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BattleTech Universe #3
Mercenary's Star
The Gray Death Legion. Mercenary warriors born out of treachery and deceit. Now the time has come for their first assignment, serving as the training cadre for farmer rebels on the once peaceful agricultural world of Verthandi. And although MechWarrior Grayson Carlyle has the knack for battle strategy and tactics, getting the scattered bands of freedom fighters to unite against their oppressors is not always easy. But the Legion must succeed in their efforts or die - for the only way off the planet is via the capital city, now controlled by the minions of Carlyle's nemesis, who wait for the Legion with murderous schemes...
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
199 people are currently reading
322 people want to read
About the author
William H. Keith Jr.
125 books178 followersBill Keith was raised in the mountains of western Pennsylvania, and served in the Navy as a corpsman for many years. In addition to writing fiction and non-fiction works, he is an award-winning illustrator/artist.
He has also published under the psuedonyms:
Ian Douglas (SF series: Heritage, Legacy, Inheritance, Star Carrier, Andromedan Dark)
H. Jay Riker (SEALS:The Warrior Breed series)
Keith Douglass (Carrier and Seal Team 7 series)
Bill Keith
Keith William Andrews (Freedom's Rangers series)
Robert Cain (Cybernarc series)
He has also published under the psuedonyms:
Ian Douglas (SF series: Heritage, Legacy, Inheritance, Star Carrier, Andromedan Dark)
H. Jay Riker (SEALS:The Warrior Breed series)
Keith Douglass (Carrier and Seal Team 7 series)
Bill Keith
Keith William Andrews (Freedom's Rangers series)
Robert Cain (Cybernarc series)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
January 17, 2016
This book, as the second in the series, continues to serve as a great primer to the Battletech universe. The first quarter of the book details space travel and fighter combat that was only mentioned in the first book. This turned out to be very exciting and added a great dimension to the fictional scope.
This time, the Gray Death Legion has to run a Kurita blockade to land on a planet that has contracted them for aid and training. These sequences are probably the best in the book. Very dramatic and very fun crashing to the planet!
Don't look for tremendous amounts of character growth here, there's not much - and what we do get is often cliched and overwrought. One of the new characters in the book - a female fighter pilot - has the best arc along with the best payoff.
Overall, this is a solid piece of futuristic military fiction and a nice building block of the Battletech universe.
This time, the Gray Death Legion has to run a Kurita blockade to land on a planet that has contracted them for aid and training. These sequences are probably the best in the book. Very dramatic and very fun crashing to the planet!
Don't look for tremendous amounts of character growth here, there's not much - and what we do get is often cliched and overwrought. One of the new characters in the book - a female fighter pilot - has the best arc along with the best payoff.
Overall, this is a solid piece of futuristic military fiction and a nice building block of the Battletech universe.
July 1, 2020
This is the second book in the Saga of the Gray Death Legion by William H. Keith Jr. a.k.a. Ian Douglas. This book is also part of the classic Battletech series. In this one, the newly formed Grey Death Legion is taking it's first contract on the planet Verthandi. They are to train the rebels who are fighting against oppressors from the Draconis Combine who just happen to be mortal enemies of Grayson Carlyle, the leader of the Gray Death Legion. The Gray Death Legion will find themselves in a fight for their very existence after their drop ship is damaged beyond repair while bringing the Gray Death Legion to Verthandi. An action-packed addition to this series.
August 14, 2020
The second book in my introduction to the Battletech Universe as I try to read everything in order. This is also the second installment for the Gray Death Legion and the story picks up shortly after the first novel. This time the Gray Death Legion has officially started built from the spoils of their fight with the Draconis Combine back on Trellwan.
"Mercenary's Star" is an exciting Military Sci-Fi novel that is fast paced and further solidifies the feel of the Battletech Universe. Keith rounds out the concept even more with more intergalactic players and touches of political intrigue that goes beyond the Mech battles. We start by seeing the Gray Death trying to make their name on Galatea a world known as a place to hire mercenaries. Since Carlyle and his band is not part of any formal military organization after Trellwan he sets up shop on Galatea and seeks to recruit more MechWarriors, so in this book we are introduced to a few new people. As is typical of these stories I never expected everyone to live and indeed having some personal "cannon fodder" makes for good story telling, while the stars of the show appear to be nearly immortal. But that's standard procedure for sci-fi of this nature and just makes for a good story, regardless of how "real" it seems.
Here Carlyle and his mercs are hired on to travel to Verthandi a planet under the subjugation of the Draconis Combine. Given the fact that this was written in the 80's and Keith is a child of the Cold War, indeed the whole Battletech setup feels somewhat inspired by it, I can't help but see the parallel's between the USSR/Communist Nations (Draconis Combine) and the USA/Western World (Lyran Commonwealth) in the telling of these tales. The Dracos seem to run their ship in a very strict fashion and it's often their undoing, because the concept of questioning a commanding officer or even suggesting an alternative seems difficult for their officers. This is opposed to the stark difference where Carlyle seems to run his show far more democratically, even though it is often said that "there needs to be one commander" (which probably only applies to the battlefield really), he often takes votes from his crew to figure out what should be done.
