With regards to the first part, he's right on all points. Despite the poor interpretation of the universe in general, and his weak handling of character development, the books do move. They read very smoothly and quickly.

With regards to the second part, the mistakes are far more numerous than that. And they not only violate the spirit of the Battletech genre, they downright violate the laws of nature at certain points.

I read the first two, but could not bring myself to buy the third. The mistakes in the second one were bad enough to turn me off to Del Rio for a loooong time to come.

Jeez LaoCain, have you stepped away from the computer at all today? :)

anywho....

The fact is, that you're going to get a huge difference in opinion on all the Darkage books. Strangly, a few people didn't like Ghost War and a few people liked the Delrio mistak...er..um... books.


As for classic battletech books, I highly recomand the Jade Falcons trilogy. Not only was it a very good story, but it'll also be the easiest to find. Wizkids recently got it rereleased in one book. Also, if you're fairly new to the battletech world, it'll give you a very good idea how the clans work.

I rather enjoyed Ghost War, and the one by Loren Coleman was alright as well... but the CBT novels where the best.

IF you have to read only a select few, my recommendations for those of you who want as much info about the Clan invasion and their world would be to read the Invasion Triology of Lethal Heritage, Blood Legacy, and Lost Destiny. The eight book series of Exodus Road is also very good, and shows what happens to the Clans when they really piss off the Inner Sphere.

Roar of Honor was my favorite. (it was about ghost bears!)

Nope. I am a web developer after all.

I'm surfing to "broaden my knowledge of current trends in web design." ;)

I'll second that line of *&%^.

;)

Go read

The Tank Lords
&
The Sharp End

By David Drake

Not a mechwarrior book, but still an awsome read if your into future warfare books.

Also, Ranks of Bronze was a really good read too.


But on the MW stories. I can only really recomend Ghost War.

Cheers

I believe DarkSpade means the Jade Pheonix trilogy, and I heartily second that recomendation. It is very easy to find in book stores due to the rerelease and as it is in single paperback form, your getting the trilogy for roughly the price of a single novel. Not bad for the funds conscious (I have to be, most of my money goes to the plastic crack). Also, as some here have already mentioned, Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein is an excellent book. I personally am a huge Heinlein fan, he was one of the definitive authors of science fiction. Why is it great for BT enthusiasts? Right off the bat, when I picked up the new edition, there is a picture of one of the Mobile Infantry battlearmor like things which bears a hell of a lot of resemblance to an Atlas, right down to the skull face. If that isn't enough for you, the book also is the root of the battle armor idea and these things are a great deal like the battle armor of BT. Furthermore, its stuff about military philosophy and strategy is a must for anyone interested in military SciFi (and we all must be to a certain extent, or we wouldn't play MW or CBT, let alone post on a BT forum).

I'll second the recommendations of Starship Troopers, Black Company, the Drake books, and the Heirs of Kerensky, and add the Warrior trilogy (for all the reasons why Liaosies are rat-bastards), the Grey Death Legion trilogy (the very beginning) for the life of a Mercenary outfit, and add The Dragon Roars for a good close look at the Draconis Combine.

Ghost War- I thought it was a great book. The story was good and it was well written. Its a fun read! Over all I would give it a 9.

Call to Arms- Another great book. Over all I would give it a 8.5.

Ruins of Power- I personally enjoyed this book. It had a good story and was interesting. Its a good read. Over all I would give it a 6.5.

Proving Grounds Trilogy- Book 1 was ok, book 2 was good, book 3 was poor. Not one of the better authors, some really bad parts in the books. Personally SW is my faction, I was very disappointed. Over all I would give #1- 5.5, #2- 6.5, #3- 4.

By Temptations and By War- WOW! And I thought the Republic were the good guys! It goes to show Good/Bad, it depends on your perspective. I finished it tonight! It was interesting, and fun. Over all I would say it was a GOOD book. Nice twist too...... you will know what I mean at the end. Over all I would give it a 7.

If your into the game, then I would suggest reading all the books. Some are better than others, the books shed light on why no ROTS are in the new set and why BR and LIAO received so many new pieces. It also explains why the Republic and Liao continue to be played in the story line events.

I'll second that on the Grey Death Trilogy, although they will most likely be hard to find... and in case no one else has clued into this yet, ICEmechs weren't a wizkids invention, they appear in the second book of the Gray Death Legion (and maybe the first one too, I don't recall) ... and the mechs were mainly lights and mediums, with the few heavies really ruling the field... so anyone who wants to read CBT novels, but started out with dark age should feel right at home...

But the 6 core books to read if you read any would be the warrior trilogy and the blood of kerensky trilogy, all by michael stackpole...

Warrior: En Garde
Warrior: Riposte
Warrior: Coupe

Read this if you are interesting in the Swordsworn, Liao, Dragon's Fury or StormHammers, or Kell Hounds

Lethal Heritage
Blood Legacy
Lost Destiny

Read this if you want to know more about the Clans, DF, SS, SH, Kell Hounds or Wolf's Dragoons

Wolves on the Border has the Wolf's Dragoons, Dragon's Fury (Kurita) and the original Bounty Hunter

The Dragon Roars?
I own all but 3 of the around 70 or so books, and I have no idea what book you are reffering to. Did I miss something or are you talking about possibly "Black Dragon" or "Heir to the Dragon"?

As far as the MWDA books go, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed them all. Even the Delrio ones (this is a backtrack on the comments I made before about his trilogy). Some are not as good as others but they are all worth reading. The Delrio ones are as said by a couple people very well written, just not by someone who is fluent in the Battletech universe. Before I actually read them beginning to end I was very negative about them. Now that I have read them I can honestly say that I did enjoy them. And yes I am upset with some of the things that Delrio wrote into the story, just not upset enough any more to hate the series.

As far as the Classic books: anything by stackpole, charrett, Pardoe, Coleman or Bills. Should be at the top of your list.

"Roar of Honor" is my favorite. Also, the trilogy on the Clan invation is good too (not sure waht its called, i think Blood of Karensky or something like that). Lots of backround info, but plenty of action to keep your attention.

:) I have Roar of honer, But never got around to finishing it. It is a very good book, Also I liked the Second DA book......but the first and third.......were very.....not good O_o the new one with the blade redemption was ok, But my problem is 2/3 of the book is rather devoid of combat.

As far as DA fiction goes, you can't go wrong with Loren Coleman.