[Merry]

Sorry to be a bit thick here - my husband is thinking of reading the Battle Tech books but can't figure out which one is the first in the series. He's done a search at Amazon, but couldn't find anything that looked or described a book NUMBER 1.

Can anyone please advise?

Also, are the Amtrak War books any good?

Cheers

[Keyoke]

Hello. =)

First off, the Amtrak wars is different..I read the first two or three, but, at the time I lost interest in them rather quickly..but, that was many years ago, and I was younger. Looking back at them, I think they might be rather good. Friends of mine who have read them have enjoyed them.

As to the Battle Tech Books. Well, tough question.. I dont read them anymore, but, I did read them when FASA published them. The very first BattleTech book was called 'Decision at Thunder Rift.' While I've never played the RPG of this, I am familiar with the universe. This book and it's following (2 more books) have no Clan Mecha.

After that book, I think you can pretty well read them in any order.. A few that I have read, again, older, so I dont if their widely available, but, Wolves on the Border was great, Sword and the Dagger also very good.

And, finally, two trilogies that stuck out in my head as just great books are the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy. Wicked trilogy.. First book is called Lethal Heritage.. This series deals with the coming of the clans.

Also, Warrior Trilogy is good as well...Warrior: En Garde is the first book. Both trilogy were written by Michael Stackpole.

Hope this helps.

Keyoke

[Merry]

Thanks Keyoke, my hubbie is as we speak running to the book shop to order the first one!
Merry

[Keyoke]

Not a problem. Their are a ton of BattleTech books, so, it's really hard to figure out where to start.

I havent read many of the news one, but, alot of them deal with the Clans.. So, if you do get into those, read Blood of the Kerenzky first by STackpole (Lethal Heritage book1)

Keyoke

[Merry]

Once again, many thank

Kipper (the hubbie)

[johnny]

might i also suggest the gray death lefion books, that is d at thunder rift( book 1), mercenary star (book 2) and the price of glory (book 3)( i think you would have to look in the other two books to see, i haven't read them in years and am about 5miles away from my books)
the amtrak wars are great, really good so good i read them about 5 times and as it is summer i will read them again just for the fun of it.
patrick tilley the writer of the amtrak wars also did , lets see if i can remember.
XAN, about a space praying mantis things invading earth (about a 7out of 10)
STARWARTZ a ex-marine commando, r.a.f guy etc is tasked to do a mission for a intra- galaxy big shot, funny and interesting ( about a 7or 8 out of ten)
MISSION jesus has come back and do something ( i never read that one, i should really, i read all the rest)
FADE-OUT earth is 'attacked' but a very old culture from on earth it's self(6 out of ten)

the amtrak wars are 9.75 out of 10 ( only because book 7 hasn't being writen yet..

hope that helps
johnny

[JainFarstrider]

I cant help with the battletech books, but I can answer your second question.

The Amtrak War Books are very good. Like Keyoke, I stopped after the first 3 books and later returned to the world and finished the series and I must say that I am glad I did. I really enjoyed the Iron Master(Asian/Samurai) culture that is introduced in the 3rd book(where I stopped originally) and some of the characters in the series are very well written.

I am near the end of the sixth book having recently put it down to read some other books I have had my eyes on for a while now. The Steve Brickman character was well done IMO as was Cadillac, whose jealously was well written. These books are definatly worth picking up and are a great read.

Later this week I will go back and finish the sixth book. After that I may go back and read the entire thing over again as I have a lot of time on my hands right now, it being summer and all.

I hope I've helped you decide on whether or not to try the books.

[Kilroy]

Okay... Let me handle this. I own about 60 Battletech novels and a multitude of other related things.

Where to start: Sword and the Dagger
-that's the first novel but it's extremely hard to find.
After that: To get a bead on the series all you really have to read is everything by Michael Stackpole. They are the core of the series and easily the best written books out of all of them. The Warrior Trilogy is probably where you will start, it is the first major storyline and it lets you in on what happened in Sword and Dagger.
After that the main storyline (more or less) is played out in
Heir to the Dragon
Blood of Kerensky Trilogy
Assumption of Risk
Natural Selection
Bred for War
Malicious Intent
Twilight of the Clans Series (Seven books)
FedCom Civil War (in various books)

The main storyline has the best written novels. Taking from them, you can read some of the side stories depending on you interest in the faction. The best IMOare:
Gray Death Legion Trilogies
Jade Phoenix Trilogy
I Am Jade Falcon
Cappellan Solution

The Battletech world is saturated with stories. As a core to start you follw a couple rules.
1) The Main storyline first
2) Clans make good stories
3) Best writers Michael Stackpole, Loren Coleman, Blaine Lee Pardoe, Robert Thurston, & Thomas Gressman

The Newer Mechwarrior: Dark Age Novels are not nearly as good as the Classics. They have many good ideas, really good story ideas, but have a real lack in writing talent. The Main storyline isn't clear and things feel drawn out, but I still read on.

Know Battletech, Love Battletech, Live Battletech.

[johnny]

thanks kilroy as o also need to read the battle mech books because i'm running out od books to read, i'm in the library now so i'll print the list and get reading
johnny

[werebear72]

hi merry in the battle tech books the first 1 is the grey death legion and the amtrak wars is good but some times a little bit long winded but all the amtrak books are great