I will admit that in the first book I wasn't super keen on Carlyle, he was too... how do I say... clumsy in his character development? I think Keith tried to make him out to be a Noob and experienced all at once, and it just felt sort of weird. But now that Carlyle has some better background for his ideas, I think his character development here went a bit better. Lori's character, whom I liked immediately, grows a bit more in this book and she's as likable as ever. The Keith has set this whole thing up with them is painfully reminiscent of a Han Solo vs. Princess Leia vibe. I think the comparison to Star Wars is somewhat unavoidable, because Carlyle is often built around a sort of "scoundrel" character archetype. And not that Lori is a princess or anything, but she carries that
"take no crap" Leia vibe. It's a good thing Keith did a decent job of making Carlyle and Lori his own, because it would be somewhat painful reading otherwise. There wasn't a massive amount of development between the two characters, because he was so busy writing about new characters and interacting with the rebels. Lori kind of got brushed off the side, or at least that's how I felt, and only came up as a foil to her feelings of turmoil with Gray. In that regard things felt a tad one sided, but you have to remember this is written in the 80's... so I do have lower expectations on that front a bit.
The Star Wars parallel doesn't really end there, because it just makes the whole Draconis Combine feel like The Empire. In this book the Gray Death are hired to help train the rebel forces on Verthandi. And after some choice encounters I was truly waiting for a Combine officer to utter the infamous "you rebel scum" at one of the characters at some point. Either way, I didn't mind it that much, anytime you have big Cold War styled formats cast into deep space they're going to have a Star Wars feel, and Star Wars isn't even the first to take this idea and run with it, it's just the most commonly known reference as far as I can tell.
Anyway, the Gray Death land on this planet faced with the seemingly impossible task of being hopelessly outgunned and training a force to compete with a full military. Keith does a great job of describing this Mech battles, but I will say, having played the actual game, Carlyle gets WAY too many head shots in this book. Like, an unrealistic amount. They always play it up as a "lucky headshot", but it happened way too often in my opinion, it makes Carlyle seem like a god tier Mech pilot, but he's not even that experienced compared to some of the military personal Keith pits him against. Some of the Draconis fighting style made me think of the revolutionary war, where the British just marched in a column and expected their opponents to do the same and were just flabbergasted that the untrained commoners would engage in guerrilla warfare instead. This certainly made for an amusing read watching the Dracos stumble over themselves in this way.
In the end, I really enjoyed this story and I look forward to reading more adventures of the Gray Death in the next volume. The Battletech Universe is absolutely massive and these stories only gives us a very small insight into that larger history. I highly recommend these if you're already a fan of the game.
"Mercenary's Star" is an exciting Military Sci-Fi novel that is fast paced and further solidifies the feel of the Battletech Universe. Keith rounds out the concept even more with more intergalactic players and touches of political intrigue that goes beyond the Mech battles. We start by seeing the Gray Death trying to make their name on Galatea a world known as a place to hire mercenaries. Since Carlyle and his band is not part of any formal military organization after Trellwan he sets up shop on Galatea and seeks to recruit more MechWarriors, so in this book we are introduced to a few new people. As is typical of these stories I never expected everyone to live and indeed having some personal "cannon fodder" makes for good story telling, while the stars of the show appear to be nearly immortal. But that's standard procedure for sci-fi of this nature and just makes for a good story, regardless of how "real" it seems.
Here Carlyle and his mercs are hired on to travel to Verthandi a planet under the subjugation of the Draconis Combine. Given the fact that this was written in the 80's and Keith is a child of the Cold War, indeed the whole Battletech setup feels somewhat inspired by it, I can't help but see the parallel's between the USSR/Communist Nations (Draconis Combine) and the USA/Western World (Lyran Commonwealth) in the telling of these tales. The Dracos seem to run their ship in a very strict fashion and it's often their undoing, because the concept of questioning a commanding officer or even suggesting an alternative seems difficult for their officers. This is opposed to the stark difference where Carlyle seems to run his show far more democratically, even though it is often said that "there needs to be one commander" (which probably only applies to the battlefield really), he often takes votes from his crew to figure out what should be done.
