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Rating: 
Summary: hell...it was GOOD!
Review: i've read most of the Battletech novels and i have followed the MW:DA series although i was a bit unsure for the wisdom of that in the beginning.The DA universe is not as good as Battletech, that's for sure (so many changes in 60 years???come on...)nevertheless, i liked these novels in general- it seems that the writers have earned some experience after the end of the Battletech series! As for Patriot's Stand...in the beginning, i got the impression that it was somewhat...naive?too b-movie style?but, as i kept reading...it kept getting better!in fact, i think that it is the best novel in both Battletech and MW:DA that describes COMMON people and how they are affected by the fighting, the politics and so on!Grace O' Malley and her pals are not some top-notch mercs, or princes, dukes and nobles, no hard nosed military or glory-bound, battle-crazed clanners. they are simple people, who have known peace for all their lifetime, have received no real military training and are suddenly with war and a crazed madman upon their heads!having read about revolutions and resistance movements throughout history, i can say that the raising of the Alkalurops
Rating: 
Summary: dull
Review: not as bad as flight of the falcon but still one of the worst fark age books, the story pretty much has nothing to do with the important main saga of dark age and its seems to drag on and urge you to skip pages
Rating:
Summary: Another disappointing MW:DA novel
Review: Patriot's Stand is a very nicely turned novel. The author, whom I've never heard of, has a nice gift for verisimilitude-- the bit of description that's just right to bring a scene to life, make it seem real.His characterization is great also. I really came to like his characters. Grace, a very tough little vixen. She cut her teeth on a mining mech, and tried to fight mercs with a half-baked amateur conversion and weapons that didn't even work right. Another reviewer says that initial battle was a disaster. Actually, considering that Grace and her compatriots survived and captured a heavy tank, it was a victory. In light of the half-baked equipment they had to work with. You could call this "the magnificent seven go to space." Grace goes to a nexus starport looking to hire mercs. She learns that while she has tens of thousands of "stones" (the currency), she still can't buy top merc regiments. So she gets the losers, the down-and-outs, the mavericks, the renegades. She can't even pay them decently-- they are working for deeds of farmland, because that is all the locals are able to come up with. Well, this is one h___ of a book, let me tell you. This bunch of loser mechwarriors, plus miners, farmers, and cattlemen, put together a ragtag army and take on a crack merc outfit. The battles are hot, the characters seem real, the writing skill makes this hole-in-the-wall little planet come alive. If I see a sequel, or another book by the same author, my checkbook is coming out of my pocket faster than you can say "30-mm autocannon." PC
Rating: 
Summary: Much Better Than Expected
Review: Patriot's Stand is a very nicely turned novel. The author, whom I've never heard of, has a nice gift for verisimilitude-- the bit of description that's just right to bring a scene to life, make it seem real. His characterization is great also. I really came to like his characters. Grace, a very tough little vixen. She cut her teeth on a mining mech, and tried to fight mercs with a half-baked amateur conversion and weapons that didn't even work right. Another reviewer says that initial battle was a disaster. Actually, considering that Grace and her compatriots survived and captured a heavy tank, it was a victory. In light of the half-baked equipment they had to work with. You could call this "the magnificent seven go to space." Grace goes to a nexus starport looking to hire mercs. She learns that while she has tens of thousands of "stones" (the currency), she still can't buy top merc regiments. So she gets the losers, the down-and-outs, the mavericks, the renegades. She can't even pay them decently-- they are working for deeds of farmland, because that is all the locals are able to come up with. Well, this is one h___ of a book, let me tell you. This bunch of loser mechwarriors, plus miners, farmers, and cattlemen, put together a ragtag army and take on a crack merc outfit. The battles are hot, the characters seem real, the writing skill makes this hole-in-the-wall little planet come alive. If I see a sequel, or another book by the same author, my checkbook is coming out of my pocket faster than you can say "30-mm autocannon." PC
Rating:
Summary: Riding Rough Over the Militia
Review: Patriot's Stand is the ninth novel in the Mechwarrior Dark Age series. The HPG interstellar communications grid has been down for two years. The effect on Alkalurops has been minimal so far. The lack of current commodity information has disrupted trade somewhat, but the loss of contact with the Republic bureaucracy has offset this. In this novel, Alkalurops learns the negative side of loss of communications. They are invaded and have no way of calling for help. Allabad, the capital, dropped out of the net a week ago and then messages began arriving about BattleMechs and tanks taking over towns and hijacking Mechs. Now the invaders have reached the Gleann Mor Valley and are approaching Falkirk. Grace O'Malley, the town mayor, and her militia are about to get their baptism of fire. The battle is a disaster. The invaders detect their ambush from over a kilometer away and maneuver to directly attack their modified Industrial and Agricultural Mechs. The only thing that works right is the Navajo pits and traps; they capture a hovertank. Only the arrival of another dozen worker Mechs from the Donga River Valley saves the Falkirk militia from total defeat. In the town meeting after the battle, the leaders agree that their defense efforts were inadequate. However, they have a tradition of protecting themselves and decide that they need to learn the new methods of fighting. They raise a collection and sent Grace O'Malley, Chato Bluewater and Jobe Kang to Allabad to coordinate with the central government. When they arrive in Allabad, the Gleann Mor Valley representatives find that the Governor and Legate had been assassinated prior to the raid and that attempts to form a government are bogged down with endless