23 replies to this topic

[Exphio]

I recently found out about Mechwarrior online and it got me interested in the lore, which I know next to none of.

As someone who hasn't played the boardgame and pretty much knows nothing about the lore (besides from the Mechassault games, which i wouldn't think they count simply because the name difference.) could I read the "Mechwarrior: Dark Age" novels with no trouble understanding whats happening?

Could I start with the first dark age novels, or is there some major story-arc connecting the battletech and mechwarrior novels together? As a final question, I see that on amazon, some of the books have quite low ratings, could these be skipped without any story loss, or is each book important to the overall plot.

Edited by Exphio, 16 November 2013 - 09:51 PM.

[Vanguard319]

I liked "Decision at Thunder Rift", I would also recommend the Jade Phoenix trilogy, and the twilight of the clans series

[Kain]

The books are worth reading, and you should try to read them in chronological order.

Some Memorable books/series to get you started:

- Saga of the Gray Death Legion (3 books)
- The Warrior Trilogy
- Wolves on the border
- Blood of Kerensky Trilogy (*MUST READ*)

Edited by Kain, 17 November 2013 - 10:19 AM.

[SmithMPBT]

Novels are amazing and I hear the audio versions are even better. Stay away from "Far Country".

[Deux]

Novels are great but don't get hung up on novel lore vs mwo

[Elyam]

Kain's list. Definitely worth reading. Most wargamers recommend William Keith's Gray Death Legion trilogy, but for me, Stackpole's Warrior trilogy is prime, backed by Charette's Wolves on the Border and to a lesser extent, Heir to the Dragon; then the coming of the Clans detailed in Stackpole's Blood of Kerensky trilogy and to a lesser extent, Thurston's Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy (though that one is often the favorite of Clan players).

Back in those old days, playing during the times around the 4th Succession War were somewhat like being in a constant backdrop. There were a universe of missions to devise. But living and playing through the coming of the Clans was special - mysterious - spooky - and dangerous. While I loved playing in the 3020s, 3049 was a real fulfillment of tension, followed by even greater anxiety. The books always were a major part of the experience, both the novels and all the tech readouts.

Edited by Elyam, 25 November 2013 - 03:12 PM.

[Haakon Valravn]

The Jade Phoenix trilogy is better than the Blood of Kerensky trilogy.

I know that of the two, the latter is basically the introduction of the Clans, but… I tried reading it last year. Couldn't take that much of it and had to set it down. But I did read the Jade Phoenix trilogy again and it was still good.

[Diezel23]

There are about 61 books before Dark Ages.
Here is the best order, keep in mind some happen at the same time.
http://www.stargazer..._novel_list.htm

Here you can get all but 2 i believe for free as epubs:
[redacted link]

I own both that are not there. you can find them online for cheap usually

if you have to, type in each title for a better search.

Edited by miSs, 25 November 2013 - 06:42 PM.
copyrighted material

[Pht]

Diezel23, on 25 November 2013 - 04:13 PM, said:

Here you can get all but 2 i believe for free as epubs:

Those are NOT out of copywrite/patent - they are not public domain. It takes seventy-five (75) years before a book comes out from under protection. Those would be illcit/warez copies.

The novels aren't that expensive or hard to find to order online - people should really just stop posting up ways to steal them.

----

I'll add my 2c for picking up the warrior trilogy, and if you like those, than picking up the blood of kerensky trilogy.

http://www.bookfinder.com/ will help you to find copies of them, if local used bookstores don't have them; just go to the sarna wiki link posted above and use those ISBN numbers in bookfinder.

Edited by Pht, 25 November 2013 - 06:24 PM.

[Grey Black]

The books are what I like to call "deliciously bad pulp science fiction," but that just makes them all the better to me. They're not going to rock your world or blow your mind like Philip K. {Richard Cameron} or Isaac Asimov, but they are enjoyable and, for pulp sci fi, are actually pretty hard on Moh's scale of sci fi hardness (an enjoyable 3 in my estimation). A fun romp, but don't expect something mind blowing. I suggest Children of Kerensky trilogy to start or Warrior trilogy, as those really are the high points for me.

[Masterzinja]

If you're already familiar with the original series, then I'd suggest that the Dark Age books are a little hard to get excited about. Unless you're willing to go to game reference books you won't know what's going on with the Word of Blake Jihad and a lot of stuff happens that's hard to understand like everyone ceding worlds to the Republic of the Sphere, and then destroying 90% of the mechs in existence. Honestly it's a really bad reboot IMO, with an even bigger propensity toward superheroes than the original books, but with an even poorer showing from the so called villains. I suspect Stackpole took a large role in directing the rebooted universe, and anyone familiar with his work knows how immature his writing can be.

Edited by Masterzinja, 26 November 2013 - 07:37 AM.

[Kali Rinpoche]

They absolutely are worth reading. Start with the Grey Death Trilogy and the Wolf's Dragoon books. The old novels are hard to find and many are out of print. May have to look for PDF versions. BT books provide an incredibly rich universe to explore. Once you get through as many old novels as you can, there are the Dark Age novels that I don't care for to explore also. (Personal opinion is BT completely dropped the ball with the Jihad and Dark Ages, but that is just me. I've read almost all of the original novels before FASA sold the franchise and they are dear to me. They are the reason I played TT game and all the ensuing video games. As other's have posted Sarna.net is the mecca of BT resources.

