Author Topic: Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Cannons of Thunder Rock)  (Read 3850 times)

Flieger

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Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Cannons of Thunder Rock)
« on: 20 December 2015, 11:10:28 »
This novel was written by Bernd Perplies and is part of the technically apocryphal series of German novels published by Ulisses-Spiele.

At the beginning of the Fourth Succession War the Screaming Eagles in service of House Davion are given the task to conquer Pleione, which is defended by a battalion of McCrimmons Light Cavalry with the help of an old SLDF fortress. The fortress is named Thunder Rock, and while it is old and mostly abandoned, it has operative Long Tom artillery cannons, albeit low on ammo. So begins the battle for Pleione.

The story was inspired by an entry in the NAIS-Atlas outlining the events, many of the characters are canonical, and there are no clashes with the existing canon (afaik). However what I really liked about the novel is that both sides of the conflict get equal screen time, and both sides are portrayed fairly. There are loyal and competent soldiers fighting for Davion as well as for Liao. A good amount of pages is devoted to character development before the action starts, and I think that is quite refreshing in the BTU although others may have less favourable opinions about it. Anyway, people do not just suddenly start to act stupid because the plot (or the already known result) demands it. This creates a lot of tension: you know for every good move that is made, the opponent will make a good countermove. This kind of tension is particularly important as the set-up is highly conventional. And the unfolding of the plot is very linear in that the attackers slowly wear down the defenders. However I do not criticise that much; sieges are like that and the book aims for a gritty feel. In fact, considering the alternatives, I think I even like it.

So after all this praise, is the book perfect? No. In my opinion there are too many characters for such a ‘small story’, a stronger focus would have helped. Focus in general is sometimes off; the whole chapter with Hanse Davion e.g. was unnecessary both in- and out-universe. With regards to the ‘small story’ I have to say it lacks a bit of the grandiose scale of the Stackpole-novels, but that is complaining on a very high level.

Overall, it is a nice supplement to the existing canon and illustrates that there are still many good stories to be told in the known BTU history.


tl/dr
The book wants to tell the story of a brutal siege and does it well.
4 out of 5 Stars
« Last Edit: 20 December 2015, 11:14:41 by Flieger »

Phalanx

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Re: Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Cannons of Thunder Rock)
« Reply #1 on: 22 December 2015, 20:02:42 »
Isn't this book slated to be released in english?

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DarkISI

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Re: Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Cannons of Thunder Rock)
« Reply #2 on: 23 December 2015, 14:04:46 »
No.
The German books are not slated to be released in Englisch. None of them.
Not even my novel - and I'm not only writing for Ulisses Spiele, but for CGL as well.
German novelist and part time Battletech writer.


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Frabby

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Re: Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Cannons of Thunder Rock)
« Reply #3 on: 23 December 2015, 16:12:59 »
Back in the day, LD Randall Bills had summarily ruled the German-only novels canon. Of course, only a handful were out then, including the first two parts of his own Founding of the Clans trilogy.
It was only Herb Beas' later ruling on canon when he was LD that Bills' ruling was rescinded.
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Eisenwolf

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Re: Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Cannons of Thunder Rock)
« Reply #4 on: 21 May 2016, 08:59:46 »
I recently finished this novel and have to say that I was pretty pleased with it.
The writer was absolutely not biased. Both sides had equal screen time and both had their ups and downs. The military might and competence of the mercs was offset by the cleverness of the capellan defenders.
The story was totally believable and quite interesting, although the outcome was allready known. I would compare it to Embers of War, another novel I recently read, that told us an exciting story even though the endresult was never in question.

Aside from the criticism of Flieger, which I totally agree with, this is an excellent example of a novel that compliments the spine novels of this time period. And in this regard it can easily keep up with most of the canon novels.

I think it is rather sad that it is neither going to be canonized nor translated because, in my mind, the majority of the community miss a chance to read this fine Novel.  :(

beachhead1985

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Re: Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Cannons of Thunder Rock)
« Reply #5 on: 18 September 2016, 08:54:20 »
The german novels seem to cover some very interesting ground, I wish they would release them in a good translation.
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These, in the day when heaven was falling,      Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
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And took their wages, and are dead.             And saved the sum of things for pay.
     
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abou

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Re: Die Kanonen von Thunder Rock (The Cannons of Thunder Rock)
« Reply #6 on: 19 September 2016, 17:51:59 »
A shame it won't be translated. It sounds like a good novel set in my preferred era with interesting development.