Lost Destiny

BattleTech Universe #12

by Michael A. Stackpole

Blood Legacy continues the saga of the Clan invasion begun in 3030. Jaime Wolf has brought all the key leaders of the Inner Sphere together to put to rest old blood feuds and power struggles. But old hatreds and suspicions die hard. Still, the very survival of the Successor States hinges on battling warriors equipped with BattleMechs far superior to their own and another threat lurking in their very midst, ComStar, the sect controlling interstellar communication which is determined to rule all of the Inner Sphere by any means at its disposal.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Gaming, Role Playing Games, Space Opera

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lost Destiny by Michael A. Stackpole is the twelfth book in the classic BattleTech Universe. It is also the third book in the "Blood of Kerensky" trilogy.
In this one, the Successor States have been fighting among themselves for many decades. Then from out beyond the Periphery comes a new threat. A swift-moving military force of unknown origin. Nothing the Inner Sphere has can stop them. Their power, speed, and ferocity are unparalleled. Some of the finest warriors and ablest units have challenged them and been crushed. No force has faced them and won.
They are the Clans! A military juggernaut whose sole reason for existence is battle. A race that selectively breeds itself for combat.
The Inner Sphere's only hope is an alliance of mortal enemies. The Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, interstellar empires at war for 300 years, must now stand side-by-side—or face certain destruction.
Unknown to the Clans and the Inner Sphere powers they both have an unknown enemy working to pit them against each other for its own ends. Comstar!
Although the classic Battletech books are written by many different authors, Michael A. Stackpole has risen to the top as one of the best in this series.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here it is, the monster ending to the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy! I'm happy to report that Michael Stackpole has done it again and written another incredible story. It's interesting to a certain degree, I feel like Stackpole could have sat and written this book forever and just kept going. It feels like a lot of details are left unsaid for the sake of space at times, one of which I will gripe about later. But in a similar fashion to the end of the Warrior Trilogy this was just as much of a page turner where every chapter had some incredible event!

In the prior novel Blood of Kerensky, Volume 2: Blood Legacy I had referred to it as if it were a massive training montage, so we all knew the final battle would occur. However, in true Stackpole fashion it did not turn out exactly as I had expected. The massive training everyone went through at the Wolf Dragoons facility certainly paid off and played a part in the book, but while they thwarted certain goals the clans had, they did not even truly halt the clans in any significant way. Their best fighter, Kai Allard was essentially taken out of the greater fight when he wound up abandoned on an occupied planet. However! We finally get to see some growth and closure with his negative thoughts and the growth of a relationship with the Deirdre Lear, which finally brought some unexpected closure in that arc as well! I had not expected to enjoy this story arc as much as I did.

In the meanwhile Kai has no idea what had happened to his parents and the prior novel sort of ended on a bit of a cliff hanger regarding that arc. In Lost Destiny we finally get to see the closure of that rather shocking arc. In fact, it's so shocking I couldn't write about it without spoiling anything and you really should read it to find out the fate of two major personas in the BattleTech universe.

The relationship fostered by Victor Steiner-Davion and Hohiro Kurita is brought back into the fold and wound up having a truly awesome arc where Victor is sent in to help Hohiro while his unit is pinned down in Combine territory. This is a huge deal to send Davion ships into Combine space, never mind them coming to the aide of prior sworn enemies! Maybe there is hope for these people yet and the way this book ends, I have to wonder if there might hope for Victor and Omi, Hohiro's sister, in the future as well... Even though that is all political drama, I am nonetheless quite curious to see what the future brings for these strange allies. Will their friendship fall apart? Or is it stronger than it might appear...

