Battletech Novel Thoughts
I finished two newer Battletech novels by Bryan Young, A Question of Survival and Without Question. It was nice to read something newer from the franchise since previously I've read stuff from the FASA era. For me, they were aggressively okay.
Pros: Made me actually like Jade Falcons. I'm an Inner Sphere man through and through but Jiyi Chistu is cool and I like the cadre of Falcons introduced in the two books. Also introducing me to the Lone Wolves merc company. I really like the idea of an umbrella company to make the larger logistical issues easier. Plus it also had some cool and interesting characters and outfits. I wanna learn more about this company and some its characters like Katie Farro and the Fox Patrol or the lance of Battlemasters. This inspired me to create and IlClan era mercenary company. The action and battle scenes were also well written for the most part. These novels were also my introduction the most up to date era for Battletech, with my previous readings being right before or in the years after the Clan Invasion. Reading how Chistu and co. navigated the challenges of rebuilding was intriguing. These novels were also my introduction the most up to date era for Battletech, with my previous readings being right before or in the years after the Clan Invasion. Reading how Chistu and co. navigated the challenges of rebuilding was intriguing.
Cons: The two novels felt like they needed another pass through the editor, primarily for grammar and technical issues. There were a few times where the flow and meaning was off cause of it and I had to re-read a section. Secondly, I'd also say another pass through in terms of story structure and how he was getting that acrossed. Particularly in Without Question. The novel's three act structure made me think that the Lone Wolves were going to interact with the Falcons a lot more but then just disappear from the novel after act 1. Another merc company comes in, and then leaves for act 3. My biggest issue with act 3 of Without Question is the characterization of the military head of a formerly Jade Falcon planet. I felt that the reader was expected to not sympathize with him because he saw the issue of the Falcons returning as a bad thing do to previous history with them under Hazen. Which is stressed was not good and reading up on the Mongol Doctrine, I completely sympathize with his position of "better to die free, then live a slave." even though I'm also hoping a peaceful solution can be found.
My expectations for the novels going in were mixed. I heard previously that Young was a bit polarizing between the new fans and the old guard. So I was expecting something really different, even if most of that was coming from his social media use. After reading them, I'd lean more favorable then not. But I wouldn't say to use them as a first intro to the setting, that's still gonna be the Blood of Kerensky trilogy for me. I don't regret the time reading them and the characters are definite plus for me, mostly. But I feel they could have been better, more polished at least.
