Based on my earlier
posting in another thread, here's my overview and review of the German-only BattleTech novels by FanPro and later Ulisses. It seems no new novels will be forthcoming as of 2018.
I think there is a notable difference in style between American and German pulp fiction. While especially Stackpole novels suffer from what I call the "Batman syndrome" (lone superhero who can do no wrong makes everybody else look dumb, and reality always bends around him so that he can conveniently solve all problems solo), novels by German authors tend to have flawed heroes who may fail on their own; typically, a team of protagonists working together is required to succeed, or a multitude of fleshed-out characters is used to show a given situation/conflict from several sides without painting it all black and white. German novelists also seem to be more comfortable with poor luck, mishaps and failure even for main characters, casual sex, and killing off characters (perhaps because they have more characters to begin with).
A word on Canon: Randall Bills, when he was Line Developer before Herb took over in August 2007, had declared the German novels canon in his "Ask the Precentor Martial FAQ" PDF that used to be downloadable from the official forum. Herb later rescinded that ruling during his tenure as Line Developer, by defining Canon as the sum of all publications against which new material is fact-checked; he expressly excluded the German novels from that list.
The German-exclusive novels can roughly be divided into five groups:
- The
Great Game Cycle of loosely connected Star League novels by various authors;
- the
Bear Cycle by Arous Brocken;
- the
Griskan Orlov Cycle, also by Arous Brocken;
- the
Andurien Wars novels by Bernard Craw;
- and the rest, a couple of other novels by various authors and set in various eras.
For convenience, I'll group them in this fashion in this review instead of publication order.
(For a list of novels in publication order, especially the German-only novels, see this
Sarna article. Convenietly, each and every German novel has its own article complete with plot summary written by my humble self.)
Star League novelsI call these the "Silmarillion of BattleTech": They're set around the year 2600, in the distant past of the standard setting, and depict characters and events that are just history to the characters we've known so far - and the facts and continuity are a bit wonky at times. The authors had to work off the sometimes faulty or contradictory history sections of the old house books before CGL later revisited the Star League era and cleaned house. Nothing that couldn't be fixed though.
Wahnsinn und Methode / Madness and Method (FanPro, 2004; author Michael Diel) - A Royal Black Watch company is sent to Icar (in the former RWR) for training maneuvers and gets caught up in the planetary governor's dodgy dealings. Framed for attacks on civilians and subsequently hunted by the local military, they go to ground until they find proof of governor's dealings with House Kurita. Big final battle where that proof turns the militia. Lots of 'Mech action with a thin, somewhat contrived storyline and the obligatory tragic death of a main character.
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Über dem Gesetz / Above the Law (FanPro, 2005; author Michael Diel) - A James Bond novel right down to martinis and frolicking in the pool with the pretty Kurita spygirl in the end. Protagonist David Gibbs has to solve a murder that never actually took place, and is set up to (unknowingly) track down and kill the murderers of Shandra Noruff-Cameron (whose assassination was covered up). Agent Gibbs essentially fails to solve this case though he does end up killing all four supposed perpetrators. During a later follow-up mission Gibbs pieces together what really happened, what information was withheld from him and what his mission was really about. Very little 'Mech action, but lots of Star League era politics and intrigue including the murder of Barton Avellar (by mad Leonard Kurita after a political falling-out) and Leonard Kurita (by recurring character Tetsuo Yatomo, on orders of House Kurita who feel Leonard is unfit to rule), and even an extended cameo of Cassie DeBurke as a minor character. I liked it.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Note: When CGL later published
Historical: Reunification War, Shandra Noruff-Cameron's profile includes the notion that "foul play" may have been involved in her death. I think this is a nod to this novel.
Früchte voll Bitterkeit / Fruits (full) of Bitterness (FanPro, 2006; authors Erik Schreiber & Hermann Ritter) - In the FWL a megalomaniac sect leader invokes an unrealistic and overcomplicated mega shell game to abduct a Marik scion to set himself up as the hero of the day and thus somehow further his goals (or maybe just be a moustache-twirling villain). A group of juvenile BattleMech fans help some washed up militia officers to fight him and his cronies with a BattleMech hand-built from spare parts in a garage. Ugh. That's what it says on the back cover, and it's a perfectly accurate summary. And despite the setup sounding like an unfunny
Galaxy Quest-style fan wank, the situations and characters work much better than I anticipated. I almost (well, almost) liked the book. The story may sound stupid but was executed fairly well. My hat is off to the authors who made something solid out of a terrible premise. Only, the sole 'Mech featured wasn't invented until after the story according to the MUL, and appears in a configuration that canonically doesn't exist. If you simply assume the 'Mech model was in error and the story wasn't really about a
Clint then it's okay.