I will admit that in the first book I wasn't super keen on Carlyle, he was too... how do I say... clumsy in his character development? I think Keith tried to make him out to be a Noob and experienced all at once, and it just felt sort of weird. But now that Carlyle has some better background for his ideas, I think his character development here went a bit better. Lori's character, whom I liked immediately, grows a bit more in this book and she's as likable as ever. The Keith has set this whole thing up with them is painfully reminiscent of a Han Solo vs. Princess Leia vibe. I think the comparison to Star Wars is somewhat unavoidable, because Carlyle is often built around a sort of "scoundrel" character archetype. And not that Lori is a princess or anything, but she carries that
"take no crap" Leia vibe. It's a good thing Keith did a decent job of making Carlyle and Lori his own, because it would be somewhat painful reading otherwise. There wasn't a massive amount of development between the two characters, because he was so busy writing about new characters and interacting with the rebels. Lori kind of got brushed off the side, or at least that's how I felt, and only came up as a foil to her feelings of turmoil with Gray. In that regard things felt a tad one sided, but you have to remember this is written in the 80's... so I do have lower expectations on that front a bit.
The Star Wars parallel doesn't really end there, because it just makes the whole Draconis Combine feel like The Empire. In this book the Gray Death are hired to help train the rebel forces on Verthandi. And after some choice encounters I was truly waiting for a Combine officer to utter the infamous "you rebel scum" at one of the characters at some point. Either way, I didn't mind it that much, anytime you have big Cold War styled formats cast into deep space they're going to have a Star Wars feel, and Star Wars isn't even the first to take this idea and run with it, it's just the most commonly known reference as far as I can tell.
Anyway, the Gray Death land on this planet faced with the seemingly impossible task of being hopelessly outgunned and training a force to compete with a full military. Keith does a great job of describing this Mech battles, but I will say, having played the actual game, Carlyle gets WAY too many head shots in this book. Like, an unrealistic amount. They always play it up as a "lucky headshot", but it happened way too often in my opinion, it makes Carlyle seem like a god tier Mech pilot, but he's not even that experienced compared to some of the military personal Keith pits him against. Some of the Draconis fighting style made me think of the revolutionary war, where the British just marched in a column and expected their opponents to do the same and were just flabbergasted that the untrained commoners would engage in guerrilla warfare instead. This certainly made for an amusing read watching the Dracos stumble over themselves in this way.
In the end, I really enjoyed this story and I look forward to reading more adventures of the Gray Death in the next volume. The Battletech Universe is absolutely massive and these stories only gives us a very small insight into that larger history. I highly recommend these if you're already a fan of the game.
July 5, 2016
Made for a light read.
From a boardgame player persepctive the mech combat scenes were built on so many lucky shots, that it made me WTF constantly. To the point, that in scenes of single light mech against regiments combat I felt no drama, as some lucky shot was bound to happen. But, that was consistent with the previous book, so I guess this is Keith's style and you just need to like it or ignore it.
I liked the book as a whole and I liked especially the scenes that were outside the 'Mechs. They made up for 'Mech combat scenes for me. Solid three stars.
From a boardgame player persepctive the mech combat scenes were built on so many lucky shots, that it made me WTF constantly. To the point, that in scenes of single light mech against regiments combat I felt no drama, as some lucky shot was bound to happen. But, that was consistent with the previous book, so I guess this is Keith's style and you just need to like it or ignore it.
I liked the book as a whole and I liked especially the scenes that were outside the 'Mechs. They made up for 'Mech combat scenes for me. Solid three stars.
April 23, 2025
Better than the first book but still quite lengthy at times.
December 24, 2022
***As always some spoilers ahead***
This is 3rd book from the Battletech universe that I am reading and a 2nd in the Gray Death Legion series.
We again follow Grayson Death Carlyle and his newly formed Gray Death Legion mercenary company. Things are not that rosy for a company with no reputation to put to its name, so they are forced to take a job that nobody wants: Go and help with insurrection on a world in Draconis Combine space. The premise here is that Grayson is going to be training and wrestling with organising freedom fighters behind enemy lines. As a secondary we also get Grayson's and Lori's romance story. Unsurprisingly Grayson exceeds in his primary mission and falls into the proper spot with the second.
***My Thoughts.***
This is an ok military fiction book. Story is serviceable for the most part but fails to hold up in verisimilitude department, as time and again some things simply do not make much sense, apart from plot says so.
The issue stems from not dwelling on the logistics of organising planet spanning resistance, or even a region spanning resistance. We get told that all the techs are imprisoned, the repair facilities destroyed and no ammunition or parts available to supply and repair the mechs. However, going back to semi dilapidated drop-ship seems to fix all the problems, we can then just raid supply dumps and prosper. In the meantime the resistance rises up and just seems to kinda organise itself into an experienced and powerful force to take back the whole planet.
Apart from the very beginning there is no friction between Grayson and the leadership of the resistance, no logistical issues to worry about. We are simply told: "oh we are running out of supplies, lets raid Kurita forces". In effect the blurb about the book, that gives us this story premise, is misleading as to what the book is about.
