Customer Reviews

Battletech 45: Killing Fields: Book II of the Capellan Solution

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Loren Coleman is a very good writer, and I enjoyed the book. I was a dissapointed at the differences in Loren Coleman and Michael Stackpole's interpretation of the Cappellan Confederation. Candace and family have always been portrayed as exceptional strategist but are apparantly having a bad day. The concept of a "Cappellan Solution" is a thinly veiled exuse to keep Victory Davion enthusiast from bringing 20 regiments of Mechs to Sian, and playing hopskotch on the Celestial throne. Also, Capella has never been able to field a successful army (in the history of the Battletech Universe). While this may show predjudice on the part of the authors, it is a reality I have come to accept. This book shatters that reality without an explanation. The bumbling Kurita army was redeemed by two books, Heir to the Dragon and Wolves on the Border. These books outlined a complete re-organizing and re-training of the Kurita forces, and made it acceptable for them not to be lousy. Without that background, I was caught off guard by Sun Tzu's success. I was also let down a little. Michael Stackpole in the book Grave Covenant made it look like Sun Tzu had some redeeming qualities, and may even become a nice guy. Loren dashed those hopes. These flaws are balanced by some very good qualities. Aris Sung is an excellent character, as are many other new characters. I do recomend this book, but it will not be your favorite Loren Coleman novel.

Finally an author who can write about House Liao and CapCon while granting them the respect they deserve. Stackpole is one of my favorite authors but I am dissapointed by his bias against House Liao. Coleman finally writes from the viewpoint of Sun-Tzu and the Capellans. At last Fasa's creative staff have seen fit to undue the wrong done against the Liao in the B-Tech story-line and repay the St. Ives Liaos for their treachery. Also, it makes sense that many in the Compact would welcomed reunification with Sian. Sun-Tzu is the best thing to happen to Capella in since the B-tech universe's inception. My only complaint is in the way Coleman allowed Sun-Tzu to treat Isis. However I understand that the story is leaning towards a marriagae between Sun-Tzu and the Canopus heir. A triple alliance between CapCon, Conopus, and the Concordant is a very likely beneficial developement for all sides. I look forward to future pro-Capellan novels by Coleman and other authors.

The Capellan Solution was an excellent series from an excellent author. What I liked most was the fact that the book had no clear goodguy/badguy viewpoint so common in some of the other authors' novels. Both sides have an legitimate claim to the St. Ives Compact. Mr. Coleman has shown himself to be one of FASAs best authors. This novel is a must read for all BT fans!

When I read the first part, just couldn`t wait for this one. I don`t like Stackpole`s treatment of the Cap. Conf. sometimes I think he has something against it. But Coleman has been developing an Inner Sphere where the Cap. Conf. can win. In Breed for War the real fight was between mercenaries and FC agents, and the Capellans didn`t reach their objetives in the book, only the Marik did!. I think that Coleman developed too many winning characters for this book, eventually one has to fail aldo when you reach the end you get the funny sensation that everybody won. I hope to read more book about the St Ives-Capellan war written by Coleman. If Stackpole leaves his Clan-Federated plots I`m afraid that Kai will conquer Sian singlehandly.

In the tradition of Loren Coleman, this book is well written and thought out. The understanding of Chinese culture, in particular, the conduct of warfare using tactics from Sun Tze's Book of War, is realistic in portraying how Capellans conduct their wars.

The Han Yu Ping Ying need some brush up though, particularly, those NCO ranks and surnames. I hope there will be another installation in this series.

The second book of the Capellan Solution has more surprises and sophisticated plot twists and turns than virutally any other battletech, with the possible exception of the first installment of this series. Combat scenes are fast-paced and aggressive, character development is excellent, and unlike books by most of the other authors in the battletech universe, this one maintains its believability without sacrificing the boldness of its plot, or vice versa. All in all, fully up to the standards of this, one of the two best battletech authors, and certainly of vital importance to the history of the Compact, Confederation, FWL, as well as the Star League as a whole. This book provides the keystone that unifies and completes the trends of the past 30 years of history for the entire rimward half of the Inner Sphere. One of the best battletech books.

This is second book in the Capellan Solution series of BattleTech Novels. I found this book and the series to be a good return to the political strife of the Inner Sphere and away from the Clans. Also I found this to be a relavent book that continued the reader along the story arc of this series. This is opposed to the Twilight of the Clans series where there were one or two books we could have done without. While this story was focused and stayed on track, it did weave external elements of the Inner Sphere's politics into the story quite well.

It was interesting to see how Sun-Tzu was protrayed. While most fans consider him to be one of the villians in the BattleTech universe, he is not so evil when you see the Inner Sphere from his point of view. Sun-Tzu's sanity has always been in debate with fans and this book will only add fuel to that fire.

This book as the sequel to Threads of Ambition did a great job of following up the story plot especially the sinister personality of Sun-Tzu's sister Kali. It also showed the constant watch that Sun-Tzu is on to keep from becoming like his mother, Romano. It did however conclude the St. Ives conflict poorly. When I read that Candace Liao was abandoning St. Ives, and then the book was left me wanting yet another book concluding this new plot twist. In conclusion, this book was written as if it were the second book in a trilogy instead of the last book of a two-part series.

I think this book was good, but there were some holes in the book. First off, the Capellans wouldn't really have the skill or numbers to take ST.Ives. I mean all their units were small and green troops with few new mechs! Also The rep. from the Taurian Concordat wouldnt have agreed to ally with the CC. But the Plot was action packed and the story was good, but the CC has it coming now. Kai is going to do something. The involvemant of Aris Sung was the real cool thing about the 2 books.