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
In Ungnade / (Fallen) In Disgrace (FanPro, 2007; author Chris Hartford) - Another english-language manuscript (besides the first two
Clangründer novels by Randall Bills) that was translated and published in German. The manuscript was later revised and corrected with up-to-date facts on the Star League era, and published via BattleCorps as
Fall from Grace in late 2008. This trumps the earlier German edition; the novel is just mentioned here for completeness' sake. It chronicles Rhean Marik's tragic struggle as unwilling head of the Free Worlds League until she is ousted from office. Did you know there's a line of Marik-Davions out there?
My rating (for what it's worth): 4 out of 5 stars.
En Passant (FanPro, 2007; author Michael Diel) - Subtitled "Shadow War I" and announced as the first part of a trilogy though no sequel was published so far.
Plot similarities with Diel's earlier novel
Über dem Gesetz: Alexander Davion was murdered on - guess whose? Right: mad Leonard Kurita's orders. MIIO department director Susan McEvedy, who was responsible for his safety, takes it very personal. She keeps the murder secret (a natural death is generally assumed) and begins a private agent war, against the ISF against the will and without the knowledge of her superiors. It spins way out of control, to the point of McEvedy having MIIO operatives killed to cover up her lies to her superiors, and the book ends with the tension between FedSuns and Draconis Combine erupting into a naval space battle in a neutral system, drawing in Star League forces. Ends with the line "To be continued".
My rating: Pensive; in an earlier review I gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars but I had a change of mind and would now rate it 4 out of 5 on the presumption that the story continues, subsequent books keep up the pace and don't drop the ball on the narrative.
Note: According to Ulisses Spiele they are in contact with the author and hope to work with him on future novels; we may see a continuation of this book yet. (Update: Nothing has been forthcoming and Ulisses apparently let the BT novel line run out in 2018.)
Royal Flush (FanPro, 2008; author Carolina Möbis) - The planet McGehee and even the entire Draconis March is seceding from the Federated Suns. House Kurita jumps at the chance to invade the nascent state while they're not yet a Star League member and thus defenseless, while House Davion refuses to accept the secession. A Davion garrison that, unawares of the ongoing secession, arrived on McGehee to a rather cold welcome begins a guerilla war against the Kurita occupation following the attack on the planet.
Most of the story isn't too bad, but help me remember... when, how and why did the Draconis March secede from the FedSuns? Is this another book that was supposed to get a sequel to conclude the story which never materialized?
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Clangründer: Traum / Clan Founder: Dream (FanPro, 2006; author Randall Bills) - The sequel to
Fouding of the Clans: Fall from Glory; english version announced as
Founding of the Clans: Visions of Rebirth, but unpublished so far.
Many people were apparently irked by Andery Kerensky, feeling he was a whining sissy in the first novel. Well it gets worse here. Through the eyes of Andery this novel covers events from 2802-2815, Nicholas Kerensky's Second Exodus and the formation of the Clans. Andery doesn't actually do anything besides feebly trying to resist being pulled along in his brother's machinations. We see how Andery unwittingly establishes "Aff" in Clan terminology, get more proof that Nicholas Kerensky was a murderous sociopathic nutcase, and those who really needed it get confirmation that "Jennifer Winson" was also "Jes Cole" and she is just as creepy as Nicholas.
My rating: 2 out of 5 stars.
Note: This book's canonicity status is a bit unclear. Published in its German translation only so far, it would normally be apocryphal like the others but Herb's ruling was ambigously worded: "Computer games and the material printed only in Germany (with the exception of the Founding of the Clans novels by Randall Bills) are not considered canonical." That may be read to mean
Clangründer: Traum is actually fully canonical. I think the CGL authors and core factcheckers also got to read the original (english-language) manuscript, effectively treating it as fully canon.
Note 2: I've heard a rumor to the effect that the novel was not only translated, but also partly rewritten prior to publication in Germany. I mention this because, if true, it may mean the German print novel includes changes from the original manuscript.
Note 3: As part of the Clan Invasion Kickstarter, a (re-)release of the entire Clangründer trilogy was promised (in english). I spoke with Randall Bills about this at the Spiel Essen games fair in 2019, and he said he and the editorial team were going over the manuscripts for parts 1 and 2 again and making changes, so it's not simply a question of taking the existing manuscript and publishing it; book 3 still needs to be written and apparently only exists as an outline.
Bear CycleThis series by Arous Brocken chronicles the adventures of George, trueborn to a Leonard-West sibko in Clan Nova Cat, who ends up as a mercenary leader in the Inner Sphere. While these books generally got favorable reviews in Germany, personally I'm a bit torn. The stories as such are (mostly) good, and there are many fresh ideas here. But the writing isn't always top notch and often goes into unneccessary detail about unimportant things, with many points that would get flagged by factcheckers. Also, the author is extensively using scenes from BT computer games and names of real people associated with BT, which doesn't always sit right with me.
