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BattleTech Universe #7
BattleTech Legends: Warrior: Coupé: The Warrior Trilogy, Book Three
THE FINAL ENGAGEMENT...
The minions of Maximilian Liao are about to deliver a crippling blow to the forces of Prince Hanse Davion—discovering a way to use Hanse’s own technology against him.
Half a galaxy away, assassins stalk Hanse's wife, Melissa Steiner, and her mother, Archon Katrina Steiner, in the passageways of their own palace.
Invasion is imminent. The only ’Mech force capable of stopping that invasion—the Kell Hounds mercenary unit—is trapped in a game of search and destroy with the most fearsome Kurita unit ever created. Even if they come back in time...how many would make it?
In a world where ten-meter-tall war machines are the soul of battle, assassins are state policy, and a spy’s loyalty is always for sale, the only thing certain is death. Who can you trust? And in the bitter end, how will you be betrayed?
The minions of Maximilian Liao are about to deliver a crippling blow to the forces of Prince Hanse Davion—discovering a way to use Hanse’s own technology against him.
Half a galaxy away, assassins stalk Hanse's wife, Melissa Steiner, and her mother, Archon Katrina Steiner, in the passageways of their own palace.
Invasion is imminent. The only ’Mech force capable of stopping that invasion—the Kell Hounds mercenary unit—is trapped in a game of search and destroy with the most fearsome Kurita unit ever created. Even if they come back in time...how many would make it?
In a world where ten-meter-tall war machines are the soul of battle, assassins are state policy, and a spy’s loyalty is always for sale, the only thing certain is death. Who can you trust? And in the bitter end, how will you be betrayed?
326 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1989
88 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
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September 22, 2017
-Buen remate a la trilogía.-
Género. Ciencia ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro Duelo final (publicación original: Warrior. Coupé, 1989), ComStar está divido en su liderazgo a la hora de creer que las victorias de la Casa Davion sobre la Confederación de Capela sean, o no, favorables a sus intereses, pero lo que no saben es que el avance puede ser el efecto de una trampa muy bien calculada de la Casa Liao, donde se sospecha que puede haber un espía. Tercer libro de la trilogía El sol y la espada.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Ciencia ficción.
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro Duelo final (publicación original: Warrior. Coupé, 1989), ComStar está divido en su liderazgo a la hora de creer que las victorias de la Casa Davion sobre la Confederación de Capela sean, o no, favorables a sus intereses, pero lo que no saben es que el avance puede ser el efecto de una trampa muy bien calculada de la Casa Liao, donde se sospecha que puede haber un espía. Tercer libro de la trilogía El sol y la espada.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
December 20, 2020
I've finally reached the end of Michael Stackpole's landmark Warrior Trilogy and what a wild ride it was. The first couple books in the trilogy were certainly good books, but they weren't nearly as heavy hitting as the final installment. "Warrior: Coupé" was intense! The first couple books really set a great stage for all the world shaking reveals that occurred in this book.
It's tough to think that things could get more outrageous after the close of Warrior: Riposte with the death of Michael Hasek-Davion at the hands of Maximillion Liao. This book, essentially, starts off with the repercussions of that event. However, the invasion of the Capellan Federation by the Federated Suns had already been well underway during the second book.
There is, actually, quite a bit crammed into this novel and in most circumstances I would say there would be no way to make all these events happen without it being very confusing for the reader, but Michael Stackpole managed to pull it off an excellent fashion. I think nearly every single chapter is big reveal after big reveal. I can't remember the last time I read book where chapter after chapter I just said to myself "oh my god, I can't believe that just happened." So, if you've been following the BattleTech universe, get ready for quite the ride. Between the political intrigue and the war there's a lot going on to keep up with.
There's a few major story lines concluding here that were seeded throughout the first couple of books. The main, and most obvious one, is Justin Allard's story. I confess, I was not ready for this ending at all, but I absolutely loved it in all of it's shocking glory. My one regret is that there wasn't more of an epilogue to this characters tale in the aftermath. Usually I think authors can cut their books shorter, but this is one of the few times I could not have minded it to be a bit longer to give a more extended wrap up of all the characters. It's interesting to note that Maximillion Liao the unhinged ruler that killed Duke Michael Hasek-Davion didn't feel like the biggest threat to Justin's story. Instead that came from his equally unhinged daughter, Romano. Given how similar Romano is to her father, I was always sort of surprised it was her older sister, Candace, that was named heir designate. In any event, Justin and Candace's relationship blossoms further despite Romano being a thorn in their side for just about the entire book.
We finally get some closer to the Kell Hounds story and Morgan Kell and Yorinaga finally face off in the battle they've been waiting for! I won't spoil it, but it was epic and I will say Michael Stackpole has gotten far better at writing his 'Mech battles. They are falling into similar line was William H. Keith Jr., who I think I had a great format to convey these complex battles. I was not too shocked at the outcome, but I was sort of surprised about the aftermath. It should come as no surprise that the entirety of the Genyosha and Kell Hounds didn't face off, it was just their leaders. So both 'Mech forces are still intact at the end of the book, but I don't think that's much of a spoiler.