Touching on the romance side of things, it suffers from a similar issue of not having enough friction between Grayson and Lori. We get a bit of "behind the scenes" from both characters perspectives in the beginning and then its just monologue thoughts from Lori for the rest of the book. We don't really know what Grayson is thinking apart from some weird, oh he is sleeping around...or wait he is not...or is he?
The whole romance arc can be boiled down to, there are issues when there is no communication and you expect other person to read your mind. The moment communication happens, they live happily ever after.
Finally, some special love needs to be given the outstanding dialogue in this book. Author managed to make every single character sound identical, it takes a true talent to do that. Also, "Good god man" is apparently the most spoken phrase in the inner sphere, no matter where you hail from.
In saying all of the above, William Keith Jr shines in the technical details and immediacy of combat. It's fast, fun, well paced and in your face. This really carries the book and the story forward and transports you into the action. You can feel the sweat from the sweltering heat of overheating mech, judder with every auto-cannon shot, and cringe whenever laser scorches a line on the mechs torso.
I also felt that the epilogue was done really well, with the feeling of: "We have won the planet back with blood, sweat and tears but will certainly loose it again through politics". More of the above throughout the book would have made it so much better, but alas what we got is ultimately fun but shallow read.
Get it if you are already invested in the Gray Death Legion story, or just want a brain-dead, military sci fi, action romp.
This is 3rd book from the Battletech universe that I am reading and a 2nd in the Gray Death Legion series.
We again follow Grayson Death Carlyle and his newly formed Gray Death Legion mercenary company. Things are not that rosy for a company with no reputation to put to its name, so they are forced to take a job that nobody wants: Go and help with insurrection on a world in Draconis Combine space. The premise here is that Grayson is going to be training and wrestling with organising freedom fighters behind enemy lines. As a secondary we also get Grayson's and Lori's romance story. Unsurprisingly Grayson exceeds in his primary mission and falls into the proper spot with the second.
***My Thoughts.***
This is an ok military fiction book. Story is serviceable for the most part but fails to hold up in verisimilitude department, as time and again some things simply do not make much sense, apart from plot says so.
The issue stems from not dwelling on the logistics of organising planet spanning resistance, or even a region spanning resistance. We get told that all the techs are imprisoned, the repair facilities destroyed and no ammunition or parts available to supply and repair the mechs. However, going back to semi dilapidated drop-ship seems to fix all the problems, we can then just raid supply dumps and prosper. In the meantime the resistance rises up and just seems to kinda organise itself into an experienced and powerful force to take back the whole planet.
Apart from the very beginning there is no friction between Grayson and the leadership of the resistance, no logistical issues to worry about. We are simply told: "oh we are running out of supplies, lets raid Kurita forces". In effect the blurb about the book, that gives us this story premise, is misleading as to what the book is about.
Touching on the romance side of things, it suffers from a similar issue of not having enough friction between Grayson and Lori. We get a bit of "behind the scenes" from both characters perspectives in the beginning and then its just monologue thoughts from Lori for the rest of the book. We don't really know what Grayson is thinking apart from some weird, oh he is sleeping around...or wait he is not...or is he?
The whole romance arc can be boiled down to, there are issues when there is no communication and you expect other person to read your mind. The moment communication happens, they live happily ever after.
Finally, some special love needs to be given the outstanding dialogue in this book. Author managed to make every single character sound identical, it takes a true talent to do that. Also, "Good god man" is apparently the most spoken phrase in the inner sphere, no matter where you hail from.
In saying all of the above, William Keith Jr shines in the technical details and immediacy of combat. It's fast, fun, well paced and in your face. This really carries the book and the story forward and transports you into the action. You can feel the sweat from the sweltering heat of overheating mech, judder with every auto-cannon shot, and cringe whenever laser scorches a line on the mechs torso.
I also felt that the epilogue was done really well, with the feeling of: "We have won the planet back with blood, sweat and tears but will certainly loose it again through politics". More of the above throughout the book would have made it so much better, but alas what we got is ultimately fun but shallow read.
Get it if you are already invested in the Gray Death Legion story, or just want a brain-dead, military sci fi, action romp.
June 1, 2025
First of all, this was a much better book, in my opinion, than the first one. If you are coming from my first review and were curious if the series improved, it does. William H. Keith Jr. brings us back the character of the young and tactful Grayson Carlyle. While their adventures founded them a mercenary unit, they now have to prove to the galaxy that the Gray Death Legion is worthy of hiring for the battlefield, and once again, this feels like an impossible task for Grayson. I loved this. Again, Grayson must make desperate choices to find results that don't even suit his needs. Meaning he has to hire an OK crew, and may not have the punch needed to complete the job. Mercenary's Star is a story about what if everything went wrong with taking a job, but somehow, someway, you find a way out of it, bruised and broken.