Katze unter Bären / Cat among Bears (FanPro, 2006) - Bear Cycle I. Nova Cat warrior George, notable for his skills as a scout and pilot of light 'Mechs, narrowly passes his Trial of Position under very unusual circumstances (the trial grounds are overrun by bandits during the trial). Shortly afterwards he is taken as
isorla by the Ghost Bears and becomes something of a
ristar.
It's interesting to compare George and his story to the
Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy and Aidan Pryde. Although largely a likeable protagonist, George's alien mindset and his disregard for human life is shown fairly well. In one scene, for example, while in a WorkMech he improvises an anti-Elemental flamer from a blowtorch and detonates a gas line to kill attacking Elementals... inside a hangar full of techs. In the debriefing it is mentioned that his action killed more techs than enemy fire did but nobody really takes offense.
What I found equally funny and distracting is that the author actually used the intro cinematics for the MechWarrior 2 computer game as well as MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy as scenes within the book. Also, some character names are references to BattleTech authors (such as introducing a tech named Ardath and then a couple of pages later one Mayhar Gurdel).
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Clanwächter / Clan Watchers (FanPro, 2007) - Bear Cycle II. George is posted to the Inner Sphere and attains a command position, where he is somewhat swamped by administrative tasks that he isn't very apt or well-trained for. As it turns out the Clan Watch is actively stirring up trouble with IS forces to keep the conflict going even after Tukayyid. Investigating into their agenda, George gets into trouble (and even a fight) with the Watch.
This novel has a very intriguing premise, as the Clan Watch got about zero screen time so far. In this respect, it is rather well-done. But there are a few things that make me give it a low rating: A factchecking snafu, as one part of the storyline hinges on the (false) presumption that you can scan and track where an outgoing JumpShip is jumping to, and thus follow them; and the author got recharge times badly wrong, having ships jump far too often. Even when taking quickcharging LF batteries into consideration the ships cannot possibly make jumps in such a quick succession. Worst of all, after building up to George discovering some mysterious Watch operation the story remains unresolved and unexplained: Instead of finding out what exactly the Watch is doing, George is overcome by enemy forces and captured at the end of the book, terminating his investigation. I didn't understand if that was pure tough luck, or if he was somehow set up by his antagonists in the Watch. Or what the Watch operations on Setubal and Mannedorf were all about.
My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Mission Kiamba (FanPro, 2007) - Bear Cycle III. After they captured George, the Doom Angels subunit of the Devil's Dents mercenary regiment ends up stranded on the Clan Smoke Jaguar-held world of Kiamba, with two wrecked DropShips and no JumpShip. The desperate mercenaries cook up a devious plot to dupe the local population into believing they were sent by the Draconis Combine to support an uprising against the Jaguars. This diversion is supposed to allow the mercs to fix one of their DropShips and escape on a rescue JumpShip sent by their parent unit. They know and accept that the insurgents will get slaughtered, and even actively see to it that they aren't too successful. George, desperate to remain in the Warrior caste, actively helps his captors and eventually becomes a member of the unit.
Interesting story. I didn't really root for the merc protagonists though, who deliberately sacrifice hapless locals and essentially commit a number of crimes including outright murder.
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Erster Kontrakt / First Conract (Ulisses, 2013) - Bear Cycle IV. These are essentially two shorter stories back-to-back.
The decimated Doom Angels return to Outreach with "George Bear" now a respected member. As it turns out, the other subunits of the Devil's Dents were mauled even worse in their recent assignments and the unit falls on hard times. Unable to accept further anti-Clan contracts for House Kurita, they are regarded as worthless and even a security risk as they previously undertook black ops for Kurita. Consequently, Kurita orders the unit destroyed and they are wiped out in a series of assassinations. George, despite massive problems adapting to life on Outreach, survives and escapes, procuring (under dubious legal circumstances) the
Commando he had been assigned.
With the help of a few acquaintances George then sets up shop as an independent mercenary and finally gets a contract as a member of a disparate merc company on pirate hunting duty. Despite his skills the poorly led mission ends in desaster, but George narrowly manages to avoid dispossession.
The mercenary business is truly shown to be a dog eat dog world here. The mercs are invariably downtrodden, dishonorable, greedy and a bit dumb even when they are competent fighters otherwise. We're clearly shown the dregs of Temptown here, and most of them have no qualms about selling out their friends and relatives. I thougt that was a refreshing view on the trade (after an overdose of Wolf's Dragoons and Kell Hounds).
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Waffengefährten / Brothers-in-Arms (Ulisses, 2014) - Bear Cycle V. An series of episodes rather than a single story, this book narrates how George grows his own mercenary unit, the Biting Bear's Bashes, over the course of several missions in the Chaos March. It reads a bit like a transcript from a RPG campaign, to be honest; the episodic approach didn't work very well for me.