The third major plot going on involved the Steiner's. Even amidst the Melissa and Hanse being married the Archon still had problems of her own reaching a boiling point with Lestrade. It's interesting, in the prior books I thought of this character as being more of the classic bumbling politician that can't get out of his own way. In many cases this fits Lestrade's character, but some of the plans he put into motion and tried to execute got pretty far. This story closed out a lot of the lingering pieces involving Heimdall and how they crossed paths with the Kell Hounds too. There were allusions to some fighting between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, but the book mainly focused on how the Isle of Sky was affected, which did involve the Kell Hounds. Again, some parts of these plot were absolutely shocking. Things happened that I never predicted, which was amazing to have so much unpredictability loaded into a single novel.
There are a couple key things referenced in this novel that are discussed elsewhere so, if you read this and your ran into tidbits that never seemed to go anywhere, well they are probably full developed someplace else. If you remember from the prior book that Jaime Wolf showed up at the wedding and seemed to insult Takashi Kurita, well that clearly had some serious repercussions because there are a lot of allusions to the Wolf's Dragoons fighting with the Draconis Combine. This story is outlined in Wolves on the Border.
In the middle of this book the NAIS is invaded and they reference the computer memory core retrieved from an old Star League site, which was found by the Gray Death Legion. This story was told in The Price of Glory, which is a great book in its own right.
Throughout the series they sometimes make an offhand reference to Maximillion Liao's attempt to control the Federated Suns by getting rid of Hanse Davion and a major aspect of this shows up at the end of this novel. However, the story that outlines this is very hard to get ahold of, but shows up in The Sword and the Dagger. Sadly, this novel is not really championed as being very good. So, perhaps just the high lights that Stackpole references is enough.
In the end, if you are a BattleTech fan and have been keeping up with the history so far, this is an amazing book to read. This really isn't the type of book that has stand alone impact though. You really do kind of need to read it within the context of the universe the game makers are building, in my opinion. This doesn't mean you need to play the game to get it, you just need to know the historical system that has been constructed. Honestly, reading stuff like the House books from the game publisher really helped me dive deeper into the setup of these stories. Books like House Kurita: The Draconis Combine were really a boon for understanding things a lot deeper, but you can get a lot of that info from websites if you don't want to read an entire game book! Anyway, Stackpole is a great author and I truly look forward to reading more books of his in this universe. For now, it's off to find out what really happened between Jaime Wolf and Takashi Kurita!
It's tough to think that things could get more outrageous after the close of Warrior: Riposte with the death of Michael Hasek-Davion at the hands of Maximillion Liao. This book, essentially, starts off with the repercussions of that event. However, the invasion of the Capellan Federation by the Federated Suns had already been well underway during the second book.
There is, actually, quite a bit crammed into this novel and in most circumstances I would say there would be no way to make all these events happen without it being very confusing for the reader, but Michael Stackpole managed to pull it off an excellent fashion. I think nearly every single chapter is big reveal after big reveal. I can't remember the last time I read book where chapter after chapter I just said to myself "oh my god, I can't believe that just happened." So, if you've been following the BattleTech universe, get ready for quite the ride. Between the political intrigue and the war there's a lot going on to keep up with.
There's a few major story lines concluding here that were seeded throughout the first couple of books. The main, and most obvious one, is Justin Allard's story. I confess, I was not ready for this ending at all, but I absolutely loved it in all of it's shocking glory. My one regret is that there wasn't more of an epilogue to this characters tale in the aftermath. Usually I think authors can cut their books shorter, but this is one of the few times I could not have minded it to be a bit longer to give a more extended wrap up of all the characters. It's interesting to note that Maximillion Liao the unhinged ruler that killed Duke Michael Hasek-Davion didn't feel like the biggest threat to Justin's story. Instead that came from his equally unhinged daughter, Romano. Given how similar Romano is to her father, I was always sort of surprised it was her older sister, Candace, that was named heir designate. In any event, Justin and Candace's relationship blossoms further despite Romano being a thorn in their side for just about the entire book.
We finally get some closer to the Kell Hounds story and Morgan Kell and Yorinaga finally face off in the battle they've been waiting for! I won't spoil it, but it was epic and I will say Michael Stackpole has gotten far better at writing his 'Mech battles. They are falling into similar line was William H. Keith Jr., who I think I had a great format to convey these complex battles. I was not too shocked at the outcome, but I was sort of surprised about the aftermath. It should come as no surprise that the entirety of the Genyosha and Kell Hounds didn't face off, it was just their leaders. So both 'Mech forces are still intact at the end of the book, but I don't think that's much of a spoiler.
The third major plot going on involved the Steiner's. Even amidst the Melissa and Hanse being married the Archon still had problems of her own reaching a boiling point with Lestrade. It's interesting, in the prior books I thought of this character as being more of the classic bumbling politician that can't get out of his own way. In many cases this fits Lestrade's character, but some of the plans he put into motion and tried to execute got pretty far. This story closed out a lot of the lingering pieces involving Heimdall and how they crossed paths with the Kell Hounds too. There were allusions to some fighting between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, but the book mainly focused on how the Isle of Sky was affected, which did involve the Kell Hounds. Again, some parts of these plot were absolutely shocking. Things happened that I never predicted, which was amazing to have so much unpredictability loaded into a single novel.
