Battletech books

**The_Doctor** · 10-11-2005, 15:54

Are they any good?
Where should I start?
Where can I buy them?

Also, did anybody ever see the Battletech cartoon?

**Kekvit Irae** · 10-11-2005, 20:34

1. No idea. I dont read books.
2. See 1. Everything in the Battletech universe is set in a specific timeframe. 3025 is "old school" Battletech, with the war between the Houses. 3050 is the invasion of the Clans. 3060 and onward is the destruction of Clan Smoke Jaguar and the fall of the Clans from Inner Sphere space.
3. Try a used bookstore, and if that fails, Amazon.com

I absolutely enjoy playing the tabletop game (as a Wolf or Wolf-in-Exile Clanner). Of course, my start into the Battletech universe was from playing MechWarrior 2 on the PC. MechWarrior 3 and 4 were just bastardizations, with the only thing canon was the plotlines and settings.

As for me, I cannot recall ever watching the cartoon, though I'm seriously tempted of trying to find it on the intarweb thingy.

**Samurai Waki** · 10-11-2005, 20:45

Battletech was discontinued, so I doubt you'll find to many other plays. Plus Mechwarrior Dark Ages sort of replaced Battletech, which was clumsy, and had too many rules.

**Kekvit Irae** · 10-11-2005, 21:02

Originally Posted by Wazikashi

Battletech was discontinued, so I doubt you'll find to many other plays. Plus Mechwarrior Dark Ages sort of replaced Battletech, which was clumsy, and had too many rules.

The Battletech license was taken up by another publisher and thus Classic Battletech still lives on. Find it at any local gaming store (provided the owner has a brain)
http://www.classicbattletech.com/cbt_home.html

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 10-12-2005, 01:18

The books can still be found, used, on the various internet booksellers as well as 2nd hand shops.

As literature the novels are barf, lots of stock characters and very few "levels" to the writing ( though Stackpole averages better). As entertainment, they are a blast.

The CBT tabletop game is alive and well with thousands of adherents. I suggest the following forum for those interested.

www.battletechuniverse.org

Seamus (Vegetius on the other site)

**Kekvit Irae** · 10-12-2005, 01:26

And dont forget the online version too: http://megamek.sourceforge.net/idx.php?pg=main

**Lehesu** · 10-12-2005, 02:19

Megamek roXors my boXors. I thought the Capellan Solution duology was fairly well written. I think the most enjoyable CBT books are the Tech Readouts, though.

**Kekvit Irae** · 10-12-2005, 02:28

You know you are a Battletech geek when...

...you read novels that contain more technical readouts and specifications than actual words.
...you will never look at your Ford's technical manual the same way again... and think it would look real nice with a PPC mounted on the roof... with dual heatsinks in the trunk.

**Lehesu** · 10-12-2005, 02:31

Actually, my Ford would carry missiles, taking advantage of automatic heat bleed-off for missiles and projectile weapons on vees. And I would upgrade the ICE to a fusion, and toy with adding a turret.

**Kekvit Irae** · 10-12-2005, 02:45

The problem with that is a Dodge with an AMS or LAMS. When all else fails, I always stick by the trusty energy weapons. Heat is a moderate problem, but you dont risk an ammo explosion. Now, of course, I've seen a few Hondas out there with Gauss tech, but I think they are just putting that weight to waste.

**Papewaio** · 10-12-2005, 02:48

Small Lasers and death by a thousand paper cuts...

**Uesugi Kenshin** · 10-12-2005, 03:51

Clan ER PPC's mounted on a heavily armored Timberwolf, anything less is too little, anything more is too slow.

**Kekvit Irae** · 10-12-2005, 04:02

Originally Posted by Uesugi Kenshin

Clan ER PPC's mounted on a heavily armored Timberwolf, anything less is too little, anything more is too slow.

I bow to your wisdom, fellow Clanner.

**Azi Tohak** · 10-12-2005, 05:44

Originally Posted by Papewaio

Small Lasers and death by a thousand paper cuts...

How delightfully nerdy!

And my turn I suppose.

I really like the books myself. I have not read any in a while, but my favorite authors were Stackpole, Charrette, Thurston, Coleman.

Yes, they are good, as in entertaining. They are not great literature, but lets be honest, most of that stuff is boring anyway (yup, I'm a philistene).

Amazon! And Ebay works well too for books. Heck, if you live near a decent sized city, you should have a used bookstore. Now THAT is a good bet. Anything that looks old in the battletech section is probably worth picking up.

Good luck! And PM me if you have questions about specific books.

Azi