47 replies to this topic

[JC Daxion]

Ok, i know there are a lot of books out there, so title says it all,

Whats your favorite and why?

[Sheogorath]

Probably Heir to the Dragon since it was well written and focused on Teddy and covered 3039, although there are many great btech books(still trying to finish them all).

[SneakyDaishi]

the very first ones for me were Thurston's books and I liked them... but considering this whole issue now, I'd say the best ones are the Stackpole's Blood of Kerensky Trilogy
yep, his books were quite cheesy if we talk about battlemech fights (was that him who mentioned recoil from laser guns?), but other than that the books offered some perspective, not that bad narrative, intrigues and politics

[CrescentHawk]

I have read all the novels and picking just one is hard. The warrior Trilogy and Blood of Kerensky Trilogy are both great trilogies and a good place to get into the novels if you are looking to do that. In the end though I might actually have to pick Highlander Gambit and Impetus of War as my favorites. They are pair of Books following Loren Jaffrey and Northwind Highlanders.

Edited by CrescentHawk, 06 November 2011 - 10:03 AM.

[Hawk819]

Blood Avatar by Ilsa J Bick. Damned good book on conspiracies in the Inner Sphere.

[Stonewall]

I like Stackpole the best as far as the authors go but my favorite book in the series has to got to Blaine Lee Pardoe's Measure of a Hero. Great story about a guy who just wanted to be left alone

PS, love the Pennsylvania 6-5000 reference in your location hawk

Edited by stonewall, 06 November 2011 - 10:09 AM.

[Lori Carlyle]

The Dying Time.

I cry at the start of that book, every time.. it's so well written and perfectly paced.

Stackpole is a great writer as well, he did most of the X-wing series for teh Star Wars universe.

Edited by Lori Carlyle, 06 November 2011 - 10:08 AM.

[CrescentHawk]

If you are a fan of Wolfs Dragoons another one of my favorite books is Wolf Pack. It covers the Wolf's Dragoons civil war. Thats right they are a mercenary unit that is big enough to have its own civil war.

[Mal]

I've read all the 'classic' ones.. didn't like the direction CapWiz took things with Dark age.. I'd have to say my favorite is still the original.. The Grey Death Legion books.. it really helped hook me on the BT universe.

[Jaroth Corbett]

Blood of Kerensky Trilogy, Jade Phoenix Trilogy, Bred for War & Malicious Intent

EDIT: How did I forget Wolves on the Border?

Edited by Jaroth Winson, 06 November 2011 - 02:45 PM.

[feor]

Grah, I can't remember the name of it, it was the first book I read about Archer Christiphori & the Avengers. It was then vs. Snord's Irregulars on Odessa. Just the end of the book was perfect.

No, wait, what am I saying "Test of Vengence" Jake Kabrinski. How could I forget the book where an elemental beats the stuffing out of an Atlas.

edit: occurs to me, how long it will take for a troll to say "Far Country"... and how long they'll survive after doing so.

Edited by feor, 06 November 2011 - 10:37 AM.

[CrescentHawk]

The book you are thinking of feor is Call of DUty by Blaine Lee Pardoe. Its a good one from the Fed Com civil war.

[Lori Carlyle]

feor, on 06 November 2011 - 10:35 AM, said:

Grah, I can't remember the name of it, it was the first book I read about Archer Christiphori & the Avengers. It was then vs. Snord's Irregulars on Odessa. Just the end of the book was perfect.

Call of Duty by Blaine Lee Pardoe

/Ninja'd

Edited by Lori Carlyle, 06 November 2011 - 10:57 AM.

[SnagaDance]

OOooooh, tough one. The Blood of Kerensky series got me hooked on Battletech (and were an excellent intro after MW2) and I like them but there are some that top them IMO.

Personally I love Wolves on the Border, plus all books from Victor Milan about Camacho's Caballeros. Well written and it takes guts to pick a strong female main character for books in a universe with lots of young male fans.

And I do not believe Stackpole used lasers with recoil in his stories. He's rather meticulous when writing stuff in a certain universe.

Probably came from Star Lord or something.......

[phelanjkell]

The 'Gray Death Legion' trilogy are my favorite books. Now that being said, I enjoy all of them and it is hard to pick one over another. My favorite character of course comes from the Kerensky trilogy, they are all great.

[chewie]

sorry, but the CC's were a dreadful series of books. I mean lets all launch ourselves onto a mech, and stab our knife into a mech cockpit view port, because even if it can bleed off kilojoules of energy from a laser or explosive tipped ac shots, but that knife just goes through like butter......

what a joke.

Maybe its just me, but the older ones were the better ones.
Warrior Trilogy.
Gray Death Trilogy
Wolves on the Border
Heir to the Dragon
Blood of Kerensky trilogy

Right there you have the core of the whole darn IS current history at the time the game hit the shop shelves.

Ok so it gets a little silly when Dan Allard uses his Valk to try and stop Yorinaga Kurita, but its good compared to the Cabolleros.

I'd rather have my eyes plucked out than read them again.

A close favourite for heroism i 'spose could then go to the Archer Christofori series

I must admit, the first novel, isn't that good either, but give Ardath her due, she wasnt really the sort of person to be quite what was needed for the whole historical/storyline thing, but at least Sword and the Dagger is something remotely ok.

[Gorthaur]

the Jade Phoenix Trilogy and the Grey Death Legion saga were my favorites. they had the most epic battles and were very well written. that end battle in jade phoenix on tukayyid where aiden is about to die and he is just shooting off one laser in a last stand was awesome.

and also, in Decision on Thunder Rift, i still and always will love that scene where grayson is fighting a locust with a machine gun turret from the back of a jeep. it was awesome.

as far as my least favorites, im not a big fan of thomas s gressman. his books are very boring and just seem to drag. also, i am not a big fan of micheal stackpole. he's not a bad writer but he focuses to much on these big political stories and i get tired of reading about his pets (victor davion/phelan kell).

i am more of a fan of the stories that put some unknown character on some small planet no one has heard of and go from there. like Ghost of Winter where the characters fight pirates disguised as steel viper pilots. i don't know why but that was always a really awesome book to me.

Edited by Gorthaur, 06 November 2011 - 11:24 AM.

[Belial]

My overall favorite is "Imminent Crisis." Very, very tense atmosphere and great fight scenes.

A close contender is the novel "Patriot's Stand" set in Dark Age. Say what you will about the WK era, I enjoyed those novels as much as the originals.

Gorthaur, on 06 November 2011 - 11:23 AM, said:

i am more of a fan of the stories that put some unknown character on some small planet no one has heard of and go from there. like Ghost of Winter where the characters fight pirates disguised as steel viper pilots. i don't know why but that was always a really awesome book to me.

Ghost of Winter was GREAT. I'm looking at my copy right now, relishing the memories.

Edited by Belial, 06 November 2011 - 11:35 AM.

[Colaessus]

The Jade Jade Phoenix Trilogy

I liked it because of the archetypes they used.

Edited by Amro_One, 06 November 2011 - 11:41 AM.

[Count Funkula]

I haven't read any of the remotely newer books, so I'll just go on record to support Gray Death Legion trilogy, Warrior trilogy, and Sword and the Dagger.