Author Topic: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas  (Read 18279 times)

sadlerbw

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #90 on: 21 August 2018, 18:04:51 »
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. 

Then again, I am getting more diabolical in my old age.  So is the knife could be a metaphor or something else. 

You'll just have to wait until next summer to find out.  Same Bat-time - same Bat-channel. 

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Tai Dai Cultist

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #91 on: 21 August 2018, 18:11:34 »
My preferred theorizing on literary devices is Cynthy having become a metaphor for the Inner Sphere.

I think it's fun to imagine we've been foreshadowed a Malvina ilKhan-dom.  One ultimately made temporary by those she abuses and meant to rule. "Chistu's Knife" can factor in as a metaphor for the means to Malvina's end at the hands of the sphereoids :)

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #92 on: 21 August 2018, 20:47:39 »
I prefer to think of the knife as a metaphor for the fact that Malvina's going to be murdered by that knife before the year is out.
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RoundTop

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #93 on: 22 August 2018, 07:43:43 »
<sing>
The life of the khan is ended by the knife..</sing>
No-Dachi has a counter-argument. Nothing further? Ok.
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Decoy

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #94 on: 22 August 2018, 20:34:55 »
Is that why there are so many knife nuts in the BattleTech universe right now?

Colt Ward

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #95 on: 22 August 2018, 21:07:24 »
No . . . its because an enemy cannot push the button with a knife through their hand.



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Decoy

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #96 on: 23 August 2018, 01:23:03 »
*hits the button with his other hand and nukes the complex anyways*

sadlerbw

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #97 on: 23 August 2018, 10:29:49 »
I figure the fine craftsmanship of the blade will inspire in Cynthy a love of artisanal, hand-worked goods. She will start to sneak off to find joy in basket weaving, or perhaps competitive speed-knitting, with the local people. Then one day, while Malvina is eating her morning Angry-O's, she will choke on them and Cynthy will not be there to give her the Heimlich maneuver to save her life having snuck away to be part of a local crafts fair. When she returns to see her tormenter and mother dead, she realizes that the only thing of lasting value in this life are hand-made consumer goods and runs off to join the mercantile Sea Foxes.

fin

Gaiiten

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #98 on: 31 August 2018, 04:39:54 »
A General question, is the layout of these two new novels the new layout standard for BT novels?
They seems to have not as many pages as the old have and how the story is told and unfolded seem to be somewhat rushed.
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Decoy

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #99 on: 31 August 2018, 04:51:16 »
They were both described as Novellas, IIRC.

SCC

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #100 on: 31 August 2018, 05:01:55 »
For best reading experience you want to be using either Caliber or the defunct Mobipocket reader, because I know Mobipocket does and I would be very surprised if Caliber doesn't allow the use of external font styles and whats better then reading a BT book in the BT font in the color scheme of your favorite faction?

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #101 on: 31 August 2018, 08:03:29 »
A General question, is the layout of these two new novels the new layout standard for BT novels?
They seems to have not as many pages as the old have and how the story is told and unfolded seem to be somewhat rushed.

Because, as Decoy notes, they were specifically intended as novellas. In fact, Blaine's story is even kinda-sorta a bit on the long side for a novella.

Going forward, fiction specifically intended as novels will be the length you'd expect--and even a good measure longer than some of the late-era CBT Roc novels, which were published under word counts that were really pretty laughable. "...and then the GDL died. The end."

I know the fiction side of the house is eager to get a chance to stretch their legs, and aware of the need to give customers appropriate bang for their buck. Think of these novellas as appetizers, not dinner.
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Gaiiten

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #102 on: 31 August 2018, 11:39:04 »
Because, as Decoy notes, they were specifically intended as novellas. In fact, Blaine's story is even kinda-sorta a bit on the long side for a novella.

Going forward, fiction specifically intended as novels will be the length you'd expect--and even a good measure longer than some of the late-era CBT Roc novels, which were published under word counts that were really pretty laughable. "...and then the GDL died. The end."

I know the fiction side of the house is eager to get a chance to stretch their legs, and aware of the need to give customers appropriate bang for their buck. Think of these novellas as appetizers, not dinner.

Ah, thank your this .  :)
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Duke

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #103 on: 04 September 2018, 19:38:27 »
I didnt specifically see it mentioned anywhere, but will there be printed/pod versions of these? I know there were some at Gencon that sold out instantly, I just hope those werent the only ones ever. I have every battletech novel that was released (in english anyway) and the collector in my chafes at digital only mainline fiction.

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #104 on: 04 September 2018, 21:53:06 »
I didnt specifically see it mentioned anywhere, but will there be printed/pod versions of these?

