Customer Reviews

Test of Vengeance (Battletech)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was so looking forward to the story of a Clan Elemental. I actually teased myself by reading all the other Battletech books I bought this week first. However, the butchering of Clan culture just about made my eyes bleed. The only thing Bryan got correct was the lack of contractions. I kept waiting for Clan artillary to show up. The fact that it was no biggie that that the Ghost Bears have freebirth scum as mech pilots!?!?! Dear lord, kill me now. The clanners joking and flirting during unit formations.... where are the razor blades? Junior warriors questioning the qualifications of their Star Captain (twice in the same meeting) and living to tell!?!? What I finally concluded was that the book was originally written about conflict between the Dracs and the Draconis March worlds, focusing on armored infantry, but then Bryan decided it would work better as an Elemental story and went back and just changed what HAD to be changed to force into a clan story template. I can't comment on his writing style because I could not read more than one page at a time without putting the book down to vent my frustration at the butchery I was witnessing. Someone else, please write an Elemental story!!

Honestly, the Fed-Com Civil War would be good read, as it will be finally of focus in Patriots and Tyrants. However, the BattleTech Universe does not revolve around the Inner Sphere. The events chronicled in Test of Vengence describe events unfolding in the Clan Sphere, and the impact that it has on the Steiner vs. Davion conflict. All the last few books released has been "setting up" events that led to the outbreak of Civil War. Will it destroy the fledgling Star League and throw humanity back into the dark ages? Well, you'll have to read the books and follow the chain of events to get to the "meat" of the matter. Last comment: the Crusader Wolf Clan is kicking themselves in the ...by rubbing the Ghost Bears the wrong way. Soon we'll have a united Rasalhague people if they are lucky...don't know what I'm talking about? Where have you been the last 14 years (3049-3063)?

This book is a good read...one of the best tales about new Clan life in the Inner Sphere. But do read all the books...to get a better understanding of the universe. Go Clanners! Go Kerensky's hope!

I have a lot of patience for the bad writing and plotting inherent in reading the Battletech books. It's something you learn to live with - even appreciate - as you read these books.

I survived the crippling of some of the better characters in Stackpole's later books, the glossing over of important facts in many of Coleman's books, and even the butchering of the Japanese language that occurred at the hands of all of the authors. (with the exception of Charrette, one of the few truly excellent writers in this series)

There have been some bad books - some really bad books - in this series. But none of them have come close to the sheer, terrifying awfulness that is 'Test of Vengeance.'

Nystul may be an excellent game designer, but his writing is atrocious. From the first battle scene where he describes the 'Gnome' battle-armor as requiring 'an extra shot to finish off' (destroying the illusion separating the game dynamics from the reality of the book) to the use of allusions and slang by the Clanners that they never would have used, Nystul weaves a story that breaks the rules set forth by the authors who came before him.

Toward the end, I was forced to skim the book because the mangling of Clan culture was so profound that I couldn't even finish the book. That has never happened with a Battletech book, and I've read some very, very bad Battletech books.

Battletech is my favorite 'pulp' series, and I am willing to forgive a lot of issues with these books. But as much as I wanted to enjoy this book for its unique perspective on Elementals, the fact that it got everything so very wrong prevented me from doing so.

I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone, regardless of how much of a fan of the Battletech universe they are.

(as I have ties to the Battletech community, I will make this an anonymous review to avoid unecessarily hurting feelings)

This attempt by Brian Nystul would have been a great book if he hadnt tried to do so much forshadowing. There is just too much going on that isnt connected with the story. This is one book that didnt need a tie in with the Davion civil war, or the quick piece with the Black Dragons (yes they're back or will be). Too much was attempted too soon. A longer build up to the war between the Draconis Combine and the Ghost Bears would have been nice as well. We've heard about this in other books, but a fully fleshed out text would have been better. When I put the book down it left me unfulfilled. Battletech fans...better pick this one up though. With the sale of the Battletech property from FASA, this and the next one might be the last we see for some time.

A novel that pits Clan Ghost Bear against the Draconis Combine and Clan Hell Horses with Clan Wolf manipulating events in the background.
The story is presented from the viewpoint of a ristar Elemental Star Captain named Jake Kabrinski, who contends with both internal challenges of a new command, and the external advesaries faced on the battlefield. This is the only Battletech novel I'm aware of that has an Elemental main protaganist, and while some light is gleaned on the differences between the genetically altered infantry and the standard mechwarrior, it's more ala carte to the meat of the story.
The plot isn't linear at all, which provides a trememdous break from the norm; once you think you have the pace figured out, the next chapter does a 180 on you. All the twists and turns make sense and add to the overall effect; nothing is done haphazardly just to mix things up.
Overall, Test of Vengeance was a fascinating read, Bryan Nystul is an author par excellence.