Before I gush about the sequel any further, let's talk about this book's problems. I have come to accept that Battletech books are in fact your basic pulp reads. You cannot go into this expecting a perfect circle. That being said, it is indeed fantastic pulp writing. But even in good pulp writing, characterization I feel like in other reads has been better written. Keith still struggles with this. His main character Grayson, is well written. However, I noticed that in the last chapter we were given some real insight into his feelings of war and thoughts towards the Draconis Combine that I felt could've been better expressed throughout the book, versus having his emotions and feelings dumped toward the very end.
Keith also struggles greatly in writing romance. I feel that this isn't a spoiler because if you've read the first book, you know that Lori and Grayson's feelings toward each other are growing. While definitely not the worst romance ever written, I found it extremely annoying to read the blockage Lori was feeling towards her feelings for loving Grayson. I get where Keith was coming from in trying to show this, but I just don't think the guy realistically understands how to portray women. Lori will often just sigh, grunt inner frustrations, and simply expect Grayson to understand her. It felt like a poor portrayal of a woman's psyche, especially one who is struggling with PTSD, and those emotions are preventing her from being with Grayson. The two's budding relationship is a highlight in the book, but could've been more explored, and better written.
While on the topic of poorly written romance, let's talk about my least favorite character Keith has ever written, Sue Ellen. WOW. Sue Ellen and her lover (I honestly can't even remember the dude's name he was literally just cannon fodder) are both pilots for Grayson's cause. We are given several points in the book where we are reading about Sue Ellen dealing with the loss of her lover in the battlefield, and her being manipulated by the Draconis Combine, and this was not fun reading. I turned pages literally laughing at Keith's dialogue of this character, how characters (Dracos) interacted with her in romance, it was gag-worthy. Sue Ellen's motivations also didn't make any sense. She didn't seem to have any true allegiance to anything. Not serving the Lyrans, not serving the Gray Death Legion, not her boyfriend, nothing. And it all comes to show on the paper. You really hate her. She is SOOOOO needy that she's willing to sleep with any guy that gives her the time of day, just simply to avoid loneliness. I won't try to spoil anything with Sue Ellen, but she does something pretty huge that the reader could see as a redeemable quality about her. I found this again to be questionable. Her motives are all over the place, and her decisions are erratic. Because she makes a friendship with Lori, it seems that she's finally getting her priorities straight, then does something completely off the wall and I'm not going to say her choices didn't impact the plot and it's characters in a positive light, but she is written terribly and her actions make zero sense to me. Any time Sue Ellen came onto the page, I literally would sigh out loud and brace for impact. Absolute Cringe with this character and other "romantic" characters that dealt with her. We could just chalk it off to the times (80's), but seriously, for a modern reader, this is going to be rough for you.
Now that the big problems out of the way for me, let's discuss plot. I liked it. It was a breath of fresh air to have The Gray Death Legion battling out in the jungles. And as I stated earlier, everything that could go wrong does go wrong. It's satisfying to see Grayson come up with solutions to problems as they constantly confront him. He is definitely the coolest character in the book because of this. Like last time, I do feel that side characters are easily brushed to the side and are not given as much development as they should. Some are obvious explosions waiting to happen, which is truly a downside. However, there are some of the natives of the planet that I found really interesting to read. I loved reading about the culture and the ongoing war the inhabitants are having with the Dracos. They come off as prideful, thinking that they know more about things than Grayson and his crew. It was rewarding to see Grayson and the locals pull together to make things work, and I really actually enjoyed the characters and writing. Again, characters are easily breezed over.
The antagonists, again like the first book, are nothing to gush over. Nagamo (I think that's his correct name) is in charge of bringing the rebellion down. Sounds like an easy task, but it isn't. Especially when your enemy is Grayson Carlyle. I got a lot of Vietnam vibes as the Combine sincerely struggled with the guerrilla war tactics Grayson and the planet's locals used against them. While no one personally was on the planet that killed Grayson's father, Grayson still has a strong hatred for the Combine, but I found the conclusion to this hate arc realistic and satisfactory, while Keith just rounds up Grayson's feelings in an Epilogue. I've read reviews that the Combine was being portrayed as a Star Wars "Empire" enemy, but I didn't feel that Star Wars so strongly in the Draconis Combine. I felt in this book that they were an enemy I was able to better understand. The universe of Battletech is a dark one. There are really no good guys. So it was interesting to see the motivations and what pushed the Dracos to make their desperate choices based on what they are dealing with. The first book's enemies were a lot more elusive. In this book, we know who they are right from the get-go and it's interesting to read them politically jive with the locals to meet their goals. The Dracos are horrible, but I was better able to understand their goals.
Now let's talk mech battles, and oh boy, there are a LOT of them. I loved every single confrontation. Keith is really good in describing how a mech goes ka-boom. It's really what feeds the writing. It's so exciting to read the battles take place and read the tactics going through Grayson's mind. The guy is a genius and has his lucky breaks for certain. That being said, these are the best battles we get so far in the series. I especially loved the final battle. I could not put the book down. It was like I was watching a movie. It was hardcore, brutal, and just a fantastic read. I had to stay up later than intended just to finish the book out. The writing was that good. Well done Keith.
