To be fair, The Sword and the Dagger was written with no universe background to work with. The Author had only a few notes to create the story from. Please keep that in mind.
Yep, Ardath Mayhar had to get a little help from William Keith in writing the combat scenes that didn't involve Mechs. Turns out FASA hadn't developed the hand weapons in the game yet.
To be honest, as someone who like to start "from the beginning," I've been using SARNA's "list of Battletech products" page to go through the sourcebooks in chronological release order. Not so much as to see the universe's timeline order, but more to see how the series evolved in as close a way as the original fans did. As for the novels, I plan to do the same as I get them. But I'll use this video as a guide as well.
I've been doing the same with the sourcebooks. It's been a multiyear project but I've now read everything that released in the 80s or is set between 3025-3049. It's really interesting to see the world grow outside of the novels. There is so much storytelling there that you miss now that so much of it is out of print or unavailable.
Just read whatever you can get whenever you can get it. My first "in" was the data archives in MechWarrior 2, which would have been hundreds of pages if printed out on paper. I was amazed at how much narrative thought went into a stompy-robot game. It took a few hours to take it all in. Of course, I put HUNDREDS of hours into that game, and was hooked! Not much later I realised my local library had some of the novels, not sure how I first stumbled on those
No problem. I'm hopeful that this inspires people who might have been sitting on the fence to pick up the books, because they're really enjoyable (for the most part). I also wanted to make sure those folk didn't make the same mistake I did and got the most out of Wolves (which is my favourite).
So glad to see this universe being liked again. I bought and read most of these books when they first came out and I absolutely loved the Clans and I loved the story of Phelan Kell. We are clan Wolf, Children of Kerensky.
Great video, thank you for this. In the long years that I've played Battletech I've always had a problem recommending the novels and in what order. I have in the past made the mistake of recommending the Warrior trilogy first and had so many potential players bounce directly off of Battletech and never look back. Great video and very well done. I can see this being an amazing resource for people to point too for book recommendations to start for the beginning of Battletech. As an aside, thank for your bringing up Sword and Dagger and correctly putting it in the print order that it was. The story behind how that book was created is a doozy and the confusion and problems behind it's conception is an intriguing tale. I've read it a few times and every single time, barring direct references to people and items in the Battletech IP the story itself pulls me out of the very setting it's trying to write in.
Sword & Dagger is the only one I've read twice (I'm weirdly intrigued by it). I've always said it's a book of three parts; good, mediocre and bad. The first act is about the battle for Stein's Folly and you think the novel is going to be a campaign book or something and you get all excited for some pulpy action nonsense. Then at one third distance Sortek passes out in the swamp and it goes off on a bizarre tangent. Everything you thought it was going to be about gets wrapped up off screen and replaced with Operation Doppelganger, which is far less interesting. It treads water for a while on Tharkad and then the third act begins when Ardan makes his way back to the FedSuns. That's when the book really unravels. Everything you're reading makes you go "Why?" or "What has this got to do with BattleTech?" The final two chapters are the coup de grace when it literally becomes a list of bullet points. It's like one sentence paragraphs, feels like notes that they ran out of time to write into an actual story. It's bizarre. Absolutely awful. Probably the second worst book I've ever read the whole way through, though it did lead me to discover that bad books (like bad movies) can be as much fun to read as good ones. One day I'll do a video on Stein's Folly and content myself that no-one else ever needs to suffer through that sorry excuse for a novel again.
I incidentally was reading Decision at Thunder Rift, but had stopped a few months ago as I got busy with IRL stuff. Ended up finding it and finishing it within 2 days after "Reading" it on and off for a year. Already working on reading mercenary's star.
May I suggest Rock and a Hard Place. It released just last year and takes place immediately after Price of Glory as a new fourth book. They have more too but those are 20-30 years later.
I've been reading or listening to a lot of novels & novellas and a ridiculous amount of lore vids this year as I just got into playing Classic. While I started with the Grey Death series I have also listened to many of the unabridged Audible books. I keep running into paragraphs in a book or a character being introduced & recall the character or story often being paraphrased or told from a different perspective in a video which has been fun as I fill in the pieces of the timeline like a massive BT jigsaw puzzle. I just finished the Warrior trilogy & am reading or rather having an "AI" read Heir to the Dragon which has been good. I remember watching this video when I was just getting started & wish I woukd have referenced it again when I started looking at which novel or series after the GDL one. Regardless thanks for a helpful video & I look forward to seeing your next BT lore vid.
Just finished Ideal War If You already know alot about this kinda stuff and Good bit of. Battletech And-or just enjoy a really Good book Cannot recommend enough It just Vibe’s
Thank you very much for this video. I started with and finished the Grey Death Legion trilogy and Ive been racking my brain on how to proceed from here.
Starsiege the PC game came with an artbook which was like a TRO with all the lore of Earthsiege saga. If only Battletech could make something like that one day...
Interesting that they get better. I might have to try some of the later books you mention. I tried the Grey Death Legion saga and the Jade Phoenix trilogy back in the day, but even as a teenager they were a bit too "Young Adult" for me. Like the stompy robot version of the Dragonlance novels. I also wasn't a fan of The Sword and The Dagger. One of the few novels I've started and put down without completing. I love the TT and video games though. I preferred the bare bones narrative of The Crescent Hawk's Inception to the books.
Yeah, the GDL have their moments but you have to know what you're in for. I don't blame you for skipping Sword & Dagger. Warrior Trilogy also had that "young adult" feel at times but by and large the scope makes up for those shortcomings. There are two scenes in particular (the trial and the wedding) where I was almost jumping out of my seat I was so swept up in it. Then Wolves came around and man, I can't express how good it was. I've had long conversations with folk I know about some of the character complexities in that novel (all while deftly skirting around the fact it comes from a series called BattleTech, lol). Tetsuhara is probably my favourite character in the series.
It's over 20 years, when I was at university, that I started and red some books (somewhere between 20 and 30 I guess), after losing interest in Shadowrun books. My start was a three book collection of Ghost of Winter, Roar of Honor and By Blood Betrayed by German Publisher Heyne. After that I think I startet with Decision at Thunder Rift and red the first two trilogies. But mostly red the FedCom civil war stuff and the first few Dark Age ones - DA had the problem of slow German releases while falling back behind the English releases more and more. Also the the Wizzkits stuff to play was too expensive so I left the setting while keeping my love for it. I was mostly influenced by MW4 & MW4 Mercs back then and so I red the stuff, that was more or less present time. Sure, I've startet with MW2 & GBL in the 90ies with my first PC and also played, MW3 and both MechCommander and so the Clan Invasion was in the past for me and that's not so interesting to read for me. Sure, there may be great books in the series but due to how my life and career went, I truly hope Battletech novellas will go a similar route the Black Library is going with 40k at the moment: a lot of stuff on Audible with also a growing selection of German translations. I cherish my BT novels, but an audio book like this is simply much more practical when cooking in the kitchen or painting minis in the evenings, on train rides or on the plane.