talk. Grace informs the ad hoc council of the Gleann Mor Valley plans and then books passage offworld to hire instructors for their militia. In this story, Grace and her friends discover just how difficult it is to mount an adequate defense against a well-equipped aggressor. None of the mercenary units will provide instructors, but will contract for their defense for an appropriate fee. However, Grace does find a few unemployed mercenaries who, for personal reasons, are willing to act as a training cadre. This story illustrates the difference between professional soldiers and local militia. Of course, the professionals are better trained and often have better equipment. However, the locals are highly motivated and eager to learn; after all, they have more to lose than the professionals. The locals also have knowledge of the terrain and the support of the populace. A key factor in this story is the Leader, the man who initiated the whole conflict. The Leader is a caricature of the nasty villain, with all the worst aspects of Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin and none of the strengths. Not at all adverse to doing his own killing and very susceptible to sycophancy, the Leader creates enemies everywhere he goes and surrounds himself with incompetents. Once again, the author proves his ability to involve the reader in a military tale. He also does a good job of depicting local politics. He adds a touch of novelty and realism to the Battletech universe. Highly recommended for Battletech and Moscoe fans and for anyone else who enjoys highly realistic tales of future military actions. -Arthur W. Jordin
Rating:
Summary: Riding Rough Over the Militia
Review: Patriot's Stand is the ninth novel in the Mechwarrior Dark Age series. The HPG interstellar communications grid has been down for two years. The effect on Alkalurops has been minimal so far. The lack of current commodity information has disrupted trade somewhat, but the loss of contact with the Republic bureaucracy has offset this. In this novel, Alkalurops learns the negative side of loss of communications. They are invaded and have no way of calling for help. Allabad, the capital, dropped out of the net a week ago and then messages began arriving about BattleMechs and tanks taking over towns and hijacking Mechs. Now the invaders have reached the Gleann Mor Valley and are approaching Falkirk. Grace O'Malley, the town mayor, and her militia are about to get their baptism of fire. The battle is a disaster. The invaders detect their ambush from over a kilometer away and maneuver to directly attack their modified Industrial and Agricultural Mechs. The only thing that works right is the Navajo pits and traps; they capture a hovertank. Only the arrival of another dozen worker Mechs from the Donga River Valley saves the Falkirk militia from total defeat. In the town meeting after the battle, the leaders agree that their defense efforts were inadequate. However, they have a tradition of protecting themselves and decide that they need to learn the new methods of fighting. They raise a collection and sent Grace O'Malley, Chato Bluewater and Jobe Kang to Allabad to coordinate with the central government. When they arrive in Allabad, the Gleann Mor Valley representatives find that the Governor and Legate had been assassinated prior to the raid and that attempts to form a government are bogged down with endless talk. Grace informs the ad hoc council of the Gleann Mor Valley plans and then books passage offworld to hire instructors for their militia. In this story, Grace and her friends discover just how difficult it is to mount an adequate defense against a well-equipped aggressor. None of the mercenary units will provide instructors, but will contract for their defense for an appropriate fee. However, Grace does find a few unemployed mercenaries who, for personal reasons, are willing to act as a training cadre. This story illustrates the difference between professional soldiers and local militia. Of course, the professionals are better trained and often have better equipment. However, the locals are highly motivated and eager to learn; after all, they have more to lose than the professionals. The locals also have knowledge of the terrain and the support of the populace. A key factor in this story is the Leader, the man who initiated the whole conflict. The Leader is a caricature of the nasty villain, with all the worst aspects of Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin and none of the strengths. Not at all adverse to doing his own killing and very susceptible to sycophancy, the Leader creates enemies everywhere he goes and surrounds himself with incompetents. Once again, the author proves his ability to involve the reader in a military tale. He also does a good job of depicting local politics. He adds a touch of novelty and realism to the Battletech universe. Highly recommended for Battletech and Moscoe fans and for anyone else who enjoys highly realistic tales of future military actions. -Arthur W. Jordin
Rating:
Summary: A thrilling tale of citizens fighting to defend their home
Review: The Republic of the Sphere has basically collapsed in the two years since the HPG interstellar communications grid went down. Clans and Houses are making power grabs all over the galaxy, and most of the now-isolated planets are finding out that ignorance is not bliss. Alkalurops is a seemingly insignificant little mining planet out in the middle of nowhere - galactically speaking; its people are simple miners and farmers. They have always stood up and fought for themselves in the past, but their noble ancestors never had to face Mechwarriors in hellish BattleMechs. When a raiding party lands on the planet and begins confiscating equipment and supplies, a lot of folks - mostly urban types - stand back and freely give what true patriots would never surrender. Not so in the small town of Falkirk, where a spunky redhead with Scotch-Irish blood coursing through her veins leads a group of citizens willing to fight for what is theirs. Using mining Mechs crudely fashioned with whatever kind of offensive weapons the local engineers can fashion, Grace O'Malley and her militia take on the raiders and, as much by luck as anything else, live to fight another day. One thing is made clear by this limited engagement, though - the people willing to defend Alkalurops are going to need help if they are going to hold on to their land and their lives.
