Customer Reviews

Classic BattleTech: The Legend of the Jade Phoenix Trilogy

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow. I am actually angry at myself for not having read this trilogy when it came out more than ten years ago. The tale of Aidan Pryde is truly one of the best in the Battletech series.

The trilogy edition is a nice product, with a new flashy cover. Interstingly, the separate novels maintain their own page numbers, unlike some other novel compilations I have read, so each one has its old title page and starts on page 1. I liked that.

The first novel takes us through the Warrior training regimen in Clan Jade Falcon. The lifestyle of the trainees and the established warriors is very well done. The competition between the siblings and their relationships is great reading. The eventual result of the training, and the application of non-standard tactics makes this one a page turner, especially with the atypical path events take.

The second novel deals with the warrior life of Aidan, in his assumed guise of a different person. The lower status of this other has led him to low-prestige assignments, but a rare opportunity to show his abilities, despite his differences with higher-ranking officers, affords him a rare opportunity to fight for a Bloodname. But the path to that status is anything but easy. This novel has a great deal more mech combat than Way of the Clans had, but it does not detract from the story.

The third novel takes place at a later point in Aidan's life, after he has served for some time as a Bloodnamed warrior. He has been assigned to command the rebuilt disgraced Jade Falcon unit which was lost in the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere, primarily because he himself was looked down upon as a disgraced warrior due to his colored past. His unit is to be among those fighting ComStar on Tukayyid. The fate of this battle was detailed in a prior novel, but not from the Clan point of view, and not in the singular detail that this one provides. The exhibition of battlefield acumen staves off certain defeat, but it is a pyrrhic victory at best. Again, the quixotic nature of Clan interpersonal relationships is delved into, but in a different way than the earlier novels. Again, a great read and a real page-turner.

Having played the computer games based on BattleTech ... I was intrigued enough to want to read some of the books, but with a series as extensive as BattleTech - I had great difficulty finding a good place to start ... Until I found The Legend of Jade Phoenix Trilogy ("TLJP").

TLJP traces the life of Aidan Pryde ... from his early days in training, to his finest hour, when he leads a band of "unwanted" warriors into battle ... and in so doing Aidan redeems honour, heritage ... for himself and those who follow him ...

All in all a wonderful trilogy, filled with Mech battles & strategy ... a well constructed storyline (without the sometimes glaring gaps found in series of this nature) ... satisfying characters sufficiently developed to hold and pull the reader's interest ... I was particularly & pleasantly surprised at how the author developed the character of Aidan's daughter ...

But more than just 3 ripping good yarns ... for anyone wishing to get into the BattleTech world ... this is a good book to start with!!! ...

Without breaking storyline, or getting too pedantic, the reader is gently but surely given a wonderful introduction to a basic but sufficient history ... of MechWarriors trueborn & freeborn, of the importance of Bloodnames, of the Clans (how they came into existence & what they represent) ... of the history & conflicts between the Inner & Outer Sphere ... Descriptions of the BattleMechs & weaponry are nicely done too ...

All in all a price worthy trilogy ... and a great introduction into the world of fighting Clans and their giant war machines ... Good Read!

If you have ever wondered what life is like for a clanner or why they talk or act so weird, this is a good book to read. I am about to read this trilogy again when i finish the book I am on now. About 6 years ago I drove myself insane trying to find book 2 of this trilogy. I had always thought battletech looked kinda neat but when I picked up a novel I found it boring the first time I read it. After Mechwarrior 3 came out for PC, I got interested in learning some of the background story so I read that book again; I couldn't put it down! That book was Natural Selection by Michael Stackpole. (The difference was probably that I knew who a few of the characters were the second time.) Next I decided to buy some of the books based on the time period of Mechwarrior 3. One of these was Freebirth by Robert Thurston. Joanna and Horse were featured in this book and they thoroughly tripped me out. So I started trying to find other books featuring the Jade Falcons and came up with a short list: Freebirth, Falcon Rising, Natural Selection (very breifly), I am Jade Falcon, and the Jade Phoenix Trilogy. BUY THIS BOOK AND BUY I AM JADE FALCON if you can find them!

The Legend of the Jade Phoenix Trilogy tells the extraordinary story of Jade Clan warrior Aidan Pryde, giving the reader a penetrating glimpse into the ways of the clan warrior from birth to death. It even takes us along for the first invasion of the Inner Sphere by the Clans. You'll find plenty of hard-hitting, Battlemech action served up liberally in these pages, each encounter more exciting than the last.

Clan society is built upon the central importance of warfare, and it is the dream of every child to become a warrior. Some are bred for the task, and the highest honor a warrior can achieve is the acquisition of a Bloodname and inclusion in the genetic warrior pool. The trueborn are artificially created via genetic engineering from the bloodlines of the most accomplished warriors, and these youngsters are all raised and trained together from birth. Only the very best succeed, while the others are killed or assigned to work among the lower castes. Freeborns, those born by natural means, also can earn warrior status, but their lower caste forbids them from fighting on the front lines.

Aidan Pryde is a trueborn who wants desperately to earn warrior status in the Jade Falcon clan to which he was born. In Way of the Clans, we follow him all the way through the warrior training program, which culminates in the Trial that determines whether or not he will earn the right to lead a monstrous Battletech in battle. In training, individual achievement is stressed over any sort of group mentality, and a true warrior is expected to do anything to reach his/her objectives. Alongside the unprecedented story of Aidan's perilous journey into adulthood we get insightful journal entries from the camp commander enlightening us on the theory and practice of Clan warrior society. This coming of age story is bursting at the seams with action and remarkable insights into that society, making it a truly compelling addition to the Battletech Universe.

