84 replies to this topic

[FLAKPANZER]

I know a lot of people don't like him, but I always have. I'm rereading the Kerensky books right now, and really enjoying them.

I saw people hating on him in the recent "fusion reactor going critical" thread, but I always thought that was just a lot of fun...and if 30 meter walking death machines are feasible, I can suspend disbelief well enough on reactor's going critical...Scientifically impossible or no.

[Tadakuma]

To mind Stackpole is Battletech, more then any other author he actually made the Battletech universe come alive and he gave it a solid feeling that made the universe feel grounded.

I will fully agree that he is not a great author and his Battletech books are only good by the standards of contract writers, but if we're honest none of the Battletech authors are great writers. He was of three major contract authors I actually like and will read (the others being Nigel Findley who wrote some Shadowrun books and Sandy Mitchel who does the Commissaar Cain books).

OF the other Battletech authors I can thin of, I think Robert N Charette is vastly over rates, the Robert Thurston Jade Falcon Trilogy was terrible and I don't think Loren Coleman should be let near the battletech universe.

I know some people swear by Blaine Lee Pardoe but I can't recall if I have ever read his books and the people I know personally who have recommended him have terrible tastes in books so I don't have high hopes.

[Clay Pigeon]

I liked his star wars books.

[JeremyCrow]

I like him, but he's not my fave BT author. I think he did a good job moving the story forward but I prefer the Robert Thurston books. I'm no one to judge writing skills in a technical way (as english is not my first language), but the author I think did the best job is William Keith. The amount of detail he put on the first Gray Death Legion books is just awesome.
I heard that Michael Stackpole stopped writing BT books because of the new word limit that was imposed. I read somewhere that he didn't feel he could produce a good work with those restrictions. I actually respected him for that.

[Daemoro]

I've read ALMOST every Stackpole book in print. He is one of my favorite authors not only of Battletech but all around. One of my favorite stand alone novels of all time is Talion:Revenant.

I have autographed copies of the Warrior Trilogy. He signed Warrior:Riposte with "Hanse Davion throws a party!" which I found amusing

OK I may have a tiny man-crush.... DON'T JUDGE ME!!!

[Madddog]

Dagger6T6, on 26 June 2012 - 10:12 AM, said:

I enjoyed the books because I enjoy the lore and the workings of the BT universe... I don't critique writers and writing style because I've never written a book myself, nor am I a published author. I've read both trilogies twice... once way back in middle school and then again more recently.

I was also able to find the first printings of all six books in their 1980's cover glory at a local used bookstore about a year ago.

Very jealous, his cartomancy series was great. Also if nobody posted it yet his website is www.stormwolf.com

[HappyDumpling]

He's a decent writer but his were never really my favorite books in the series. While adding a lot to the universe I found they had to much politics and not enough action. And really, the robo-mayhem is why we're all here right?

[BFalcon]

Tadakuma, on 26 June 2012 - 10:23 AM, said:

Nigel Findley who wrote some Shadowrun books...

May he RIP... I heard he died while writing that Hawaii book ("House of the Rising Sun" was it?).

One of my pet hates is when you see authors picking up another authors' pet character. I read a short story where someone used Dirk and it's just WRONG... nobody ever manages to capture the same feel, no matter how well they know the character or the author's style. The only exception is where a book is finished in the event of an author's death, as that one was - it's pretty much owed to the author to bring it to completion so their fans can enjoy one last outing with their beloved characters.

[Bruticus Stickalot]

he was good at spreading the story so that it was covering all the inner sphere not just focusing on one unit or charachter. his starwars novels were so so

[Tirrana]

I think Stackpole is/was the only very good BT author. I only read the german translation, but his books are far better than the books other authors wrote.

[Madddog]

Daemoro, on 26 June 2012 - 10:27 AM, said:

I've read ALMOST every Stackpole book in print. He is one of my favorite authors not only of Battletech but all around. One of my favorite stand alone novels of all time is Talion:Revenant.

I have autographed copies of the Warrior Trilogy. He signed Warrior:Riposte with "Hanse Davion throws a party!" which I found amusing

OK I may have a tiny man-crush.... DON'T JUDGE ME!!!

Tallion was fantastic, if enough people buy the e-book version he said he'll publlish a sequal. Haven't checked the status lately but check the website i listed in the above post if you'd like to see another Talion book. stormwolf.com

Edited by Madddog, 26 June 2012 - 10:36 AM.

[BFalcon]

HappyDumpling, on 26 June 2012 - 10:31 AM, said:

He's a decent writer but his were never really my favorite books in the series. While adding a lot to the universe I found they had to much politics and not enough action. And really, the robo-mayhem is why we're all here right?

Nah... the politics was fun!!!

Max Liao's face when he realised that the crests on the plates were the planets that Hanse was planning to invade - priceless.

You gotta admit, declaring war AND informing your enemy of the systems you plan to invade ahead of time - the guy has style.

[Endarius]

I actually was familiar with Stackpole from Star Wars before battletech. It was the "Blood of Kerensky," trilogy that got me into Battletech novels, and eventually some tabletop. Up until that point I had only played MW3.