There are a couple key things referenced in this novel that are discussed elsewhere so, if you read this and your ran into tidbits that never seemed to go anywhere, well they are probably full developed someplace else. If you remember from the prior book that Jaime Wolf showed up at the wedding and seemed to insult Takashi Kurita, well that clearly had some serious repercussions because there are a lot of allusions to the Wolf's Dragoons fighting with the Draconis Combine. This story is outlined in Wolves on the Border.
In the middle of this book the NAIS is invaded and they reference the computer memory core retrieved from an old Star League site, which was found by the Gray Death Legion. This story was told in The Price of Glory, which is a great book in its own right.
Throughout the series they sometimes make an offhand reference to Maximillion Liao's attempt to control the Federated Suns by getting rid of Hanse Davion and a major aspect of this shows up at the end of this novel. However, the story that outlines this is very hard to get ahold of, but shows up in The Sword and the Dagger. Sadly, this novel is not really championed as being very good. So, perhaps just the high lights that Stackpole references is enough.
In the end, if you are a BattleTech fan and have been keeping up with the history so far, this is an amazing book to read. This really isn't the type of book that has stand alone impact though. You really do kind of need to read it within the context of the universe the game makers are building, in my opinion. This doesn't mean you need to play the game to get it, you just need to know the historical system that has been constructed. Honestly, reading stuff like the House books from the game publisher really helped me dive deeper into the setup of these stories. Books like House Kurita: The Draconis Combine were really a boon for understanding things a lot deeper, but you can get a lot of that info from websites if you don't want to read an entire game book! Anyway, Stackpole is a great author and I truly look forward to reading more books of his in this universe. For now, it's off to find out what really happened between Jaime Wolf and Takashi Kurita!
October 24, 2015
Three and a half stars. It is what it is: fairly badly written pop sci-fi. But hey, straightforward adventure, a few plot twists, and giant pew-pewy robots. And sometimes that's just what you need :)
November 12, 2020
Warrior: Coupe is the third book in the Warrior Trilogy by Michael A. Stackpole. This trilogy is part of the Classic Battletech series of books. In this one, the war between the Federated Suns and the Capellan Confederation is in full swing. Prince Hanse Davion and his arch-enemy Maximillion Liao are both jockeying their forces to try to reach an advantage over the other side. They both have spies in play but some of those spies are double agents. Only time will tell which spies are loyal to their masters and which are not. The leadership at ComStar is also trying to influence the outcome of the war. This book is a great conclusion to this trilogy with plenty of Battle Mech action and much intrigue. This trilogy also lays the foundation for what is to come in the Classic Battletech series.
October 1, 2021
Stupid space opera ending. But it fits and I don't regret the time spent on the trilogy.
September 28, 2025
If you read my prior review of Riposte, you'll notice that I mentioned my hopes of that book being a necessary "stumbling block" in order to get to the best of this trilogy. I'm glad to say, that this is the case with the Warrior trilogy, and boy oh boy was it worth the push to get here.
The second book was a slog for me. That being said, there was a lot of vital information that led us to this book's conclusion. I don't think I would've enjoyed this book as much as I did unless I read Riposte. However, I still stand by my review for that book. I didn't like it, it's pacing was rough.
Warrior: Coupe dives into the Fourth Succession War swinging. Any pacing issues we experienced in Riposte are thrown out the window. It is an absolute roller coaster ride from start to finish. This was a book I simply could not put down as conclusion of all of the plot threads were coming together. Let's start with my boy, Justin Xiang, or should I say ALLARD! This was by far my most favorite character in the entire trilogy. Toward the end of the book we did experience some dramatic plot twists that had my head spinning. I have to wonder though, did I like the twist? The aspects that I really enjoyed about Justin's character were that he was flawed and unpredictable due to his unstable emotions caused by his betrayal. I really loved seeing him align himself with a new faction that aligned with his motives, but then in this book we are slowly shown another path for Justin. And then WHAM! You find out and it knocks your socks off. I'm not going to lie, I didn't hate Justin's conclusion, but I'm also curious if it would've served his character better to remain bitter towards his resentments and find a path that suited him in that avenue. I wasn't entirely satisfied with his ending, not because of the twist, but because I really wanted to delve more into how his actions and choices truly impacted the characters that he interacted with. Overall, Justin's ending was surprising and good. It wasn't at all what I expected, but that's because Stackpole wrote in such a believing way during Justin's chapters that he had us all convinced in his facade. I don't know if I hate this or not, but it defiantly made the surprise an actual surprise, and again, I had a positive reaction to it. So props to Stackpole here, he did something right that really entertained me.
Dan and Andrew have always been OK to me. However, Andrew's story arc had a massive upgrade to with the integration of Morgan Hasek-Davion being added into the plot. Andrew always felt like a vessel to the forefront of the war. He had a connection with Justin, and that was mainly it for me other than his skills of a Mechwarrior. His chapters though involving the defense of Kathil were absolute page turners. Andy was built up in the previous two books, so seeing the desperation of their fight against a superior force really made the book much more engaging. He grew on me. Dan, eh....not so much. Dan's relationship with Melissa's double was more interesting in this book. Dan's cool. But his resolution with Justin was snubbed. I hated this. Dan really looked up to Justin, I really wanted more out of him versus what we got in his action sequences.
Clovis, a character from the first book, really was a fun character that took me by surprise. His arc was really well built and I really enjoyed his conclusion. I haven't mentioned him at all in my previous reviews, because he felt so insignificant for me in the greater plot. However, his outcome was extremely entertaining in this book.
Now, one of my biggest gripes with this trilogy is that I don't really understand the hype with Morgan Kell and Yorinaga Kurita. They have a revolving plot device in this trilogy involving the two and their mystic ways of fighting, but there is never an answer to this. Does there need to be? No, not necessarily. However, so much was built up in the last two books that their final conclusion was very underwhelming for me. Some cool aspects, but it followed with confusion. Yorinaga's battle with honor and what's right and wrong in his eyes is very confusing to follow. I just am baffled that the two Mechwarriors just couldn't sit down and have some tea to hash things out but I guess where would the fun be in that, right? Still, it was OK. The Kell Hounds are in fact cool. However, they are power house, making it difficult to find weakness, which makes them really uninteresting to me. I guess you could say Morgan's obsession with this final battle between him and Yorinaga was their weakness, but in conclusion it doesn't expose it really.
Another problem I have with this book is House Liao. I feel like they get curb-stopped every which way possible. Especially when we go into more depth about Justin's character. House Liao are defiantly depicted as the bad guys through and through. I liked having Justin there because he showed the unfairness in the Fed Suns, giving the basis that no one has more moral high ground than the other, but the ending changes this, alters the perspective of Liao completely. Hanse Davion has a cool moment where he questions himself as being a ruthless dictator as much as his critics claim him being. Hanse defiantly does some messed up stuff in this book. However, he pulls the ultimate power move almost eliminating a lot of his flaws that made him a questionable leader. He really is "The Fox." I don't know, it felt that it lessened the impact of House Liao and made them just the cliche bad guys of the trilogy versus having the convoluted question to the reader of who are the good guys. It used to be both were messed up, by the end, it looks like the Fed Suns prove to be more of the good guys. I wanted more equal ground seeing the flaws more in each faction instead of just beating away at House Liao.
The action in the book improved. Stackpole dwells more on the battle scenes versus the sped up battles that I experienced in Riposte. I really appreciated what he did here. Every battle was a fun read. I especially loved the hovercraft militia pulling punches on mechs. That was a fun ride. All of it was a fun ride. This book out of the three had the most entertaining battles for me. The Stalaris battles take a very close second.
This book gets 4 stars for me. I'm still not sure where I sit with Justin's resolution, but I didn't hate it and it worked for me for the most part. I loved the pacing, and the action was there when it was necessary and it was good. It was a fantastic Battletech book, and I was entertained from beginning to end. A vast improvement from the previous entry.
In summary, what did I think of the Warrior Trilogy? It started great, its middle dragged HARD, but the push through it made it a worthy read. Stackpole's writing does improve throughout the trilogy, but the second book really dragged me back from engaging more with the story. It is worth reading the Warrior Trilogy. Justin's arc is the selling point. There are some side characters that have some awesome moments. The Kell hounds are cool, but just uninteresting to me in general as was Morgan Kell's story.
It's defiantly that series where you encourage your friend to push through the second book because it does in fact get a whole lot better. I would say skip Riposte, but I can't say that because there are in fact some vital scenes that play into the conclusion that you will need to know. That said, I liked the trilogy, I give it a 3 1/2 star review. The second book definitely being the series' detriment along with story arcs that to me felt unused or not developed enough. There is a LOT going on in the Warrior Trilogy. I applaud Stackpole for concluding it in a grand way, but it felt at times the books were drowning in characters and subplots. I wanted more time with characters and their conclusions.
The second book was a slog for me. That being said, there was a lot of vital information that led us to this book's conclusion. I don't think I would've enjoyed this book as much as I did unless I read Riposte. However, I still stand by my review for that book. I didn't like it, it's pacing was rough.
Warrior: Coupe dives into the Fourth Succession War swinging. Any pacing issues we experienced in Riposte are thrown out the window. It is an absolute roller coaster ride from start to finish. This was a book I simply could not put down as conclusion of all of the plot threads were coming together. Let's start with my boy, Justin Xiang, or should I say ALLARD! This was by far my most favorite character in the entire trilogy. Toward the end of the book we did experience some dramatic plot twists that had my head spinning. I have to wonder though, did I like the twist? The aspects that I really enjoyed about Justin's character were that he was flawed and unpredictable due to his unstable emotions caused by his betrayal. I really loved seeing him align himself with a new faction that aligned with his motives, but then in this book we are slowly shown another path for Justin. And then WHAM! You find out and it knocks your socks off. I'm not going to lie, I didn't hate Justin's conclusion, but I'm also curious if it would've served his character better to remain bitter towards his resentments and find a path that suited him in that avenue. I wasn't entirely satisfied with his ending, not because of the twist, but because I really wanted to delve more into how his actions and choices truly impacted the characters that he interacted with. Overall, Justin's ending was surprising and good. It wasn't at all what I expected, but that's because Stackpole wrote in such a believing way during Justin's chapters that he had us all convinced in his facade. I don't know if I hate this or not, but it defiantly made the surprise an actual surprise, and again, I had a positive reaction to it. So props to Stackpole here, he did something right that really entertained me.
