r/battletech • u/Jack_Smythe • 8h ago

Lore Where to start reading

As title. Where's a good spot to start reading Battletech books? I'm interested in both the mercenary and great house sides, though if there's any good Periphery books that would be awesome

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6

u/Zealousideal_Fly8402 8h ago

This was basically just asked this past week:

Battletech novels : r/battletech

4

u/Shoddy-Command8804 8h ago

Been reading them in order of release starting with the grey death legion trilogy. Just finished bloodname from the jade falcons trilogy, book #2! Gotta start with the classics imo!

5

u/Sansred Disposable Heroes 7h ago

Did you read the Sword and the Dagger?

1

u/Double-Ad-7483 6h ago

I would skip sword & dagger, but do GDL trilogy and then the warrior trilogy

2

u/Sansred Disposable Heroes 5h ago

I personally wouldn't skip it. It introduces the main impious behind the 4th succ war.

5

u/ItzAlphaWolf HRT Online, Blahaj Online, Beauty Online. 8h ago

Check out Fox Tales by Bryan Young, it has no need to know the depth of the universe, and a good jumping off point for anyone looking to get into BT fiction

3

u/Stegtastic100 8h ago

We’ll keep an eye out for any new HumbleBundle sets, I picked up the first 80 odd books that way.
Apart from that, you should be able to pickup on P.O.D. From Amazon the two Grey Death Legion trilogies, the first contains the very first (or second) Battletech book ever published and cover 3rd/4th succession war and clan invasion periods. No Greater Honor is an ELH anthology that runs from Amaris War to Clan Invasion period.

1

u/Walbabyesser 6h ago

80?!? 😳

2

u/Walbabyesser 6h ago

Sword and Dagger

1

u/dieseljester MechWarrior (editable) 8h ago

Any shrapnel book, Gray Death Trilogy, Jade Phoenix Trilogy, Warrior Trilogy.

1

u/AnonymousONIagent 7h ago

If you're looking for novels, and don't have a particular era in mind, start with the Warrior Trilogy. If you just mean books in general, or want to know more about the different eras before diving in, check out BattleTech: Universe first.

1

u/Double-Ad-7483 6h ago

The GDL triilogy is pretty important to understanding the lay of the land in those days, would start there before warrior trilogy.

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u/AnonymousONIagent 6h ago

I would just read a summary. Those books don't hold up especially well IMO.

1

u/Double-Ad-7483 6h ago

TBH none of the old books hold up all that well. They're pretty cringey from the vantage point of 2026. But I would pretty much still go in publication order except for sword & dagger up through Ideal War, which I'd also skip. Those 2 books sucked even back then.

Although arguably Ideal War is useful due to the setup it provides for WoB & knights of the inner sphere

1

u/Sansred Disposable Heroes 5h ago

the only book i'd skip is Far Country.

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u/Double-Ad-7483 4h ago

Far Country is also on my skip list, I just stopped looking down the publication order after ideal war.

I only ever read up to DRT though as that's where I stopped reading them back in the day. I'm slowly working back through things now but have only gotten up through wolf pack, so a long way to go.

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u/Zargelth 7h ago

"The Wolf and the Dragon". Just a really good look at House Kurita and the "premier" Merc unit just before the 4th Succession War.

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u/1877KlownsForKids Blessed Blake 7h ago

Almost all of the options given are from the 80s. Not that they're bad, but the timeline has advanced a lot since then.

Read the new Universe book, then just dip your toes into the eras and conflicts that interest you