Author Topic: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!  (Read 1741 times)

trboturtle

  • Freelance Writer
  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4105
  • Erraturi te salutant!
Okay, questions and comments about In the Shadow of the Dragon, post them here! Use Spoilers tags if there's a question about the plot, characters or spoiler comments!

Craig
Author of 32 Battletech short stories including "The Lance Killer," "Hikagemono," "Negotiation," "The Clawing," "Salvage," "The Promise," "Reap What You Sow," "Family Ties," "The Blood of Man," "End of Message," "Heroes' Bridge," "Kurodenkou," "Thirteen," "My Father's Sword," "Evacuation," "Operation Red Lion," "A Matter of Honor," "State of Grace," "Operation Blue Tiger," "A Warrior's Fear," "Shadow Angels," "Murphy's Method," "End of the Road," (IAMTW 2019 Scribe Award nominee!), Two "Tales of the Cracked Canopy: Blind Arrogance," and "Shadows of the Past," "Laws Are Silent," "No Tears," "Three White Roses," and "The Markslaughter Files."
Novels -- Icons of War, Elements of Treason series, "Vengence Games." "In the Shadow of Dragons" (Out now!) and "Poisoned Honor" (WoR #1)

My Blogs!
Battletech:  http://thebattletechstate.blogspot.com/
Other writings: http://trboturtleswritings.blogspot.com/

Kibutsu

  • Master Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 397
Re: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!
« Reply #1 on: 17 July 2024, 08:20:12 »
My copy will be arriving tomorrow. I enjoyed the Elements of Treason series. Really looking forward to reading this one!

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

  • Lieutenant General
  • *
  • Posts: 27284
  • Need a hand?
Re: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!
« Reply #2 on: 18 July 2024, 10:29:34 »
I finished it last night.  This is, I think, the first Battletech novel (vs short fiction) where the main POV character is not a military member.
Warning: this post may contain sarcasm.

"I think I've just had another near-Rincewind experience," Death, The Color of Magic

"When in doubt, C4." Jamie Hyneman

Angrii

  • Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 188
Re: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!
« Reply #3 on: 18 July 2024, 12:18:54 »
I finished it last night.  This is, I think, the first Battletech novel (vs short fiction) where the main POV character is not a military member.

This intrigues me. Reading the synopsis, I'm put in mind of Blood Avatar which, while divisive, I thoroughly enjoyed despite the lack of 'Mech action. We at least know this one will have some of that too.
Welcome to interesting times

Spirit Cat Refugee

  • Master Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 258
  • Still alive
Re: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!
« Reply #4 on: 28 July 2024, 14:12:54 »
I finished it last night.  This is, I think, the first Battletech novel (vs short fiction) where the main POV character is not a military member.

Blood Avatar also had a non-military detective as the main character.

My thoughts.

I finished this book after speed reading it under a week (I have kids, I get about 2 hours a night to read, lol), and I have to say this sits next to Michael Ciaravella's Damocles Sanction as my top BattleTech fiction from the last few years.
"In the Shadow of the Dragon" is about a criminal investigation in the Draconis Combine that quickly spirals into a huge conspiracy threatening the Coordinator herself. If you're like me and have been waiting for fiction that focuses less on the military side of things and more on the civilian and government side, this novel is definitely for you.

The Pros -
- The characters. There was not a single character I felt bored or uninterested in learning. First off there's a great deal of them, from the main detective Blaylock, to the main antagonist. But each of them sounds different, and has a good amount of characterization that makes you either care for or despise them. You actually get into many of their heads and learn what makes them tick, see their flaws, making them feel like flesh and blood rather than just a name actions are attributed to.
- The plot. This is a mystery novel, and it's a good one too! As you read you'll actually be pondering what is going on, what does the shadowy organization actually want. One of the nice things is that on both sides (Combine and Black Dragon) there are multiple perspectives that clash, creating tension about what's actually afoot.
- Dialog: It's fun, but all the characters sound like what you would expect based on their station. You've got your typical hard-edged detectives, your serene wise old swordmasters, your arrogant but cool assassins. You also get to see the personal side of these characters and the different hats they wear. Yori Kurita is one way to the public, another to her few friends.
- Action: This is a novel that manages to balance the action with brevity. You never feel like the battle scenes are turning into a slog that you just want to get through to see what's happening.
- Combine dysfunction. This novel really lets you see just how many uncooperative agencies the Combine government has, and how precarious a Coordinator's position actually is. A military juggernaut held back in some ways by its own bureaucratic mess.
- Hooks: There a number of future plot hooks planted in this novel for where the Combine and these characters can in the future. Nothing is wrapped up and finished, leaving you the opportunity and desire to ponder where Yori, Blaylock, the Black Dragons, and others will go from there.