What of the Clan Invasion though? If the combined efforts of the Successor States can't bring them to heel, then who can. Now, if you've been reading the novels from the beginning, we have seen ComStar stepping up and being a lot more active in a militaristic way. In the Warrior Trilogy, during the wedding, it is discovered that ComStar appears to be training their own Mech regiment. In Heir to the Dragon (Battletech Series) we see ComStar lending hardware to Theodore for his war. So, it's clear ComStar isn't as much of a benign neutral group as we had previously thought. It turns out they are the only ones that can potentially bring the clans to a halt and the, now, infamous Battle of Tukayyid takes place in this novel. However, I have to note that I was surprised that it did not consume a huge portion of the book. There are entire chapters dedicated to the offensive, but much less than one would have probably thought given the scale and legend of the battle. I think this is why in the relaunch of the Clan Invasion in 2020 an anthology book, BattleTech: The Battle of Tukayyid, which serves to fill in some more detailed battles of the event. It seems to also coincide with the new game book of the same name.

The aftermath of Tukayyid are just as shocking and the events surrounding ComStar and Anastasius Focht are just mind blowing. As usual, I was not expecting any of this when I first started this novel. As above, I can't give away any of the details, because they are just so major it ruins the whole impact, but rest assured ComStar is going to have some serious work ahead of them in the future. I'm very interested to see where this goes in the future.

One of the things I find interesting is that in the end of it all, the Clan Invasion is merely paused, it's not exactly stopped. Which is why, if you look on in the BattleTech novels there is more Clan involvement to come! I'm definitely looking forward to reading the future novels, because I am very interested to see what is to transpire as a result of this trilogy.

There are only a couple moments in this book that I feel are a bit overlooked on the details. The most major aspect is there is quite a bit devoted to who Anastasius Focht really is and they eventually reveal his real name. However, I don't even remember this character showing up or really being named much in the prior novels. I could have missed him... but I had to turn to House Steiner: The Lyran Commonwealth to find a proper write-up of the man in question. I suppose he was an important fellow in the past, but I felt like the "reveal" was supposed to have way more impact, so I wasn't shocked in the way I think I was supposed to be.

The other concerns Renny Sanderline during the rescue of Hohiro. Renny was introduced as Victor's roommate form college during his graduation in the prior novel. In this book they make a decently big deal of Renny joining with Victor as he rebuilds his unit and goes off to rescue Hohiro. During that battle Renny's 'Mech gets hit really hard and it falls away and the chapter ends. Renny never appears in the novel again, so I was left wondering what even happened to him. Stackpole, sometimes unfortunately, has a habit of letting characters just die in this fashion. So, I wound up looking around on sarna.net and found out Renny actually isn't dead. I don't feel this is a spoiler, as it was never a secret and it explains why Victor isn't even remotely sad after the fact. For a while, as read further, I was like "wow, that's awfully cold of Victor...," but since Renny isn't dead, this makes way more sense.

In the end Lost Destiny is another incredible BattleTech book! My goal was to read all this material in order... but I may skip to that new anthology concerning Tukayyid, while the original tale of the battle is fresh in my head. If you've been reading BattleTech this far into the universe, I would gather that you're in for the long haul, just as I am, so it's time to get reading since there is quite a long way to go!

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

After this trilogy I am done with reading in the Battletech universe. I enjoyed the warrior trilogy far more than this one. On the whole I found too much time was spent attempting to develop weak interpersonal relationships. Considering it is related to the climax of the first clan invasion I expected more mech combat than what was found in it. Additionally the multiple character deaths that are actually not dead became a tiring plot device after the third time. All in all read the warrior trilogy first and give this a go if you really want some history of the clans. .just be prepared it's far slower than you would expect. The slowness is not the issue instead just what that slow paces focuses on which is weak characters.

[Brian Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a LOT happening in this book, luckily they let their best Battletech author write it.
The next generation of the Successor States ruling families are proving their worth as fighting with the Clans reaches its head.
ComStar are playing the Clans against the Inner Sphere, Kai Allard Liao is missing, presumed dead, his parents are assassinated, and Hohiro Kurita is trapped behind enemy lines.