The last episode depicts a corporate warfare scenario on Saiph getting out of hand. I thought this part of the story was really well done, and since it takes up about half of the total pagecount it goes a long way to redeem the book.
My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Riskante Ziele / Risky (Dangerous) Objectives (Ulisses, 2015) - Bear Cycle VI. Concluding the Bear Cycle, we follow George Bear and his Biting Bear's Bashes through a MRBC trial for their conduct on Saiph, more mercenary missions, ups and downs. Their last mission is an infiltration mission against WoB on Mars. The mission somehow magically works out and they steal a complete set of Celestials with surprisingly little effort. However, their Kurita employers decide to have the unit vanquished anyways to cover their tracks. Another merc unit is tasked with wiping them out, WoB forces join the fray, and the Biting Bear's Bashes are whittled down in a drawn-out guerilla campaign. George dies in the last stand.
I am really sorry to have to say this as I really wanted to like the book, but it is probably the weakest book in the entire Bear Cycle. Every aspect I disliked earlier in the series is back in full force. There is no true story arc, and the writing style doesn't work for me. (See below for a more detailed review.)
My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Andurien Wars novelsI love this series by Bernard Craw. It goes to show that you can tell a good BattleTech story entirely without introducing fancy new technology or universe-shaking events. These books are built from well-known, established BattleTech history (the author said
Brush Wars, which is among my favorite BT sourcebooks, laid the groundwork for his books). Even when you think you know the outcome, reading how things came to pass is the really interesting part. Just my 3025-era cup of tea really.
Karma (FanPro, 2007) - Andurien battalion attacks secret Capellan research installation at the outbreak of the 4th Succession War, hoping to hurt both the CC and House Marik. Opposing is a WH Kamata detachment. Lots of great characters, good situations, fresh ideas and good descriptions including good battle scenes; even narrative depth and a good story. A classic BT planetary assault done right. I was blown away by this novel, which is one of the best BT books out there. Everything I like about BattleTech, plus well-done scifi in showcasing an underground civilisation living in terraformed caves. The author really did his research homework, basing the Niomede caves on the Biosphere 2 project in Arizona that he had visited.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars.
Präludium / Prelude (Ulisses, 2012) - Andurien Wars 1. As the title implies, this book sets the groundwork for the series and provides character exposition. In this sense it is an anthology more than a novel. On the down side that means it lacks a true story arc, and rather presents a number of loosely connected episodes dealing with the lead-up to and immediate aftermath of the Andurien Secession. The individual episodes range from insignificant to very good, and mostly deal with characters that previously appeared in
Karma. Dame Catherine Humphreys and her family get some screen time as protagonists. Notable cameo of TRO3025 notable
Hermes II pilot Zahn "The Dreamer" Vinge.
Karma protagonist Jen Xiao enters Capellan Death Commando training, interestingly making the character less likeable. The story of the Ash Witch and her Worm Cult is continued from
Karma.
My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Zorn / Wrath (Ulisses, 2012) - Andurien Wars 2. The Andurien assault on Grand Base, as seen through the eyes of numerous characters on all sides of the conflict. If you expected big 'Mech battles you're in for a disappointment though, as the warfare on Grand Base is mostly asymmetrical and small-scale save for the assault on the factories near the end. It is a very good read nevertheless.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Gier / Avarice (Ulisses, 2014) - Andurien Wars 3. Emma Centrella and Richard Humphreys were to marry, to strengthen the Andurien/Canopus alliance when they attacked the CapCon together. BattleTech history simply tells us that the wedding fell through due to mutual dislike. The "actual" story runs much deeper than that dry bit of information though.
Gier is a sad story of two likeable, powerful characters destined to fail each in their own way on the backdrop of a war raging. It gets yet more melancholic when you look at the respective fates of Emma and Richard in BT lore. Despite being heavy on character development the book also delivers heavily on battle scenes including cool underwater battles. The final wrap-up scene in the hospital marks this character-driven novel perhaps the closest thing to real literature in BattleTech storytelling - not many BT stories make you feel for the characters quite like this.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars. I admit I may be biased, as I was a factchecker on this novel.
Griskan Orlov cycleAnother series by Arous Brocken (of
Bear Cycle fame, focusing on the titular mercenary character. These three books were among the final four books published by Ulisses Spiele before they shelved the BT book line.
Soldat und Spion / Soldier and Spy (Ulisses, 2016)
Sklave und Söldner / Slave and Mercenary (Ulisses, 2017)
Verräter_und_Verteidiger / Traitor and Defender (Ulisses, 2018)
[To be filled in, as I still haven't found time to read the books despite them sitting on my shelf for years. Sarna articles and review to follow.]
(Reviews of the "other" novels continue in
posting below, as this post has hit its maximum allowed size.)