies, humans twisted by some sort of long term infection that twists their brain chemistry and slowly gives them low level but dangerous super powers that are shaped by their desire for control, to fix the world of to obey rules imposed on them in childhood drama. Powers that let them commit crimes or murders... And the FBI agents that have to find them before they become serial killers.
The writing is excellent, but some of the stories are a bit graphic, so definitely adult fiction (and not in a sexual way).
July 14, 2018
I liked this book. It’s a cross between Criminal Minds and X-Files. At the beginning it was hard to remember who was who but by the end of the book it was easy to remember who was who. It will make the next book an easy read. Also the book was comprised of 4 stories. Since I was moving while reading this book, it allowed me to put it down for several days and pick it back up while not being in the middle of a story.
I will definitely read the next book.
I will definitely read the next book.
April 17, 2021
I took up this series just because it's written by a bunch of my very favorite authors, masters of fantasy. What it's not is Urban fantasy with elves, vampires or dragons. It's more syfy/X-files.
The anomalies that crop up in the human population with strange powers and the need to cause pain is this government agency's job to keep it secretly in check. If they could just figure out what causes it.
Absolute proof also, that even with a weak premise a good writer can keep my interest.
The anomalies that crop up in the human population with strange powers and the need to cause pain is this government agency's job to keep it secretly in check. If they could just figure out what causes it.
Absolute proof also, that even with a weak premise a good writer can keep my interest.
October 14, 2017
I enjoyed this collection of stories about a team of people who work within the FBI who work the unusual cases. Each story was written by a different member of the project behind the book. I couldn't help but compare it to Criminal Minds
February 1, 2018
I'm mostly reading through on their site, but I'll mark the books finished as I pass them. My only complaint is that sometimes they seem to solve the cases absurdly quickly. Since that's literally my only complaint, 5 stars.
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