15 replies to this topic

[orcrist86]

I've recently started re-reading the #Battletech books (mostly in chronological order), and I've been making snarky reviews on twitter. For those interested in the lore I've decided to cover some of the things in each book as I read them. I plan to do a bunch of these in the next few days. I've been reading them for a bout 2 months and am on book 26 now.

Things to know: there will probably be spoilers, but nothing you can't find on SARNA

Decision at Thunder Rift



The book itself is a solid start to the series and covers the basics of small unit Battletech. We see combined arms, and a whole ****-load of jargon and abbreviations that were, well, obtuse.

The story is mostly well written if not a bit tropey, but that's par for the Battletech course. You have the young protagonist who's parents are Disneyed in the first 50 pages. Then an escape, some character growth with a side of an expanding cast of characters. We get to meet a recurring bad guy who, aside from being Kuritan, dresses like ******* SATAN (can we get anymore blatant than that!). Said protagonists makes sacrifices, makes friends and succeeds on sheer whit and luck. The end is mostly happy.

Things of note in the book:

Grayson Death Carlyle - Aside from starting off as the rich {Richard Cameron} on the school lacrosse team who takes nothing seriously he eventually becomes an actual soldier and fine commando. He makes his mech do combat rolls and acrobatics, which is so anime it hurts. Over time this wacky **** is lessened, especially as the clans come around; but the ability to pilot a mech as if it were Japanese mecha seems to be a skill reserved for only the best warriors and persists through the series.

Lori Kalmar - shes afraid of fire and has bad habit of being a damsel in distress. She get some character development, but basically doesn't develop far from being underage nudity in a locust.

The red duke - Hes the big bad, also he dresses like some ******* on a hot sauce bottle.


The writing is fairly tentative, this was THE FIRST novel and it shows, but it lays the foundations for everything that came after.

Edited by orcrist86, 17 March 2016 - 07:26 PM.

[slide]

Actually the first Novel was "The Sword and The Dagger" by Ardath Mayar and details how Max Liao replaced Hans Davion with a doppelganger in the hopes of overthrowing the Davion monarchy.

There might be a #1 on the cover but it wasn't the first novel.

Edit

I'll correct my self here as Sarna shows that Thunder rift was published in 1986 and Sword and Dagger in 1987.
However I believe Chronologically Sword takes place first , hence my confusion.

Apologies

Edited by slide, 17 March 2016 - 07:47 PM.

[El Bandito]

And we get to experience rare Steiner vs. Kuritan border relationship, not just Davions bringing freedom to wherever they go.

[Bishop Steiner]

slide, on 17 March 2016 - 07:38 PM, said:

Actually the first Novel was "The Sword and The Dagger" by Ardath Mayar and details how Max Liao replaced Hans Davion with a doppelganger in the hopes of overthrowing the Davion monarchy.

There might be a #1 on the cover but it wasn't the first novel.

And boy can you tell how little idea even Weisman and crew really had of their own mythology. Not that it was a bad novel per se, but Battletech pulp fiction told in the tropes of your more traditional 1970s style scifi, well, it's almost a little trippy.

El Bandito, on 17 March 2016 - 07:40 PM, said:

And we get to experience rare Steiner vs. Kuritan border relationship, not just Davions bringing freedom to wherever they go.

Oh don't you have a civil war to go fight? I mean when doesn't Marik have a civil war going on?

[El Bandito]

Bishop Steiner, on 17 March 2016 - 07:43 PM, said:

Oh don't you have a civil war to go fight? I mean when doesn't Marik have a civil war going on?

Civil war is such ingrained every day part of Marik culture, we can have a civil war while kicking Steiner arses at the same time.

Meanwhile, don't you have some Davion spurs to lick, to save you from big bad Clans?

Edited by El Bandito, 17 March 2016 - 07:48 PM.

