Customer Reviews

Fortress of Lies: A BattleTech Novel (MechWarrior: Dark Ages, 8)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
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I must say that this was one of the best MW:DA books yet. The story was interesting and informative, and the characters contained much more depth than found in many Dark Age novels. One problem I had was that some of the characters' personalities, i.e. Erik, seemed inconsistant with previous writtings, but this seems to be one of the trends with the Dark Age books.
Although some of this book was predictable, it was still quite enjoyable to read.

This is a terrific book, one of the best from the MW line. York has a way of making you truly enjoy the characters, even if you hate them. I truly hope we see more from him in the MW universe.

This MechWarrior novel gives us a look at the SwordSworn Faction. Headed by Duke Aaron Sandoval, the reader learns about the Duke's plans to carve a piece of the Republic for House Davion. Aaron's cousin, Eric Sandoval, returns as a more developed character who is coming into his own as a player in this interstellar power struggle. The book moves at a rapid pace and does a good job at advancing the Dark Age storyline. As another reviewer noted, it is interesting to see the Sandovals, in essence, breaking their oaths to the Republic, but at the same time, their loyalty to House Davion remains strong. It will be interesting to see if WizKids continues the old BattleTech trend of having the Davions/Sandovals win all of the time at the expense of the Capellans/Kuritas. This book seems to be leaning towards that interpretation, but with the twist of Sandoval greed and selfishness thrown in instead of Davion "honor." Fans of the series will most likely enjoy this book due to its inclusion of some of the major characters from the game and for the continuity of the families from the previous BattleTech series.

Those still unhappy with the changes the Mechwarrior: Dark Age sagas have wrought to the original Battletech universe cannot help but warm up to the new series with efforts such as this one by J. Steven York, the eighth novel in the new series. Fortress of Lies is not heavy with actual Mechwarrior combat, but its plethora of political intrigue offers further illumination on the weakening of the Republic. It also boasts some compelling, complex characters in the form of two different generations of the legendary Sandoval family line (as well as a somewhat stereotypical but very entertainingly independent ship's captain).

The destruction of the Hyper Pulse Generator has seen the Republic start to fracture; with instant communication among the worlds no longer possible, ambitious men exploit the situation to make power-plays of their own. Duke Aaron Sandoval, Lord Governor of Prefecture V, is one such man. The insurgency of the House Liao faction of the Capellans has provided the Duke with the opportunity to build a coalition of his own, as he has been hard at work promising neighboring worlds the stability the Republic is no longer able to guarantee. Due in no small part to the heroics of his nephew Erik Sandoval, the Duke has achieved an important victory on the world of New Aragon. He needs allies and, more importantly, the war materiel they would bring to his coalition in order to further his plans, however. Only then will he feel emboldened enough to declare his loyalty to the House of Davion rather than the weakening Republic. Erik is to play a key role in the Duke's strategy,

After the abrupt end of unsuccessful negotiations with the leaders of New Canton, the Duke's plans are almost waylaid permanently by the work of an assassin, but Duke Aaron Sandoval is a survivor in the best Swordsworn tradition. If anything, the brush with death inspires Aaron to accelerate his plans. He sends his nephew Erik to Shensi to secure an alliance with a reluctant but militarily strong potential ally; it's a tough deal to sell, as the Shensi seem likely to seek peace with House Liao. Aaron has a few cards up his sleeve, however, including a staged attack by the "Capellans" in the midst of Erik's negotiations. Erik, like the Shensi, believes the Capellans are attacking, and he is none too happy to find out later that his uncle sent him into grave danger without informing him of the attackers' true identity. This incident of deception on his uncle's part marks a turning point in Erik's life, as the seeds of mistrust for his uncle begin to sprout solid roots. His eventual self-interested move must wait for a later day, however, as the Swordsworn suddenly face the prospect of a back-breaking defeat on another pivotal world.

Mechwarrior fans will most likely wish for longer and more detailed Mechwarrior battles, as the one extended fight seems to end a little too abruptly. Somewhat offsetting this deficiency, though, is the added insight one gets into the state of the Republic in the new interplanetary communications dark age. It is hard to overstate the significance of Duke Standoval's formal rejection of the Republic and public statement of loyalty to House Davion. Fortress of Lies sheds much light on the state of growing factionalism that is quickly replacing the peace achieved under the central leadership of the Republic.

York's first Mechwarrior novel is an absorbing read full of fascinating, well-developed characters. On the surface, it would seem that Erik is the noble character wronged by the evil Duke, but I actually liked and respected the Duke more than I did Erik. I had particularly ambiguous feelings toward Erik's new mindset at the end of the book, as his actions fell slightly short of noble. Still, he is a Sandoval, and he is beginning to live up to his heritage. It is obvious that there is quite a story left to be told about the future of the Swordsworn, and I personally hope that J. Steven York is the writer chosen to tell it.

I really enjoyed this book because it really brings out just how much of a "dark age" this series is in. For anyone who has read the previous Battletech series, you know that the Sandovals are men of great honor and valor. York's portrayal of the latest generation of Sandovals show just how far they have fallen. On thing that did shock me was how devious Erik became at the end. He seemed to be the one the bring back the sense of honor that the Sandovals have apparently lost. All in all this was a great read. Congrats to the author on a great book.

I've been an avid fan of Battletech since I was in the second grade back in 1988. I've read nearly every Battletech novel and was heartbroken when I learned it was coming to an end. Then, lo and behold, Wizkids managed to breath life into that universe again and I made my way to the bookstore and dove into Stackpole's "Ghost War," which left me fairly pleased. Well, several books later, especially after Martin Delrio butchered the Inner Sphere, I forced my way through Coleman's "By Temptations and By War," after which I put away the last two Mechwarrior books I had purchased ("Fortress of Lies" and "Patriot's Stand") unread. Three years and several dozen NON-mechwarrior novels later, I got the bug and decided to give Mechwarrior: Dark Age another shot - and I'm glad I did. This book, although not GREAT, was good and showed that it doesn't necessarily take heavy hitters like Colemand and Bills to write a decent novel in this universe. The action was there, as well as all the back-stabbing political mayhem that I always look forward too. This book does leave quite a few questions unanswered, but it is well written and (I thought it) was fun to read. I've since started going back to collect the books I missed in the mean time. I'm currently half-way through "Patriot's Stand", which, I'm sorry to say, is another piece of... well, you know. Either way, a new Stackpole Mechwarrior novel is on the way this April and I'm trying to play catch-up so I can be up to speed in time for its release.

J. Steven York does a solid job on this book, i had heard of the Sandovals on the previous books, but J. Steven York does an extraordinary job with the characters, the plot is solid.
Excelent work!!