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BattleTech Player Boards => Novel and Sourcebook Reviews => Topic started by: Neufeld on 20 January 2012, 05:25:42

Title: Bred for War
Post by: Neufeld on 20 January 2012, 05:25:42
Well, having read Assumption of Risk and Bred for War, I wanted to comment mostly about the latter. (I feel that the former is Stackpole's best so far, with the only problem being the logic of the get Peter killed scheme.)

So, regarding Bred for War, it starts out strong and is quite interesting, but starts to fail a bit toward the end.
There are mainly two problems:
- Morgan ignores to take Ryan into account when he decides on who had Melissa killed.
- Phelan's speech on Morges. You became Khan on your own merits, and it had nothing to do with blackmail? Yeah, right.  ::) Also, Nicholas Kerensky this and Nicholas Kerensky that, you did not know Nicholas Kerensky and what he wanted.  ::)

Another problem is that we are being told parts of what happens in the next Stackpole novel.

Going on, we still have not seen at this point proof from Katherine's point of view that she is guilty of having Melissa killed. That she is ambitious and scheming, yes. Going by the answers I got when I asked about it, I would have expected her to dance in the street and celebrate by now.

Additionally, this was the book where I started to dislike Victor, the Lyons Thumb issue being the main reason.

Finally this book helped me decide my long running ties in faction preference:
Wolf or Falcon -- Falcon
FWL or FS -- FWL

Overall I would say this is an important novel to read, and enjoyable even with the annoyances.

Now the question is what to read next. I am already a bit tired of the Victor vs Katherine story, and the Wolves. As I see it, I have the following alternatives interests me the most:
- The Falcon books.
- Highlander Gambit.
- Double-Blind & Binding Force.
Which ones would you recommend?
Title: Re: Bred for War
Post by: Lysenko on 20 January 2012, 17:36:29
Highlander Gambit is an interesting one. A lot of people disagree with the ending, but hey, what can you do? Either Death Commandos are clones or they're real people that can change or grow. The same can be said about Sun-Tzu Liao. I happen to like "the conclusion of the matter" myself. :)

Plus, the book puts the FS in a somewhat bad light. :)
Title: Re: Bred for War
Post by: Jaim Magnus on 21 January 2012, 11:32:15
I'd say tackle the Highlander Gambit too.  It's a good read.
Title: Re: Bred for War
Post by: phoenixalpha on 21 January 2012, 11:39:40
Highlander Gambit is like a lot of BT novels which shows TPTB changing tack which is that SunTzu is infallible and whilst the CC might not *win*, they definately wont *lose* but everyone else will.

I keep seeing STL thoughout the book like Mr Burns from the Simpsons, going "excellent..." all the time as all his plans come to fruition.