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BattleTech Universe #38
Grave Covenant
Possessing precious secret information that will lead them down the Exodus Road, the Inner Sphere Successor States can now meet the Clans on their own terms... and behind enemy lines. The Herculean task of amassing enough power means re-establishing the legendary Star League - a union of the Successor States and their BattleMechs led by Victor Steiner-Davion. But with the deadly game of politics making the Successor Lords wary of alliance, and Victor's Machiavellian sister, Katrina Steiner, hatching more vicious plots to further her own agendas, the war against the Clans may only be a distraction from the real danger...
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 20, 2024
Everything you might want in a book, including one of the sweetest and most intimate scenes I may have ever read. Intrigue, action, such love and devotion on personal levels and at the level of humankind, plus a twist.
September 2, 2015
Most BattleTech fans sing Michael Stackpole's praises. I generally like his work, but Grave Covenant (Twilight of the Clans, Book 2) didn't really work for me. The first 250 pages are completely devoid of 'Mech combat—politics is interesting, but only to a point, yet politics is ALL this book seems to be—and what combat does eventually occur tends to be more "this weapon hit, then this weapon hit, then this weapon hit, then this weapon missed" than having any real emotional gravitas of personal stakes or any "will he/she survive?" notions. (Most of the combat action also seems to have a noticeable game-mechanic feel to it, almost like you can hear the dice rolling for hit locations.) Of course, this comes right off the heels of my having just read Blaine Pardoe's Exodus Road (Twilight of the Clans, Book 1), which has plenty of 'Mech combat that is far easier to get emotionally invested in.
Don't get me wrong: Mike can definitely write, but this particular book just didn't grab me like some of his others have. The Blood of Kerensky trilogy, for example was a good mix of combat and politics; this book, not so much.
Don't get me wrong: Mike can definitely write, but this particular book just didn't grab me like some of his others have. The Blood of Kerensky trilogy, for example was a good mix of combat and politics; this book, not so much.
November 14, 2025
Is this a filler episode? Do book series have filler episodes?
Having received the intelligence necessary to bring the fight to the Clans in the last book, the process of doing so begins in earnest in this book. Emphasis on the 'begins,' as it is about the political alignment and realignment and strategic preparation with a gory fight scene tossed like a dog biscuit.
This is Stackpole at his best and his worst. He is at his best in that no one captures the operatic qualities of the Battletech universe like he does. I think that I am going straight to opera as opposed to soap opera, but either will suffice. If someone is going to make a scene, and there are more than a few here, you want Stackpole at the helm. Reader, I kicked my feet in fanboyish glee.
But he writes VSD as a Mary Sue and KDS as a frost witch. His combats are overly regimented and he does not do strategy, so it ends up people talking about the strategy as opposed to scenes that show the bits that make up the strategy. There is so much talking. While I am down with the romance, it feels as much like he got served divorce papers unawares somewhere mid-novel in terms of how much time is spent talking about love, including from a narratoral perspective, and what love means. The dream sequence hits so bad it is good. But it still is pretty bad.
When we got to the Clans side of things, it is similarly a lot of talking, but here mostly scheming. It is better than it was, but I remain disinterested in Vlad, as antagonist or deuteragonist. But it seems that old Phelan is back, which makes it a little better for him being there to lampshade bits of it.
There is one chapter that does my favorite thing of the single-shot POV character, but far too much of the book is set up of one stripe or another.
Having received the intelligence necessary to bring the fight to the Clans in the last book, the process of doing so begins in earnest in this book. Emphasis on the 'begins,' as it is about the political alignment and realignment and strategic preparation with a gory fight scene tossed like a dog biscuit.
This is Stackpole at his best and his worst. He is at his best in that no one captures the operatic qualities of the Battletech universe like he does. I think that I am going straight to opera as opposed to soap opera, but either will suffice. If someone is going to make a scene, and there are more than a few here, you want Stackpole at the helm. Reader, I kicked my feet in fanboyish glee.
