Blaine Lee Pardoe

I have read few Battletech novels and they always struck me as very interesting setting, concentrated more on the people than gigantic machines fighting it out. This was my experience with what is marked as Jihad and Dark Age period. But when I tried reading some of the older stuff it suffered from the same problems as early W40K books - mostly action and no world building. And so I went on hiatus from this universe for a couple of years and then managed to get my hands on some of the books marked by fans as must reads. I started with this one, since it set in very early time period, before Clans even started their crusade towards Earth and it tackles subject I am very fond of in fiction - renegades that get expunged from collective memory in a manner not so different from what ancient Pharaohs did, but remain defiant and alive in the shadows. If you are familiar with two Space Marines legions suffering same fate you know what I am talking about. Only difference here is that Wolverines are looking to strike back at Clans for what they did to them.

I have to admit book was not what I expected. The way Wolverines were first put on the path of destruction, and then the way other Clans and Kerensky were manipulated towards final decision to destroy this Clan, it was so realistic and similar to historical purges that I was stunned. Even McEvedy's decision to give her people chance for survival, if everything else fails, it was so heartbreaking and fatalistic, I have to admit it reminded me of the Atreides' faith on Dune - while one member of Clan is alive, Clan lives. Kerensky seems to be a rather .... unstable guy and while he was initially manipulated, very soon he will continue with the pogrom because it would be very hard to go back after all the lies and destruction and second, because he sees in this opportunity to further strengthen his rule.

Similar to Dune, ending is bitter, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Kerensky's maniacal adherence to his rule (and I have to admit I am still little bit puzzled why he is so much feared and obeyed, I guess he has some control over the very Clans, and his Wolves are also not something to forget about - again I am not so much knolwedgable of the lore so still gaps to fill) and decision to utterly destroy the Wolverines will finally make him the master of the lore and Clan history (his solution for Snow Raven Kahn's doubts and fear was so terrifying, only made worse with the calmness with which he uttered the words). This purge of history and gain of full control of all knowledge related to the destruction of Wolverines and location of Inner Sphere will, ironically, give surviving Wolverines means to remain hidden. Nevertheless Kerensky's command to exterminate all the Clan's remnants will continue to hound them in centuries to follow (and as it turns out not just them).

This is a strange universe, I have to admit. Ruthless, based on genetic manipulation and eugenics, tight social and technological control (unfortunately all of the elements that also mark our times) where obliteration of one's Clan can come as easily and as soon as "proofs" are provided (again very similar to the way stories and "spins" are created in our times - once condemned, there is no way back).

For me, I have found another SF universe to enjoy, to stand side by side with Warhammer. I hope that at some time there is (or will be) a novel with more information on Wolverines after the purge (same as was provided for Fidelis). I can only say, long live the Minnessota Tribe.

Only issue I had with the novel was editing - at some points author would mix up characters so I would not know who is doing what and at some parts of text some words were clearly missing. While this was annoying it did not take much of the overall experience.

For fans of SF action, adventure and very interesting blend of military and politicking, and of course exciting combat between gigantic humanoid mecha, highly recommended.… (mais)

There's something psychotically absurd about Clan society and Blaine Pardoe does a great job seeding this not just in the tale of the Wolverines but also in our understanding of Nicholas Kerensky and his direction of the clans.

My only complaint is that there's so much in this story that could have justified a longer series. Pre-Operation Revival Clan stories are just so intriguing because the authors need to lay groundwork for how fascist, warrior dictatorship doesn't collapse under it's own craziness. In a way, I wish this book had been fleshed out even more and was the foil for an excellent sourcebook like Wars of Reaving.… (mais)

I really enjoyed Exodus Road (first Trent book) and how it kicked off Twilight of the Clans. I really think it was Pardoe at top form. So I was really looking forward to this book and getting a better send off to Trent and the original Clan Invasion era in general.

But the entire premise of Trent and Paul Moon's conflict gets more creepy the deeper you go. Pardoe seems to take it as a given that saving the "spirit" of the CSJ has a self-evident merit. It's not a subversive take, like a WOBie justifying his zealotry, but rather a real "heritage not hate" style of rhetoric that motivates the whole book.

Honestly, it's messed up the more you think about it and you don't even have to reduce the book to allegory yourself when Pardoe does it explicitly for you:

"This is part of the League’s problem. They do not understand that defacing or destroying a monument or destroying other ones does not change history. In fact, it often ends up reinforcing that history. Rewriting the history books to impose a new social order rarely works in the long term."

Yikes.

Pardoe has always had a troubling tendency to allude to and valourize "the Lost Cause" sentiment in his BT books (just look at the preface to the Archer Christifori book!). But this is gross coming from Catalyst in 2019. It's even more troubling that no one in Battletech's creative or editorial side was able to note and reel this in either.… (mais)