As stated in the original announcement, the same print omnibus launched at Gen Con will be available via print-on-demand on or about Oct. 1. As far as I've heard, and as recently as two weeks ago, that was still the plan.

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Duke

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #105 on: 05 September 2018, 03:53:06 »
As stated in the original announcement, the same print omnibus launched at Gen Con will be available via print-on-demand on or about Oct. 1. As far as I've heard, and as recently as two weeks ago, that was still the plan.

Awesome, thanks!

Demon55

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #106 on: 12 September 2018, 22:15:32 »
Where can I get the novelas in hard copy?

Thanks.
D55

Jaim Magnus

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #107 on: 13 September 2018, 07:23:21 »
Where can I get the novelas in hard copy?

Thanks.
D55

Look up two posts.

As stated in the original announcement, the same print omnibus launched at Gen Con will be available via print-on-demand on or about Oct. 1. As far as I've heard, and as recently as two weeks ago, that was still the plan.


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Duke

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #108 on: 03 October 2018, 14:52:51 »
So does anyone have a link to the POD option for this? Its after 10/1...

Duke

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #109 on: 09 October 2018, 14:33:21 »
*crickets*

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #110 on: 09 October 2018, 15:24:54 »
I've inquired, and heard the same. Will ask again tonight.
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Wrangler

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #111 on: 09 October 2018, 17:31:50 »
Is the combined Novellas going be available Print-On-Demand in month or so?
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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #112 on: 09 October 2018, 18:02:21 »
I just said, that’s what I’m going to ask again about.
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bpardoe870

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #113 on: 09 October 2018, 18:14:37 »
I'm just one of the authors - so I have no idea. 

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Mecha-Anchovy

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #114 on: 12 October 2018, 09:09:00 »
Meanwhile I have now gotten around to the novellas, after Shattered Fortress.

I read A Splinter of Hope first, and have yet to get around to Anvil. I was actually going to give Anvil a miss, because it seemed like an entirely Jade Falcon story, but on closer inspection the Lyrans seem to be prominent too, and that's good.

Anyway, my thoughts on A Splinter of Hope...

Generally quite pulpy and fun, the action was exciting, and the plot motored along at a good pace. There were a couple of little editing errors - most notably at one point using 'Calvary' instead of 'Cavalry' (unless there's really a Capellan unit out there named for the hill on which Jesus died) - but for the most part nothing too bad.

Honestly, my one major complaint is that it wasn't long enough. It feels like there's an entire novel's worth of content here. I'm also a bit sad that our viewpoint characters died. I liked Mal, and it would have been nice to read more about her career in the AFFS. She's an interesting idea for a character: descended from Clanners, and feels connected to and/or vaguely idolises a Clan warrior ethic, but nonetheless not a Clanner. I imagine how it might go if she were to meet a real Jade Falcon. Somehow I suspect she'd end up hating them, and wouldn't that be fascinating? Similarly, Eliza's status as a genuine true believer in the Celestial Wisdom made for a nice change from the usual array of Capellan backstabbers, and Lee is good at writing death scenes.

Getting into Julian's head was much-needed, of course, and I think Lee manages to strike a decent balance between writing him as an ordinary person who worries just like anyone, and writing him as someone a bit more professional or regal. It worked for me: he felt quite human, and I'd like to read more about him. Did he appear in any earlier novels? I do hope there's a novel out there of Julian and Callandre's crazy adventures fighting the Falcons.  :)

On to Anvil!

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #115 on: 12 October 2018, 12:25:27 »
Getting into Julian's head was much-needed, of course, and I think Lee manages to strike a decent balance between writing him as an ordinary person who worries just like anyone, and writing him as someone a bit more professional or regal. It worked for me: he felt quite human, and I'd like to read more about him. Did he appear in any earlier novels? I do hope there's a novel out there of Julian and Callandre's crazy adventures fighting the Falcons.  :)

Julian Davion first appeared in the Dark Age novels with Callandre, Sword of Sedition and Fortress Republic.  He was very well written, but this was his very beginnings of his military Career. I think one of the things that was confusing in those novels, that he was always listed as the Commander of the First Davions, but not his actual rank (if i am remembering it right). 

I hope a author will take up the challenge to back fill Julian and Callandre's adventures, but i don't see it happening anytime soon. 
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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #116 on: 12 October 2018, 20:50:26 »
Awww. :(

I want to read about a straitlaced Davion heir and a wild, vengeful mercenary scion rampaging through the Falcon OZ, fighting impossible odds, and constantly escaping by the skin of their teeth. That sounds glorious.

