What makes a great BT story?

[Cubby]

Just a thought I've been toying around with the last few days:

To you, what makes for a great BattleTech story?

Note that I'm not asking what particular stories are great (i.e. Jade Phoenix, Warrior Trilogy, Gray Death saga), but what about them does it for you? Beyond the basics of good writing and readability, is there a certain way that 'Mech battles are handled, or characters are presented, or something else, that makes them particularly good?

[Orion]

It rarely happens, but when an author remembers that the game rules are only an abstraction, and not a verbatim description of the universe, then I like the story more.  Some of the battles read like a game synopsis, which really ruins it for me.

I tend to prefer stories based around small units, especially if they also give face time to the techs and paper pushers.

If the hero and/or the unit they belong to are only of average quality, instead of the heroes that can do no wrong, I'll enjoy it more.

Putting in detail on the culture, history, and ecology of the planet they are on, rather than just noting it as the site of the battle, makes it better.

If it has anything to do with the Clans, then it isn't as great. 

[nckestrel]

When the story is about the characters, not the lasers, missiles, armor falling off, etc. 
I also would prefer more epic stories, but there's been some very "local" set stories on Battlecorps that are excellent, so that must not be a requirement..
Less "paladins", more grey.    Paladins in title that do some very grey stuff is fine :).

[Rtifs]

I loved the Stackpole books because of his handling of the characters, even though Victor was a little too good (I hated him and the other “good” characters, Phelan, Ulric, and Natasha K in particular).  I loved the byzantine scheming etc.  Especially when schemes came into direct conflict that had results.  Like the creation of the Chaos March (replace with a double, get caught, boom, Chaos March).  Of course dramas have a tendency to become convoluted over time and collapse under their own weight.  It’s a risk.

Fighting is essential.  But I don’t want a blow-by-blow or a battle report.  It’s enough to present the setting and panoply of a conflict and only zoom in on a decisive moment.  Tolkien’s way of handling the Battle of Pellenor Fields in the Lord of the Rings is a good example of this.  You get a description of the larger battle (overall laying of the siege and the tactical and strategic position of Minas Tirith), and only see the fall of Theoden and the fight between the witch king and Eowyn in any detail.  Really there’s only so many time warrior X can shoot weapon Y before it becomes tedious and my mind starts wandering. 

Finally the battles need to have repercussions for the characters. 

[Charlie Tango]

Characters and their stories.

[Davout73]

I always liked the stories that weren't so lengthy in their "exposition on how things work."  I understand why stackpole had to do it in the Warrior series, but after that...just rankled me.

Dav

[trboturtle]

I always liked the stories that weren't so lengthy in their "exposition on how things work."  I understand why stackpole had to do it in the Warrior series, but after that...just rankled me.

Dav

That's done to get those who have never read a battletech novel before....there's no way of knowing which BT novel is going to be someone's first, so they have to lay the ground work so anyone who's never read a Battletech novel is left confused.

Craig

[GreekFire]

Definitely stories that explore characters and the setting. I'm reading "To Ride the Chimera" for the first time, and it's probably one of the best btech books I've read so far. And that's without a single pewpew mech battle (yet).

[Nav_Alpha]

When the story is about the characters, not the lasers, missiles, armor falling off, etc. 

This really sums it up for me. Blood Avatar copped a lot of flak for not featuring any mechs but it was still a good yarn set in the BT universe. It featured interesting characters, a who-dunnit murder mystery and an interesting setting... oh and it just happened to occur in the Republic of the Sphere in the 3130s.