Bloodname, the second book in the trilogy, boasts battles galore, and the main characters, already well developed in Way of the Clans, continue to grow in the fullest, most intriguing, of ways. Thurston delivers a penetrating study of clan society, human motivation within that society, and a type of heroism that is not limited to action on the battlefield. As a relative newcomer to the Battletech universe, I was delighted to find so many different kinds of Battlemechs involved in the action, as it gave me a most helpful footing in the technology and weapons-related tactics employed in this futuristic world.

Aidan is a remarkable protagonist. He very much wants to earn his Bloodname, but this honor is forbidden him given his new, secretly adopted existence as a freeborn warrior. Now stationed on Glory Point, Aidan finally gets a chance to engage in real combat when a contingent of soldiers from the Wolf Clan seeks to steal the genetic legacy of the base commander there. He is soon reunited with Falconer Joanna, under whom he studied in warrior training. Joanna hates him for many reasons, yet she somehow becomes a strange ally of sorts when Aidan lets the proverbial cat out of the bag. Not only does he announce the fact that he is a trueborn, he demands the right to compete for a Bloodname. The odds are stacked heavily against him, as he must face a Court of Falconers just to maintain his warrior status. Then, just to earn a spot in the Bloodname competition, he must emerge victorious from a massive melee of Bloodname hopefuls - and, even if he wins the spot, he still faces the actual Trial of Bloodright, the actual tournament for the right to the Pryde Bloodname. There is also the added difficulty of his opponents' fiery hatred for him -the only thing the trueborn hate more than a freeborn is a trueborn who earned his warrior status in the guise of a freeborn.

Falcon Guard completes the trilogy. Aidan Pryde, despite his amazing accomplishments up to this point, has never been able to rid himself of the taint surrounding his name. Even now that the long-awaited assault on the Inner Sphere has begun, his command has been relegated to mop-up actions far from the front lines of battle. Until now, that is. He has been given command of the Falcon Guard, a throwaway group of old warriors and insubordinate, troublesome fighters marked by a disgraceful defeat on the planet Twycross, but for Aidan this still represents a chance to fight on the front lines for the glory of the Clans against the Inner Sphere - and to show how effective a commander he can be. With his loyal freeborn friend Horse by his side, he calls upon Joanna to whip the misfits into shape. Among his new charges is his own freeborn daughter - although he does not know he has a daughter or, as a trueborn warrior born of artificial genetic manipulation, really even understand the concept of parenthood.

The battlefield of Tukayyid will determine the outcome of the Inner Sphere invasion; victory opens the way for the invasion of Terra itself, but defeat establishes a 15-year period during which the Clans can do nothing to advance their forces. For Aidan Pryde, it is the chance to achieve the honor he has always sought, to remove forevermore the taint attached to his name, his career, and his genetic heritage. Thurston brings the field of battle to vivid life in these pages, offering readers a thrilling look at a massive engagement of Battlemechs and warriors in a fight for victory, pride, and heritage. It's a thrilling, satisfying conclusion to a classic Battletech storyline.

These are the first Battletech books written, and now re-written from the orginal from the '80s. This book takes place prior to the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere. For those of you who do not know what these things are, read this book or got to the Classic Battletech web site. The stories' main character is Aidan Pryde, a young trueborn of the Jade Falcon Clan, who has dreams of having his genes added to his clan.

This is a must for those who love either Mechwarrior and Battletech. This by far is one of the best Battletech books you will ever read, if you love the clans.

Was an out standing book think alot more of the old Battle tech books should be put in to this format because alot of us read these book piece meal would be nice to read in sequence was very injoyable

In a short amount of time I have become a huge battletech fan. I'm still trying to figure out all the intricacies of this enormous universe they've constructed, but that's part of the fun. Now about this trilogy. I absolutely love the characters that are in the books. They each are intricate beings that you see change and evolve over the course of the trilogy. That alone made the books worth it. My only complaint is that some of the wording seemed a bit rough for a professional author, but I let it slide knowing that he was still getting the point across. The last book in the trilogy "Falcon Guards" is quite spectacular because it covers Clan Jade Falcon's assault on the ComStar forces on Tukayyid. Fantastic stuff, you forget about how he's writing it and imagine a scene of mass chaos. Good stuff.

Most of the "Battletech" novels were pretty bad; I've sold off most of my collection on ebay, but this trilogy I keep in my collection.

The trilogy chronicles the life of the genetically engineered warrior Aidan from his earliest childhood up until the time of his death. Born into the eugenically engineered elite of his society, Aidan comes to reject many of the precepts his fellows embrace, leading him into a life of constant intellectual, emotional, and military conflict, both with his clan's enemies and with many of his fellows.

Unlike a lot of the trash turned out by the sci-fi serial lines, the Jade Phoenix Trilogy and stands up well as a good piece of literature on it's own merits. The first novel, a story about the training of the child-warrior Aidan, reminded me of "Ender's Game."

this omnibus version of three early books in the series is a good overall look at the Clan system; decent quick read, nothing very original, overly predictable; they added illustrations to this version and they're unbelievably bad, ignore them.

Sorry guys, but the Jade Falcon trilogy started off with tremendous potential but it got trite very quickly. The first book in the series was very promising and entertaining until about halfway through. The second book was meh. The third book was terrible. It seems that the author was writing under a lot of time pressure or something.