What do you think?
Rate this book
BattleTech Universe #49
Roar of Honor
Angela Bekker is a rising star in the Ghost Bear Clan. Devoted to duty and honor, relentless in the pursuit of flawless victory - a prime example of Clan excellence in mind and body. So when she receives orders to form a new Trinary from scratch, she jumps at the chance to have her own command. Especially since they are to be stationed on the planet Toffen at the leading edge of Ghost Bear space.
But what is an honor for some is an opportunity to strike for others. Led by the bloodthirsty Dirk Radick, forces of Clan Wolf launch an assault to take the valuable planet from the inexperienced troops. But the hunters soon become the hunted, as the Stalking Bears live up to their name.
Only when the smoke clears does Angela realize that great honor comes at a great price - one that she may not be willing to pay...
But what is an honor for some is an opportunity to strike for others. Led by the bloodthirsty Dirk Radick, forces of Clan Wolf launch an assault to take the valuable planet from the inexperienced troops. But the hunters soon become the hunted, as the Stalking Bears live up to their name.
Only when the smoke clears does Angela realize that great honor comes at a great price - one that she may not be willing to pay...
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 2, 1999
7 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
Blaine Lee Pardoe
94 books116 followersBlaine Pardoe is a New York Times Bestselling and award winning author of numerous books in the science fiction, military non-fiction, true crime, paranormal, and business management genre's. He has appeared on a number of national television and radio shows to speak about his books. Pardoe has been a featured speaker at the US National Archives, the United States Navy Museum, and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. He was awarded the State History Award in 2011 by the Historical Society of Michigan and is a silver medal winner from the Military Writers Society of America in 2010. In 2013 he was awarded the Harritt Quimby Award as part of the induction ceremony at the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame. Mr. Pardoe is also a member of the League of WWI Aviation Historians.
His books have even been mentioned on the floor of the U.S. Congress. His works have been printed in six languages and he is recognized world-wide for his historical and fiction works. He can be followed via Twitter (bpardoe870)
His books have even been mentioned on the floor of the U.S. Congress. His works have been printed in six languages and he is recognized world-wide for his historical and fiction works. He can be followed via Twitter (bpardoe870)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 4, 2023
Another shit Battletech novel, nothing new there. It's the way of the world. Bears crap in the woods, all life is finite and all Battletech novels are awful.
Well ok that's not fair, they aren't all terrible. Icons of War and Betrayal of Ideals are pretty decent, but for every good Battletech novel, there is ten utterly horrible ones. And Roar of Honour is most certainly one of the horrible books.
Roar of Honour focuses on Clan Ghost Bear, not the most interesting or cool Clan, but they're still unique and hardcore when they need to be. The story follows a Ghost Bear known as Angela Bekker, as she is stationed on a small backwater planet on the border of Ghost Bear space. It doesn't matter much to the Clan, but she's going to protect it like it was Terra itself. Clan Wolf gets involved, they fight and not much of interest happens.
This book contains all the things you'd expect from a Battletech novel. Pointless action that is not enjoyable to read, uninteresting characters who aren't fun to be around and a boring plot that is as predicable as it is dull. It's just not good, at all. The story doesn't follow any of the big important characters and it isn't some universe changing conflict, which is good. Battletech is usually at its best when it focuses on smaller, more personal stories.
Usually.
In addition, having Clanners talk about their conscience and morals is dumb. They're supposed to be the tyrannical, super-human warriors that oppress everyone under them, treat every single person who isn't a warrior like dirt, enslave the masses and hate each other almost as much as they hate everyone else. They shouldn't be morally complex. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I want my Clanners to be truly evil bastards. They're the bad guys of Battletech (until groups like the Word of Blake come along, who are even more evil and awesome than the Clans. Want some real awesome lore? Read the Jihad stuff, the WoB is badass, don't listen to all the grognards who whine and cry about how the game is no longer set during the boring as sin Succession War era).
So yeah, would not recommend at all.
