Who planned this!?

[Trenchknife]

Code: [Select]

This is probably going to sound rather critical...and yes, I think I mean it that way.  I am planning on being critical in nature and not just argumentative. 
First Point: this is about the Dark Age novels...be forewarned

Second Point (Main): Who did the planning for this series of books...and what the heck was their goal?  Was it just as a back drop for clicky-tech? 

Third Point (Side shot...not really key/germane): After reading Flight of the Falcon I have a desire to have my GMs name their NPCs Tara...just so I can off them in new and interesting manners.  Is this just me?

[worktroll]

Question: how far into the MWDA books have you gotten? I've personally found that the first ten or so are not crash hot, and have a different 'feel' to the mainline Coleman/Bills BT novels.

However, from "Sword of Sedition" onwards the quality (again, IMHO) improves markedly, and the 'feel' returns to what I was looking for - the mix of Sphere-spanning arcs and low-level action. Plus it doesn't hurt to see the RotS gradually revealed as far greyer (dare I say blacker) than the initial press some 10 years ago painted it.

Net advice: Read the first 10 or so, and forget'em. Then move on to the good stuff.

As to who planned the story arcs for WizKids - some guys called Beas, Bills and the like ... ;)

W.

[Trenchknife]

Question: how far into the MWDA books have you gotten? I've personally found that the first ten or so are not crash hot, and have a different 'feel' to the mainline Coleman/Bills BT novels.

I've read through the first four or so...at least up to the one where a certain Paladin defeated his enemy with a Call Lightning spell and the use of his Divine Medium Laser Focus.  I promptly put that down and have been on hiatus till now.  I have just read through Flight of the Falcon and the book prior to it...Lies of 'something or other'. 

Though not as bad as the Magical Paladin book, 'Falcon seemed...too...too...you know, I just don't really know what word I'm looking for.   The White-Hatted Taras bothered me with their simplicity and apparent ability to accomplish anything with the right amount of deus ex...  I was VERY disappointed by the way Aleks Hazen was offed and the entire potential of the Twin Hazen storyline dumped. 

However, from "Sword of Sedition" onwards the quality (again, IMHO) improves markedly, and the 'feel' returns to what I was looking for - the mix of Sphere-spanning arcs and low-level action. Plus it doesn't hurt to see the RotS gradually revealed as far greyer (dare I say blacker) than the initial press some 10 years ago painted it.

Net advice: Read the first 10 or so, and forget'em. Then move on to the good stuff.

Well, I've worked my way through most of them and I think I'll call it 'good enough', and now I'm going to move on and hope for better.  Which is what I hear it becomes. 

As to who planned the story arcs for WizKids - some guys called Beas, Bills and the like ... ;)

W.

Geeze....THOSE guys AGAIN!?   :))

[JadeHellbringer]

Aleks' death never sat right with me either. And the reason is simple. The guy is in a Gyrfalcon- and from the book, as well as the dossiers for the MWDA figures, we know this Mech carries twin ER large lasers and twin Ultra AC-2 (or LB-2X, depending on the particular version). It's very reminiscient of a smaller, faster, jumping Rifleman in it's layout- and the same idea, it's not really something you want getting in a fistfight, what with it's ability to reach out 25 hexes or so and slap it's target around.

So, with such a massive range advantage over... well, almost ANYTHING... what exactly made Aleks think the best idea was to not only get into a slapfight with his target, but to get right up in the face of a Mech packing an AXE? Almost any other Mech, and maybe you can make some kind of argument, but a HATCHETMAN? Really?

If that's the smartest the Jade Falcons can breed in the 3130s, maybe it's time to pack it in and glom onto a Great House for protection. It sure worked for the Cats and Wolves, after all.

[Trenchknife]

Aleks' death never sat right with me either. And the reason is simple. The guy is in a Gyrfalcon- and from the book, as well as the dossiers for the MWDA figures, we know this Mech carries twin ER large lasers and twin Ultra AC-2 (or LB-2X, depending on the particular version). It's very reminiscient of a smaller, faster, jumping Rifleman in it's layout- and the same idea, it's not really something you want getting in a fistfight, what with it's ability to reach out 25 hexes or so and slap it's target around.

So, with such a massive range advantage over... well, almost ANYTHING... what exactly made Aleks think the best idea was to not only get into a slapfight with his target, but to get right up in the face of a Mech packing an AXE? Almost any other Mech, and maybe you can make some kind of argument, but a HATCHETMAN? Really?

If that's the smartest the Jade Falcons can breed in the 3130s, maybe it's time to pack it in and glom onto a Great House for protection. It sure worked for the Cats and Wolves, after all.

Yeah, this is the same pilot that EXPERTLY played the most lethal single combat 'MechWarrior that Clan Jade Falcon had to date by out maneuvering her and chopping up the ice block she was standing on so that it whapped her upside her 'Mech's head so hard it knocked her out. 