I've only read a handful of BattleTech novels, all by either Michael Stackpole or Blaine Lee Pardoe. From my small sample size, I found that I liked the Pardoe books a bit better. They felt, I guess, less cynical? But that was all a long time ago, so I'm not sure I'd even still feel that way if I reread them today. Hard to find the time to read these days, unfortunately.
You should also read the original William H Keith Gray Death books, (Or those by his brother. Not by anyone else) and the CHarette Kurita books. Very good stuff.
i loved Stackpole's style and that his stories were the MAIN narrative moving the universe forward. BLP's side books running parallel to the main plot was a real great narrative choice because you could weave the characters in and out of the main plot when you needed.
I started with sword and Dagger when it 1st came out and then went pretty much in order up to the way of the Clan books then stopped. I never played the games(except MechCommander when that 1st came out and was obsessed with it) but own some and have all the new mechs that just came out as well as the old originals. I had actually like Sword and dagger and it got me into battletech back in the day. I have most of the Tech books, magazines, some game supplements a good collection all in all. Now I just stared the new shrapnel book that are pretty good short stories One takes place during the word of Blake stuff which I really know nothing about yet but was a cool story. Thanks for the video
It has never been explained why The Sword & The Dagger is stuck in legal limbo (even the late Ardath Mayhar wasn't sure why her book went out of print). My personal theory is that there are issues with how the novel was conceived. The original writers who were given The Sword and The Dagger were, shockingly, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman who actually submitted a 10 page story synopsis before they quit the project. Mayhar's publisher arranged to give the project to her and she started the story from scratch BUT she kept the plot point of the body double. This makes me wonder if Catalyst (and earlier FASA) were worried that Hickman and Weis might have raised issues with the novel given that they came up with the central plot point of the novel.
@@SvenVanDerPlank It is very likely a legal issue. The Sword and The Dagger got a German language reprint in the 2004. Also Battlecorps was releasing pre-release versions of the novels to their subscribers back when the site was active and they got to most of the early novels EXCEPT for that one. Instead they released an essay from Ardath Mayhar about how she wrote the novel.
I also just remembered The Sword and The Dagger actually got a sequel on Battlecorps which is kind of amazing given that the novel is arguably the most obscure in the franchise. Back in 2006, Ilsa Bick wrote two novellas about the Hanse Davion Doppelganger right before the Davion-Steiner wedding so the story falls roughly around Warrior: Riposte.
Sword and Dagger might be the worst Battletech/Mechwarrior book i read so far (no hard feelings)... But one should read it for getting the full picture. You can skip it yes but dont be suprised if you don't know much about a certain happening refered to in the "Warriors Trilogy". AAAND he made that quite clear a moment later.... Great Video btw! :) What i can add though are the following books: 3027 - 3028 -Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Guns of Thunder Rock) /between "Riposte" and "Coupe". 3028-3031 -Karma(Karma) /also between Riposte and Coupe (Prologue to Andurien Trilogy) -Andurien-Kriege 1: Präludium(Andurien Wars 1: Prelude) /Reading this at the moment but to be save put it after "Coupe" -Andurien-Kriege 2: Zorn (Andurien Wars 2: Wrath) /same as above have to read it yet -Andurien-Kriege 3: Gier(Andurien Wars 3: Greed) /same as above have to read it yet I don't know if they were ever in any way translated to English but i can recommend what i read so far. So if there is a translation or you can read german give them a try. They fit in quite well considering the timeline. Started reading a lot of batteltech in Chronological Order and agree 100% with the List shown in this video. I stopped after Heir to the Dragon wanting to fill more of the Pre ClanInvasion Timeline with the Books i read now!^^
I've always been curious about the German novels and to hear there's several that are post 4thSW but pre Clan Invasion is really interesting to me. I'm going to try and track down a fan translation.
You're welcome. In this video I only talk about the original 1980s books but there are actually two much more recent releases I should have included. There is a fourth Gray Death Legion novel (A Rock and a Hard Place) you can read after Price of Glory, and also an anthology by Stackpole (Kell Hounds Ascendent) which takes place over a decade before his Warrior trilogy so you could read it before starting those. Both of them are low priority as they don't really impact other events. If your goal is to read everything though, that's where they best fit.
Chris Hartford's novel, Fall from Grace, is presently the earliest Battletech novel in the chronology (the novel begins right after the signing of the Star League Accords on July 9th, 2571). Sadly that novel only got a German language printing and the only English version was released on the now defunct Battlecorps (I still have my PDF copy).
Feel free to say no to this, but any chance you could share that with me? For several years I've been working through every BT novel and sourcebook, even reading some of the German ones through a text translator. I had assumed that Fall from Grace was lost with a lot of the other BattleCorps publications. You can't even buy a digital copy of the German "In Ungnade" version. If you're not comfortable sharing the pdf then no worries.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Thank you for the response but I do have to say no because I don't want to fall into legal issues. I would LOVE to see Fall from Grace get a reprint too.
I will do eventually but only after I've done the requisite reading myself. I'm only 4 novels into the Clan Invasion era so I wouldn't expect another instalment this year.
"However these days getting a hold of one of the original 3025 prints is almost impossible." *pauses video* *rotates chair 180 degrees* *Pulls TRO 3025 from the bookshelf* *succeeds in not letting it fall apart after 36 years of use.* Nope... not impossible... improbable? yes.
I actually read the Blood of Kerensky trilogy as my first Battletech novels so there were a few plot points (Justin Allard's story, why Akira Brahe is part of the Kell Hounds, and the backstory of the Genyosha) that didn't become clear to me until I read the Warrior Trilogy. Luckily Stackpole was aware of this so there are moments in his novels where he summarizes events from the past (Victor getting a quick rundown of the Genyosha at the beginning of Lethal Heritage). In hindsight I would have started with the Warrior Trilogy but I guess I wanted to get right to the Clan Invasion after I got Mechwarrior 2.