Criticisms:
- This is a personal taste, I think the epilogue was a tad repetitious of the first scene where we see Yori and Sarah. I think a tense epilogue with Yori going to meet the person she says she will go talk to (Won't spoiler it) and get difficult answers from her would've been a better more gripping ending.
- Just a tiny bit more exposition might have been needed to explain certain Combine societal concepts. We hear about nobles, but how do they work compared to Fed Suns nobles? At the end of the novel when Yori is doling out noble titles, maybe a brief description of what someone gets when they become a baron would've been good.

Otherwise though an excellent novel, highly recommend.
Clan Protectorate

Dmon

  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 635
Re: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!
« Reply #5 on: 31 July 2024, 04:18:04 »
I really enjoyed this one. I feel that this book is what Blood Avatar wanted to be but couldn't pull it off. It also proves that non-military stuff can be done well in the BT universe.

rebs

  • Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 16241
  • Et tu, Brute?
Re: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!
« Reply #6 on: 31 July 2024, 20:19:16 »
Downloading soon.  I vocally enjoyed Icons of War and Elements of Treason: Honor was good too, so let’s see how this one goes. 
Playing Guitar On My YouTube Channel:
Current cover tune: "The Wind Cries Mary" (by Jimi Hendrix)
https://youtu.be/m6a8wZiCsjM?si=0w7tVOgk7yylNv6a

"Thou shalt not create a machine in the image of the human mind." ~ The Orange Catholic Bible, Dune, Frank Herbert

Caesar Steiner for Archon

  • Captain
  • *
  • Posts: 3028
  • Duke-in-Exile of Tamar and Skye
Re: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!
« Reply #7 on: 05 August 2024, 18:53:15 »
Wolves on the Border is, pretty unanimously, hailed as the Shoney's* of BT fiction and a lot of that is due to the political intrigue that Minobu Tetsuhara is trapped in. Did you feel like you were under a lot of pressure by swimming in some of the same thematic waters?

*Note: Shoney's is the Rolls Royce of restaurants -ed


"You went from annoying the writers so badly that they killed Caesar Steiner just to spite you, to becoming one of them." -3rdCrucisLancers

vaderi

  • Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 147
  • Halfbearded Pirate
Re: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!
« Reply #8 on: 13 August 2024, 21:49:38 »
I really enjoyed reading In The Shadow of the Dragon. Seeing the Draconis Combine from a civilian perspective was really interesting.
Steiner, where money and mediocrity meet caring.

trboturtle

  • Freelance Writer
  • Major
  • *
  • Posts: 4105
  • Erraturi te salutant!
Re: In The Shadow of the Dragon Comment and Question Thread!!
« Reply #9 on: 29 August 2024, 14:23:15 »
Wolves on the Border is, pretty unanimously, hailed as the Shoney's* of BT fiction and a lot of that is due to the political intrigue that Minobu Tetsuhara is trapped in. Did you feel like you were under a lot of pressure by swimming in some of the same thematic waters?

*Note: Shoney's is the Rolls Royce of restaurants -ed

No, because the Combine is a bit of a blank space at the time. Yori and Toranaga took up much of the space involving the Combine over the last several years, so I had the freedom to create what I needed.

Craig
Author of 32 Battletech short stories including "The Lance Killer," "Hikagemono," "Negotiation," "The Clawing," "Salvage," "The Promise," "Reap What You Sow," "Family Ties," "The Blood of Man," "End of Message," "Heroes' Bridge," "Kurodenkou," "Thirteen," "My Father's Sword," "Evacuation," "Operation Red Lion," "A Matter of Honor," "State of Grace," "Operation Blue Tiger," "A Warrior's Fear," "Shadow Angels," "Murphy's Method," "End of the Road," (IAMTW 2019 Scribe Award nominee!), Two "Tales of the Cracked Canopy: Blind Arrogance," and "Shadows of the Past," "Laws Are Silent," "No Tears," "Three White Roses," and "The Markslaughter Files."
Novels -- Icons of War, Elements of Treason series, "Vengence Games." "In the Shadow of Dragons" (Out now!) and "Poisoned Honor" (WoR #1)

My Blogs!
Battletech:  http://thebattletechstate.blogspot.com/
Other writings: http://trboturtleswritings.blogspot.com/

 

Register