I blame it on the apparent application of Stoopyd Pillz (TM).   #P

[Dread Moores]

Granted his death could have been written with a little more attention to detail. I always enjoyed the repercussions of his death though, and what it went on to create.

[Trenchknife]

Granted his death could have been written with a little more attention to detail. I always enjoyed the repercussions of his death though, and what it went on to create.

Hopefully, I will as well.

[Snake Eyes]

I've read through the first four or so...at least up to the one where a certain Paladin defeated his enemy with a Call Lightning spell and the use of his Divine Medium Laser Focus.

??? Fer real????

[Trenchknife]

I've forgotten the who or the why, but I specifically remember reading the culmination of the battle being the RotS Paladin firing his medium laser over the head of his mortal enemy's mech into a thundercloud over the battle.  The lighting then strikes down the path of ionization and hits his enemy's 'Mech in the head.

[Gracus]

PPCs, it can take.  Lightning, no.

[Jaim Magnus]

Ah, but that was the Proving Ground trilogy and full of shenanigans.

[Trenchknife]

Ah, but that was the Proving Ground trilogy and full of shenanigans.

Is THAT what it was?  I think I'd blanked the whole trilogy from my mind...sort of like the amnesia that occurs when something really traumatic happens to you.  :P

[Dread Moores]

Honestly, I don't think I really enjoyed any of the Dark Age books until By Temptations and By War. They picked up quickly after that, and with the exception of Heretic's Faith and the Diamond Shark one, I think my interest grew with each one.

[Trenchknife]

That seems to be the consensus from everyone I've talked to about it.  I'm looking forward to enjoying the fiction again.

[Stockus13]

Surrender you dreams = amazing

A Bonfire of Worlds is sweet as well!

[Lorcan Nagle]

I've only read the first 3 or 4 Dark Age books (and bonfire of worlds)so far, but I thought Ghost War was passable and A Call to Arms was very good.  And then I read The Ruins of Power and cried.

[Your Name Is]

@Trenchknife: I just thought I'd point out that using modern technology...

We HAVE 'called down the lightning' with lasers.


((I put this in the wrong thread  ;D )

[Trenchknife]

Sure, that's perfectly acceptable...my problem is that it was...well...just bad.  I have no problem with luck helping out, maybe even smartly using your environment, but C'MON!

[Mendou]

I never got through the first trilogy, despite the Highlanders being my MWDA faction. After the first two MWDA novels, the writing and plotting for the trilogy was a major step backwards. Plus, the writer was obviously not familiar with the concept of Battlemechs (I don't care how much of a melee-combat machine the Hatchetman is, it should NOT be able to somersault!), not with the idea of hair colors (according to MWDA fluff, Tara Campbell had strawberry-blonde hair, which our esteemed writer interpreted as "auburn hair dyed platinum blonde"). The trilogy (and the next book in the series) are still stacked by my bed waiting for me to get back to reading them. Maybe in a decade or two, if I run out of other reading material (full disclosure: I'm a librarian and in a book club).

[roosterboy]

not familiar with the concept of Battlemechs (I don't care how much of a melee-combat machine the Hatchetman is, it should NOT be able to somersault!)

Not that it really makes a difference for your point, but it was a Pack Hunter, not a Hatchetman.

not with the idea of hair colors (according to MWDA fluff, Tara Campbell had strawberry-blonde hair, which our esteemed writer interpreted as "auburn hair dyed platinum blonde")

That's not a big deal. Her hair as a child is described as "reddish-blond". It's not unusual for the hair of children, especially those born with blond hair, to darken as they age, even to a brownish hue. If Tara's natural hair color as an adult is auburn, she could easily have had reddish-blond hair as a young kid.

[Mendou]

It has been a few years since I read them, so the details are a bit fuzzy. Not that I'm going to go back to them and refresh my memory; I have too much expensive stuff lying around for me to safely throw the novel across the room in frustration......

[Arthinas]

I've only read the first 3 or 4 Dark Age books (and bonfire of worlds)so far, but I thought Ghost War was passable and A Call to Arms was very good.  And then I read The Ruins of Power and cried.

Yeah...that's as far as I got into the Dark Age. I read Ghost Knight and thought it was pretty decent. A Call to Arms was also pretty good, and I was starting to feel hopeful. Then I picked up The Ruins of Power.

Never even got half way through it. It was just...eugh.

[Dread Moores]

Skip to about Scorpion Jar or Fortress Republic. I was quite a bit happier when I did.

[joechummer]

Honestly, I don't think I really enjoyed any of the Dark Age books until By Temptations and By War. They picked up quickly after that, and with the exception of Heretic's Faith and the Diamond Shark one, I think my interest grew with each one.

Which book is the "Diamond Shark" one? (and I think you mean Sea Fox...?  ;D)

[Jaim Magnus]

Which book is the "Diamond Shark" one? (and I think you mean Sea Fox...?  ;D)

'Hunters of the Deep'  DA book 12