Mechwarrior: Dark Age #2: A Call to Arms (A BattleTech Novel): A Call to Arms (A Battletech Novel) (Mech Warrior: Dark Age)

Certainly a lot of past B-Tech readers of Coleman's works groaned as I did when hearing he would be authoring the second book of Mechwarrior:Dark Age. Yes... he still uses the same words too frequently, but his narrative has improved tremendously... so much in fact, that I wonder if he really wrote it?

A Call To Arms, being the second book in the new Mechwarrior line has something for both the old and the new. While the beginning pages contain the standard "this is the universe under inter-stellar communications blackout" it then rockets past there with things both new and familiar. New mechs such as the Jupiter and Legionaire debut here in their first lengthy battles, while classics such as the Timberwolf and Blackhawk retain their sense of history.

The strategy of the commanders plays a big part in this book as battle after battle unfolds definately intriguing the tactician in all of us. Players of the MWDA Collectable Miniature Game get to meet Yulri Wolf, a prize in the...Read more

I really enjoyed this book. Coleman returns to the MechWarrior Universe with another well-conceived story. Reservist Raul Ortega finds himself defending the Republic and his home from the predations of the Steel Wolves and the Swordsworn. In doing so, Raul goes from a Customs Official to full-fledged MechWarrior in style. As mentioned in another review, the Jupiter and Legionairre BattleMechs debut as well as a Tundra Wolf and Hatchetman. What I really enjoyed, though was how the book kept to the essense of the new game in that infantry, vehicles, and modified Industrial Mechs played a larger role in the battles. Clearly, this book is anticipating the new additions to the MW: Dark Age game coming soon in the Fire for Effect expansion.

The characters were well-written as well. Raul is a good character, though somewhat stereotypical of the MechWarrior Universe (nice guy who believes in honor and defending his beliefs, etc.), but I really enjoyed Tassa Kay (if you are familiar with the...Read more

This book is one of the very best BattleTech novels I've read. It combines a nice balance of "palace intrigue" and guns-blazing action.

We follow the strategies of the Steel Wolf clan's commander, Torrent, who is trying to take over the planet for his clan. Also, the conflict is heated further by the meddlings of a kind of private army called the "Swordsworn." These Swordsworn pretend to be defending the Republic, but they have a hidden agenda that is self-serving, and a raw grab for power. Then last, there is the planet's native government, trying to defend against these factions.

All these intrigues explode into conflict, and they result in hot action at a number of points in the book. But as in many of these books, bullets alone cannot solve the problem. Raul and the planet's defenders have to unravel the skein of entangled betrayals and loyalties. In the end, strategy and craftiness by Raul and his friends prevail where bullets alone have failed.

Another...Read more