There are so many things in this book that resonate through the rest of the novels that come after.
It can be read as a standalone book, but when read as part of the whole space opera which is the Battletech universe it has a lot of major plot points.

[Xan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es difícil que un libro soporte varias relecturas sin perder encanto por el camino. Sobre todo si se trata de un producto tan comercial y previsible como una saga basada en un juego de mesa. Stackpole lo logra con buena nota. Y lo hace con la fuerza de algunas escenas bien que hacen subir la tensión y que disparan la emoción del lector, porque aunque se dedique a un género menor y comercial eso no quite que tenga momentos de gran escritor, uno de esos que logra emocionar al lector. Al fin y al cabo de eso se trata esta profesión, de emocionar.

[Clint the Cool Guy · Rating 2 out of 5]

More than a Phelan! But still a bit of a slog to get through. The Stackpole books are really long and dragged out. It fleshes out some interesting future historical events, but just seems so unexciting to read.

The Clans as depicted here are a lot different from how Robert Thurston depicts them. Thurston’s Jade Falcons seem like a truly warlike, even alien culture. It seems like a society that is fairly fleshed out and believable. But Stackpole’s Wolves on the other hand don’t seem that way to me. They seem pretty much the same as the Inner Sphere warriors, except that they have a lot of rituals, don’t use contractions, and like to attend masquerades a lot, for some reason.

In Thurston’s version of the Clans, a “freebirth” has no chance of earning a Bloodname because it is prohibited by clan law. Let alone become a Khan. In Stackpole’s version, it’s perfectly okay for a bondsman to earn a bloodname, become a Khan, and heck, maybe even lead all of the clans! Because why not? That major contradiction doesn’t make any sense to me, and has always bothered me from the first time I read this 20+ years ago.

I still don’t understand the Clans’ motivation as a whole. I mean, the Crusader’s motivations make sense, but the Wardens’ do not. Why are the Wardens even fighting? If they wanted to protect the Inner Sphere from the Crusader Clans, then why do they lead the invasion? It makes no sense.

And Phelan’s motivation is the most muddled of all. He gets captured by the enemy, eagerly joins them, and rises through their ranks. What for? I don’t get it. Doesn’t he have any morals? Any loyalty toward his family and country? He’s fighting just because he likes being a soldier, and doesn’t care who he takes orders from? Weird! And this book never pauses to consider the ramifications of that. Phelan is a traitor. He helps lead enemy forces in KILLING allies that are defending his homeland from a senseless invasion. I don’t get how that can work out to him being a hero, but somehow in this book, it is supposed to. Well, count me out. I don’t see him as a hero. He’s a defector who is guilty of treason.

And one more thing. Why on earth would the Clans EVER agree to fighting versus a 15-year truce? What would they have possibly had to gain by such an agreement? That is completely unrealistic. When have real-life wars ever had something like that spelled out? Wars don’t work that way. I mean, it might stand to reason from a board game development standpoint but not from a real life perspective.

But then again, I’m talking about stories about giant mechanical robots shooting laser beams at each other, so probably I shouldn’t take all of this so seriously :)

[Katrina Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, the third part of the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy--you will want to read the other two prior to this entry. Which should be a "no duh" statement--but some authors are good enough that you can jump into part three just fine. I don't know if this is the case with Stackpole, as I read the first two books--so I cannot say for sure

Oddly enough, Part Three somehow feels rushed. There are a fair amount of characters to keep track--and some of the events I wouldn't mind seeing more of what happened rather than the "brief" summaries we end up getting

I mean, the summaries aren't _actually_ that brief--but they kind of feel that way. Like the author is skipping around a bit. Which... is a side effect of Stackpole getting better at writing people. There is no longer problem of the first two with the characters being humanoid robots acting like historic characters--think like a Audio-animatronic Abraham Lincoln. The characters actually feel like people... and I suspect that ends up making the events feel rushed

It is a very intriguing read--and a great end to the trilogy--except for a couple issues, that honestly, aren't something that big. Lesser authors would not be able to do as well as Stackpole--and he did a very good job at covering the material--and even showed signs of improvement over these three books

I'd still highly recommend this trilogy--but it is heavy nerd stuff... and seems to be viewing various events as a checklist that need to be hit. Which--is not an easy task to make compelling--and Stackpole succeeds. Like he succeeds REALLY REALLY well

[Logan Kedzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's like justifying the first Iraq invasion.

