BattleTech Legends: Ghost of Winter

BattleTech Universe #48

by Stephen Kenson

All his life, Sturm Kintaro wanted to be a MechWarrior. Now he is one—untested in combat, but eager to show his prowess and be transferred away from the backwater planet Kore. But he is about to get a bigger opportunity than he ever wanted when a band of interstellar pirates launches a surprise attack and takes control of the planet. After the rout, Sturm finds himself stranded in the frozen wastes of Kore with no 'Mech, no help, and no hope...

Until he stumbles upon a long-hidden secret, one that will help him prove himself a worthy MechWarrior. Now Sturm must wage a one-man war against the invading force—and resurrect a ghostly legend of Kore—if he is going to save his people from annihilation.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost of Winter by Stephen Kenson is the first book in the MechWarrior series. It is set in the BattleTech universe but is not part of the main BattleTech storyline. In this one, Strum Kintaro lives on a very backwater world named Kore. It is in the remote periphery very far from the Inner-Sphere. Strum has trained to be a Mech Warrior for several years and has finally earned the right to pilot his own BattleMech. Unfortunately, at least in Strum's opinion, there is very little for a Mech Warrior to do except unload the occasional shipment from the Inner-Sphere and practice in the simulators for actual combat. Things soon change, however, when a ruthless band of pirates invade Kore searching for an unknown treasure.
This book is suspenseful, action-packed, and very entertaining, with a brilliant storyline. I highly recommend it to all BattleTech fans.

[Tony Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first go 'round in the Mechwarrior/Battletech series, but despite that, I never felt completely lost. Sure, there are a lot of references to galactic politics, history and far-flung affairs that I didn't get. But they simply felt like seasoning for the main story, which I'm pleased to say I did get.

Filled with well drawn characters (simple archetypes to be sure, but clear and well defined) and featuring a fast moving and straight forward story backed by solid writing, Ghost of Winter is a reasonably entertaining novel that should appeal to sci-fi fans with a taste for action-driven war stories or who grew up with the likes of Robotech.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Besides a few curse words sprinkled in, it reads like a middle-grade space opera that was maybe/maybe not slightly influenced by the original Gundam (Mech Warrior/BattleTech is its own franchise, but several scenes in the book reminded me of scenes from the classic anime). There was always a convenient deus ex machina, so there was no sense of danger. The prose was repetitive. Volker's actions could be seen from the moment he appeared onstage; Susie Ryan was a comical villain rather than intimidating; Sturm felt like a kid rather than a young adult.
Still, the battle descriptions were fine and the pace never lagged. It's always nice to have more giant robots.

[Dabbling Madman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book surprisingly entertaining and well written. Also had an ending the opposite of what I thought would happen. Which was good to know I predicted wrong. I always expect older books to be dryer and less fun to read. While this one isn’t too old, it’s definitely back before I started reading books. This isn’t the first book in the grand Battletech series but it was a fun jumping off point. I may continue with this specific series or go back to the very beginning. Either way I’m having fun reading these books and learning to play the tabletop game.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was more enjoyable than I had expected for some book focused on the Periphery territories. Usually, we get intrepid stories of fledgling mercenary companies getting started there and so on but this took a different spin on things and really put an effort into sort of "celebrating" or at least highlighting the frontier struggle and the threat of both the clans and pirate bands. Pretty good story given this was Kenson's first Battletech novel.

[J Murdock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad for the new guy

Not easy to get started in Battletech especially after the weaklings destroy the story line. Time to get back to the fighting and leave the hugging to the other stories.

[Andrew Dewey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good pulp fiction

[Walter Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story

Interesting story about green mechwarrior's taking on pirates on one of the fringe planets and stumbling on a hidden Clan depot .

[Sean O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Golden Boy

[Enrique · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting read, although some elements of the plot was too predictable. Despite that, the expected plot twist did not spoil the overall story. Some. elements of the story were a bit of a stretch and I would have enjoyed the book if the solution to the needed mechwarriors was different. overall, the story was entertaining, but the characters would have benefited with more development.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story, and the action was very well written.

[Brian Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A standalone novel, part of the Mechwarrior series rather than the main Battletech series. Set in 3060 on a planet that has seen its share of action during the Clan invasions, strange invaders shatter the peace...

Good set of characters, even if some are a bit predictable, and some good Mech action as well.

[Nigel]

It was a good if unimaginative read. The ending was anticlimactic. The characters lacked real depth. It was a fun romp in the Battletech universe.