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After watching the odd "Tex Talks" video and picking up a box of Urbies I decided to pick up the Battletech fiction collection from Humble Bundle to further scratch this mech itch and my question is, where do I start? In the past I have read By Blood Betrayed (way to put the big twist in the title there!) and whatever the trilogy was called about some guy named Pride who was disgraced as youth, had a friend named Horse and got killed by the phone company during that big battle for the fate of the Inner Sphere.

So, massive pile of books ahoy, but where do I start? Also, not a massive fan of the Clans, but if it is a must-read, I will give it a try. And haha, bonus points, though I doubt it, if there are any Urban mech themed stories in here somewhere. 😉

Exodus Road (Twilight of the Clans, Book One)
Grave Covenant (Twilight of the Clans, Book Two)
The Hunters (Twilight of the Clans, Book Three)
Freebirth (Twilight of the Clans, Book Four)
Sword and Fire (Twilight of the Clans, Book Five)
Shadows of War (Twilight of the Clans, Book Six)
Prince of Havoc (Twilight of the Clans, Book Seven)
Falcon Rising (Twilight of the Clans, Book Eight)

Way of the Clans (Legend of the Jade Phoenix, Book One)
Bloodname (Legend of the Jade Phoenix, Book Two)
Falcon Guard (Legend of the Jade Phoenix, Book Three)

Warrior: En Garde (The Warrior Trilogy, Book One)
Warrior: Riposte (The Warrior Trilogy, Book Two)
Warrior: Coupé (The Warrior Trilogy, Book Three)

Iron Dawn (Rogue Academy, Book One)
Ghost Hour (Rogue Academy, Book Two)
Crimson Night (Rogue Academy, Book Three)

A Silence in the Heavens (The Proving Grounds Trilogy, Book One)
Truth and Shadows (The Proving Grounds Trilogy, Book Two)
Service for the Dead (The Proving Grounds Trilogy, Book Three)

Decision at Thunder Rift (The Gray Death Legion Saga, Book One)
Mercenary's Star (The Gray Death Legion Saga, Book Two)
The Price of Glory (The Gray Death Legion Saga, Book Three)

Fall From Glory (Founding of the Clans, Book One)
Visions of Rebirth (Founding of the Clans, Book Two)
Land of Dreams (Founding of the Clans, Book Three)

Front Lines (BattleCorps Anthology, Volume 6)
Kill Zone (BattleCorps Anthology, Volume 7)

Threads of Ambition (The Capellan Solution, Book One)
The Killing Fields (The Capellan Solution, Book Two)

Grey Watch Protocol (The Highlander Covenant, Book One)
Paid in Blood (The Highlander Covenant, Book Two)

Lethal Heritage (Blood of Kerensky Trilogy, Book One)
Blood Legacy (Blood of Kerensky Trilogy, Book Two)
Lost Destiny (Blood of Kerensky Trilogy, Book Three)

Shrapnel, Issue #6
Shrapnel, Issue #7
Shrapnel, Issue #8
Shrapnel, Issue #9
Shrapnel, Issue #10
 
A Bonfire of Worlds
A Call to Arms
A Question of Survival
A Rending of Falcons
A Rock and a Hard Place
Assumption of Risk
Betrayal of Ideals
Binding Force by Loren L. Coleman
Black Dragon by Victor Milan
Blood Avatar
Blood of Heroes by Andrew Keith
Blood of the Isle
Blood Will Tell
Bred for War by Michael A. Stackpole
By Blood Betrayed
By Temptations and By War
Call of Duty
Children of Kerensky
Close Quarters by Victor Milan
D.R.T. by Jim Long
Dagger Point
Daughter of the Dragon
Double-Blind by Loren L. Coleman
Dragon Rising
Elements of Treason: Honor
Embers of War
Endgame
Fire at Will
Flashpoint
Flight of the Falcon
Forever Faithful
Fortress of Lies
Fortress Republic
Fox Tales
Ghost of Winter
Ghost War
Hearts of Chaos by Victor Milan
Heir to the Dragon by Robert N. Charrette
Heretic's Faith
Highlander Gambit by Blaine Lee Pardoe
Honor's Gauntlet
Hour of the Wolf
Hunters of the Deep
Hunting Season
I Am Jade Falcon by Robert Thurston
Icons of War
Ideal War
Illusions of Victory
Imminent Crisis
Impetus of War by Blaine Lee Pardoe
Initiation to War
Isle of the Blessed
Jaguar's Leap
Kell Hounds Ascendant
Main Event
Malicious Intent by Michael A. Stackpole
Marauder
Masters of War
Measure of a Hero
Natural Selection
No Greater Honor (The Complete Eridani Light Horse Chronicles)
No Substitute for Victory
Operation Audacity
Operation Excalibur by William H. Keith
Pandora's Gambit
Path of Glory
Patriots and Tyrants
Patriot's Stand
Principles of Desolation
Redemption Rift
Redemption Rites
Roar of Honor
Slack Tide (A BattleCorps Anthology)
Storms of Fate
Surrender Your Dreams
Sword of Sedition
Tactics of Duty by William H. Keith
Target of Opportunity
Test of Vengeance
The Damocles Sanction
The Dying Time
The Last Charge
The Quest for Jardine
The Ruins of Power
The Scorpion Jar
To Ride the Chimera
Trial by Chaos
Wolf Hunters
Wolf Pack
Wolves on the Border by Robert N. Charrette

I'd start with the Grey Death and Warrior trilogies. There's a bunch of reading order lists (like this one on Reddit, or you can look at Sarna to track characters or events.

For the post FASA books, is there any to read/avoid?

If you want really good action, and are new to the setting, I would read at least the Grey Death Legion saga, and maybe the Blood of Kerensky trilogy. Many of the others I have no real knowledge of, but I know I found the Warrior trilogy so much of a slog that I am currently stuck in the middle of the second book.

I am not a huge fan of the Clans either, but the Kerensky trilogy is told from multiple sides (lots of Inner sphere reaction to the Clans), and the Clan part of it is translated through the eyes of a Inner Sphere character who is encountering everything Clan for the first time, so it works.

I'd start with Grey Death Saga as well.

I liked Warrior trilogy well enough but it's not the strongest.

If you're not a fan of the clans, your best bet is to read them chronologically.

Definitely read The Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy and follow it up with The Blood of Kerensky trilogy before reading anything from the Clan Invasion era or later. Jade Phoenix gives you a basic understanding of the life of a Clan warrior that will be helpful when reading later novels while Kerensky will give you the 'big picture' of what's going in the Inner Sphere during the early Clan Invasion era (late 3049 to 3052 or thereabouts).

You can wait on the 3rd book of the Jade Phoenix (Falcon Guard) till after the Blood of Kerensky trilogy if you want. It happens in the middle of the 3rd book of the Blood of Kerensky, for the most part.

I've been reading the Founding of the Clans, but I can't give them high praise. It's mostly centered on a person who is so internally focused that big things happen to them all of a sudden, though they've been brewing for months in the story, and even in his 50s, that never changes. Not much action in the first two books or the first section of the third, and what story movement that happens seems to jerk along abruptly.

Gray Death is good for getting a feel of the "normal soldier" side of the Inner Sphere. It was the first book series in Battletech, and it kind of shows. It's not bad, but it doesn't move like the Warrior and later books do.

Warrior Trilogy is better for seeing the more "noble" side of the Inner Sphere, Son of the Dragon is, too. It was doing Game of Thrones when Game of Thrones came out, but on an intergalactic stage. Both sets are good reads.

Wolves on the Border is a good book that's pre-Clan that I would recommend before reading either Jade Phoenix or Blood of Kerensky. You might even want to read it before reading the second book of the Warrior Trilogy. It sets up a key scene that might not otherwise make sense.

Thanks for the tips and recommendations all, I will be skipping the Jade Phoenix / Pride trilogy, having read it in the past and I still remember most of it in broad enough strokes. And I will keep the GoT style novels in mind, I really want to learn more about the Inner Sphere before the Clans show up, lore videos so far have only lightly touched on what they were up to in between the Amaris Civil War and the Clans invading.

First up, Grey Death, after I finish re-reading By Blood Betrayed.

And oh yes, Sarna is amazing! I wish more game wikis were this clean and on point with presentation of info and sources.