Test of Vengeance is the tale of a Ghost Bear Elemental, Jake Kabrinski, and his Clan's war with the Draconis Combine. After the Alshain Avengers raid their homeworld (the Ghost Bear Dominion's capitol), the Clan retaliates against the Combine (it would be helpful to read Path of Glory before lunging into this book). Jake feels disgraced by his lackluster performance during the war; this provides the emotion crux of the novel.

Although the characters can feel a bit flat at times, Nystul shows the camaraderie of the warriors more than other writers. Humor occasionally surfaces in the Clanners' dialogue, providing a welcome respite from most writers' very mechanical and unimaginative Clan speech.

The plot maintained my interest throughout, something many Battletech novels utterly fail to do (especially the MechWarrior series). My only complaint is the ending. It's not that I didn't enjoy it (which I did), it's just that it seems to drag on for a bit (a chapter or three too many).

All in all, this is an excellent addition to the Battletech canon.

This book definately isn't anywhere near other battletech novels dealing with the clans.

It may very well be 10 years into the truce that made the clan invasion come to a halt, and clanners had most likely had to adapt to living in the sphere (especially the ghost bears), but the way it's depicting in this book is causing unneccesary chills.

The clan language and culture is mangled beyond belief. Dialogs between clanners are written as friendly banter, with no regard to ranks or status. Personal honour and accomplishments are replaced by friendships and "helping your fellow peers in need".

Nystul should keep to designing games, and leave writing to people that know how it's done.

To anyone interested in clan society, I'd recommand reading the Jade Phoenix Trilogy by Robert Thurston instead.

I'd give this book 3 and a half stars if I could. It's a worthwhile read for any Battletech fan, but there's a number of flaws throughout it to offset it's high points. Here's a list of what I liked, a lot, and why it's worthwhile:

* Takes place at some of the major events in Ghost Bear/Draconis Combine history, and you'll hear about the events here in most other BTech books.

* The Elemental's perspective is something that's not even been hinted at since Jade Pheniox trilogy, and is completely worthwhile.

* Because of the unique aspect to combat, there's very little horribly repeated cliche lines about PPC fire being man-made lightning, and no "waves of heat" nearly causing pilots to fall unconcious (In the boardgame they actually DO fall unconcious - it'd be way more dramatic if this happened in the books more often.)

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Now, the downsides:

* The Clan and elemental culture is messed up. It's true elemntals use contractions way more than Clan MechWarriors, but these people sound like Americans.

* Clan logic is shot - Hell's Horses isn't just unstable, it violates Clan ethics, and Ghost Bear has no Clan reasoning what so ever; they seem to think of everyone as equals with no caste system, showing no disrespect to even scientists. This may annoy some readers familar with the history badly.

* A supposedly symbolic but utterly stupid constant dual between a Draconis special forces soldier and the main character keeps coming back - both cultures would consider not killing a fallen warrior disrespectful, but here, it happens multiple times.

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All in all, it's a worthwhile book, with combat scenes that feature not only the elementals perspective, but some great joint-operations tactics. Ghost Bear is one of the few Clans where an elemental might get in charge of 'mech forces, so that part I have no problem with - despite the fact the main character seems abit too stupid for the job, he does kill things well, and that's enough with the Clans. The fights later in the book with alternate power-armor and heavy lasers are great, too, as well as some Zero-G combat that's fit for a movie.

Not as good as many of the old-school plot-heavy books, but refreshing enough amongst the new action-heavy ones to be a memorable read if you like the subject matter.

While not a complete writer (like Michael Stackpole) a much better writer than Loren Colemen. This book is certainly warfare packed. It well should be, after all this book is about the elite clan infantry ... the elementals. Nystul really conveys the strength of the genetically engineered elementals, their unique battle armor and their ferocity in combat. A lot of action in this book. This guy really illustrates the elemental here. A worthwhile (and short) read.

John Gardner, the great creative writing instructor, said that once the "spell" is cast it must not be broken. This little novel passes that test! I had read through over half of it without realizing it! The pace is perfect. The characters, lifelike. Everything works. In the "About the Author," Nystul gives clues to his age. I think he is a generation Xer. What amazes me is that he could write so darn well for a "kid." Given, I found probably no more typos and little grammatical goofs than you could count on one hand, but that's forgivable all things considered! He is a natural storyteller, especially if you just want to indulge in macho action, but he even balances that with the kind of chick characters guys love. The worst criticism I might offer is based on my never having read anything in the "Battletech" series before. I had a little trouble keeping all the characters sorted out all the time. It's not a deep story, but it is continuously full of action yet not plodding. If you are a guy and just want a fun diversion, get it!