Also, as is once again common with Battletech novels, it is filled with spelling and grammar mistakes. I challenge you to find a single page in this whole book that doesn't have at least one mistake. The author misspelt the word 'and.' TWICE IN ONE CHAPTER! Utterly unacceptable in any book you pay for, although in this case my friend gifted me his copy of this book so I didn't have to pay. It's still unacceptable however.
I genuinely think I'm done reading Battletech novels forever. I've read well over a dozen now, and only enjoyed two (those being Icons of War and Betrayal of Ideals). I love the setting, but the books never live up to the potential of the setting and they're just making me dislike the Battletech universe more and more. I'm gonna stick to the Sourcebooks from now on, that's where the real Battletech is.
Let's just hope this new Ilclan era can get over the current Woke craze and have less trans characters, eh? They ruin the setting more than bad novels ever will.
Well ok that's not fair, they aren't all terrible. Icons of War and Betrayal of Ideals are pretty decent, but for every good Battletech novel, there is ten utterly horrible ones. And Roar of Honour is most certainly one of the horrible books.
Roar of Honour focuses on Clan Ghost Bear, not the most interesting or cool Clan, but they're still unique and hardcore when they need to be. The story follows a Ghost Bear known as Angela Bekker, as she is stationed on a small backwater planet on the border of Ghost Bear space. It doesn't matter much to the Clan, but she's going to protect it like it was Terra itself. Clan Wolf gets involved, they fight and not much of interest happens.
This book contains all the things you'd expect from a Battletech novel. Pointless action that is not enjoyable to read, uninteresting characters who aren't fun to be around and a boring plot that is as predicable as it is dull. It's just not good, at all. The story doesn't follow any of the big important characters and it isn't some universe changing conflict, which is good. Battletech is usually at its best when it focuses on smaller, more personal stories.
Usually.
In addition, having Clanners talk about their conscience and morals is dumb. They're supposed to be the tyrannical, super-human warriors that oppress everyone under them, treat every single person who isn't a warrior like dirt, enslave the masses and hate each other almost as much as they hate everyone else. They shouldn't be morally complex. Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I want my Clanners to be truly evil bastards. They're the bad guys of Battletech (until groups like the Word of Blake come along, who are even more evil and awesome than the Clans. Want some real awesome lore? Read the Jihad stuff, the WoB is badass, don't listen to all the grognards who whine and cry about how the game is no longer set during the boring as sin Succession War era).
So yeah, would not recommend at all.
Also, as is once again common with Battletech novels, it is filled with spelling and grammar mistakes. I challenge you to find a single page in this whole book that doesn't have at least one mistake. The author misspelt the word 'and.' TWICE IN ONE CHAPTER! Utterly unacceptable in any book you pay for, although in this case my friend gifted me his copy of this book so I didn't have to pay. It's still unacceptable however.
I genuinely think I'm done reading Battletech novels forever. I've read well over a dozen now, and only enjoyed two (those being Icons of War and Betrayal of Ideals). I love the setting, but the books never live up to the potential of the setting and they're just making me dislike the Battletech universe more and more. I'm gonna stick to the Sourcebooks from now on, that's where the real Battletech is.
Let's just hope this new Ilclan era can get over the current Woke craze and have less trans characters, eh? They ruin the setting more than bad novels ever will.
August 7, 2019
I'm used to how most Battletech books that focus on the Clans either choose someone who has left or been separated from their clan or the usual antics of the big players from Clans Jade Falcon, Wolf or Smoke Jaguar. It's rare that we get books about clans like the Ghost Bears, despite how they were prominently featured as the focus of a MechWarrior game expansion.
This book did a great job of trying to illustrate what makes the Ghost Bears different from the other clans including a willingness to embrace more unconventional (or less Clan-like) tactics in order to succeed in battle. Given they are one of the few clans who managed to win at least one of their battles on Tukayyid, it shows a greater flexibility in combat versus the others.
This book pushes that further by focusing on a protagonist who was already known for embracing different tactics even among the Ghost Bears, which made her uniquely skilled to handle a Trinary defending a key world. This certainly made garrison duty feel a lot more exciting than in other Clan books, although things do come a wee bit easier for her than I'd like, but it's not quite Mary Sue territory.