As stated previously, the conclusion was very rushed, as were some character arcs that I felt needed more time in the oven. I do admire that Keith shows us an imperfect universe. Saviors are not necessarily heroes but more so other masters to serve. Grayson's thoughts toward the Combine change which refreshing to see him grow in ways that felt real. It was a good book. I would honestly give this book a 4-star review, but I can't after having to read anything to do with Sue Ellen. She honestly didn't need to be in the book as much as she was. She had no recognizable motivations and showed Keith's weakness in writing women in his storytelling. That being said, Mercenary's Star is a fantastic pulp read. It is worthy picking up and reading especially if you love mechs and Battletech. I'm learning that the story potential is strong in this universe. I'm excited to read the third book of the trilogy and am interested to read how other authors decide to tackle stories within this war-ridden universe following this series' conclusion. Give it a read. It's a good one! Glaze over the bad romance and appreciate the book for what its strengths are, and you have a fun military sci-fi read.
Before I gush about the sequel any further, let's talk about this book's problems. I have come to accept that Battletech books are in fact your basic pulp reads. You cannot go into this expecting a perfect circle. That being said, it is indeed fantastic pulp writing. But even in good pulp writing, characterization I feel like in other reads has been better written. Keith still struggles with this. His main character Grayson, is well written. However, I noticed that in the last chapter we were given some real insight into his feelings of war and thoughts towards the Draconis Combine that I felt could've been better expressed throughout the book, versus having his emotions and feelings dumped toward the very end.
Keith also struggles greatly in writing romance. I feel that this isn't a spoiler because if you've read the first book, you know that Lori and Grayson's feelings toward each other are growing. While definitely not the worst romance ever written, I found it extremely annoying to read the blockage Lori was feeling towards her feelings for loving Grayson. I get where Keith was coming from in trying to show this, but I just don't think the guy realistically understands how to portray women. Lori will often just sigh, grunt inner frustrations, and simply expect Grayson to understand her. It felt like a poor portrayal of a woman's psyche, especially one who is struggling with PTSD, and those emotions are preventing her from being with Grayson. The two's budding relationship is a highlight in the book, but could've been more explored, and better written.
While on the topic of poorly written romance, let's talk about my least favorite character Keith has ever written, Sue Ellen. WOW. Sue Ellen and her lover (I honestly can't even remember the dude's name he was literally just cannon fodder) are both pilots for Grayson's cause. We are given several points in the book where we are reading about Sue Ellen dealing with the loss of her lover in the battlefield, and her being manipulated by the Draconis Combine, and this was not fun reading. I turned pages literally laughing at Keith's dialogue of this character, how characters (Dracos) interacted with her in romance, it was gag-worthy. Sue Ellen's motivations also didn't make any sense. She didn't seem to have any true allegiance to anything. Not serving the Lyrans, not serving the Gray Death Legion, not her boyfriend, nothing. And it all comes to show on the paper. You really hate her. She is SOOOOO needy that she's willing to sleep with any guy that gives her the time of day, just simply to avoid loneliness. I won't try to spoil anything with Sue Ellen, but she does something pretty huge that the reader could see as a redeemable quality about her. I found this again to be questionable. Her motives are all over the place, and her decisions are erratic. Because she makes a friendship with Lori, it seems that she's finally getting her priorities straight, then does something completely off the wall and I'm not going to say her choices didn't impact the plot and it's characters in a positive light, but she is written terribly and her actions make zero sense to me. Any time Sue Ellen came onto the page, I literally would sigh out loud and brace for impact. Absolute Cringe with this character and other "romantic" characters that dealt with her. We could just chalk it off to the times (80's), but seriously, for a modern reader, this is going to be rough for you.
Now that the big problems out of the way for me, let's discuss plot. I liked it. It was a breath of fresh air to have The Gray Death Legion battling out in the jungles. And as I stated earlier, everything that could go wrong does go wrong. It's satisfying to see Grayson come up with solutions to problems as they constantly confront him. He is definitely the coolest character in the book because of this. Like last time, I do feel that side characters are easily brushed to the side and are not given as much development as they should. Some are obvious explosions waiting to happen, which is truly a downside. However, there are some of the natives of the planet that I found really interesting to read. I loved reading about the culture and the ongoing war the inhabitants are having with the Dracos. They come off as prideful, thinking that they know more about things than Grayson and his crew. It was rewarding to see Grayson and the locals pull together to make things work, and I really actually enjoyed the characters and writing. Again, characters are easily breezed over.
