BATTLETECH novel recommendations

[Middcore]

I strongly recommend the Books from Victor Milan.
Hearts of Chaos
Close Quarters
Black Dragon

The Comacho's Caballeros trilogy by Milan has historically been well-thought of by most of the BT fans I've known. However, a few cautions for people new to the universe:

1. They're kinda dark. Like, I know this is a setting about interstellar warfare in giant robots, but some messed up stuff happens in Milan's books (rapes, etc.)

2. They put more focus on an infantry commando type of character who actually hates 'mechs and specializes in fighting them using unorthodox methods than they do 'mech-versus-'mech combat. If you got into BT for the giant robots, that may be a disappointment.

3. They get a little deep into the politics of the Draconis Combine faction, which may be tough sledding for a newbie.

 

[Killcannon]

all of them... It's hard to find some, but I read somewhere you can get them in ebook format from one of the rights holders.. can't remember who it was. PGI I think?? Not sure...

but read em all.. It's what I do while the game is loading/traveling/being slow..

 

[Darrious Quinn]

I am currently reading through the novels for Battletech. Starting with "Sword and the Dagger", I am now 17 books into it on "Main Event".


For the Era we are in, 3025, I suggest these:

Sword and the Dagger - Ardath Mayhar : The 31st Century begins
Decision at Thunder Rift - William H. Keith Jr.: Saga of the Grey Death Legion -- Book 1
Mercenary’s Star - William H. Keith Jr.: Saga of the Grey Death Legion -- Book 2
The Price of Glory - William H. Keith Jr. Saga of the Grey Death Legion -- Book 3
Warrior: En Guarde -Michael A. Stackpole Birth of the Federated Commonwealth--Book 1
Warrior: Riposte -Michael A. Stackpole Birth of the Federated Commonwealth--Book 2
Warrior: Coupe -Michael A. Stackpole Birth of the Federated Commonwealth--Book 3

I would also suggest:
Wolves on the Border - Robert N. Charrette
Heir to the Dragon - Robert N. Charrette

Though these two book start to push into the 3040s closing in on the Clan Invasion, they serve to establish a foundation for a lot of what is to come.


Here is the complete listing of all the books with exception of the newest Stackpole novella from the Kickstarter.
http://www.stargazerserv.com/csv/btech/battletech_novel_list.htm


Just as a fair warning, if you have older E-book versions of the titles, there are a nightmare of grammar and spelling mistakes. It felt that “Sword and the Dagger” was edited by a 3rd grader. Push past it, focus on the story and not the sentence structure and eventually it cleans up. By the warrior trilogy they found better editors and the errors reduce drastically. All the books are interconnected, even if by separate authors. Some have a better grip on the overall story of the universe where others sometimes seem to be faking it.


So happy reading. Enjoy the rich and deep lore this franchise has enjoyed since the 80s that has finally seem to be getting the attention it deserves.

 

[Killuelihie]

Go here. they have kind of 40-60 BattleTech Novels for Sale =)

https://store.catalystgamelabs.com/pages/search-results/collections-battletech

 

[Nichino]

Yea, I'm almost done with the original Saga of the Gray Death Legion trilogy, which I got on Amazon Kindle. You can also get Wolves on the Border and Heir to the Dragon on Kindle or other online formats. Hopefully soon the Warrior Trilogy will join these other Legends rereleases and be available. It would be nice if the The Sword and the Dagger was rereleased as well, as it's like a prologue to the Warrior Trilogy...