I read Lethal Heritage last month and the way the characters would just stop mid-thought to reminisce on the events of the Warrior Trilogy was quite distracting. I understand why that's helpful to folks jumping in at that point but I don't think it was written in a particularly natural way.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I recently picked up a digital copy of Lethal Heritage (my old paperback was in terrible shape) and I completely forgot how often that occurred. It's almost like Stackpole was worried about confusing new readers that missed the Warrior trilogy.
I started with the Warrior trilogy and then read the blood of Kerensky trilogy. I liked both, though the books got gradually better. I think Blood legacy is my favourite of the six. I'm mainly interested in the big historical events of the universe like Clan Invasion, Civil war, Jihad and the like. So, where to go from this point? Should I just stick to Stackpole?
I loved the Grey Death (Still do) ; The Sword and the dagger was an ok read to me but gee was I glad I read it when I finished the Warrior trilogy... suddenly, the who conflict made sense. Robet Charette's novel were awesome. The writer I liked the least was Stakepole because he was moving things too fast. I was ok with the Warrior trilogy and the one about the return of Kerensky but after that, I just could not keep up.
My first book was Forever Faithful which was an awful introduction. I then read Decision at thunder rift and loved it, as it's very compact in scope even if it does read a bit like a youth adventure novel.
i started with ghost war of all things and it managed to induct me into the setting extremely well. stackpole cant help but constantly reference himself so it was interesting to go from that to blood legacy and then warrior trilogy. terrible order, but it was really fun to do it that way. seeing like seing justin hyped up as fuck by kai then reading about justin after the hype type deal. very interesting
This is fantastic, wish I had found it awhile back when I restarted reading the series. Reading Wolves between Riposte and Coupe would have been better than immediately after. I just finished Endgame, having read all the FASA print (less Sword & Dagger), all the ROC books, and all but the last MechWarrior books (Imminent Crisis). I am curious if you have a recommendation on what I read next? I am tempted to jump right into Ghost War by Stackpole but have no inkling of whether or not to skip the Jihad age (and what books to read there if I do not skip it).
Here is the order I give in the video (with trilogies marked in brackets): Decision At Thunder Rift (GDL) Mercenary's Star (GDL) The Sword and The Dagger Price of Glory (GDL) En Garde (Warrior) Riposte (Warrior) Wolves on the Border Coupe (Warrior) Heir to the Dragon The first three aren't that great, but if you're going to read Price of Glory, you might want to read the earlier GDL books to get a better idea of who's who. For the clan Invasion you want: Blood of Kerensky Trilogy Jade Phoenix Trilogy After that things get more complicated.
This is helpful. I've played Mechwarrior since Mechwarrior 2 when I was like 5. But only when I started playing Mechwarrior 5 very recently did I realize it was part of this bigger battletech universe. I just thought it was just a neat video game. Lol! Time to buy some books.
I was lucky that I first encountered Battletech with "Decision at Thunder Rift." It doesnt hold up as a story itself. But it holds a fond spot in my heart. Oddly enough, I never did read Sword and Dagger. Because I still have all my BT books and it isnt there. I have them all up until the aftermath of the FedCom civil war. (Operation Audacity?) Switched to ebooks then audiobooks at that point.
I know Black Library holds open calls for writers almost every year. Does Catalyst do anything similar? I'd like to try my hand at writing in this setting as well :)
What books should I read after heir to the dragon and before the blood legacy trilogy? I'm trying to figure this out so my brother and nephew don't have to later. The rest of the grey death saga starts after the clan invasion
My first BattleTech book was Tactics Of Duty, a grocery store novel I asked my mom and to by in the 7th Grade. I wouldn't recommend it now for a first read but dang it worked for me
Only a handful of missions from the DLC are battles that feature in the books. Some of the major events are reflected in changes on the map but you can't participate in them. Kestrel Lancers covers the 2nd & 3rd Warrior trilogy novels, Rise of Rasalhague and Dragon's Gambit are from Heir to the Dragon.
I found this order on the net. It agrees with this video, but goes much further: The Saga of the Gray Death Legion: - Decision at Thunder Rift - Mercenary's Star - The Price of Glory Warrior trilogy: - En Guard - Riposte - Coupé - Wolves on the Border - Heir to the Dragon Blood of Kerensky trilogy: - Lethal Heritage - Blood Legacy - Lost Destiny Legend of the Jade Phoenix: - Way of the Clans - Bloodname - Falcon Guard - Wolf Pack - Natural Selection - Assumption of risk - Main Event - D.R.T. - Ideal war The Saga of the Gray Death Legion (cont.): - Blood of Heroes - Tactics of Duty - Operation Excalibur - The Dying Time Camacho's Caballeros Trilogy: - Close quarters - Hearts of chaos - Black Dragon - Bred for War - I Am Jade Falcon - Malicious Intent - Highlander Gambit - Impetus of War - Star Lord - Double Blind - Binding Force Twilight of the clans: - Exodus Road - Grave Covenant - The Hunters - Freebirth - Sword and Fire - Shadows of War - Prince of Havoc - Falcon Rising The Capellan Solution: - Threads of Ambition - The Killing Fields - Dagger Point - Ghost of Winter - Roar of Honor - By Blood Betrayed - Illusions of Victory - Flashpoint - Measure of a Hero - Path of Glory - Test of Vengeance - Patriots and Tyrants - Call of Duty - Initiation to War - Storms of Fate - Imminent Crisis - Operation Audacity - Endgame
Sword & Dagger was actually the BT novel that ended my interest in reading BT novels. Never really felt the urge to go back even though I know it's an anomaly and there are many later books that are better than what came before.
Hi all, I started playing MWO 8 years ago and I was interested on the lore so I asked my unit where should I start and they gave me some options. Finally I choosed "The Sun and the Sword" trilogy as starting point, then I read "heir of the dragoon" and "Wolf pack" as complement books. After that I went into "Blood of Kerensky trilogy" and now I am with "Assumption of risk" After watching this video, should I go back and read the books previously mentioned?
TRO3025 comes after Thunder Rift but before Mercenary's Star. Thunder Rift was written based only off what's described in BattleTech 2nd Edition. So only ten 'Mechs and no ComStar yet. The second GDL book contains more background info introduced in MechWarrior 1st Edition which released at the same time as TRO3025. ComStar sourcebook is way later because its post-schism. It was released 1992, but comes after both novels that year, Wolf Pack and probably Natural Selection (next on my own reading list so not sure on that one). It might be that some of the 1993 novels also fit better before it as they and the sourcebook are all set 3055, but I can't answer that one yet.