Solid combats but not necessarily the best out there. Still a fun read after all this time.
This book did a great job of trying to illustrate what makes the Ghost Bears different from the other clans including a willingness to embrace more unconventional (or less Clan-like) tactics in order to succeed in battle. Given they are one of the few clans who managed to win at least one of their battles on Tukayyid, it shows a greater flexibility in combat versus the others.
This book pushes that further by focusing on a protagonist who was already known for embracing different tactics even among the Ghost Bears, which made her uniquely skilled to handle a Trinary defending a key world. This certainly made garrison duty feel a lot more exciting than in other Clan books, although things do come a wee bit easier for her than I'd like, but it's not quite Mary Sue territory.
Solid combats but not necessarily the best out there. Still a fun read after all this time.
November 1, 2024
I grew up playing the battletech tabletop game and MechWarrior video games. This book was about an up and coming clan commander. Without digging too deep into the lore, the story is about a team tasked with holding a planet against a superior force. It was good when talking about battletech but it didn't stick with me and the writing seemed forced at times...
April 27, 2023
Great read
Great read about the campaign for Toffen between Clan Wolf and the defending Ghost Bears. Really interesting set of characters and some great battles all set between two small units.
Great read about the campaign for Toffen between Clan Wolf and the defending Ghost Bears. Really interesting set of characters and some great battles all set between two small units.
November 12, 2023
A fun read in the BattleTech universe, this sci-fi novel offers great MechWarrior combat and interesting characters. Could hardly put it down once I was into the second half. The book really drew me in.
June 24, 2025
Good plot and action!
November 12, 2013
"Roar of Honor" dives deep into the clan mythos of the BattleTech/MechWarrior universe. We follow a Star Captain of Clan Ghost Bear as she attempts to form an elite unit to garrison and defend the planet of Toffen, a crucial borderworld on the edge of the Draconis Combine.
Before long the newly established unit is challenged to a ritual battle for possession of the planet, by a ruthless Star Colonel of the rival Clan Wolf. The meat of the book then follows the two sides as they play out a deadly game of cat and mouse across an entire continent. As such it does not linger too much on the politics of the universe in which it plays out, but sticks to the blazing guns formula. There is also a healthy insight into the clanner mentality and culture which is one of the book's highlights.
Overall a quick and entertaining read for those who enjoy the MechWarrior universe, the uninitiated will probably want to give it a pass.
Before long the newly established unit is challenged to a ritual battle for possession of the planet, by a ruthless Star Colonel of the rival Clan Wolf. The meat of the book then follows the two sides as they play out a deadly game of cat and mouse across an entire continent. As such it does not linger too much on the politics of the universe in which it plays out, but sticks to the blazing guns formula. There is also a healthy insight into the clanner mentality and culture which is one of the book's highlights.
Overall a quick and entertaining read for those who enjoy the MechWarrior universe, the uninitiated will probably want to give it a pass.
June 27, 2020
Standalone novel set in the Battletech universe.
Angela Bekker of the Ghost Bear Clan is assigned to create a new trinary with a view to defending the planet Toffen.
The members of the new trinary take a while to gel and work as a unit, but their training is cut short when Clan Wolf decide to try their chances and take the planet from them.
A good clan vs. clan novel, the characters sometimes seem a bit forced into their roles but the battle scenes are well done.
Angela Bekker of the Ghost Bear Clan is assigned to create a new trinary with a view to defending the planet Toffen.
The members of the new trinary take a while to gel and work as a unit, but their training is cut short when Clan Wolf decide to try their chances and take the planet from them.
A good clan vs. clan novel, the characters sometimes seem a bit forced into their roles but the battle scenes are well done.
August 10, 2008
These are total fluff, but they're fun anyway. I usually try to read them before I send them off to my fiance in Afghanistan so that we can discuss them. The one negative thing I have noticed is that there are a ZILLION typos. I think my favorite was the one where someone "barley escaped" a battle.
March 11, 2021
not bad; like a series of vignettes
Read
June 27, 2016Uncertain when read. Before 2003.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews