Which Book/Series out of the 5 would you recommend the most?

[Star Captain]

Which of the 5 books below do you recommend the most?

Redemption Rites
No greater Honor (All of the Eridani light horse chornicles books in one)
The Proliferation Cycle
Blood of kerensky
Founding of the Clans

Feel free to tell about each book as well, no spoilers please. Also feel free to suggest other books as well! :thumbsup:

[DarkISI]

No Greater Honor - Because one of the stories is mine. Going for simple reasons here :D

[Atlas3060]

My recommendations are probably going to need context. Are we dealing with a reader who knows the universe already?

Still here's my recommends at certain times:
Redemption Rites: Read this only if you've already read Wolves on the Border. It's a sequel to a century old story. You'll feel more of an impact on character names due to that.

Founding of the Clans: Read this if you already have an idea of what the Clans are now because seeing how it all started really is a treat of dissonance to a degree.

No greater Honor (All of the Eridani light horse chornicles books in one)
The Proliferation Cycle
Blood of kerensky

These three I'll recommend because the first two are collections of stories and they're simple in and out enjoys. Proliferation being very important given how those stories depict how the Battlemech technology started seeping into a nation.
Blood of Kerensky, the trilogy, is a good read for someone new to the scene. However if you're looking for stories more modern then this can take a backseat for a while.
As much as IlClan is the final answer back to the Tukayyid moment, aside from that the Clans themselves aren't really the same ones as those in the BoK trilogy when you stare at them hard enough.

[kallison]

Redemption Rites: Read this only if you've already read Wolves on the Border. It's a sequel to a century old story. You'll feel more of an impact on character names due to that.

I mean, if you're going to say that, say 'Read Wolves on the Border, and then maybe Wolf Pack, but definitely Redemption Rift and and Hour of the Wolf first" since it literally picks up the page after Hour ends.

To the OP, I think those are all valid choices, but they're wildly different. Like Atlas3060 said, kinda need some context. Founding of Clans is great if you 1) like historical BT stories and 2) like the Clans. Same historical bent with Proliferation Cycle.

I'd probably put Proliferation Cycle last, just because while it's about 'Mechs, they're not much 'Mech stories.

[Star Captain]

My recommendations are probably going to need context. Are we dealing with a reader who knows the universe already?

Still here's my recommends at certain times:
Redemption Rites: Read this only if you've already read Wolves on the Border. It's a sequel to a century old story. You'll feel more of an impact on character names due to that.

Founding of the Clans: Read this if you already have an idea of what the Clans are now because seeing how it all started really is a treat of dissonance to a degree.

No greater Honor (All of the Eridani light horse chornicles books in one)
The Proliferation Cycle
Blood of kerensky

These three I'll recommend because the first two are collections of stories and they're simple in and out enjoys. Proliferation being very important given how those stories depict how the Battlemech technology started seeping into a nation.
Blood of Kerensky, the trilogy, is a good read for someone new to the scene. However if you're looking for stories more modern then this can take a backseat for a while.
As much as IlClan is the final answer back to the Tukayyid moment, aside from that the Clans themselves aren't really the same ones as those in the BoK trilogy when you stare at them hard enough.

Yea i am quite familiar with the Battletech lore and universe. I have only read one Battletech book, it is the Trial By Chaos (Really good book by the way!)

[Atlas3060]

I mean, if you're going to say that, say 'Read Wolves on the Border, and then maybe Wolf Pack, but definitely Redemption Rift and and Hour of the Wolf first" since it literally picks up the page after Hour ends.

I got my Redemptions mixed up it seems after I got done posting.
Rift is more of the sequel to Wolves on the Border.
Also yeah good comparison of the historical echo between Rites and Wolf Pack, took me a hot minute to remember how all that felt familiar.

I will say though Hour of the Wolf, as much as it did spark the catalyst for the Dragoons going all hellbent, quite honestly that's pretty much summed up in the first couple of chapters of Rites and we're going deep into the fallout from there. Hour of the Wolf is a loooooonnggg novel for something as "small" as what happens to the Dragoons there.

[Star Captain]

I am a bit confused? Does Redemption Rites have a prequel/s?

[Orwell84]

I am a bit confused? Does Redemption Rites have a prequel/s?

"Redemption Rift" is a direct prequel, written by the same author and featuring some of the same characters. It takes place about a dozen years prior to "Redemption Rites".

Before that, "Wolves on the Border" and "Wolf Pack" are Wolf's Dragoons stories during the previous century. "Wolves on the Border", IMHO, is still one of the best BT novels and makes a good intro to the setting. The right mix of 'Mech combat, compelling characters and just enough snippets outside of the protagonists' story to give a good taste of a wider universe to explore.

[five_corparty]

No Greater Honor - Because one of the stories is mine. Going for simple reasons here :D

And two are mine so that's THREE great reasons!! hahahaha

(I -will- add that, as an anthology spread across the whole of BTech's timeline, its's actually a great representation of the different eras, while everything else is more focused in time)

[Elmoth]

Intro books to the sertting (novella wise, I know you are knowledgeable on the setting) are wolves on the border and heir to the dragon.
I would avoid the stackpole Warrior books. They are interesting in that they are the setting, but they are pulpy in the BAD sense of the term, with caoonish characters and dared writing. Good for their moment, not so good 30 years later. At least for me.
Avoid anything by Blaine Lee Pardoe.

Anything by Szmetzer will be at least acceptable if not outright good. I just read Redemption rift and Redemption Rites back to back. Good duo. the second ones needs you to know about the battle of terra, but as long as you know what the dragoons did there (die as cannon fodder, basically, adter Marotta Kerensky of clan wolf convinced them to be act dumb as a shoe) you are good to go.

Short story books for the BT universe are always good. Not all stories are equally good, of course, but their vignette format plays well with th setting. In  this sense the Shrapnel ezines and the BattleCorps anthologies are also an option. They are fairly cheap if you buy back isuees, like 3 or 4 bucks each. In that same line, the Eridani Light horse is probably good, but I have not read it.

[Atlas3060]

"Redemption Rift" is a direct prequel, written by the same author and featuring some of the same characters. It takes place about a dozen years prior to "Redemption Rites".

Before that, "Wolves on the Border" and "Wolf Pack" are Wolf's Dragoons stories during the previous century. "Wolves on the Border", IMHO, is still one of the best BT novels and makes a good intro to the setting. The right mix of 'Mech combat, compelling characters and just enough snippets outside of the protagonists' story to give a good taste of a wider universe to explore.

Exactly this, I'm sorry if in my ramblings I caused confusion there Star Captain.
Fact of it is, some Dragoon books feel like a "historical sequel" of sorts when you read earlier books of them.
The infighting, the loss, the betrayals, the coming together, and the rebuilding.
A lot of Dragoon stories are good examples that though history doesn't repeat itself, it does love humming the same musical tune here and there.

That's what I was trying to convey there. In those stories you'll see a lot of established names, which reminds you of characters from a century ago and the books themselves even go out of their way sometimes to remind the reader of such.

I like that about not only Dragoon stories, but Battletech overall. It's not just "Hey we're moving on to a thing" but rather "this moment was years in the making all because of these folks and their decision...."

[Geg]

I am a bit confused? Does Redemption Rites have a prequel/s?

Divided We Fall and Redemption Rift are prequels.