Not quite a novel, but not on this list either and one of my favorite reads: the Star League sourcebook. Just reading the sweep of human history leading to the Succession Wars is poignant, tragic, and breathtaking. Also THE major insight into the now-gone Terran Hegemony.
Is there a full recommended-order list calibrated for new fans posted anywhere that you've created or you would endorse, Sven? As valuable as this discussion is, I'd very much like a simple list to start working through and see if things click. :)
Search on the /r/BattleTech subreddit. The question gets asked every now and again and there's a user on there who shares a long list of "essentials" for the entire timespan. They're more knowledgeable than me, as I'm as yet unfamiliar with post 3059 lore.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Thank you much! Can't wait for more of these videos going forward; I'm impressed at the amount of work you must have done to convert disparate lore into 'history' videos like these. :)
Been looking around on Sarna for the source books, but I haven't been able to find them. Has something changed since you made this video, or am I just blind?
I am trying to read the Ilclan books as I did not have much interest in the dark age. It is tricky trying to find the best order for them. I think catalyst is starting to release the audiobooks in order so that might help. Have you read any of them?
That's the Twilight of the Clans series, an 8 book multi-author epic. Haven't gotten around to it myself yet but definitely interested to see how it goes.
Eh? This whole video explains why and I only made a single change to the order of release. I'm arguing AGAINST making unnecessary changes to the publishing order.
There are no novels set during the Age of War. The only novels set during the Star League era are in German. There are a few anthologies and short stories set in the early succession wars but if you just want the main books, the ones featured in this video is where you'd likely start. Follow that up with the Blood of Kerensky trilogy and then Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy.
Those are conflicts earlier in the setting before the story really begins. There are no novels set during that era (technically there are a few German language novels).
Reading in chronological order: such epic. Very tragedy of human folly. Wow. Reading in production order: are we back to the fucking clan invasion again?!
Oh, man, you don't want to go there. That way leads to years of copyright confusion and litigation. Short story, Battletech licensed the mech _designs_ from the studio that did them, Harmony Gold licensed the _show_ from the studio that did it, and it took about 4 decades to straighten out who owned what. Even the Japanese studios were confused over the situation.
Some of them are purchasable from the catalyst store, but they're overpriced for what they are I feel... although in saying that they're far cheaper than GW would want for their Codices! Unfortunately it seems Liao, Marik and Davion are missing
I just want to say, your first BT book does matter. Mine was “I am Jade Falcon.” Now I can barely follow all the crazy weird schemes you freeborn nerds in the inner sphere get up to. Geez just challenge them, win and take their stuff if you want it so bad.
I remember reading all the MW2 datastreams, and soon after read Decision At Thunder Rift, Way Of The Clans, Assumption Of Risk, Bred For War, Impetus Of War, and Star Lord.
I suppose, out of curiousity, any recommendations for Jihad/Dark Age era books? I've been mostly listening to whatever comes out on audible (got through the Gray Death Trilogy and a few others) buuuut while those eras are malighned, am curious about them.
They're in the correct order in the playlist. The five long videos at the start are compilations of all the individual chapters which make up the majority of the playlist.
I read sword and dagger as my first and it is what got me into Battletech. I honestly cannot recommend the Charotte books for anyone with a reading disability, what a slog of a read from complete ego trip author.
To be fair, The Sword and the Dagger was written with no universe background to work with. The Author had only a few notes to create the story from. Please keep that in mind.
I still liked The Sword amd the Dagger. Ewok things and all.
@@DIEGhostfish I found it alright. It just obviously suffered badly from being the first outside writer.
Yep, Ardath Mayhar had to get a little help from William Keith in writing the combat scenes that didn't involve Mechs. Turns out FASA hadn't developed the hand weapons in the game yet.
Hey, Ardath invented the idea of using pony-express chains of JumpShips for rapid transit, she deserves huge prsise for that alone
@@jamesperkins191 She was making up a lot as she went along...... ;)
Remember reading whichever Battletech books the local books store had... and pieceing things together from there.
I mean that's one approach I guess, lol
To be honest, as someone who like to start "from the beginning," I've been using SARNA's "list of Battletech products" page to go through the sourcebooks in chronological release order. Not so much as to see the universe's timeline order, but more to see how the series evolved in as close a way as the original fans did.
As for the novels, I plan to do the same as I get them. But I'll use this video as a guide as well.
I've been doing the same with the sourcebooks. It's been a multiyear project but I've now read everything that released in the 80s or is set between 3025-3049. It's really interesting to see the world grow outside of the novels. There is so much storytelling there that you miss now that so much of it is out of print or unavailable.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Well, at least most of it is in PDF format now. So it's mostly preserved.
Just read whatever you can get whenever you can get it.
My first "in" was the data archives in MechWarrior 2, which would have been hundreds of pages if printed out on paper.
I was amazed at how much narrative thought went into a stompy-robot game.
It took a few hours to take it all in. Of course, I put HUNDREDS of hours into that game, and was hooked!
Not much later I realised my local library had some of the novels, not sure how I first stumbled on those
Just finished Thunder Rift this morning. Great video
Did you enjoy the reading?
Wow thank you for this. A much needed video to be made for new fans.
No problem. I'm hopeful that this inspires people who might have been sitting on the fence to pick up the books, because they're really enjoyable (for the most part). I also wanted to make sure those folk didn't make the same mistake I did and got the most out of Wolves (which is my favourite).
So glad to see this universe being liked again.
I bought and read most of these books when they first came out and I absolutely loved the Clans and I loved the story of Phelan Kell.
We are clan Wolf,
Children of Kerensky.
Great video, thank you for this. In the long years that I've played Battletech I've always had a problem recommending the novels and in what order. I have in the past made the mistake of recommending the Warrior trilogy first and had so many potential players bounce directly off of Battletech and never look back.
Great video and very well done. I can see this being an amazing resource for people to point too for book recommendations to start for the beginning of Battletech.
As an aside, thank for your bringing up Sword and Dagger and correctly putting it in the print order that it was. The story behind how that book was created is a doozy and the confusion and problems behind it's conception is an intriguing tale. I've read it a few times and every single time, barring direct references to people and items in the Battletech IP the story itself pulls me out of the very setting it's trying to write in.
Sword & Dagger is the only one I've read twice (I'm weirdly intrigued by it). I've always said it's a book of three parts; good, mediocre and bad.