Dan and Andrew have always been OK to me. However, Andrew's story arc had a massive upgrade to with the integration of Morgan Hasek-Davion being added into the plot. Andrew always felt like a vessel to the forefront of the war. He had a connection with Justin, and that was mainly it for me other than his skills of a Mechwarrior. His chapters though involving the defense of Kathil were absolute page turners. Andy was built up in the previous two books, so seeing the desperation of their fight against a superior force really made the book much more engaging. He grew on me. Dan, eh....not so much. Dan's relationship with Melissa's double was more interesting in this book. Dan's cool. But his resolution with Justin was snubbed. I hated this. Dan really looked up to Justin, I really wanted more out of him versus what we got in his action sequences.
Clovis, a character from the first book, really was a fun character that took me by surprise. His arc was really well built and I really enjoyed his conclusion. I haven't mentioned him at all in my previous reviews, because he felt so insignificant for me in the greater plot. However, his outcome was extremely entertaining in this book.
Now, one of my biggest gripes with this trilogy is that I don't really understand the hype with Morgan Kell and Yorinaga Kurita. They have a revolving plot device in this trilogy involving the two and their mystic ways of fighting, but there is never an answer to this. Does there need to be? No, not necessarily. However, so much was built up in the last two books that their final conclusion was very underwhelming for me. Some cool aspects, but it followed with confusion. Yorinaga's battle with honor and what's right and wrong in his eyes is very confusing to follow. I just am baffled that the two Mechwarriors just couldn't sit down and have some tea to hash things out but I guess where would the fun be in that, right? Still, it was OK. The Kell Hounds are in fact cool. However, they are power house, making it difficult to find weakness, which makes them really uninteresting to me. I guess you could say Morgan's obsession with this final battle between him and Yorinaga was their weakness, but in conclusion it doesn't expose it really.
Another problem I have with this book is House Liao. I feel like they get curb-stopped every which way possible. Especially when we go into more depth about Justin's character. House Liao are defiantly depicted as the bad guys through and through. I liked having Justin there because he showed the unfairness in the Fed Suns, giving the basis that no one has more moral high ground than the other, but the ending changes this, alters the perspective of Liao completely. Hanse Davion has a cool moment where he questions himself as being a ruthless dictator as much as his critics claim him being. Hanse defiantly does some messed up stuff in this book. However, he pulls the ultimate power move almost eliminating a lot of his flaws that made him a questionable leader. He really is "The Fox." I don't know, it felt that it lessened the impact of House Liao and made them just the cliche bad guys of the trilogy versus having the convoluted question to the reader of who are the good guys. It used to be both were messed up, by the end, it looks like the Fed Suns prove to be more of the good guys. I wanted more equal ground seeing the flaws more in each faction instead of just beating away at House Liao.
The action in the book improved. Stackpole dwells more on the battle scenes versus the sped up battles that I experienced in Riposte. I really appreciated what he did here. Every battle was a fun read. I especially loved the hovercraft militia pulling punches on mechs. That was a fun ride. All of it was a fun ride. This book out of the three had the most entertaining battles for me. The Stalaris battles take a very close second.
This book gets 4 stars for me. I'm still not sure where I sit with Justin's resolution, but I didn't hate it and it worked for me for the most part. I loved the pacing, and the action was there when it was necessary and it was good. It was a fantastic Battletech book, and I was entertained from beginning to end. A vast improvement from the previous entry.
In summary, what did I think of the Warrior Trilogy? It started great, its middle dragged HARD, but the push through it made it a worthy read. Stackpole's writing does improve throughout the trilogy, but the second book really dragged me back from engaging more with the story. It is worth reading the Warrior Trilogy. Justin's arc is the selling point. There are some side characters that have some awesome moments. The Kell hounds are cool, but just uninteresting to me in general as was Morgan Kell's story.
It's defiantly that series where you encourage your friend to push through the second book because it does in fact get a whole lot better. I would say skip Riposte, but I can't say that because there are in fact some vital scenes that play into the conclusion that you will need to know. That said, I liked the trilogy, I give it a 3 1/2 star review. The second book definitely being the series' detriment along with story arcs that to me felt unused or not developed enough. There is a LOT going on in the Warrior Trilogy. I applaud Stackpole for concluding it in a grand way, but it felt at times the books were drowning in characters and subplots. I wanted more time with characters and their conclusions.
March 7, 2013
Warrior: Coupe is the final in the Warrior Trilogy. The 4th Succession War is underway and will soon be coming to a climax. The story of Justin Xiang, The Kell Hounds and the Genyosha is coming to an end.
This is a satisfactory ending to the series, wrapping up all the storylines. The one issue that I have with the series is the mystical powers that Morgan Kell and Yorinaga Kurita display. The disappearing from sensors is just too unrealistic. The invulnerability could have been credited to the skill of the warrior, predicting the enemies moves and their targeting and avoiding the shots. The magic seemed out of place in the technological world.
This is a satisfactory ending to the series, wrapping up all the storylines. The one issue that I have with the series is the mystical powers that Morgan Kell and Yorinaga Kurita display. The disappearing from sensors is just too unrealistic. The invulnerability could have been credited to the skill of the warrior, predicting the enemies moves and their targeting and avoiding the shots. The magic seemed out of place in the technological world.
