Whatever happened to Carl Sargent?

[trancejeremy]

I always thought Shadowrun took a turn for the worse when he stopped working/freelancing for FASA.

His stuff seemed to be very conspiracy ridden. I liked that. Many others didn't, but I liked what he did for Shadowrun. (Unfortunately, later people revised what he did, saying it didn't really happen. Which really annoyed me. That's why I don't really buy Shadowrun books anymore. But I digress...)

Also, back when he wrote for FASA, he was fairly active on GEnie. That was pretty cool, because they'd upload playtest text files of upcoming books and the fans there would point out errors and give suggestions.

 

[grodog]

OK, James Wallace wrote back. He said that:

I've had no contact with Carl since the mid-90s. As far as I know he [freaked-out] the weekend he was due to fly to Chicago to take over editing the Shadowrun line, and has refused to have any
contact with anyone from the games industry since then.

I hope that helps.

 

[Kevin O'Reilly]

Carl the same Carl Sargent who was a professor in Parapsychology at Cambridge. The ISBNs seem to indicate the same author

Carl was my Trevor Harley professor at Cambridge, and he in turn was mine. I recall a conversation about Carl writing for White Dwarf. Now interestingly, Trevor is also looking for information about Carl on his website.

I've emailed Trevor to see if he has heard anything

 

[Kevin O'Reilly]

Regarding what James Wallace said.

I wonder when Carl wrote Death's Dark Shadow as it was published in 2000

Answered: first published 1991

 

[DDK]

Wow, what a shame. I wonder if he knows about 3rd ed.?

Saying he freaked out might be a bit harsh. If he really was a professor at Cambridge, then I can see there being a pretty hefty conflict for him with his career choice.

Having said that, he has nothing to be ashamed of, IMO. Until someone posted the link that indicated his full author listing, I never realized how much he had written. That, and almost every D&D book he has written or contributed to, I like! That alone is rare, especially for 2nd edition which, for the most part, I hate.

Thief's Handbook
Tome of Magic
From the Ashes
Iuz the Evil
Ivid the Undying
The Marklands
Draconomicon

I wonder if the vehemences with which some vocal Greyhawk fans denounced his works as heretical had anything to do with his choice? Curse Jean Weasel...

 

[tarchon]

CS does (did) lean somewhat to the dark/doomed/conspiratorial side, and I can see why it might not have been universally appreciated for Greyhawk. I have in the past wondered with friends why he never worked with White Wolf.