The first act is about the battle for Stein's Folly and you think the novel is going to be a campaign book or something and you get all excited for some pulpy action nonsense.
Then at one third distance Sortek passes out in the swamp and it goes off on a bizarre tangent. Everything you thought it was going to be about gets wrapped up off screen and replaced with Operation Doppelganger, which is far less interesting. It treads water for a while on Tharkad and then the third act begins when Ardan makes his way back to the FedSuns.
That's when the book really unravels. Everything you're reading makes you go "Why?" or "What has this got to do with BattleTech?" The final two chapters are the coup de grace when it literally becomes a list of bullet points. It's like one sentence paragraphs, feels like notes that they ran out of time to write into an actual story. It's bizarre. Absolutely awful.
Probably the second worst book I've ever read the whole way through, though it did lead me to discover that bad books (like bad movies) can be as much fun to read as good ones. One day I'll do a video on Stein's Folly and content myself that no-one else ever needs to suffer through that sorry excuse for a novel again.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I actually really liked it, though the Ewoks bit was weird.
@@SvenVanDerPlank To this day I still wonder how The Sword & The Dagger might have turned out if it were written by Weis and Hickman.
I incidentally was reading Decision at Thunder Rift, but had stopped a few months ago as I got busy with IRL stuff. Ended up finding it and finishing it within 2 days after "Reading" it on and off for a year. Already working on reading mercenary's star.
Finished Price of Glory, good god this trilogy was amazing. Starting Warrior soon
May I suggest Rock and a Hard Place. It released just last year and takes place immediately after Price of Glory as a new fourth book. They have more too but those are 20-30 years later.
I've been reading or listening to a lot of novels & novellas and a ridiculous amount of lore vids this year as I just got into playing Classic. While I started with the Grey Death series I have also listened to many of the unabridged Audible books. I keep running into paragraphs in a book or a character being introduced & recall the character or story often being paraphrased or told from a different perspective in a video which has been fun as I fill in the pieces of the timeline like a massive BT jigsaw puzzle. I just finished the Warrior trilogy & am reading or rather having an "AI" read Heir to the Dragon which has been good. I remember watching this video when I was just getting started & wish I woukd have referenced it again when I started looking at which novel or series after the GDL one. Regardless thanks for a helpful video & I look forward to seeing your next BT lore vid.
Tysm for posting this read order! I have no idea where to get started and this helped immensely🙏
Just finished Ideal War
If You already know alot about this kinda stuff and Good bit of. Battletech
And-or just enjoy a really Good book
Cannot recommend enough
It just Vibe’s
Thank you very much for this video. I started with and finished the Grey Death Legion trilogy and Ive been racking my brain on how to proceed from here.
Starsiege the PC game came with an artbook which was like a TRO with all the lore of Earthsiege saga. If only Battletech could make something like that one day...
Interesting that they get better. I might have to try some of the later books you mention. I tried the Grey Death Legion saga and the Jade Phoenix trilogy back in the day, but even as a teenager they were a bit too "Young Adult" for me. Like the stompy robot version of the Dragonlance novels. I also wasn't a fan of The Sword and The Dagger. One of the few novels I've started and put down without completing. I love the TT and video games though. I preferred the bare bones narrative of The Crescent Hawk's Inception to the books.
Yeah, the GDL have their moments but you have to know what you're in for. I don't blame you for skipping Sword & Dagger. Warrior Trilogy also had that "young adult" feel at times but by and large the scope makes up for those shortcomings. There are two scenes in particular (the trial and the wedding) where I was almost jumping out of my seat I was so swept up in it.
Then Wolves came around and man, I can't express how good it was. I've had long conversations with folk I know about some of the character complexities in that novel (all while deftly skirting around the fact it comes from a series called BattleTech, lol). Tetsuhara is probably my favourite character in the series.
It's over 20 years, when I was at university, that I started and red some books (somewhere between 20 and 30 I guess), after losing interest in Shadowrun books. My start was a three book collection of Ghost of Winter, Roar of Honor and By Blood Betrayed by German Publisher Heyne. After that I think I startet with Decision at Thunder Rift and red the first two trilogies. But mostly red the FedCom civil war stuff and the first few Dark Age ones - DA had the problem of slow German releases while falling back behind the English releases more and more. Also the the Wizzkits stuff to play was too expensive so I left the setting while keeping my love for it.
I was mostly influenced by MW4 & MW4 Mercs back then and so I red the stuff, that was more or less present time. Sure, I've startet with MW2 & GBL in the 90ies with my first PC and also played, MW3 and both MechCommander and so the Clan Invasion was in the past for me and that's not so interesting to read for me.
Sure, there may be great books in the series but due to how my life and career went, I truly hope Battletech novellas will go a similar route the Black Library is going with 40k at the moment: a lot of stuff on Audible with also a growing selection of German translations.
I cherish my BT novels, but an audio book like this is simply much more practical when cooking in the kitchen or painting minis in the evenings, on train rides or on the plane.
My first books in the mid 90's were The Blood of Kerensky. Amazing books and still my favorites
I've only read a handful of BattleTech novels, all by either Michael Stackpole or Blaine Lee Pardoe. From my small sample size, I found that I liked the Pardoe books a bit better. They felt, I guess, less cynical? But that was all a long time ago, so I'm not sure I'd even still feel that way if I reread them today. Hard to find the time to read these days, unfortunately.
You should also read the original William H Keith Gray Death books, (Or those by his brother. Not by anyone else) and the CHarette Kurita books. Very good stuff.
i loved Stackpole's style and that his stories were the MAIN narrative moving the universe forward. BLP's side books running parallel to the main plot was a real great narrative choice because you could weave the characters in and out of the main plot when you needed.
You should also do the Jade Phoenix Trilogy by Robert Thurston. That was my intro to BattleTech followed shortly by Stackpole, Pardoe, and Coleman.
I started with sword and Dagger when it 1st came out and then went pretty much in order up to the way of the Clan books then stopped. I never played the games(except MechCommander when that 1st came out and was obsessed with it) but own some and have all the new mechs that just came out as well as the old originals. I had actually like Sword and dagger and it got me into battletech back in the day. I have most of the Tech books, magazines, some game supplements a good collection all in all. Now I just stared the new shrapnel book that are pretty good short stories One takes place during the word of Blake stuff which I really know nothing about yet but was a cool story. Thanks for the video
It has never been explained why The Sword & The Dagger is stuck in legal limbo (even the late Ardath Mayhar wasn't sure why her book went out of print). My personal theory is that there are issues with how the novel was conceived. The original writers who were given The Sword and The Dagger were, shockingly, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman who actually submitted a 10 page story synopsis before they quit the project. Mayhar's publisher arranged to give the project to her and she started the story from scratch BUT she kept the plot point of the body double. This makes me wonder if Catalyst (and earlier FASA) were worried that Hickman and Weis might have raised issues with the novel given that they came up with the central plot point of the novel.