The antagonists, again like the first book, are nothing to gush over. Nagamo (I think that's his correct name) is in charge of bringing the rebellion down. Sounds like an easy task, but it isn't. Especially when your enemy is Grayson Carlyle. I got a lot of Vietnam vibes as the Combine sincerely struggled with the guerrilla war tactics Grayson and the planet's locals used against them. While no one personally was on the planet that killed Grayson's father, Grayson still has a strong hatred for the Combine, but I found the conclusion to this hate arc realistic and satisfactory, while Keith just rounds up Grayson's feelings in an Epilogue. I've read reviews that the Combine was being portrayed as a Star Wars "Empire" enemy, but I didn't feel that Star Wars so strongly in the Draconis Combine. I felt in this book that they were an enemy I was able to better understand. The universe of Battletech is a dark one. There are really no good guys. So it was interesting to see the motivations and what pushed the Dracos to make their desperate choices based on what they are dealing with. The first book's enemies were a lot more elusive. In this book, we know who they are right from the get-go and it's interesting to read them politically jive with the locals to meet their goals. The Dracos are horrible, but I was better able to understand their goals.
Now let's talk mech battles, and oh boy, there are a LOT of them. I loved every single confrontation. Keith is really good in describing how a mech goes ka-boom. It's really what feeds the writing. It's so exciting to read the battles take place and read the tactics going through Grayson's mind. The guy is a genius and has his lucky breaks for certain. That being said, these are the best battles we get so far in the series. I especially loved the final battle. I could not put the book down. It was like I was watching a movie. It was hardcore, brutal, and just a fantastic read. I had to stay up later than intended just to finish the book out. The writing was that good. Well done Keith.
As stated previously, the conclusion was very rushed, as were some character arcs that I felt needed more time in the oven. I do admire that Keith shows us an imperfect universe. Saviors are not necessarily heroes but more so other masters to serve. Grayson's thoughts toward the Combine change which refreshing to see him grow in ways that felt real. It was a good book. I would honestly give this book a 4-star review, but I can't after having to read anything to do with Sue Ellen. She honestly didn't need to be in the book as much as she was. She had no recognizable motivations and showed Keith's weakness in writing women in his storytelling. That being said, Mercenary's Star is a fantastic pulp read. It is worthy picking up and reading especially if you love mechs and Battletech. I'm learning that the story potential is strong in this universe. I'm excited to read the third book of the trilogy and am interested to read how other authors decide to tackle stories within this war-ridden universe following this series' conclusion. Give it a read. It's a good one! Glaze over the bad romance and appreciate the book for what its strengths are, and you have a fun military sci-fi read.
October 30, 2023
Yeesh, feels like this one took forever, and I'm not sure why. It, like its predecessor, just seemed to have an ENDLESS second act that meandered a lot.
I found the basic setup really intriguing (the Grey Death legion needs a portfolio, so they take this kind of shitty assignment to help train some rebels, but then get stranded there & are basically like, 'we might as WELL help you fight ...'), and I enjoyed all the melodramatic will they/won't they drama with the different characters, but ... I think, honestly, my issue is that I don't find Battlemech fighting interesting. Which tracks: whenever Titans fight in 40K, it's some of the only battle description that I just skim past. That and space battles. And that's SO MUCH of these books. I dig everything else, but that ... I dunno.
I think the ONLY Battlemech battle I've read and enjoyed was the one Stackpole did where it was purely for show, no casualties, and that was kind of amusingly fun. I think the problem is, so much of it devolves into like ... copying from the game's rulebook. 'The Storm Hawk has more maneuverable than the Scorpion, but tended to overheat more easily, so Grey blah blah blah.' JUST SHOOT SOMEBODY.
Still, even with skipping all the battles, I enjoyed this well enough that I'll check out the conclusion to the trilogy.
I found the basic setup really intriguing (the Grey Death legion needs a portfolio, so they take this kind of shitty assignment to help train some rebels, but then get stranded there & are basically like, 'we might as WELL help you fight ...'), and I enjoyed all the melodramatic will they/won't they drama with the different characters, but ... I think, honestly, my issue is that I don't find Battlemech fighting interesting. Which tracks: whenever Titans fight in 40K, it's some of the only battle description that I just skim past. That and space battles. And that's SO MUCH of these books. I dig everything else, but that ... I dunno.
I think the ONLY Battlemech battle I've read and enjoyed was the one Stackpole did where it was purely for show, no casualties, and that was kind of amusingly fun. I think the problem is, so much of it devolves into like ... copying from the game's rulebook. 'The Storm Hawk has more maneuverable than the Scorpion, but tended to overheat more easily, so Grey blah blah blah.' JUST SHOOT SOMEBODY.
Still, even with skipping all the battles, I enjoyed this well enough that I'll check out the conclusion to the trilogy.
March 10, 2009
Zwar nicht so gut wie "Entscheidung am Thunder Rift", aber auch sehr gut.
