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Someone is getting in on Battletech excitement of recent weeks.

60 novels for about £15. No idea if they are any good, but that’s a lot of pages for not very much

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/battletech-fiction-catalyst-game-labs-books?utm_content=cta_button&mcID=102:6452a120c8adfb36500971c8t:56de80cc733462ca89698a03:1&linkID=6452a122827038eea309e0d9&utm_campaign=2023_05_04_battletechfictioncatalystgamelabs_bookbundle&utm_source=Humble+Bundle+Newsletter&utm_medium=email

I recognize some of those titles from back in my high school days. So early 90s? I enjoyed them at the time, but can’t say they were classic literature. For $20 might just grab the lot though, for nostalgia.

Shakespear it aint.
However, it's a great deal for pulp mech literature. I actually have a complete set of the pre-Jihad novels (even The Sword and the Dagger) in print and this seems to include most of those.

I was loosely considering selling the collection off but held back with the idea that I might like to reread some of these books that I enjoyed quite alot as a kid. Now, if the list of what's offered turns out to be even mostly complete I'll probably buy the bundle and sell my collection to make some space on the bookshelf.

One thing I will say is that I assume the new versions will not have the classic cover art (Vallejo for the win!) or the interior drawings that featured "Unseen" mechs.

You can see a list of the BattleTech novels at https://www.sarna.net/wiki/List_of_BattleTech_Print_Novels_and_Anthologies

 Nevelon wrote:
I recognize some of those titles from back in my high school days. So early 90s? I enjoyed them at the time, but can’t say they were classic literature. For $20 might just grab the lot though, for nostalgia.

They seem to have skipped some of the really early ones, except the Grey Death Legion series. Its rather Clan era focused, or just prior.
The Stackpole books are decent for Mech stuff, but have a tendency towards 'man and woman walk into same room, fall in love instantly for no apparent reason and then angst about it for the rest of the book.'

Notably missing is the one with the aliens. Which absolutely don't exist in Battletech, except that time that people don't talk about.

 Ghaz wrote:
You can see a list of the BattleTech novels at https://www.sarna.net/wiki/List_of_BattleTech_Print_Novels_and_Anthologies

That's my refference point for sure.

Looks like unsurprisingly Far Country and Sword and Dagger aren't included as those are books the company would probably like to forget and also contain aliens. A brief and not careful count indicates 64 movels pre-MWDA so this bundle may be dang near complete.

Voss wrote:
They seem to have skipped some of the really early ones, except the Grey Death Legion series.

They have most of the 'early' books (i.e., the books published by FASA) the Warrior trilogy and the Blood of Kerensky trilogy along with Wolves on the Border and Heir to the Dragon along with the Saga of the Grey Death Legion.

 Ghaz wrote:

Voss wrote:
They seem to have skipped some of the really early ones, except the Grey Death Legion series.

They have most of the 'early' books (i.e., the books published by FASA) the Warrior trilogy and the Blood of Kerensky trilogy along with Wolves on the Border and Heir to the Dragon along with the Saga of the Grey Death Legion.

Hmm. I thought there were a few others from the early days. But I suspect I was plonking Wolves on the Border as a full Clan book rather than Wolf's Dragoons and also confusing some Shadowrun titles (there's an author overlap, unsurprisingly).

That they aren't in any particular order doesn't help, though.

I am now reading the twilight of the clans for the first time...

Went ahead and bought in also. I'm starting with Warrior trilogy.

If anyone is interested in a complete BT novel library in print edition, get in touch I'll be letting mine go.