May 4, 2014
Excelente final de la trilogía del guerrero.
En esta tercera parte de la trilogía de Justian Xiang Allard, el autor une todas las historias e hilos que se han desarrollado a lo largo de los tres libros y los lleva a un final a la vez sorprendente pero no raro ni forzado. Lo cierto es que es el mejor libro de todos los que he leído de battletech hasta ahora, y se nota que a Michael Stackpole la ciencia ficción se le da bien.
En esta tercera parte de la trilogía de Justian Xiang Allard, el autor une todas las historias e hilos que se han desarrollado a lo largo de los tres libros y los lleva a un final a la vez sorprendente pero no raro ni forzado. Lo cierto es que es el mejor libro de todos los que he leído de battletech hasta ahora, y se nota que a Michael Stackpole la ciencia ficción se le da bien.
May 14, 2021
The Inner Sphere has erupted in the Fourth Succession War. The forces of the Federated Suns have launched a devastating assault on the Capellan Confederation in reprisal for an attempt to assassinate the ruling prince, whilst the Federation's allies in the Lyran Commonwealth have launched spoiling raids to stop the Draconis Combine and Free Worlds League from coming to the Confederation's aid. Whilst Capella's defences crumble and recalcitrant member worlds take advantage of the chaos to declare independence, Chancellor Maximilian Liao has developed plans for a bold strike far behind the lines to halt the offensive in its tracks, but endanger the entire economic future of the Inner Sphere in the process. Whilst the Federation rallies scratch units to fight a final, desperate battle, the Kell Hounds and the Genyosha agree to an honourable duel to end their long-running feud.
Following up on the events of En Garde and Riposte, Coupe concludes the events of Micheal A. Stackpole's Warrior Trilogy. The first major "core" work in the BattleTech universe, this trilogy redraws the borders of the five major powers and advances the timeline through the first major military conflict to take place during the setting's "present day" timeframe. Stackpole is juggling a lot of factions, characters and stories here, as he has throughout the entire trilogy, and manages the admirable job of retaining a core focus whilst also telling an epic story on an enormous scale.
It's also a book with a lot of variety in the storytelling: Andrew Redburn and his mercenaries fighting on the front line, Justin Xiang walking a political tightrope at the heart of the Confederation's intelligence network, Prince Hanse Davion having to retain sympathy and support whilst he undertakes an effective war of aggression, the struggles of the Genyosha as they debate their loyalty to the sometimes-duplicitous House Kurita with the demands of honour, and Morgan Hasek-Davion's struggles to balance his desire to fight on the front lines with the needs of his family, to which he is the only heir.
Stackpole orchestrates this enormous story with impressive grace, knowing when to focus on a storyline and when to back away. There is still too much story here for one volume or even one trilogy, and other books and authors fill in some details which are skipped over here: Robert Charrette's Heir to the Dragon explains why Theodore Kurita is suddenly such a big deal, for example, whilst the hard-to-find Wolves on the Border explains why Wolf's Dragoons have such a hate-on for the Draconis Combine, enough for the highly-reputed honourable company to betray their former employers and plunge their border into chaos (the Dragoons themselves have some oddities which aren't fully explained until Stackpole's subsequent Blood of Kerensky trilogy). This is both a way of letting other stories get filled in whilst making people buy more BattleTech books, which was a great idea for the publisher in 1989 but is not as effective in 2021, when many of those other books are unavailable.
There are other weaknesses: a few characters are killed off whom I think we were supposed to feel quite bad about, but because they only got a fairly nominal amount of development through these three very busy-but-short novels, these don't always land very well. There's a few eyebrow-raising coincidences, and the whole thing is of course old-fashioned space opera pulp, which some may feel has dated more badly than others. Fortunately, this novel increases its predecessor's achievements in rolling back the stereotypes and increasing the complexity and nuance of the factions.
Overall, Warrior: Coupe (***½) matches its predecessors in being a solid novel which delivers on political intrigue, splendid action sequences and fun characters.
Following up on the events of En Garde and Riposte, Coupe concludes the events of Micheal A. Stackpole's Warrior Trilogy. The first major "core" work in the BattleTech universe, this trilogy redraws the borders of the five major powers and advances the timeline through the first major military conflict to take place during the setting's "present day" timeframe. Stackpole is juggling a lot of factions, characters and stories here, as he has throughout the entire trilogy, and manages the admirable job of retaining a core focus whilst also telling an epic story on an enormous scale.
It's also a book with a lot of variety in the storytelling: Andrew Redburn and his mercenaries fighting on the front line, Justin Xiang walking a political tightrope at the heart of the Confederation's intelligence network, Prince Hanse Davion having to retain sympathy and support whilst he undertakes an effective war of aggression, the struggles of the Genyosha as they debate their loyalty to the sometimes-duplicitous House Kurita with the demands of honour, and Morgan Hasek-Davion's struggles to balance his desire to fight on the front lines with the needs of his family, to which he is the only heir.