Interesting, I didn't know it had such a troubled history. Knew it was out of print but suspected that was more a quality reason than a legal one.
@@SvenVanDerPlank It is very likely a legal issue. The Sword and The Dagger got a German language reprint in the 2004.
Also Battlecorps was releasing pre-release versions of the novels to their subscribers back when the site was active and they got to most of the early novels EXCEPT for that one. Instead they released an essay from Ardath Mayhar about how she wrote the novel.
I also just remembered The Sword and The Dagger actually got a sequel on Battlecorps which is kind of amazing given that the novel is arguably the most obscure in the franchise. Back in 2006, Ilsa Bick wrote two novellas about the Hanse Davion Doppelganger right before the Davion-Steiner wedding so the story falls roughly around Warrior: Riposte.
I think it's more about how they want everyone to forget about the Mud-men
Sword and Dagger is critical if you want to understand why Hanse almost took the full capellan confed
Just started thunder rift, thanks for this
No problem, hope you enjoy them.
I started reading the stories that came with the boxed games and got hooked. I moved on to Decision at Thunder Rift. Thank you for this guide.
No problem. Glad you found it useful.
Sword and Dagger might be the worst Battletech/Mechwarrior book i read so far (no hard feelings)...
But one should read it for getting the full picture.
You can skip it yes but dont be suprised if you don't know much about a certain happening refered to in the "Warriors Trilogy".
AAAND he made that quite clear a moment later.... Great Video btw! :)
What i can add though are the following books:
3027 - 3028
-Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Guns of Thunder Rock) /between "Riposte" and "Coupe".
3028-3031
-Karma(Karma) /also between Riposte and Coupe (Prologue to Andurien Trilogy)
-Andurien-Kriege 1: Präludium(Andurien Wars 1: Prelude) /Reading this at the moment but to be save put it after "Coupe"
-Andurien-Kriege 2: Zorn
(Andurien Wars 2: Wrath) /same as above have to read it yet
-Andurien-Kriege 3: Gier(Andurien Wars 3: Greed) /same as above have to read it yet
I don't know if they were ever in any way translated to English but i can recommend what i read so far.
So if there is a translation or you can read german give them a try. They fit in quite well considering the timeline.
Started reading a lot of batteltech in Chronological Order and agree 100% with the List shown in this video.
I stopped after Heir to the Dragon wanting to fill more of the Pre ClanInvasion Timeline with the Books i read now!^^
I've always been curious about the German novels and to hear there's several that are post 4thSW but pre Clan Invasion is really interesting to me. I'm going to try and track down a fan translation.
Thanks, I got most of the series in a humble book bundle the other day and wasn't sure where to start, getting over 100 books was pretty overwhelming.
You're welcome. In this video I only talk about the original 1980s books but there are actually two much more recent releases I should have included. There is a fourth Gray Death Legion novel (A Rock and a Hard Place) you can read after Price of Glory, and also an anthology by Stackpole (Kell Hounds Ascendent) which takes place over a decade before his Warrior trilogy so you could read it before starting those. Both of them are low priority as they don't really impact other events. If your goal is to read everything though, that's where they best fit.
Chris Hartford's novel, Fall from Grace, is presently the earliest Battletech novel in the chronology (the novel begins right after the signing of the Star League Accords on July 9th, 2571). Sadly that novel only got a German language printing and the only English version was released on the now defunct Battlecorps (I still have my PDF copy).
Feel free to say no to this, but any chance you could share that with me? For several years I've been working through every BT novel and sourcebook, even reading some of the German ones through a text translator. I had assumed that Fall from Grace was lost with a lot of the other BattleCorps publications. You can't even buy a digital copy of the German "In Ungnade" version. If you're not comfortable sharing the pdf then no worries.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Thank you for the response but I do have to say no because I don't want to fall into legal issues. I would LOVE to see Fall from Grace get a reprint too.
That's fair enough, no worries.
Great video that deserves more views and likes!
Sven I'd really love to see a part 2 and 3 of this "series".
I will do eventually but only after I've done the requisite reading myself. I'm only 4 novels into the Clan Invasion era so I wouldn't expect another instalment this year.
I wonder how the Battletech Humble Bundle 60 books going on now rate? (8 days left as of posting)
After reading the Stackpole’s Warrior trilogy I fell in love with the Battletech Universe
I had a lot of them the Warrior Trilogy was good and I liked Measure Of A Hero.
Thanks for this useful guide!
Hoping you do a follow-up to this one for novels set in later eras.
I will do at some point but I haven't even read half of the Clan Era novels so I'm not in a position to say what's best.
"However these days getting a hold of one of the original 3025 prints is almost impossible."
*pauses video*
*rotates chair 180 degrees*
*Pulls TRO 3025 from the bookshelf*
*succeeds in not letting it fall apart after 36 years of use.*
Nope... not impossible... improbable? yes.
Take good care of that lostech relic you got there.
Ha 2750 Technical readout here, pleb!
I actually read the Blood of Kerensky trilogy as my first Battletech novels so there were a few plot points (Justin Allard's story, why Akira Brahe is part of the Kell Hounds, and the backstory of the Genyosha) that didn't become clear to me until I read the Warrior Trilogy. Luckily Stackpole was aware of this so there are moments in his novels where he summarizes events from the past (Victor getting a quick rundown of the Genyosha at the beginning of Lethal Heritage). In hindsight I would have started with the Warrior Trilogy but I guess I wanted to get right to the Clan Invasion after I got Mechwarrior 2.
I read Lethal Heritage last month and the way the characters would just stop mid-thought to reminisce on the events of the Warrior Trilogy was quite distracting. I understand why that's helpful to folks jumping in at that point but I don't think it was written in a particularly natural way.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I recently picked up a digital copy of Lethal Heritage (my old paperback was in terrible shape) and I completely forgot how often that occurred. It's almost like Stackpole was worried about confusing new readers that missed the Warrior trilogy.
Holy shit. It's been a long time since I read these novels and I was never able to find all of them. I loved these books, even the TROs.
