Double-Blind (Battletech , No 31)

Rating:
Summary: Great story and characters.
Review: I picked this book up after reading Loren's other Battletech book - Binding Force (No. 32). Double-Blind is an enjoyable read. Good characters, a well-paced storyline and homage to the history of the Battletech universe help make this book a great read. This novel falls slightly short of Binding Force, but remains a worthy addition to the collection. Several aspects of this book are exceptional, and I'm looking forward to more novels from Mr. Coleman.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic setting but falls flat
Review: The author of this book obviously had some great knowledge of battletech history and has written this book in a style that references past events very well. However the biggest let-down of this book is the writing style of the battle sequences. Loren might say something like The missile hit his mech on the side carving off nearly 3 tons of armor, and then later she looked at the damage report and it showed that she only had 2 tons of armor left on the head of her mech. Or in the post-battle scenes... Still she had managed to salvage a couple of small lasers and several tons of armor It feels as if it is describing a battletech boardgame tournament where mech tonnage and armor levels matter more than a good description. it's hard to explain but if you read this book you will know what I mean.

Rating:
Summary: Politics and Intrigue, wrapped in a Periphery-coated shell
Review: While on the surface the novel seems to be about Avanti's Angels, a (sometimes) down-on-it's-luck mercenary unit, the true focus of the story brings a number of major powers, both of the Inner Sphere and of the Periphery, into a head-on collision on a remote planet in the Periphery, leaving the Angels squarely in the middle.

It takes more than PFM (Pure F...ing Magic) to get them out... and not necessarily in one piece, either...

Double Blind is a book that should be read by any true BattleTech fan, every Game Master looking for a new hook, and especially all of you Word of Blake and Periphery nuts out there.