I Am Jade Falcon

BattleTech Universe #27

by Robert Thurston

For years, Star Commander Joanna has had to live with the shame of the Jade Falcon defeat at Twycross, and the nightmares of the heroic Aidon Pryde flaunting his bloodname in her face.

Now, with the arrival of the new Star Colonel Ravill Pryde, who will lead them against the Wolf Clan, Joanna must once again fight for her chance to recapture the glory of her victory at Tukkayid. But will her advanced age bring her to defeat again, or will being a Jade Falcon be enough for her to take on the legendary Black Widow in a repeat battle at the Great Gash on Twycross?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

264 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

Reviews

[Kavinay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joanna is such a lovable jerk.

[Logan Kedzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Again, with the three stories. Again, burying the lede. The second gets the closest to okay, even if it then gets way out into the strangeness in terms of genes as character. Again, the last is the important one, and becomes elided to the point of not fun.

The Worf Effect is in full display here. Jade Falcon at this point in time seems to be like a Clan of wimps and no-goodnicks with how much time the members are allegedly loyal to the code are getting beat down by them.

The sort of promise of this book is the showdown with The Black Widow, but here is also where the sort of playing favorites hurts, because she really does not get much air time, and what there is is not from her perspective, so the sort of grand showdown of ideologies is muted.

I do kind of want to enjoy the squad. There are some attempts at a plot beat that links up between them, but there is so little character and so much ideology that I cannot find the way in to get invested.

[Keira F. Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, Battletech is sorta like Warhammer. It's really about the cohesive whole and complex narratives across stories that make it compelling, and while sometimes you'll get a great author/story arc, largely its just stompy warbots and some but-wait-there-more-bwahahahaha politics ... at least if you're me.

This was.... pretty meh. It took a character who's notable (Joanna) and gave her her own full novel which is kinda neat? But it felt.... off. And weird. It was a series of loosely connected vignettes. Really it felt like a series of short stories that were glued together. And even as independent short stories they were.... kind of hammy? Not that I dont expect some ham and cheese (this is battletech, afterall) but... it all felt kind of forced.

Well, words fail me.

Meh.

[Robbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably my favorite of Thurston's after reading the Jade Phoenix trilogy. I could never quite bring myself to like the Aidan Pryde character but found more affection for his compatriots of which this features heavily. I was not very thrilled at the prospect of a book all about Joanna but I was pleasantly surprised as I liked her development through this one book much more than Aidan through the previous three books revolving around these characters, and the plot was very intriguing as well.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than some other Battletech novels, Joanna has lost some of her edge in the appeal to make her a likeable main character. Still a decent story. Flowed very well. Fairly short but successful in its endeavor to carry forth the Jade Falcon epic started with the Jade Phoenix Trilogy. I'd give it 3 2/3 stars to put it above Bred for War.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great conclusion for Joanna! It’s not the greatest story, but it’s the story that’s right for Joanna. I’m glad the fierce, angry jerk had more to her story. Why is she so likable? Is she just that relatable?

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly serviceable science fiction book.

[J Murdock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again Original Classic Battletech

The excellent continuation of the Jade Falcon crew of unlikely misfits. Matches perfectly with the timeline and the journey of Clan Wolf.

[Dan Benedict · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am Jade Falcon follows the story of the clan Jadefalcon mechwarrior Joanna, whom was a secondary character in a prior Battletech series by Robert Thurston the Jade Phoenix Trilogy centering around Aidan Pryde).

Overall a quick read and fairly simple story. If you are familiar with the battletech universe of novels, especially if you have read the prior Jade Phoenix trilogy then this is a fun easy read allowing you to catch up on the lives of these characters after a number of years have past (it's set 6 or 7 years after the last of the Jade Phoenix trilogy).

On the other hand if you are not familiar with battletech or the characters this is not the best starting point.

All in all the book was okay and I found it to be a enjoyable journey back into the battletech universe.

[Arlomisty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the other three previous books to this series way back in the early 90's... they were so so... I found this book a couple years ago at Goodwill and decided to purchase it to finish off the series... I believe it's the last one (though I'm not 100% sure). The reading is really simple and the story is much the same as the other three books. I enjoyed it... it has been too long since I've journeyed back into the Battletech Universe of books. I have a couple more unread Battletech books lurking on my shelves that I might pick up and read one of these days.

[Brian Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel falls between several Battletech story arcs.
It wraps up some old threads and leads into others that get novels of their own.

Featuring Star Commander Joanna of the Jade Falcons, along with Horse and Diana, most of the book has Joanna off on a secret mission, with not much mech action.

The last third of the novel picks up and has some good moments.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joanna is such a cool character.