Truth and Shadows: Book Two of the Proving Grounds Trilogy

BattleTech Universe #68

by Martin Delrio

The Highlanders defeated Anastasia Kerensky the last time she attacked Northwind - although she retreated with most of her troops. Now dispersed among several planets, the Highlanders will need a bigger edge if they are to end Kerensky's threat completely.

A rumor places Anastasia Kerensky on Northwind. If that's true, then the Steel Wolves must be close by. Determined to locate them, Ezekial Crow and Tara Campbell order a reconnaissance - unaware that their enemy may be closer than they think.

With her forces on standby, Anastasia believes that there is little the embattled Republic can do to stop her from finally making a trophy of Northwind. What she doesn't realize is that she has allies she never imagined and enemies she never suspected.

It's a moment of truth for Crow, Campbell, and Kerensky, when lies emerge frm the shadows, and the fate of a world hangs in the balance.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 5, 2003

About the author

A pseudonym used by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifth book in the Mech Warrior Dark Age series. This is also the second book in the Proving Grounds Trilogy. This series is a continuation of the Battletech series. The books in this series, like the books in the original Battletech series, are by various authors. This one is by Martin Delrio. The Republic of the Sphere has known a long period of peace and prosperity. Then the interstellar communications network a.k.a. the HPG net is destroyed by terrorists and many planets in the Republic find themselves cut off from the rest of the galaxy with communications taking weeks or even months. Unrest leads to several factions on several planets trying to overthrow the local governments and seize power for themselves. In this one MechWarrior Anastasia Kerensky a.k.a. Tassa Kay has joined the Steel Wolves and takes over the leadership by force. She then decides to attack the planet of Northwind which will put the Steel Wolves on a path to Terra itself. After being defeated Anastasia Kerensky and her Steel Wolves sneak back onto Northwind to plan another attack. Her plans are moving along as planned when she is spotted by Highlander Sergeant Will Elliot. She must move her plans for attack up immediately but feels confident that she has enough forces to win the day.
Meanwhile Prefect Tasa Campbell and Pallidin Ezekiel Crow are planning a defense with the limited resources at their command. The best-laid plans can go awry however when Tasa is betrayed, in more ways than one, by a very unexpected source. It will take cunning and a lot of luck for Tasa and the Highlanders to save Northwind from conquest by the Steel Wolves.
This is another great read in this series of books and I recommend it to all fans of Military Science Fiction.

[Grantcorp · Rating 2 out of 5]

The opening volume of the Proving Grounds Trilogy was quite a decent read as far as the Battletech/Mechwarrior fare is concerned, but things took a turn for the worse in the middle volume "Truth and Shadows".

Without giving too much of the plot away the Northwind Highlanders who fought the Steel Wolf invaders in the first volume are now facing a new threat from an unexpected direction. After a slow build-up the plot again explodes in a dramatic attack on the planetary garrison but the whole set-up feels rather contrived. At the same time, agents from other factions are beginning to butt in and cause trouble, and here one of the least plausible turn of events takes place, in my opinion capsizing the entire set-up into a plot-twist that I found very hard to believe.

One of the main cast seems to be acting quite out of character and for me it really punctured the rest of the story, and with it the grip that the author had managed to uphold until that point.

"Truth and Shadows" does see a fair share of Mech battles though, but nothing of the magnitude as seen in e.g. "A Call to Arms". A decent read to advance the plot, but no more.

[Hyann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small chapters, simple, this book is easy to read in bus, metro...

Characters are fun, good interaction.

Plot is... ok. Nothing really happen not a big suspense. By itself, the book doesn't shine, it's a more like a set-up for the final book of the trilogy. Characters advances their story and you want to know what next and nice action scene. But basically you wait 200 pages for the vilain assault and two key moments left me empty, I wanted more.

Still a good book for Battletech fans, already have the third book of the series!

[Richard Tran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again the common people shine in this continuation of the Proving Grounds Trilogy. Aside from the guys on the ground, the inclusion of the medic bondsman was an interesting addition to the story.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

If the conclusion to the last book didn't make much sense this one slightly better but still meh. For all the fierceness of the Steel Wolves, Anastasia is a crappy commander and she is only getting worse. That she succeeds at all is only due to the actions of her opponents being even more stupid. I can only hope that a lot of the wasted space of chapters are "leadups" that are rewarded in the third book of this trilogy. If it weren't for the solid pacing I'd have skipped over this trilogy entirely.

[Josh Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

"So You've Decided to Read Battletech: Dark Age" - Review 5

Second book, same as the first, a little bit slower and a little bit worse.

DA Callbacks

No major callbacks outside of all the returning characters from Book 1 in the trilogy.

Review:

More of the same as the first book in this trilogy. A little slower. Even though it was longer, it felt like the characters were less fully realized. Maybe this is why the main plot twist felt jarringly abrupt. The medic was a solid new character and I enjoyed following him on his minor escapades. Curious to see how this all wraps up in book 3.

I enjoy Martin Delrio's prose. It's clean and to the point.

Assessment:

Good enough.

Spoiler Stuff

Crow's betrayal was abrupt, but the author gave enough foreshadowing to convince me it's not out of his character. What I was not convinced of, however, was Crow's reasoning behind the betrayal. Maybe I'm missing something here, but there seems to be no logical way for Crow to keep himself insulated from the fallout of turning on Northwind. There are too many witnesses, including the mercenary company and the Steel Wolves. He's performing a hugely PUBLIC betrayal where there will be lots of evidence against him, to cover up a decades-old betrayal where there is minimal evidence against him. It's insane. He seems confident he has the plan to salvage his career, but I'm not buying it one bit. It seems evident to me that a better plan would be to strengthen his legitimacy by saving Northwind and having Tara as a character witness to refute the blackmail claims.

Also, Anastasia gets crazier and crazier with each book. Which is fine in a way. There's a rich literary tradition of powerful people going crazy over the course of a story. But it's jarring. Plus, by the end, it seems that most of her reason for attacking Northwind was moot. They damage the defenders, but the Highlanders are FAR from destroyed when Anastasia decides to cut her losses and take off. Again, I'm having trouble understanding the reason behind the major plot points of this book.

I get the impression that if I were to have a grasp of the larger backstory of Clan Wolf, I would find their depiction in this series to be incredibly incongruous.

And finally, the One-Eyed mercenary. He claims to have followed his orders from Crow, obeying the letter of the commands rather than the spirit. But the commands were to let no Highlander leave the city, but the guy willingly opened a bath for the Highlander retreat. It's fine for him to have disobeyed his directive, but the way the narrator explains it, the merc feels like he strictly obeyed his contract. Which, as far as I understand it, he absolutely didn't.


Lasting Impressions
In this section, I return long after reading to give my remembered impressions. Did this book stand the test of time?

No. I don't remember anything from this book.

DarkAge Tier List
from best to worst

Scorpion Jar
A Silence in the Heavens
Target of Opportunity
A Call to Arms
Truth and Shadows
Ghost War
The Ruins of Power

[Papal Bull · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am extremely disappointed with the entire dark age genre.

[Joby Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not great fiction, but quite entertaining