I went with Publishing order though I think Indid the clan invasion stackpole books and then went to Charrette's Kurita stuffm
I remember that the first Battletech books I read were my Father’s Jade Falcon trilogy books (these books followed Aiden Pryde)
I just finished blood of kerensky trilogy and think I’m going to have to go with your order now
I can’t remember what book I read first but it was Before the clans
I started with the Warrior trilogy and then read the blood of Kerensky trilogy. I liked both, though the books got gradually better. I think Blood legacy is my favourite of the six. I'm mainly interested in the big historical events of the universe like Clan Invasion, Civil war, Jihad and the like. So, where to go from this point? Should I just stick to Stackpole?
It would be great if you can do a version of this but with the audiobooks.
Very informative! I appreciate it!
I loved the Grey Death (Still do) ; The Sword and the dagger was an ok read to me but gee was I glad I read it when I finished the Warrior trilogy... suddenly, the who conflict made sense. Robet Charette's novel were awesome. The writer I liked the least was Stakepole because he was moving things too fast. I was ok with the Warrior trilogy and the one about the return of Kerensky but after that, I just could not keep up.
My first book was Forever Faithful which was an awful introduction. I then read Decision at thunder rift and loved it, as it's very compact in scope even if it does read a bit like a youth adventure novel.
i started with ghost war of all things and it managed to induct me into the setting extremely well. stackpole cant help but constantly reference himself so it was interesting to go from that to blood legacy and then warrior trilogy. terrible order, but it was really fun to do it that way. seeing like seing justin hyped up as fuck by kai then reading about justin after the hype type deal. very interesting
This is fantastic, wish I had found it awhile back when I restarted reading the series. Reading Wolves between Riposte and Coupe would have been better than immediately after. I just finished Endgame, having read all the FASA print (less Sword & Dagger), all the ROC books, and all but the last MechWarrior books (Imminent Crisis). I am curious if you have a recommendation on what I read next? I am tempted to jump right into Ghost War by Stackpole but have no inkling of whether or not to skip the Jihad age (and what books to read there if I do not skip it).
Thanks. I'm afraid I haven't even read beyond the clans yet so I don't know enough to recommend where to go after the Civil War.
@@SvenVanDerPlank thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.
My first novel, "I am Jade Falcon". People complain that there are not many mech battles. I do not care, it was well written.
When can we expect the next part of the story?
What do you mean? A Clan Era novel recommendation?
So, does anyone have the a list of his order of books to read heard to see the titles zoomed out?
Here is the order I give in the video (with trilogies marked in brackets):
Decision At Thunder Rift (GDL)
Mercenary's Star (GDL)
The Sword and The Dagger
Price of Glory (GDL)
En Garde (Warrior)
Riposte (Warrior)
Wolves on the Border
Coupe (Warrior)
Heir to the Dragon
The first three aren't that great, but if you're going to read Price of Glory, you might want to read the earlier GDL books to get a better idea of who's who.
For the clan Invasion you want:
Blood of Kerensky Trilogy
Jade Phoenix Trilogy
After that things get more complicated.
Thanks I like reading and completing book collections so despite how good it is I would like to get it.
This is helpful. I've played Mechwarrior since Mechwarrior 2 when I was like 5. But only when I started playing Mechwarrior 5 very recently did I realize it was part of this bigger battletech universe. I just thought it was just a neat video game. Lol! Time to buy some books.
I was lucky that I first encountered Battletech with "Decision at Thunder Rift."
It doesnt hold up as a story itself. But it holds a fond spot in my heart.
Oddly enough, I never did read Sword and Dagger. Because I still have all my BT books and it isnt there. I have them all up until the aftermath of the FedCom civil war. (Operation Audacity?)
Switched to ebooks then audiobooks at that point.
I know Black Library holds open calls for writers almost every year. Does Catalyst do anything similar? I'd like to try my hand at writing in this setting as well :)
I'm going to need a part 2
What books should I read after heir to the dragon and before the blood legacy trilogy? I'm trying to figure this out so my brother and nephew don't have to later. The rest of the grey death saga starts after the clan invasion
after i ready the grey death saga (aside from dying time) i did the rest in chronological order. im like 109 books in if we include dark age
My first BattleTech book was Tactics Of Duty, a grocery store novel I asked my mom and to by in the 7th Grade. I wouldn't recommend it now for a first read but dang it worked for me
What about a video where you're following some of the battles in the books in MW5 Mercenaries 🧐
What do you mean by following them in MechWarrior 5?
@@SvenVanDerPlank by heading to each conflict Zone each book takes place in to be a part of it in one playthrough or multiple
Only a handful of missions from the DLC are battles that feature in the books. Some of the major events are reflected in changes on the map but you can't participate in them. Kestrel Lancers covers the 2nd & 3rd Warrior trilogy novels, Rise of Rasalhague and Dragon's Gambit are from Heir to the Dragon.
I found this order on the net. It agrees with this video, but goes much further:
The Saga of the Gray Death Legion:
- Decision at Thunder Rift
- Mercenary's Star
- The Price of Glory
Warrior trilogy:
- En Guard
- Riposte
- Coupé
- Wolves on the Border
- Heir to the Dragon
Blood of Kerensky trilogy:
- Lethal Heritage
- Blood Legacy
- Lost Destiny
Legend of the Jade Phoenix:
- Way of the Clans
- Bloodname
- Falcon Guard
- Wolf Pack
- Natural Selection
- Assumption of risk
- Main Event
- D.R.T.
- Ideal war
The Saga of the Gray Death Legion (cont.):
- Blood of Heroes
- Tactics of Duty
- Operation Excalibur
- The Dying Time
Camacho's Caballeros Trilogy:
- Close quarters
- Hearts of chaos
- Black Dragon
- Bred for War
- I Am Jade Falcon
- Malicious Intent
- Highlander Gambit
- Impetus of War
- Star Lord
- Double Blind
- Binding Force
Twilight of the clans:
- Exodus Road
- Grave Covenant
- The Hunters
- Freebirth
- Sword and Fire
- Shadows of War
- Prince of Havoc
- Falcon Rising
The Capellan Solution:
- Threads of Ambition
- The Killing Fields
- Dagger Point
- Ghost of Winter
- Roar of Honor
- By Blood Betrayed
- Illusions of Victory
- Flashpoint
- Measure of a Hero
- Path of Glory
- Test of Vengeance
- Patriots and Tyrants
- Call of Duty
- Initiation to War
- Storms of Fate
- Imminent Crisis
- Operation Audacity
- Endgame
Would love to see a clan invasion update for this video
There are 35 novels in the Clan Invasion era. I'm currently reading through them but I have 15 to go before I make an update on this.
