Patriots and Tyrants

BattleTech Universe #56

by Loren L. Coleman

BOUND BY BLOOD

Bitter rivalries within the Star League threaten to plunge the entire Inner Sphere into chaos, as Victor Steiner-Davion and his sister, Katrina, maneuver their own forces to the brink of civil war. At the same time, their young brother, Arthur, is beginning to gain his own supporters in the Federated Commonwealth—including the powerful Draconis MArch, who see their own path to power within the young warrior.

And even as the clouds of insurrection begin to rumble within her own domain, the cunning Katrina devises a ruthless campaign of death that can crush the growing rebellion, rid her of the young upstart Arthur, and strike at the very heart of her hated brother Victor…

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Comics, Ebooks

291 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Loren L. Coleman (born 1968) is a science-fiction writer, born and grew up in Longview, Washington.

He is known for having written many books for series such as Star Trek, Battletech/Mechwarrior, Age of Conan, Crimson Skies, Magic: The Gathering and others. Former member of the United States Navy, he has also written game fiction and source material for such companies as FASA Corporation, TSR, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast.

In early 2010s, he began writing The ICAS Files series, science fiction short-stories. [wikipedia]

Reviews

[Brian Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the Classic Battletech series heads to a conclusion, civil war is finally declared between Victor Davion's Federated Suns and Katherine's Lyran Alliance.

Lots of action in this book as it follows events leading up to the war and the first year of fighting.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book covers some of the biggest events in the FedCom Civil War - the death of Arthur Steiner-Davion, Victor Steiner-Davion's call to arms against his sister and a few other points. In terms of this larger meta-plot, the books does a decent job for most except for Katrina Steiner-Davion, who seems to be getting crazier and crazier given her irrational actions.

But as a story with some sort of a narrative structure, a larger part of the book just feels like a series of battles that happen with little character progression between them. Yes, these are important to depicting the early part of the civil war as Victor begins to gather forces to his cause. But you don't really feel any consequences as we jump from battle to battle. There are some great combat sequences, don't get me wrong. But one can't help but wonder if there should have been more to it to help the characters move forward.

[Papal Bull · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am trying to finish the Battletech novels. This one was okay. It jumped around too much though without any explanations of the missing gaps.

[MjL · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main storyline rereaches the epicness it's known for - when the FedCom civil war finally begins. It was about time something Important happened again! 8)

[John Somers · Rating 2 out of 5]

9/20

[Jackloco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it but I was told that the arthur plot line was dropped because of IP change after the civil war which is bs. I liked it, showed more about Katrina and Victor.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but fun fluff!