Stackpole orchestrates this enormous story with impressive grace, knowing when to focus on a storyline and when to back away. There is still too much story here for one volume or even one trilogy, and other books and authors fill in some details which are skipped over here: Robert Charrette's Heir to the Dragon explains why Theodore Kurita is suddenly such a big deal, for example, whilst the hard-to-find Wolves on the Border explains why Wolf's Dragoons have such a hate-on for the Draconis Combine, enough for the highly-reputed honourable company to betray their former employers and plunge their border into chaos (the Dragoons themselves have some oddities which aren't fully explained until Stackpole's subsequent Blood of Kerensky trilogy). This is both a way of letting other stories get filled in whilst making people buy more BattleTech books, which was a great idea for the publisher in 1989 but is not as effective in 2021, when many of those other books are unavailable.
There are other weaknesses: a few characters are killed off whom I think we were supposed to feel quite bad about, but because they only got a fairly nominal amount of development through these three very busy-but-short novels, these don't always land very well. There's a few eyebrow-raising coincidences, and the whole thing is of course old-fashioned space opera pulp, which some may feel has dated more badly than others. Fortunately, this novel increases its predecessor's achievements in rolling back the stereotypes and increasing the complexity and nuance of the factions.
Overall, Warrior: Coupe (***½) matches its predecessors in being a solid novel which delivers on political intrigue, splendid action sequences and fun characters.
September 10, 2023
I will sum up my strong dislike of this novel by describing a pair of chapters in a spoiler-free fashion.
In the first of the two, we have the bad guys, or at least the faction most deserving of that title in the novel, have one of its worst members question the actions of one of the good guys, or at least the faction most attributed that title in the novel. And it is an elevator drop of a chapter. It calls into question the good guy's motives and plan. It is superb, because I at least am wondering have I been had the whole time?
The next chapter is the internal monologue of the good guy, assuring us he is good. Point for point, in rebuttal of a conversation he was not a part of nor knows that it went on. And it is a useless scene. It could have been ambiguous, with the reader left to wonder. It could have even been true, in that the good guy would still be the good guy even with some dirt on him. I've always been promised this of the battletech universe and that "there are no heroes" and what not.
It is tiring. It is possibly the most interesting with Melissa Steiner, a character who starts off in book one with some fun nuance. (Her story is basically "Oh, cool, I'm a fairy tale princess" ) But all that is chopped off by now, in service of the theory that the divine right of kings is okay, totally, if you try hard enough.
Oddly enough, the stuff that I liked the best was with Liao, otherwise questionably racist but the politics around the breakaway polities makes things happen, and some of the sorts of things that I wish that we saw more of in the similar personages within the other houses.
Also, Stackpole remains a competent writer. He avoids flourish, writing with a minor sense of urgency and is easy without being simple. It's like Hemmingway as dialed down to a 4. The book is fine, but so many of the choices within are not.
In the first of the two, we have the bad guys, or at least the faction most deserving of that title in the novel, have one of its worst members question the actions of one of the good guys, or at least the faction most attributed that title in the novel. And it is an elevator drop of a chapter. It calls into question the good guy's motives and plan. It is superb, because I at least am wondering have I been had the whole time?
The next chapter is the internal monologue of the good guy, assuring us he is good. Point for point, in rebuttal of a conversation he was not a part of nor knows that it went on. And it is a useless scene. It could have been ambiguous, with the reader left to wonder. It could have even been true, in that the good guy would still be the good guy even with some dirt on him. I've always been promised this of the battletech universe and that "there are no heroes" and what not.
It is tiring. It is possibly the most interesting with Melissa Steiner, a character who starts off in book one with some fun nuance. (Her story is basically "Oh, cool, I'm a fairy tale princess" ) But all that is chopped off by now, in service of the theory that the divine right of kings is okay, totally, if you try hard enough.
Oddly enough, the stuff that I liked the best was with Liao, otherwise questionably racist but the politics around the breakaway polities makes things happen, and some of the sorts of things that I wish that we saw more of in the similar personages within the other houses.
Also, Stackpole remains a competent writer. He avoids flourish, writing with a minor sense of urgency and is easy without being simple. It's like Hemmingway as dialed down to a 4. The book is fine, but so many of the choices within are not.
May 15, 2023
The best in the Warrior Trilogy, although; in hindsight they really should have been published in one volume. The second novel especially had some pacing issues as it spent all its time setting up this novel. In Coupe, all the plotting comes together and House Davions' master plan is reveled. Nearly every subplot is wrapped up, except for the ones about Comstar which sets the group up as an antagonist for future novels. Not quite as cheesy as the other novels in the trilogy either as Stackpole is more focused on political maneuvering and large mech battles here. Not sure I buy a certain character's defection in the final act but Stackpole spends more time bouncing between intrigue, strategic planning and mech battles to really delve into all the secondary character motivations. That said, the way second and third order effects are thought through with regards to different factions responding to territorial and political shifts around them are pretty believable and quite a feat in a book that seemed to have involved a contractual obligation to feature giant stompy robots every few pages.
Would recommend.
Would recommend.