Sword & Dagger was actually the BT novel that ended my interest in reading BT novels. Never really felt the urge to go back even though I know it's an anomaly and there are many later books that are better than what came before.
Hi all, I started playing MWO 8 years ago and I was interested on the lore so I asked my unit where should I start and they gave me some options.
Finally I choosed "The Sun and the Sword" trilogy as starting point, then I read "heir of the dragoon" and "Wolf pack" as complement books.
After that I went into "Blood of Kerensky trilogy" and now I am with "Assumption of risk"
After watching this video, should I go back and read the books previously mentioned?
Time to get to work...boy, now I know how Halo fans feel if they're coming in right now of all times.
Hi Sven, I'm curious where you'd place TRO3025 and Battletech Comstar (1655) in the reading order, if you were to add them?
TRO3025 comes after Thunder Rift but before Mercenary's Star. Thunder Rift was written based only off what's described in BattleTech 2nd Edition. So only ten 'Mechs and no ComStar yet. The second GDL book contains more background info introduced in MechWarrior 1st Edition which released at the same time as TRO3025.
ComStar sourcebook is way later because its post-schism. It was released 1992, but comes after both novels that year, Wolf Pack and probably Natural Selection (next on my own reading list so not sure on that one). It might be that some of the 1993 novels also fit better before it as they and the sourcebook are all set 3055, but I can't answer that one yet.
This is super. Thanks
Not quite a novel, but not on this list either and one of my favorite reads: the Star League sourcebook. Just reading the sweep of human history leading to the Succession Wars is poignant, tragic, and breathtaking. Also THE major insight into the now-gone Terran Hegemony.
Is there a full recommended-order list calibrated for new fans posted anywhere that you've created or you would endorse, Sven? As valuable as this discussion is, I'd very much like a simple list to start working through and see if things click. :)
Search on the /r/BattleTech subreddit. The question gets asked every now and again and there's a user on there who shares a long list of "essentials" for the entire timespan. They're more knowledgeable than me, as I'm as yet unfamiliar with post 3059 lore.
@@SvenVanDerPlank Thank you much! Can't wait for more of these videos going forward; I'm impressed at the amount of work you must have done to convert disparate lore into 'history' videos like these. :)
Been looking around on Sarna for the source books, but I haven't been able to find them. Has something changed since you made this video, or am I just blind?
Someone left a comment a few months back saying they were no longer available. Sorry.
I am trying to read the Ilclan books as I did not have much interest in the dark age. It is tricky trying to find the best order for them. I think catalyst is starting to release the audiobooks in order so that might help. Have you read any of them?
I'm afraid I'm still reading the clan era books so it'll be ages before I reach the modern stuff.
why is this in a sabaton ww1/ww2 chronological order song playlist?
Excellent question. Whoever made that question probably added it by mistake.
My favorite series is the one where the Star league went to the smoke Jaguar homeworld and we’ll smoked them. It’s been years since I read the series.
That's the Twilight of the Clans series, an 8 book multi-author epic. Haven't gotten around to it myself yet but definitely interested to see how it goes.
@@SvenVanDerPlank thank you for reminding me of the title. It had a great memorable ending to the series.
Why not read the novels in publish order?
Eh? This whole video explains why and I only made a single change to the order of release. I'm arguing AGAINST making unnecessary changes to the publishing order.
@@SvenVanDerPlank I blame my misunderstanding on watching the video at a speed which greatly decreased my comprehension of it.
I need a timeline for books after the dark age series a bone fire of worlds
I have a question. I want to read from Age of war to clan war. what the order of that?
There are no novels set during the Age of War. The only novels set during the Star League era are in German. There are a few anthologies and short stories set in the early succession wars but if you just want the main books, the ones featured in this video is where you'd likely start. Follow that up with the Blood of Kerensky trilogy and then Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy.
Thank you
So what is the unifcation war, star league and the civil war?
Those are conflicts earlier in the setting before the story really begins. There are no novels set during that era (technically there are a few German language novels).
@@SvenVanDerPlank that's so evil.
Reading in chronological order: such epic. Very tragedy of human folly. Wow.
Reading in production order: are we back to the fucking clan invasion again?!
I can see where Macross took his mechas desing. Or maybe Battletech took them from Macross
Oh, man, you don't want to go there. That way leads to years of copyright confusion and litigation. Short story, Battletech licensed the mech _designs_ from the studio that did them, Harmony Gold licensed the _show_ from the studio that did it, and it took about 4 decades to straighten out who owned what. Even the Japanese studios were confused over the situation.
The source books are gone now sadly.
Some of them are purchasable from the catalyst store, but they're overpriced for what they are I feel... although in saying that they're far cheaper than GW would want for their Codices!
Unfortunately it seems Liao, Marik and Davion are missing
I just want to say, your first BT book does matter. Mine was “I am Jade Falcon.” Now I can barely follow all the crazy weird schemes you freeborn nerds in the inner sphere get up to. Geez just challenge them, win and take their stuff if you want it so bad.
I remember reading all the MW2 datastreams, and soon after read Decision At Thunder Rift, Way Of The Clans, Assumption Of Risk, Bred For War, Impetus Of War, and Star Lord.
Any of these in audio book form?
Yes, most of the early novels have an audiobook version. Just be careful to listen to the newer versions as the older ones are heavily abridged.
My suggestions would suck because I started in jihad.
I suppose, out of curiousity, any recommendations for Jihad/Dark Age era books? I've been mostly listening to whatever comes out on audible (got through the Gray Death Trilogy and a few others) buuuut while those eras are malighned, am curious about them.
Definitely didn't read "Children of Kerensky" as my first book.
Ok, but in what order should I watch your lore videos? 😵
They're in the correct order in the playlist. The five long videos at the start are compilations of all the individual chapters which make up the majority of the playlist.
Ok, thanks! @@SvenVanDerPlank
Theres like 400 battletech books at this point, and thats just the novels... 🤯
"Where's Darius Davion?"
Start with sword and dagger.. Read to endgame.. fk everything later.. especially the germania mastro reich garbage
I read sword and dagger as my first and it is what got me into Battletech. I honestly cannot recommend the Charotte books for anyone with a reading disability, what a slog of a read from complete ego trip author.
I always point people towards Warrior Trilogy as it a good intro to the setting I find
.. .Far Country
😂