[Ghengis Cohen]

Grey Black, on 26 November 2013 - 01:44 AM, said:

The books are what I like to call "deliciously bad pulp science fiction," but that just makes them all the better to me. They're not going to rock your world or blow your mind like Philip K. {Richard Cameron} or Isaac Asimov, but they are enjoyable and, for pulp sci fi, are actually pretty hard on Moh's scale of sci fi hardness (an enjoyable 3 in my estimation). A fun romp, but don't expect something mind blowing. I suggest Children of Kerensky trilogy to start or Warrior trilogy, as those really are the high points for me.

Agreed. Really bad writing, Stackpole being the most pretentious. However, there are some nice moments here and there. And reading a few of the books can really add to the mech warrior immersion factor.

By the way, I have about 40 novels, most purchased on ebay, costing a total of about 50 bucks w/shipping. You can often find small collections of 10 to 20 books for sale on the cheap.

Best,

Edited by Kevin Storm, 15 December 2013 - 06:40 AM.

[Nakamura Takeshi]

I've read a few of the novels, enjoyed them. I'd like to add: Main Event may not have been the best novel, but I enjoyed it. Playing MW4 reminded me a bit of the novel and vice versa. I even wrote a script and got through 70 pages based on Solaris but sadly my computer crashed and it was lost.

Anyways I would highly recommend the Novels, if you can get "Shrapnel" I also enjoyed that for the short stories.

[Skylarr]

I feel the following books will give you a good feel of the BattleTech Universe.

I would start with the Warrior Trilogy by Michael A. Stackpole, is about the events before and during the Fourth Succession War( 3028 to 3030). The main acts are the wedding of Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner, the experiences of Justin Xiang on Solaris VII and as spy on Sian, the vendetta between Morgan Kell and Yorinaga Kurita, the machinations of Michael Hasek-Davion and of subversive elements inside the Steiner nobility, ComStar's secret manipulations and of course the most important battles of the war.

• Warrior: En Garde (August 1988) 3026
  
• Warrior: Riposte (October 1988) 3028
  
• Warrior: Coupé (April 1989) 3029

Heir to the Dragon, by Robert N. Charrette, follows Theodore Kurita for twenty-two years as he learns to survive and thrive in the subtle and deadly courts of the Draconis Combine. The novel is also the only narrative of the War of 3039.


The Saga of the Gray Death Legion is a series of books about the famed Gray Death Legion mercenary unit. Most of the novels are by William H. Keith, Jr., with additional writing by Andrew Keith and Thomas S. Gressman. (This is the Mercenary unit that found the Helm Memory core that brought back Star League Tech right as the Clans hit.)

• Decision at Thunder Rift by William H. Keith, Jr. (June 1986) 3024
  
• Mercenary's Star by William H. Keith, Jr. (June 1987)
  
• The Price of Glory by William H. Keith, Jr. (October 1987) 3028 (Helm Memory Core was found in this book)
  
• Blood of Heroes by Andrew Keith (July 1993) 3056 -From this book on the novels cover the unit after Clan Invasion-
  
• Tactics of Duty by William H. Keith, Jr. (August 1995)
  
• Operation Excalibur by William H. Keith, Jr. (August 1998)
  
• The Dying Time by Thomas S. Gressman (January 2002)

The Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy, by Robert Thurston, is the story of the fall and redemption of Aidan Pryde, hero of Clan Jade Falcon.

• Way of the Clans (August 1991) (This happens in Clan space before the Clan Invasion)
  
• Bloodname (October 1991) (This happens in Clan space before the Clan Invasion)
  
• Falcon Guard (December 1991) (This is about Aiden Pryde during The Invasion including the Battle of Tukayyid)

Blood of Kerensky is a trilogy by Michael A. Stackpole about the Clan Invasion (3049 - 3052)

• Lethal Heritage (September 1989)
  
• Blood Legacy (December 1990)
  
• Lost Destiny (April 1991)

There are many other fine novels you can read. Here is a complete list of BattleTech Novels.


v This is a list that I made over a year ago and I post when someone asks for a recommendation.

[Star Captain Kristen Redmond]

The PDF e-books that they have (that you can get HERE http://www.sarna.net...s/docs/stories/) are somewhat up to date with the modern mechs you see today in MWO instead of those old and dusty tin cans without the beloved chicken walkers running around and being annoying...

[Nathan Foxbane]

SmithMPBT, on 25 November 2013 - 02:28 PM, said:

... Stay away from "Far Country".

On its own Far Country is actually good. It just feels awkward when placed in context to the rest of the Battletech universe.

[Pht]

Nathan Foxbane, on 29 November 2013 - 04:41 PM, said:

On its own Far Country is actually good. It just feels awkward when placed in context to the rest of the Battletech universe.

Heresy!

[Alaskan Nobody]

Pht, on 03 December 2013 - 05:33 PM, said:

Heresy!

PANTSesy!

[Tyrnea Smurf]

I recently found my missing 3 boxes of books from a move a few years back. In one of them was my battletech novel collection (I had nearly all of them except one of the very first (The one about the attempt to use a double of Hanse Davion to control the Fed uns). I haven't read any of them in 7 to 10 years at least (books like far country will be closer to 15+ years) So I'm forgetful overall on the general qualities of the BattleTech novels. I think i'll put the 'Far Country's fine as a stand alone sci-fi novel' thinking to the test....

If you don't hear from me in a month, dear God send help, the birds will be holding me hostage