25 replies to this topic

[Mordmorticus]

hi there, my first thread (nervous wringing of hands) so i'll try to be as concise as possible,

mechwarrior was the first game i can remember playing (which specific game it was i cant remember, i must have been around 6.) because of this it has always had a bit of a soft spot in my heart but i never bothered looking into it properly. now my main question is this....

can anyone direct me to some books that are both great reads and helpful in learning all about the houses, wars and rivalries that take place?

needless to say i'm excited about this game, but i can only imagine what the added in depth knowledge of which house slandered who and such.... would add to the experience of going to war with them.

cheers in advance!

oh and i put this in davion because from what i've read so far they sound like the team for me

thanks

[Slickdaddy]

The best starting points would probably be either Warrior: En Garde or Decision at Thunder Rift.

[Stormwolf]

There's tons of info in the various novels and sourcebooks.

Would you rather read a novel or a sourcebook? Or are both fine?

We also have a wiki: http://www.sarna.net/ , but it's a bit hit 'n' miss since not all the info is that accurate.

Edited by Stormwolf, 06 June 2012 - 11:03 AM.

[Mordmorticus]

novels would be preferable i'll have a look at source books as well, and i'll defiantly take a look at the warrior trilogy, thanks

[Aidan Pryde]

Try the gray death legion trilogie. My first battletech books, very nice!

[Adridos]

Free TRO's on Sarna should get you on factions and their histoy, here's the link (there are no pictures, though): http://www.sarna.net...ts/house_books/

[As8s]

Got to either amazon.com or half price books, usually can get copies of the novel's for 3-4 bucks. I picked up a lot at amazon for a penny plus shipping.

[hermione]

the warrior engarde trilogy is good source for 3025 info, there is lots of battle tech source books, i would image a used book seller may have some. decision at tunder rift is a grey death series, if i remember correctly there was also a series on the wolf dragoons, and there was a source book for both , though they are probably rare to find

[Feircus Blacktooth]

Warrior:engarde series. It gives a good setup for the politics and characters that lead to the Warrior trilogy. Also, Wolves on the Border and Heir to the Dragon are great novels if you can find them.

[AttackGoose]

What worked for me ,in regards to the novels, was to purchase a Kobo touch and buy them all, and using this site http://www.stargazer..._novel_list.htm to make sure I read them all in chronological order.

[Fergle Fergleson]

Heir to the Dragon was my real entry into the world of Btech's storyline and politics. But I think I'd start with Decision at Thunder Rift - it's a great entry-point. You might also want to catch up on the "Blood of Kerensky" triology (Lethal Heritage, Blood Legacy and Lost Destiny), especially as it might be relevant to players of MWO in the not-too-distant future.

So, in order:
Decision at Thunder Rift
Heir to the Dragon
Blood of Kerensky vol 1,2 and 3.

Everything else is gravy.

[Shedu]

The Stackpole books are the most important ones since they advanced the over all story the most.

The Warrior series covers the Fourth War, and then you can jump forward to the Blood of Kerensky trilogy which covers the "Immediate Future" in the games timeline.

[Sigmund Sandoval]

Novels are great for feel and detailed understanding of certain events, but for a more broad understanding, I would recommend that you read the old House books. The House Davion book is available for free online and the others can be found on bit torrent. They give you a pretty broad indoctrination to most of the history up to the 4th succession war, but it really only comes together when all the pieces are visible or in other words don't just read one or two and think you are done. This will give you a pretty darn good grasp of old terra, the star league and the successor houses, major events and a good understanding of the main rivalries that shape the inner sphere.

[Qin]

Adridos, on 06 June 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

Free TRO's on Sarna should get you on factions and their histoy, here's the link (there are no pictures, though): http://www.sarna.net...ts/house_books/

Ill second that. The old House books are some of the best source material on the 5 houses around. They go from +/- 2000 till 3025.

There are updated versions of them, that cover more history past 3025, still on sale, in pdf or hardcopy form. They are also great but lack a bit the feel and style of the older ones.

[ltmyndonos]

Besides the Warrior Trilogy, the blood of Kerensky set was also good. But I am a huge Michael Stackepole fan, so you might want to get someone else's opinion.

[DocBach]

check out the novel Lethal Heritage and Era Report: 3052 - they go over the time frame that MWO Mercs is set in.

[Kid Weeb]

Besides the novels mentioned above, the TRO's (Technical Readouts) of 3025, 3039 and 3050 will give you a good idea of the Mechs available to the BattleTech / MechWarrior universe at this time. The Mechs that have been introduced so far for MWO are Commando, Jenner, Raven, Cicada, Centurion, Hunchback, Dragon, Catapult, Cataphract, Awesome, Stalker and Atlas. Knowledge is power so an understanding of what you are going to face is key. Good hunting!

[Rion Raios]

I will add my vote to your getting the Warrior Trilogy. Then, read the clan invasion books, since the MWO seems to fall into that timeframe.

If you can find the mechwarrior RPG sourcebooks, they're good info sources, too

[chewie]

If you after novels to help then yeah, Warrior Trilogy (En Garde, Riposte, Coupe. Davion based.), Gray Death Trilogy (Decision at Thunder Rift, Mercenary Star, Price of Glory. Steiner Based.), Heir to The Dragon + Wolves on the border (to give you some history on house Kurita and their hatred for Wolf's Dragoons) they are all you really need to bring you up to date (eg within a few years of now in the proposed timeline) which then kicks off nicely with the Blood of Kerensky trilogy for next year (eg, clans) if and when they actually get brought into the game.

Problem is finding them, if not, as pointed out, there's Sarna, but as it has no clear directory, finding what you want without a decent start point, can be a pain.


If not, there's plenty of us here who will help where we can with knowledge requests

GL GH and welcome to the world of Battletech.

Edited by chewie, 09 June 2012 - 09:07 AM.

[alexkerensky]

Just an overall tip for getting into the literature of battletech: make sure you keep an eye on the year when things are happening, 3025 is a lot different than 3039, and as we get into playing MWO, 3049 or whenever is different enough too. Thankfully, the novels start out each chapter with the information, so it's not that difficult to do. Still, time is important to keep track of, not only for different technologies but also for different characters and units.

As a certain unnamed younger sibling of mine messed time flows up, i know it can happen, but just keep an eye out.

Oh, and have fun reading the stories and TROs. They are rather interesting if you read them as stories, and not just info-gathering.