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As the fires of rebellion burn on Thorin, a local militia leader holds the fate of the world in his hands.... 48th in the Series |
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I think battletech is one of those hidden gems that few people will ever get a chance to read. I'm always happy when I get a new battletech book in my hands as some of them are out of print and get hard to find in local book stores. Before I begin my review of this book, I feel a little background information is needed into the series. Humans developed massive war machines called battemechs ranging from 20 tons to 100 tons and typically armed with enough weaponry to blow up small cities. These weapons have become to elite of the military since nuclear arms has been banned. Humans have also developed a method of traveling through space by jumping through it so instantaneous travel has become possible. Humans eventually created a Star League of all the colonized worlds. This Star League eventually fell apart because of Amaris the betrayer and the majority of the Star League military left the Inner Sphere (Collection of planets under the rule of the Star League) and went into the great beyond. Over the centuries they developed into a clan like genetically enhanced race of warriors, all training for the great campaign where they would retake the Inner Sphere. Meanwhile the Inner Sphere was left in the rule of a handful of noble houses which have since started to wage war on each other. A few centuries past and the clan return to the Inner Sphere and manage to carve a huge chunk out of it before they were stopped and a 15 year treaty has been signed. However in an attempt to end the war, Victor Davion the leader of the Federated Suns decided to take the war to the clans and eradicated the Smoke Jaguar Clan. By reforming the Star League, Victor pulls the best units from throughout the Inner Sphere and starts a campaign with many casualties that eventually ends in success. On his return home, Victor finds out that his sister Katrina has taken over as ruler of his country. The Federated Suns and the Lyran Alliance were joined when Victor's parents got married. However Katrina had succeeded the Lyran Alliance from the Federated Commonwealth. Victor not wanting to cause hostilities allowed it. However now that Katrina took over the other half as well Victor was left with no power. During the election for the new lord of the Star League (a position that rotates), Katrina was expected to win. However Victor emerged as the leader of Com Guards, a group of people in charged of intergalactic communication, and manages to place his friend Kurita the leader of the Draconis Combine in charge. Frustrated Katrina tries to consolidate her power by currying favors with the minor noble houses under her rule as dissent grew among her worlds. This provides the setting for the current novel. This novel is the first time Archer Christifori is brought into a leading role in the Battle tech universe. Archer is one of the two soldiers from Operation Bull Dog that came to support the members of Operation Serpent on the Smoke Jaguar homeworld to recieve the Star League Medal of Honor. Returning home to his freighting business, Christifori Express, Archer takes command of the militia on Thorin. At this time some planets were in stages of rebellion as Davion supporters clashed with Steiner forces. In an attempt to quell the restlessness, Katrina sends armed forces to as many planets within her realm as possible. So Colonel Blucher and his front line unit end up on the same planet as Archer. At this time the two found that they shared very similar qualities and got along pretty well. Both while unsure of Katrina's methods were still loyal to their ruler. However a power hungry aide of Blucher by the name of Fisk, tries to improve his standing by persecuting as many people as rebels as possible. Fisk was placed as Blucher aide's due to his connections as the son of a extremely rich count. In an attempt to soothe dissidents, Blucher wanted all flagged dissidents to meet with him for discussions. However when Fisk was sent to gather Archer's sister, he ends up shooting her thinking her letter opener was a knife. Archer and Blucher shocked by the murder court martial Fisk. However Fisk managed to get his dad to pull a few strings and a pardon was issued by Katrina within a few days. Archer seeing that Katrina stopped caring about the welfare of her people and abusing her power decides that he has no choice but to rebel. It is interesting to see that both Blucher and Archer come off as good people just with differing loyalties. It is pretty tragic that they end up fighting each other but that's the way of civil wars. Archer eventually pulls off some brilliant strategies and wins the fight. During the fight, Davion officially commisions Archer's fighters into the AFFS as Archer's Avengers and with the captured frontline mechs from Blucher, Archer will be a key figure in the civil war. What really interested me in this novel was the attempt to gather the support of the populace alot of the military decisions are based on civilian casualties and propoganda attempts. Also the media is used pretty often. I really enjoyed the excerpts from various news broadcast from various locations since they often carry the bias of their respective regions. I recommend this novel to anyone interested in the Battletech universe. I'm not to sure how a new reader would handle this novel as there is alot of background information involved. One of the best aspects about Battletech is that each novel actually causes a chain reaction throughout the galaxy and is built upon with each following novel.
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