After a robust assembly of the people's representatives, Grace heads off-planet to hire some skilled professional soldiers of the planet's own. The Roughriders, under the command of Loren J. Hanson, are the first to turn her away with impossible payment demands; little does Grace know that the Roughriders have spent time on her planet already. In the end, Grace comes home with a loose grouping of professional soldiers tasked with turning her homegrown militia into a fighting force. Time is short, as the raiders soon return to Alkalurops with more than raiding on their mind. Then, as if things aren't bad enough, the Roughriders' client, as much a mystery to Hanson as he is to Grace, drops in with a bevy of his own Red and Black henchmen. Grace and her band of hastily trained but deeply committed patriots must come up with a novel way of fighting for their land and freedom, but it won't be easy. They know who the real enemy is, but they also have to take into account the Roughrider troops still ostensibly holding true to their contractual obligations.
A lot of these Mechwarrior Dark Age novels are basically the same: one planet faces an incursion by enemies of some sort, be they seekers of power, wealth, or both. This ninth book in the new series really has a spirit of its own, however. The citizens of Alkalurops are not trained fighters; they are just regular people who would rather die fighting for their land than see it stolen by ruthless brigands. Their strategies and tactics definitely qualify as unconventional. It makes for an especially interesting conclusion, as this is a battle that cannot be avoided. If you like your battles by the book, or you lust to see battalions going head to head across a traditional battleground, you won't find much of that here, but it seems to me that the most realistic of battles are never fought by the book.
The local politics of Alkalurops adds great depth to the story, as does the work of some intriguing intelligence agents. Basically, the fight itself isn't half as interesting as the preparations that come before it. I should also note that this story really plays out as a local affair; while a couple of intriguing questions arise, Patriot's Stand essentially takes place within a geopolitical vacuum rather far removed from the large-scale crumbling of the Republic itself.
Good characters make for good novels, and Patriot's Stand features a couple of good ones. I will admit that I felt a few of the characters could have been threshed out a little more, the villain is a real paper tiger, and the story behind the story of the villain was left a little nebulous, but it is hard not to like L. J. Hanson, and I must say it was a real joy to get to know Grace O'Malley. The planet may be Alkalurops, but the freedom fighters here sound a whole lot like the kind of Terran settlers who once fought for and won independence from Great Britain - they are patriots of the highest order.
Rating:
Summary: Another disappointing MW:DA novel
Review: This book was pure torture to read. The characters were mostly sterotypical and, as with many of the MW:DA novels, I didn't really care what happened to them.
The battles in this book were extremely unbelievable and annoying. Somehow minners and farmers who had little to no training or experiance and piloted Industial Mechs were able to land hit after hit, while elite and experianced mercenaries piloting battlemechs missed their shots almost every time.
This was one of those books where you find yourself hoping for the "bad guys" to win. I'd advise anyone who dislikes constant pain while reading to avoid this book.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting interlude
Review: When I first began this novel, I thought that I would be disappointed. The story seemed to be moving slowly and predictably-A desperate defense by the underdogs foils the nefarious plans of the well-armed, well-disciplined mercenary troops. However, the story is not that simple. In this story, the underdogs do fight back, but the catch is that the mercenary troops they are supposed to fight against end up having reservations about fighting them, which affects the outcome. This tale deals more with honor amongst soldiers than it does with the fall of the HPG net, but it provides a nice escape from the main Dark Age storyline. No faction plays a major role in this novel; however, Patriot's Stand could end up as a jumping off point for some of the more colorful characters introduced. If you are interested in the complete Dark Age world, then this book fits in nicely, but if you are desperately hoping to find out more about your favorite faction or why the HPG net is down, you can probably live without this one. Just bear in mind that you will miss a well-written novel with an interesting angle on the Mechwarrior world.
Rating:
Summary: Had Potential
Review: While this story had a great plot going for it, it fell short in most other areas. It was intensly boring and had close to no action aside from beginning and the end, and it was based on a tiny insignificant little planet. This HAD potential but it was wasted.
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