[Arctic Fox]

HappyDumpling, on 26 June 2012 - 10:31 AM, said:

He's a decent writer but his were never really my favorite books in the series. While adding a lot to the universe I found they had to much politics and not enough action. And really, the robo-mayhem is why we're all here right?

Nope, if BattleTech was just about big stompy robots I would probably not have liked it nearly as much.

[zirkonflex]

His work on the oldschool stuff was amazing, I loved how portrayed the characters (esp. clanners) in a way that you could imagine them incredibly clearly, also keeping them human, not overexagerated aliens. My favourite BT author alongside Thurston.

Although this may come off as heresy to some people here, his DA novel Ghostwar was my first, and is my favourite BT novel of all time (It was my first and final DA novel though).
It really doesn't have anything to do with BT at all, there is barely some minor fights, but the story is just plain cool.
The main character is just a legend of a guy and you get to follow him on a very interesting story, which evolves from incredibly small scale to super-overkill. It may not be an oldschool BT novel, but it's a damn good (though demanding) read just by itself. It just all begins and ends in the same novel, something that's very rare in the BT universe .

Edited by zirkonflex, 26 June 2012 - 10:44 AM.

[Darq]

Antagonist, on 26 June 2012 - 09:11 AM, said:

The one thing that really annoyed me about him was the fact he introduced fusion reactors going critical.

Other than that, he was an okay author. I have to admit, though, most of his books I read back then had been translated into German. I might re-read their English versions at some point if the mood strikes me and I can free up the time.

Don't think you can blame him for that - that is FASA from the original Battletech (The fact they are Fusion reactors and the fact they blow up the Mech when breached).

Rixx, on 26 June 2012 - 09:14 AM, said:

Love Stackpole. First books I read were the Warrior trilogy, followed by the Kerensky trilogy...so 6 books in a row by him. He's not a groundbreaking author, but he's good. You can connect with the characters, and the action is well detailed. He doesn't do the off the wall crazy stuff like some other BT writers (magic powers and acrobatic mechs).

I think Stackpole gets a bad name for 3 reasons.

A. Some of the writers of BT novels do some really odd stuff, and Stackpole is arguably the most famous BT writer, so he gets blamed for stuff he had no part of.

B. He's involved with the introduction of the clans. The pre-clan BT fans tended to hate the clans. They were vested in the Inner Sphere politics and saw the Clans as a really shallow attempt to revitalize the BT universe.

C. He's involved with the introduction of the Dark Age series. The Dark Age timeline, mechs, books, and game are not as good overall as the pre-dark age stuff, but they are still solid and have kept the universe alive and growing. Still though, the purists and long term fans saw the DA stuff as an abomination...and Stackpoles name was on the first novel.

Like Stackpole, but yes... we hates the nasty little clansesess...

[Khushrenada]

he was and still is my favourite battletech writer.
while he tends to build up the action slowly, the climax at the end of his books were always epic. his "insights" in the political schemes were really interesting and added greatly to the atmosphere.

only thing i never could really enjoy were the chapters about those com star meetings. they had some interesting informations in it, but i always had to "force" myself through them
one thing i can`t forgive is what he did to melissa steiner-davion (won`t spoiler too much for those that might be reading the story right now, but those who read it know what i mean...) but it was an awesome story line non-the-less

his first dark age book had not that much mech action in it, but the story line was great again. maybe the reason i stuck with it...

[SideSt3p]

I've always liked his books.

Haters gonna hate!

[Murphy7]

I need an option where I can praise some of his books but not the man himself. I met him at a convention in 1993 and I found him to be behaving like a drunken *** on two separate days, generally carrying on in as arrogant and dismissive a manner as possible.

That convention has colored my perceptions of him a bit ever since, but his books are generally good, with a few that are amongst my favorite in their respective universes. For my money, I think that "I,Jedi" is the best of his novels, balancing characterization, character development, and plot. Ymmv.

To hear him tell it, Stackpole claims to have been a primary creative force behind the development of the clans for both the game system and the fiction.

[daimlerdude]

I think Michael Stackpole is one of the best writers in the si fi world. Example: "Get your hand off her." I glanced past Blondie at Red. "You don't want to be making an idle threat in here." Red had three choices. She could talk and just delay making a choice between the other two. She could back down and they would leave. Or, like every other woman who dyed her hair Natasha Kerensky-red and thought she was tough, she could act. She picked number three, which did have the desired effect of making me take my hand off Blondie's arm. As Red took a step forward, planted her left foot and snapped her right leg around in a kick- rather quickly , too , I'll give her that- I, too, stepped forward. I caught her thigh in my ribs and locked my left arm down on it. I sank my fingers stiffly into her hamstring, which added to her snarl of frustration.
Then I crashed my right fist down into her face. Twice. I think it was the second punch that broke her nose. I KNOW it was the first that broke her jaw. Then I pitched her off into a table , from which she rebounded heavily and hit the floor hard but limp. I turned to look at Blondie. Color had drained from her face, or had been washed from it with the tears. " Oh my God." .........Nobody else writes like this he is great! excerpt from Ghost War pub dec 2002 by Roc.