Battletech Books

[Alexander]

I know there's one or two kind of similair threads around... but I wanted to ask a more direct question to those who have evidently gotten into Battletech rather more than I have in the past.

With MWLL rekindling my interest in Battletech - excavating and blowing the dust off of such titles as MechCommander and Mechwarrior 2 that brought me such joy in younger years, as well as more recent ones a la Mechwarrior 4: Mercs, I figured I'd branch out a little from just the computer games.

I already own the Classic Battletech "Introductory Box Set" - I thought it was pretty cool, but living in the middle of exactly "Ass-Nowhere" there is a shortage of interested opponents, so that project is on hold. What I'm more interested in now is the Battletech novels - and so I come to my question.

What would be, in your collective opinions, some of the best Battletech novels that you've read? I'm probably going to head into the nearest city soonish and check out a few bookstores, and I was looking for recommendations as to what sort of titles or authors to look for, if there are any particular series that stand out in the crowd or are generally a really good example of a good BT novel - assuming that they don't -all- just rock of course

[ARES]

Well classic BTech is about 60 novels. Not all of them are good but most are. I don't know their titles in English because I own them in German but start with the first trilogy. The first one is a little hard to read but it gets better the further you get into the universe. (After the tenth time someone trys to explain how a Jumpship is working you just skip the damm part :-) )

"Must have" novels are Book 4,5,6,7,10,11,12 and nearly all Stackpole and Coleman books because there two authors mainly drive the story and change things in a galactical extend.

[[MPB]OM_Sannyasi]

'blood of kerensky' trilogy was my favorite
'twighlight of the clans' (about 8ish books) came in a close second
forgot the trilogy name- legend of jade pheonix?? was my next in line

that ought to keep you busy for a good while

[(TLL)KitLightning]

I've followed Kat Wylder's writingth a little it be a worthy glance for ye eyes

[Aidan]

Here is a scan of the back cover of one of my fav BT novels.

[Ghiest]

Early stuff is the better stuff really imo, but I dislike the whole clan crap anyway

Warrior trilogy or the Gray Death Trilogy (no I don't count the later GDL books as part of the series).

[eezaak]

You can't go wrong with the Grey Death Legion novels. Mercenaries Star is one of the best IMHO.

[CHHš Rampage]

I started with the Blood of Kerensky Series which starts on the BT timeline at 3050 then I moved on to the Twilight of the Clans series and followed that with individual books in as close to sequential order as I could get  In total I have read 25 novels finishing with EndGame. There are a few holes in there that I am now trying to fill in. If you want to start reading BT then a good source is the used books on Amazon.com.

I find the 3050 to 3067 date range to be the best because there is so much going on. For example: Clan invasion, Victor Davion-Steiner, Com Star, Battle and truce at Tukayyid, Clan Wolf split, Natasha Kerensky, Phelan Kell, Clan Wolf, Jade Flacons, Davion-Steiner civil war and the list goes on. There are many story branches.

[nashan13]

you should first read the jade pheonix trilogy. they are a pretty good source of finding out the serieses ancient time line. read star lord for more info and then read the triligy about archer christofori because they are freakin awsome. the archer trilogy has no trilogy name but the indivisual books are called measure of a hero, call of duty, and operation audacity.

[~SJ~ Amarus]

OR you could go to sarna.net and look up the battletech book list and read them in cronological order...thats what I've been doing since about June, and I only just finished the Jade Phoenix trilogy...by the way the first trilogy you read if you go in chrono order is the The saga of the Gray death Legion...and the first book is Decision at Thunder Ridge


But on a different note my favorite trilogy is the Blood of Kerensky trilogy...so far that is I'm at about year 3053-3053 (reading Wolf Pack) so it could change but I doubt it.

[KiloEcho]

All the titles I'd recommend have been mentioned already (Warrior Trilogy, Twilight of the Clans, "Archer" Trilogy).

That being said, allow me to stress The Warrior Trilogy as others have done.  Having personally started out after the Clan Invasion in the storyline, the Warrior Trilogy was the anchor that connected all of Battletech and placed everything into clarity.  It clearly set the mood for the universe, how bad the decline of technology was, how and why MechWarriors were legendary/revered, and most importantly how vital the politics and power plays were to the lifeblood of the Inner Sphere.

Hell, the Warrior Trilogy ought to be mandatory for Battletech/Mechwarrior fans IMO.

[FLW_Dragon]

where did you go on sarna.net to find the books in chronological order?

[~SJ~ Amarus]

where did you go on sarna.net to find the books in chronological order?

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/List_of_BattleTech_novels

there you go...and ignore when they have something posted as a reprint.  Good luck

[(TLL) Heretic]

Cool, now I get to reorganise my bookshelf properly, thanks Amarus!

[~SJ~ Amarus]

Yup yup...I do my best, I have a whole row on my shelf dedicated to BT books that I have...and will have