The most telling scene in the novel is when VS-D is arguing with MH-D, and Victor keeps saying "it's because I'm short," like Davey Jones, and it's like dude, the only reason that you keep reiterating that is because without you saying it, VS-D and MH-D would be interchangeable characters, the functional distinction being this 'tell don't show' problem of Victor's.

I had in mind to call out the author for his racial essentialism, as Liao and Kurita scenes are written as if describing aliens, but I hesitated to do so because I didn't think it was fair, and eventually it hit me as to why: essentialism of character as a philosophical idea runs through the book, biggest case in point being Kai and Deidre, whose conversations read like a badly translated Socratic dialog about romance and war. It is unclear where Deidre is getting all the straw for their arguments, but the whole thing feels embarrassing and feels like it should award a vinyl yellow ribbon for its creepy presentation of the philosophy of solidering. At least the elemental scene in jail when they crack up is legitimately hilarious, even as I feel like some of the arguments made stand in direct opposition to the description of the Clans' philosophy elsewhere in the book.

I do want to give props for at least trying to do something interesting with Liao, however brief, and however unsupported. That last point is at the core of the book's weakness, as already discussed with Victor's abilities, but also with the structure of the plot in general. Teniente is cool. I would have preferred more of it than some of the other plots. But the lead-up does not work, not dysfunctional, but two books of preface for what could have better been arranged in 57 pages.

Focht and Tukayyid is the involved and moving thread here, though with some snark in that Stackpole killed Focht off technically, with Charette redeeming him (and Theodore) in a different book for reuse then here. But even that leaves a bad taste, with the reveal that so much of Tukayyidis all an ilKhan Ulrich Xanatos Gambit, which has the same effect on Phelan's plot. I do wonder if the emplaced armor is a conscious choice or not. But in general, things pick up enough at the end to provide something satisfying.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better Mech Warrior books. The end of the "Blood of Kerensky" trilogy. Phelan Wolf nae Kell earns the Ward bloodname, and Comstar both secularizes while stopping the clan invasion for a 15 year truce.

Some good lessons can be found in this book. One of the big ones can be boiled down to "plan ahead." The clans were so used to fighting short, vicious actions that at Tukkyid they learned why logistics are so important to warfare.

[Hugo Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trilogy was entertaining. All Battletech fiction does well with introducing the theme of the tabletop universe in vivid detail. Though it might ruin the surprise in some of the campaign settings, you could always be a GM and enjoy the show with those who haven't spoiled some surprises. Either way, i think all the campaigns are open to any result that doesn't necessarily have to be on rails with the lore.

[Kevin K · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the conclusion to the clan invasion, some of the events are a little handwavy, and I sorta feel like at least 2 of the plots could have been cut out of the book entirely without any loss to the overall story.

Regardless, it's pivotal to the overall history of Battletech, so you should probably read it if you like the world.

[Corey Keast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great Battletech author

Always like Michael Stackpole’s writing style. Very well written and look forward to continuing reading them. His X-wing series is also another good series to look into.

[H. Alvarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mi primera novela de Battletech. Puede que no fuese algo profundo, pero si queréis llegar a ser escritores comerciales, este es un ejemplo de ello. Un relato interesante, que te pide buscar más de este universo, especialmente de los clanes. Diversión palomitera y punto.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did NOT love how this ended in a poorly-described deus ex machina final battle. Wish much more would have been poured into that portion of the plot. In addition, the Allard "behind enemy lines" subplot was a real waste - nothing important happened there.