February 23, 2020
Aunque muchos podrían decir que la final es predecible, realmente se completan ciertos aspectos ya insinuados a lo largo de los libros anteriores. Se refuerza el poder de ciertos personajes y se crea un aura interesante alrededor de ciertas personas de las que espero poder leer más al seguir con todas las siguientes sagas. Se cierra una pelea de personajes míticos de la mejor manera posible, todo un disfrute ver que los personajes implicados siguen siendo leyendas. Me apena no poder saber más de ciertas batallas narradas, pero sí que tengo ganas de poder saber lo que ocurrirá con ciertas naciones que en estos momentos parecen haber desaparecido del mapa. Totalmente recomendable acabar la saga y seguir con otros libros del universo Battletech. Un fan sabrá apreciar mucho su lectura.
May 19, 2024
Warrior: Coupé is just as solid as the second book in the Trilogy and shores up some of the issues facing the first two books. This third book has much more 'Mech battles than the first two and less political slog that I believe some people found difficult to get through. I enjoy espionage, but understand why some do not, I think it could have had more of it, all of it I suppose. I do knock the book towards the end, however, as I felt that the last few acts in the book were either rushed or not fleshed out enough. I could read this book if it had gone on for another hundred pages easily if that were the case! While I enjoyed the trilogy, I must move on to the next book!
August 16, 2021
A satisfying conclusion to a satisfying story. Stronger than "Riposte" by a fair margin, with a glorious "sudden but inevitable" conclusion. And, of course, lots of big stompy robots.
Not all of the threads are completely satisfactory, and the female characters come in almost exclusively two flavours (sexy spies, and sexy tertiary 'Mech pilots), but for its time perhaps that can be forgiven. Overall, a good read.
Not all of the threads are completely satisfactory, and the female characters come in almost exclusively two flavours (sexy spies, and sexy tertiary 'Mech pilots), but for its time perhaps that can be forgiven. Overall, a good read.
December 29, 2024
Juvenile and 2-dimensional, but still Battletech. Stackpoles writing is predictable, and his characters are identical to each other, unfortunately. If you remove their personalities from the equation, the story itself is pretty good. I did like the final battles on/at Kathil and the NAIS - they were intense.
Just be ready for people to "slam their fist into the (insert object here)" whenever they encounter the slightest inconvenience.
Just be ready for people to "slam their fist into the (insert object here)" whenever they encounter the slightest inconvenience.
July 8, 2018
Points for weaving together many strands of the plotline.Unfortunately I wonder how much better then book and trilogy could have been idnit was less fractured.
I have to admit, the fawning over Stackpole's leading men bordered on disturbing, not just heavy-handed. A late forties Hanse Davion contemplating impregnaying his eighteen year old child bride is especially creepy.
I have to admit, the fawning over Stackpole's leading men bordered on disturbing, not just heavy-handed. A late forties Hanse Davion contemplating impregnaying his eighteen year old child bride is especially creepy.
September 24, 2018
Ich würde sagen, die Reihe endet, wie sie begonnen hat: die Helden gehen im Cheatmode durch die Fallen und Kampfkraft der Bösen und dadurch verliert das Buch, als drittes in diesem Muster, deutlich an Kraft.
Zudem kann man die Helden in ihrer Heldenhaftigkeit irgendwann nicht mehr ausstehen. Und dabei wär das hier, wo (fast) alle Handlungsstränge ihr Ende finden, am nötigsten.
Zudem kann man die Helden in ihrer Heldenhaftigkeit irgendwann nicht mehr ausstehen. Und dabei wär das hier, wo (fast) alle Handlungsstränge ihr Ende finden, am nötigsten.
June 9, 2018
Okay it’s Battletech so it’s probably a throwaway trashy tie in novel, right? Wrong. Legitimate development of the world throughout the trilogy. Great characters. Snappy plot. All kinds of political intrigue, and great battles. Recommended.
March 3, 2024
My least favorite book of the trilogy, but I still liked it. A mostly satisfying conclusion. Some plot points felt a bit rushed, and some conclusions felt a bit hollow or unearned... BUT it tied things up and didn't drag its heels.
December 22, 2017
Buena finalización de la trilogía.
Es la segunda vez que leo estos libros y te das cuenta de que el giro final de la historia está muy bien cubierto.
Es la segunda vez que leo estos libros y te das cuenta de que el giro final de la historia está muy bien cubierto.
March 5, 2019
Meh, the writings dated, but it is giant robots beating the crap out of each other and political intrigue. Still serviceable
July 9, 2020
Battle tech
Loved it in paper back love it again in digital So glad they are bringing them forward I’m looking forward to reading them all again
Loved it in paper back love it again in digital So glad they are bringing them forward I’m looking forward to reading them all again
July 9, 2020
The nostalgia tour of Battletech continues. Coupé remains a nice conclusion, and there are plotlines I don't even remember, despite having read these again 10 years ago.
October 12, 2020
Si los dos primeros libros hubieran sido como este, otro gallo nos cantara.
February 12, 2022
A satisfying conclusion to a pulpy, mech romping trilogy.
August 9, 2022
Concluded the trilogy in ways I hoped and ways that brought tears to my eyes. Overall, a great story told well.
October 31, 2022
The twist at the end is a bit sacchrine but the story holds together well and wraps up the arc nicely.
March 20, 2023
Wrapped up the trilogy very nicely, did a great job paying off threads across all three books!
July 20, 2023
WHAT A TWIST HOT DAMN
October 3, 2024
Political intrigue and fighting giant robots, what's not to love
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