Truth and Shadows (MechWarrior: Dark Age #5) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Ian Murchison, resident medic on Balfour-Douglas's Station #47, leaned on the rail of the oil rig's observation deck, watching the night sky and taking his..." (more)
Key Phrases: Captain Bishop, Steel Wolves, Anastasia Kerensky (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Anastasia Kerensky and her Steel Wolves tried to take the planet Northwind once before and failed. Kerensky doesn't take defeat lightly and won't give up until she holds this pivotal world in her grasp. Now Countess Tara Campbell must marshall her Highlander troops for a new fight. She'll depend upon Paladin Ezekiel Crow for help, but what she discovers is that her greatest ally may yet prove to be her worst enemy. Book 2 in The Proving Grounds Trilogy, Truth and Shadows by Martin Delrio is the fifth novel set in the universe of MechWarrior: Dark Age.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: WizKids (August 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451459385
• ISBN-13: 978-0451459381
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #713,719 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Delrio Team Comes Through With A Big One!!!, August 4, 2003

By	D. Konig "NYCWD" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Finally, after one horrible novel (Ruins of Power) and one so-so novel (A Silence In The Heavens), the new Mechwarrior line has once again reached the platinum standard with Truth and Shadows.

Lost from the previous book in the trilogy is all of the self-brooding and what has been found are some familiar names such as "Dagger" Di Jones, Captain Tara Bishop, and "One Eyed" Jack Farrel with his mercenary company aka The Band of Five. Anastasia Kerensky remains the ultimate evil, only submersing herself in her Tassa Kay persona once for a very public hanging, but in the shadows lurks a greater evil that looks to ally itself with Kerensky and acts as a secret benefactor.

Will Elliot and his infantry are once again thrust into these decisive battles, but here they are no longer the green troopers from the first book, but veteran soldiers who have some fire time under their belts.

As for Paladin Ezekiel Crow, he remains the brooding stalwart of emotional detachment until his walls are broken down adn we can see exactly how human he really is. This revelation will shock followers of not only the book line but the game story as well, especially with the upcoming release of the new expansion set Liao Incursion. Once the truth is pulled from the shadows, it will surely upend everything that we have come to know in the last year as the Republic of the Sphere and the veil of infallibility that seemingly shoruds their paladins.

The book does start of relatively slowly, but by Chapter 6 the pace has picked up nicely. There is mech on mech action and infantry on mech action, and even VTOL on VTOL action. Although it is still in small amounts, the quality is superb.

This book is a definite read for any Mechwarrior/Battletech fan.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So, so book--better if taken as part of the trilogy., July 20, 2005

By	Big Robot Fan (Great Lakes, USA) - See all my reviews

Battlemechs CANNOT knock each other over by doing a running forward handstand into a flip. Nor can they roll around on the ground clenching each other like lovers.

Delrio obviously didn't research his topic.

Other than the glaring lack of knowledge of the game universe that this series is based on, I felt that the book was okay. It worked as part of the larger trilogy. Let the buyer decide whether or not they can suspend their disbelief.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In lux veritas, March 15, 2008

By	A. Timson (Livonia, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

TRUTH AND SHADOWS continues the storyline of Northwind that began in A Silence in the Heavens, again utilizing a structure similar to its predecessor. This time, it's Ezekiel Crow, Paladin of the Sphere, who undergoes life-altering changes.

It's been several months since the Steel Wolves have been seen, and Northwind is finally starting to breathe easy. But Crow can't really do so—not when the specter of Liao is being hung over his head by an unknown party.

As before, much of the first two-thirds is spent on character development, with some minor action from the secondary cast. Only towards the end do Tara Campbell and Crow hop into their BattleMechs and join the fray.

The Wolves' defeat feels more honest this time, in that they weren't actually defeated. Rather, in the face of the scorched earth tactics the Highlanders used ("If we can't have it, you can't either"), the Wolves decide that Northwind is more trouble than it's worth, and set their sights on a new target in time for the trilogy's conclusion: Terra.

While the structure of the trilogy has already gotten repetitive, "Delrio"'s strong writing more than makes up for it. The lies, deception, and betrayals keep the reader guessing even as the story moves on towards a conflict that's been over a decade in the waiting.