But he writes VSD as a Mary Sue and KDS as a frost witch. His combats are overly regimented and he does not do strategy, so it ends up people talking about the strategy as opposed to scenes that show the bits that make up the strategy. There is so much talking. While I am down with the romance, it feels as much like he got served divorce papers unawares somewhere mid-novel in terms of how much time is spent talking about love, including from a narratoral perspective, and what love means. The dream sequence hits so bad it is good. But it still is pretty bad.
When we got to the Clans side of things, it is similarly a lot of talking, but here mostly scheming. It is better than it was, but I remain disinterested in Vlad, as antagonist or deuteragonist. But it seems that old Phelan is back, which makes it a little better for him being there to lampshade bits of it.
There is one chapter that does my favorite thing of the single-shot POV character, but far too much of the book is set up of one stripe or another.
July 26, 2024
Man, after such a strong start to the series, the second book is a right slog in comparison. There is very few 'Mech battles (I total of two if I remember right) and much more in way of politicking in this book than the first, which is a shame.
Stackpole may have gotten saddled with a specific set of parameters here, at least I would thinks so because some of this book just feels much too slow when compared to the first. It works, it tells the backstory of creating Operation Serpent, but other than that I would almost suggest catching the cliff notes on this and skipping to the much better flowing third book in the Twilight of the Clans series.
As always, BattleTech is a long running series with persons, past occurrences, historic battles and other foot notes that will have a blind reader scratching at their heads wondering what is going on. As a block of history into the BattleTech series I think it is a must have, but I think it is one of the more dry novels and it may have others turning their nose away at it if it is not up their alley. For fans of the series, serviceable; for all others there is better.
Stackpole may have gotten saddled with a specific set of parameters here, at least I would thinks so because some of this book just feels much too slow when compared to the first. It works, it tells the backstory of creating Operation Serpent, but other than that I would almost suggest catching the cliff notes on this and skipping to the much better flowing third book in the Twilight of the Clans series.
As always, BattleTech is a long running series with persons, past occurrences, historic battles and other foot notes that will have a blind reader scratching at their heads wondering what is going on. As a block of history into the BattleTech series I think it is a must have, but I think it is one of the more dry novels and it may have others turning their nose away at it if it is not up their alley. For fans of the series, serviceable; for all others there is better.
June 20, 2020
The drive to annihilate Clan Smoke Jaguar has begun. The Inner Sphere has assembled two massive forces: one to make an end-run to Huntress while the other drives them from their occupation zone. There are plans and politics as allies of convenience make their moves on both sides.
When I look at the characters, the only characters whom I considered distinct and compelling are some of the Clanners: Vlad Ward of the Wolves, Marthe Pryde of the Jade Falcons, and Lincoln Osis of the Smoke Jaguars. Each has their agenda and unique personalities. As for the Inner Sphere characters, each seem to be different facets of the same person: the author Michael Stackpole.
When I look at the characters, the only characters whom I considered distinct and compelling are some of the Clanners: Vlad Ward of the Wolves, Marthe Pryde of the Jade Falcons, and Lincoln Osis of the Smoke Jaguars. Each has their agenda and unique personalities. As for the Inner Sphere characters, each seem to be different facets of the same person: the author Michael Stackpole.
July 28, 2022
Twilight of the Clans number 2
The Inner Sphere forces come together to reform the Star League (which it has always been the clans aim to recreate) and come up with a plan to take the attack to the Smoke Jaguars.
The first half of the book is mostly politicking, which would have been pretty dull if anyone other than Mike Stackpole had wrote it. He has a good grasp of all the major characters and this comes across well.
The second half has plenty of mech action, although it seems the Inner Sphere have an easy time of it and there's never really any tension there.
The Inner Sphere forces come together to reform the Star League (which it has always been the clans aim to recreate) and come up with a plan to take the attack to the Smoke Jaguars.
The first half of the book is mostly politicking, which would have been pretty dull if anyone other than Mike Stackpole had wrote it. He has a good grasp of all the major characters and this comes across well.
The second half has plenty of mech action, although it seems the Inner Sphere have an easy time of it and there's never really any tension there.
September 10, 2021
BattleTech Book 38 and Twilight of the Clans Book 2. The Inner Sphere is uniting and taking the war back to the Clans. Clan Smoke Jaguar is the target.
February 15, 2017
Clunky.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews