Mechwarrior: Dark Age #12: Hunters of the Deep (A BattleTech Novel)

Many Battletech fans have yet to embrace the new Mechwarrior Dark Age series, and - unfortunately - Randall N. Bills' Hunters of the Deep isn't going to help matters in this regard. Bills is something of an expert when it comes to Battletech technology and hardware, which makes it all the more disappointing that there is so little actual Mechwarrior action in this novel. Most Battletech fans want battle action, and plenty of it. Hunters of the Deep consists predominantly of politics inside Clan Sea Fox, and there's really not much of a tie-in with events taking place throughout the Dark Age universe as a whole. There is talk of an invasion of the Republic by House Marik, but that invasion is given exceedingly short shrift in these pages. To put it mildly, I found the politics of this novel somewhat confusing. Worst of all, there is really no one to admire in this story; indeed, I wasn't even sure who I should be pulling for until I got about halfway through the book. You...Read more

At best this book is an awkward read with numerous typos and some name transpositions. What kills it are the countless inconsistant pieces of story and illogical plot functions. The story is summarized here: Two rival Sea Fox ov-khans conflict with each other and the unappealing protagonist ov-khan wins at the end. (He is so unappealing that his aid and friend for years treacherously abandons him at the end of the book to side with the apparently more appealing Antagonist who of course promptly loses) Almost a sidenote is that House Marik launches an invasion of the Republic and fails (In the book this part of the story takes up less space than my review).

Unless you want to read some hundred odd pages about meaningless Clan Sea Fox politics and their leaders acting like dishonorable Spheroids (while thinking about how Clanly they are), then don't waste your time reading this book.

The Clans are becoming less and less Clanly. Without the plentiful...Read more

I have read numerous sci-fi novels and all of the current mechwarrior novels. This one is not an easy read or an intriguing story. As the other reviewers noted, the typographical errors and the name transpositions are distracting. In addition, Mechwarrior and Battletech novels usually feature the behemoth machines that give the series its name, but this novel falls short in this regard. In addition, the novel doesn't advance the plot of the the series overall. I am 140 odd pages into the novel and that is as far as I will get. This is only a good purchase if you feel the need to complete a set of novels; it is not a worthwhile read.