Rating: 
Summary: Subtle humor at its finest in Battletech
Review: It appears I'm quite alone in thoroughly enjoying this book. This book was hilarious, in a very sarcastic, subtle way, apparently no one has noticed it! I agree that it was virtually no place as far as continuity goes in series, but regardless it provided fun insight on the daily lives of solahma and workings of the Huntress. The whole planet from Jag to Falcon was slightly insane, but what do you expect from a bunch of washups? That whole tears thing with Bren Roshak had me cracking up. The verbal adroitness was imagery was very amusing. It relied more on dialogue than action and maybe thats why everyone seems to hate it. Most Battletech characters seem to be a tad humorless but not this crew.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing.
Review: Of all the Battletech novels I have read so far - almost all of them - this is definitely the worst ever. The whole plot is so thin that it is surprising that Mr. Thurston managed to fill a whole book with it. The book is supposedly a part of the "Twilight of the Clans" series, but it does not contribute more to the storyline than can be summarized in two or three sentences. On top of that, the main characters lack credibility (Howell, Horse and Buhallin); Howell because his character does not match the one in the first novel of the series, Horse because of his inconsistent behavior with respect to his "honor" and Buhallin because of her almost "magical" scouting/hiding abilities (in a high-tech world!). The story that evolves around Horse contains no new elements (we have seen this type of single-hero story much too often in Battletech novels by now: Jade Phoenix, Exodus Road, etc.). Players of the game will be disappointed about the ONE real combat at the end of the novel, the outcome is hardly credible (again) and the game mechanics work differently than described here. So, is this a book about the "clan" way of living? No. There are no new ideas and the conflicts among the characters make it surprising how the Clan society could endure for centuries (not the only inconsistency in the so-called "Way of the Clans" concept, by the way). There is an excerpt from the book on the first page of the ROC paperback (personally, I hate those "appetizers"), which is remarkable in that it does not appear in the text at all. Summary: Thin storyline and lacks credibility. Better don't buy this.
Rating:
Summary: Most pointless BattleTech novel I have ever seen
Review: Robert Thurston is a good writer, so I suppose I'll have to forgive this poor excuse for a novel. He takes a strong and somewhat enigmatic character like Horse and "wastes" him a a confusing plot. He also "wastes" a good man like Russou Howell by turning him into a drunk sadist. This is nothing like the honor and decency that Russou Howell has showed up to now...He was supposed to be one of the Good Guys!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Fair, but unneccesary
Review: The book had it's uses to give some detail for the Clan's viewpoints, as well as laying some groundwork for the next Thuston Twilight novel, but I thought it was way overdone and rather tedious. The relevant parts could have been placed piecemeal in other books and saved us the time. I guess for me it was just too unbelievable that Rossue Howell would end up like he did after learning about him in Exodus Road. Also, considering the way Smoke Jaguar feels about freebirths, what was he trying to accomplish with all that junk about making Horse a member of SJ clan? Since he was freeborn, I couldn't see Howell caring much about him, no matter how big a JF name he was (especially considering the natural animosity between most clans). I would rather imagine he would simply delegate him to the labor cast a forget about him, except for the occasional verbal barb to JF about him. The one combat scene strikes me as written in on the spur of the moment to have one in there. It does not read very well, and almost seems out of place. Maybe it was put in there to help explain why the Clans don't use LAM's. Anyway, this book need not have been written, and definately not placed in the Twilight series, as it does virtually nothing to advance the plot.
Rating:
Summary: Seemenly out of place...
Review: The book truely seems out of place in the twilight of the clans series. it is only when you read Falcon rising you understand it fully. it is a set up to show that the jade falcons treat their freebirths in an enlightened way compared ot other clans. I found it an intresting read on backwater clan life but would have prefered something more
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre novel, and gamewise...don't get me started
Review: The novel's story elements are mediocre at best, and not what I expected after Thurston's excellent "Jade Phoenix" trilogy and his independant works, also as a part time gametester, and an avid player of BattleTech, the combat descriptions and new equipment he uses are...laughable at best, and obscene abominations at worst. Not what I expected, especially when the author has done much better
Rating:
Summary: Horrifically bad
Review: This book could possibly be the worst battletech book ever written. The book does nothing to advance the Twilight of the Clans series, serving to bog you down in between books that actually are readable. The main character whose name is "Horse" (yes, Horse) is hardly believable, while his nemesis, Howell is needlessly sadistic and is almost clownish. He spends more time yelling and screaming, so that it is hard to understand why the allegely competant Clans would not have killed this idiot off. This book was so bad that I literally question how this man ever got this book published.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the most twisted books you can get.
Review: This book has action,hard hitting storeline and just enough of a plot to keep you looking for more.
Rating:
Summary: awesome
Review: This book is awesome for one lacking battles. Sometimes it concentrates on how drunk Galaxy Commander Russou Howell can get. Although he has 2 poorly armed galaxies almost all Galaxy commanders only control 1 galaxy. I think the last battle was stupid though it was smart of howell to use horse. If I were Horse I would not know what to do. Horse helped get himself labeled dumb by choosing to attack the jade falcon forces but having like 20% accuracy and hardly doing anything. For an action less book it deserves a 5. for an action book a 1.8. for an overall book it should be 3.4 but I'll give it a 4.
Rating:
Summary: Great insight into other aspects of clan life.
Review: This book is great in that it gives you more insight into how the clanners live. I think we sometimes forget that just because some clanners are genetically bred that they don't have feelings. In this book they do and you see just how hard they can be to deal with. I really enjoyed Freebirth and feel it's and essential part of the series. Robert Thurston keep up the good work.
| 