[Kavinay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected. It covers a lot of ground but leaves a lot of Tukkayid unexplored. Interesting regardless as it sets the stage for everything that's going to happen up to 3067.

[Siberian Vampire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Many interesting characters and book tells about very important parts of battletech story line.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good source material for Battletech. Thoughtful writing with an action story and good dialog.

[Nathan Willard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, Anastasius Focht. So many cultural references I didn't understand in 9th grade (though I probably should have).

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old Earth or Terra as it is referred too is set as the final battleground for this part of the invasion. Forces from within strive to gain an upper hand as traitors are everywhere.

[Allen Shepherd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't care I love this trilogy and re-reading it again for the first time in decades just brought all the feelings and emotions back. I wish there was more focus on Phelan and his Wolf Clan.

[Paul McPherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is what reignited my interest in Battletech years ago and has done so again

[Excel Lifestyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine the fate of the human race is going to be decided by a single climactic battle upon which the hopes of the galaxy is hanging. Now imagine that while this is going on there’s subplot upon subplot to follow instead of the decisive final conflict.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I read Stackpole, I am never quite sure he's learned to differentiate major male characters. Victor / Phelan/ Hohiro/ Shin / and Kai - all seem to be facets of the same person. The only person consistently unlike them is Sun-Tzu Liao, heir to the Capellan. He plays the buffoon or class clown. How can anyone be that stupid in real life, I don't know. (Or maybe that's the point.)

I felt the whole side plot with Kai, Deidre, and the Jade Falcons was extremely distracting. The whole build up was the Battle of Tukyyaid and Stackpole wrote only for the Wolves. It fell to Pardoe and Thurston to explain what happened to the Smoke Jaguars and Jade Falcons. Go read "Exodus Road" and the "Jade Phoenix" trilogy.

All the other clans - "after action summary" - what a let down.

Stackpole has no problems in the X-wing series. He has credible backstories and different personalities (except for Corran Horn - who acts a little too much like Victor Steiner-Davion IMHO).

[H.L. Reasby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Michael Stackpole's writing and the BattleTech universe is chock full of amazing characters... unfortunately, most of them make only brief appearances in this book, if they're present at all. Of the three young men the book centers on (Victor Davion, Kai Allard, and Phelan Kell), the only one I found even remotely likable was Victor.

That's not to say I disliked the book entirely... I found the depiction of the culture of the Clans interesting and the antagonism of ComStar's Myndo Waterly always bring a delightfully hateful aspect to any book she appears in.

This trilogy is definitely a must-read for Battletech fans, but I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to the universe.

[MjL · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the 6th round I'm just commenting that Stackpole was indeed a bit inconsistent in his Clanners. I can get that the Wolves didn't give much of a crap about the way they talked, but the Falcons... no, that sort of speech would not fly in a proper Clan - and the Elementals at Alyina were proper Falcons.

I know, nitpicking about very silly things. That short silliness list could include other things like Prezno being constantly called Przeno, but this sort of stuff might have been unclear between authors.

[Eric Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lost Destiny is the final book of Michael A. Stackpole's Blood of Kerensky trilogy. Victor, Kai and Phelan have grown in experience. The Clan invasion of the inner sphere is coming to a climax.

This is one of the best Battletech books. The political machinations of Comstar and the infighting of Crusaders and Wardens in the Clans are both doing what nobody has been able to do before. Bring the Inner Sphere together to form a united front. The cooperation between Kurita and Davion has gone a long way to ending centuries of hate and fear.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 3 of the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy and Book 12 of the BattleTech series. Finishing my favorite trilogy of the series, Phelan is fighting for a Bloodname and Anastacious Focht is planning the defense of Terra by proxy. Can the Inner Sphere fight off the clans?

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

And as with all things, they gotta end...but this is Battletech. There's always another war to fight.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly excellent tale. I enjoyed it immensely. =)

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book! read it!