[orcrist86]

Bishop Steiner, on 17 March 2016 - 07:43 PM, said:

And boy can you tell how little idea even Weisman and crew really had of their own mythology. Not that it was a bad novel per se, but Battletech pulp fiction told in the tropes of your more traditional 1970s style scifi, well, it's almost a little trippy.


Oh don't you have a civil war to go fight? I mean when doesn't Marik have a civil war going on?

When its camachos caballeros, at least for now.... only 26 in.

[slide]

@ Bishop,

Please take note of my edit. Thx

[Bishop Steiner]

slide, on 17 March 2016 - 07:48 PM, said:

@ Bishop,

Please take note of my edit. Thx

Yup, I see it. I never commented on the chronology, just the writing style.

[dervishx5]

All you need to know about this book is conveniently placed fuel tanks.

[Bishop Steiner]

dervishx5, on 17 March 2016 - 08:02 PM, said:

All you need to know about this book is conveniently placed fuel tanks.

Must say, Mercenary Star is my favorite of the Gray Death novels, original or 3050s edition. Though I never thought much of the 3050 Gray Death storyline, period. (And always felt it a shame they never actually chronicled the Gray Death in their struggle with the Clans, first use of IS Power Armor, etc.

[Foxwalker]

I agree, the Gray Death books made me a total fan boy of the franchise. My hat is off to William Keith for some well drawn characters.

Stackpole's books for the series are also excellent. Also well drawn protagonists for those books centered around Victor Davion and Kai Allard-Lao. Why the first Hero was the Yen-lo-Wang.

It would be great if MWO could somehow leverage getting the series brought back into print. It would probably be good for the game to help build a stronger fan base.

[dervishx5]

The thing about the gray death books though is that you can read just one. They're pretty much all the same.

The Gray Death Legion is put into a position where they have to fight a guerrilla war with just a few forces, and then over time gain in strength and defeat the bad guy through some loophole in the plot (see: Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance).

That's not to say they're bad, but they do get repetitive.

[orcrist86]

dervishx5, on 17 March 2016 - 08:26 PM, said:

The thing about the gray death books though is that you can read just one. They're pretty much all the same.

The Gray Death Legion is put into a position where they have to fight a guerrilla war with just a few forces, and then over time gain in strength and defeat the bad guy through some loophole in the plot (see: Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance).

That's not to say they're bad, but they do get repetitive.

Your not wrong about that, but thats their hallmark. The Black thorns are like that too, except they take the diehard route to acquiring clan equipment.

[Foxwalker]

dervishx5, on 17 March 2016 - 08:26 PM, said:

The thing about the gray death books though is that you can read just one. They're pretty much all the same.

The Gray Death Legion is put into a position where they have to fight a guerrilla war with just a few forces, and then over time gain in strength and defeat the bad guy through some loophole in the plot (see: Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance).

That's not to say they're bad, but they do get repetitive.

Interesting take. Funny you should say that, as it pretty much describes the gameplay of MWO. Or you have also described every Football, Baseball and Basketball game you have ever watched. The are pretty much all the same except for a few details.

On the other hand, I don't agree with you. There are plot nuances in these books that do help advance the Universe History and timeline. For example in book 3 the Legion finds the Star League Cache, providing the basis for new tech we like so much in this game.

[dervishx5]

Foxwalker, on 17 March 2016 - 08:56 PM, said:

Interesting take. Funny you should say that, as it pretty much describes the gameplay of MWO. Or you have also described every Football, Baseball and Basketball game you have ever watched. The are pretty much all the same except for a few details.

On the other hand, I don't agree with you. There are plot nuances in these books that do help advance the Universe History and timeline. For example in book 3 the Legion finds the Star League Cache, providing the basis for new tech we like so much in this game.

Oh I know. They're all enjoyable books. They just share many similarities.

[orcrist86]

dervishx5, on 17 March 2016 - 08:57 PM, said:

Oh I know. They're all enjoyable books. They just share many similarities.

Its because that heroes journey thing is the ultimate trope for all literature.