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #117 on: 19 October 2018, 00:11:45 »
[Reposting:]


So, having now finished The Anvil as well, some thoughts...

Broadly speaking I liked A Splinter of Hope more: that novella was a bit higher on characterisation, and had a couple of characters growing throughout. The Anvil is longer, but most of that length is battle scenes. I like a good, exciting battle scene as much as the next person, but they need to be balanced out.

I did quite like the extent to which the Lyrans were portrayed as competent and militarily skilled. Memetic Lyran incompetence has been a problem with that faction for a long time, and is particularly bad in the Dark Age plot, where it seems as though the Commonwealth's role has mainly been to be a punching bag for the Clans. So I definitely appreciated Pardoe going to an effort to make the Lyrans a credible force here. And with only a single 'Lyran recon lance' joke!

I'm genuinely unsure how I'm supposed to feel about Stephanie Chistu or the Jade Falcons. This might be part of why the novella didn't work quite as well for me as the other one. In A Splinter of Hope, it was reasonably clear who you're meant to sympathise with in any given moment: broadly speaking the Davions are the good guys and the Capellans are the bad guys, and while we might understand or empathise with Zhao to an extent, we want her side to lose. In The Anvil, that feels less clear. When Stephanie fights Jasek or Roderick, it's not immediately clear who I'm supposed to be barracking for. Normally I'd think we're supposed to go for the Lyrans - and for most of the novella they are written as the good guys, so to speak - but both battles are written from Stephanie's perspective, and she's generally presented as the 'good' Jade Falcon, in contrast to the moustache-twirling Yaroslav.

So it feels less clear what the work is actually saying. Stephanie is a polite, fair-minded person who doesn't believe in using nuclear weapons, but she's also helping a genocidal maniac prosecute unprovoked wars of aggression, and she clearly endorses Clan aggression. I feel like I am supposed to like her as a person, but also want for her to lose? But that leads to a particular ambivalence when she's fighting Jasek, a character I also like (which surprised me; I haven't read DA novels, but sourcebooks gave me the impression Jasek was a treacherous opportunist).

It's possible that this ambivalence is the point, of course. War is morally complicated, there are good people on both sides, and so on. But this is not for the most part a morally complicated story. Yaroslav is just evil and a jerk. Roderick is just heroic and noble and so on. I can't decide whether the ambiguity occasioned by Stephanie is let down by the rest of the story, or whether the author is trying to do something with Stephanie that the setting and story just can't support.

At any rate, the result is that I finished the novella feeling puzzled rather than satisfied. It's always interesting when I finish a story thinking "I'm not sure what I think of that", but it's also less emotionally involving and satisfying.

What else...

I felt the novella was a bit confused about melee combat. It notes several times that it's taboo for the Clans, which is true, and the Lyrans note that Stephanie seems to be unusual in having a preference for it. However, firstly that seems to conflict with the picture of Stephanie as an honour-bound traditionalist, and secondly there are bits of Stephanie's own internal narration where she engages in melee combat and then feels bad about it. Er, if she feels bad about it, why is her 'mech modified for melee combat?

I like the idea of Roderick's speech, but, alas, Henry V it is not. I don't want to be too judgemental here, because I can't reasonably expect a pulp novella like this to be Shakespeare, but I must confess that I don't think stirring battlefield orations usually include the phrase "I say **** them". Again, nice idea, but didn't quite get there in practice - and the idea of stirring up the troops for a large battle is perhaps undermined by the story's actual resolution.

Also, the Alamo is required reading at the Nagelring? Really?  ???

I mean, it makes sense for classics of Earth military history to be studied, but the Alamo isn't exactly Cannae... I was under the impression that the Alamo wasn't very interesting in terms of military strategy, to make it worthy of study. Plus if the goal was to name a historical conflict in which a force suffered a great loss, but increased their morale in response and rallied to defeat the intruder, wouldn't there be more prominent, more historically relevant examples? Kentares springs to mind, or on the off chance that they reached the Inner Sphere, the death of Nicholas Kerensky.

Anyway, lots of action, good fun, some things I quite liked and a couple of things that I didn't so much, and I just don't know how I'm supposed to feel about the central character.
« Last Edit: 19 October 2018, 00:14:00 by Mecha-Anchovy »

Colt Ward

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #118 on: 19 October 2018, 09:10:10 »
Reposting?  Did this get trimmed?
Colt Ward
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Mecha-Anchovy

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Re: NEW RELEASE: "The Anvil" and "A Splinter of Hope" Novellas
« Reply #119 on: 20 October 2018, 01:54:18 »
Small moderation issue. It's all fixed now.  :)

 

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