Battletech Novels

Hello all, just a little random thoughts for your troubles this day.

Normally I'm not one to read books licensed from games, because they generally go one of two ways they are very good or very bad and there don't seem to be any inbetween, I do read certain writers of said fiction, R.A. Salvatore, Dan Abnett, and William King pretty much being it.

But I had remembered that I had read the Legend of the Jade Phoenix many years ago, I think I was ten or twelve the last time I read it, which was more than half a lifetime ago, and I found a copy of it in the library, which in itself is fairly unusual, the library up my way generally doesn't have the greatest fantasy and sci-fi collection which is sad really, because there is a whole effing section devoted to "Celebrity" biographies, I'm not going to get into the sad state of reading habits right now, that can be kept for a more drunk and wacky mood.

Now why did I enjoy this because I enjoy the stories where the hero, in this Aiden Pryde, go from failure to redemption in the space of the series, this being a trilogy.

 Pryde is his bloodname, being Trueborn of the Sibko, the Clans of the Battletech Universe's genetically created warrior sibling company where those who are created to be warriors grow up, it's a bit fucked I know.

When I first read this I was a player of Battletech but I had never actually learned anything about the Clans, the guys I played with were very much purists of the game, though they were like 20 or more years older than me (I played at the Wargaming club I am still a member of) and never had anything to do with the clans, I think they may have had a Tech readout or two with some clanner stuff in them but just for reference.

So I was intriqued, my only knowledge of the Clans came from the Animated series, which according to the canon of the game was lets say wrong. So, I found every piece of this particular series of books very interesting to read in the first place, adding knowledge that I did not have of battles and such in the series that I had never even heard of up until that point (and pretty much made it my mission to find out more, which I have and far too much information for one human brain to contain it's all in the books).

Anyway Aiden and his Sibko start their warrior training having been whittled down from their ninety members after their birth to a much smaller number when they begin weeior trainign, because only the strong survive, which eventaully through deaths or washouts becomes three, along with Marthe, who would one day become Khan of their Clan (the Jade Falcon, funny I hadn't mentioned that yet), they enter their trail of position which he loses because to Marthe who stabs him in the back when he makes it a free-for-all with veyr unClanlike tactics, which would become a watchword for Aiden himself.

He is demoted to Astech and escapes before his training commander can engineer a second Trail of Postion, only meant to get one, he is brought back by his Sibko's Falconer, or trainging officer, Joanna who would be part of his life up until the end. During this time Aiden fathers a child, Dianna, with his Sibkin, Peri, yes I know it's a bit ick. Ter Roshak has a Freeborn, that would be someone with a momma and a Poppa, training group killed so Aiden can take his place. He does and with the help of Horse, a Freeborn warrior who becomes his constant companion on his journey through the universe of Battletech.

He eventually gets to fight for a Bloodname, with the help of Marthe, Horse and Joanna, wins it, in the book Bloodname, having earned his place in the Grand Mellee, he eventually wins his bloodname and goes on in Falcon Guard to command a disgraced cluster of Clan warriors (Named the Falcon Guards) but eventually because of him and his unClanlike tactics the Guards become a unit of choice for Clan Trueborn, nicknamed Pryde's Pride after him.

I Highly recommend this trilogy to anyone, if you like big robots that kick the shit out of each other, and if you've played any of the previous computer games based in the universe you'll get a kick out of it, don't need to know anything about the games, because it's all explained in the back.
 
 So, now because I'm clambering to find as many of the novels as I can get my hands on, got an eye on the seven books of the Saga of the Grey Death Legion it would be nice if you could get them in an omnibus Catalyst Game Labs should do that.