January 1, 2017
Kinda boring. I couldn't maintain interest, and ended up skimming it. There's only so much "he fired his PPC and they shot back with a medium laser" with no character development that I can take.
May 5, 2022
+1 for the scene featuring a spilled Agromech screaming "should I punch out sir?" and the Dervish behind correcting the CO that he had no hands to help.
August 18, 2023
It's like the Swedes re-litigate the Vietnam War.
Newly minted mercenary commander Grayson Death Carlyle hires on to be military advisors for the rebels on a jungle world fighting House Kurita. But things escalate and he soon finds himself stuck fighting for his life and the survival of his people. Will Grayson prevail?
Obvious analog is obvious (the enemy even gets called charlie at one point) but I really liked this one, like just shy of four stars. Good action, neat cast of characters, fun and operatic plot twists, and great pacing. I particularly liked the villains here, who are a blend of reasonable to the point of emphatic and twisted to the point of queasy. Shout out to the scene where the second in command returns after a loss for the 'you have failed me' speech and .
The fights are better here than in the first book. I particularly like the beach scene. But most tend to follow the same sort of beats of the allies screw up then Grayson saves the day, which would be fine to happen once, but it keeps happening. The attitudes towards race and gender tend to date it, but it's better than the last book (outside of the overall premise, perhaps), and as to the former, and the mystical Arab and incomprehensible Scott both feel more silly than wrongheaded, while the latter feels like the author struggling to write romance when it is just not his thing and making it weird.
Newly minted mercenary commander Grayson Death Carlyle hires on to be military advisors for the rebels on a jungle world fighting House Kurita. But things escalate and he soon finds himself stuck fighting for his life and the survival of his people. Will Grayson prevail?
Obvious analog is obvious (the enemy even gets called charlie at one point) but I really liked this one, like just shy of four stars. Good action, neat cast of characters, fun and operatic plot twists, and great pacing. I particularly liked the villains here, who are a blend of reasonable to the point of emphatic and twisted to the point of queasy. Shout out to the scene where the second in command returns after a loss for the 'you have failed me' speech and .
The fights are better here than in the first book. I particularly like the beach scene. But most tend to follow the same sort of beats of the allies screw up then Grayson saves the day, which would be fine to happen once, but it keeps happening. The attitudes towards race and gender tend to date it, but it's better than the last book (outside of the overall premise, perhaps), and as to the former, and the mystical Arab and incomprehensible Scott both feel more silly than wrongheaded, while the latter feels like the author struggling to write romance when it is just not his thing and making it weird.
July 21, 2020
Took me ages to actually finish. In the previous book, our hero Grayson Death Carlyle inherited a mercenary outfit from his late father. In this volume, from the start he proceeds not to understand what mercenary work is all about, and convinces his entire team (who have their own very expensive vehicles, to boot) to take on a virtual suicide mission for higher ideals. I don't know, Mr Carlyle, the Mercenary Review Board might be sympathetic even if you didn't take such a mission but the plot's what it is.
By chance the entire team doesn't die immediately upon entering the enemy-controlled solar system, although it's a close call, and they end up using their precious dropship as a steamboat. They end up meeting the local resistance they were supposed to help, and the leader on the other side immediately proves to be a stubborn idiot who doesn't really even want the guy and his expensive 'Mechs there. If I were Grayson, I would have repaired the dropship and promptly fucked off. The dialogue is melodramatic posturing from beginning to end. Grayson is not written as charismatic in the slightest, just a generic tough man making tough decisions, and yet untrained men will fight towering war machines for him. Go figure. Other characters come and go in the fighting, pity none are memorable.
The book also ends very abruptly after a chaotic battle scene, with a 30-page infodump that would have made for a more interesting plot for the entire latter half of the book. It may have been originally intended thus; perhaps the author simply ran out of deadlines to stretch. I'd be hard pressed to recommend this one even to a hardcore BT fan.
By chance the entire team doesn't die immediately upon entering the enemy-controlled solar system, although it's a close call, and they end up using their precious dropship as a steamboat. They end up meeting the local resistance they were supposed to help, and the leader on the other side immediately proves to be a stubborn idiot who doesn't really even want the guy and his expensive 'Mechs there. If I were Grayson, I would have repaired the dropship and promptly fucked off. The dialogue is melodramatic posturing from beginning to end. Grayson is not written as charismatic in the slightest, just a generic tough man making tough decisions, and yet untrained men will fight towering war machines for him. Go figure. Other characters come and go in the fighting, pity none are memorable.
The book also ends very abruptly after a chaotic battle scene, with a 30-page infodump that would have made for a more interesting plot for the entire latter half of the book. It may have been originally intended thus; perhaps the author simply ran out of deadlines to stretch. I'd be hard pressed to recommend this one even to a hardcore BT fan.
March 21, 2019
This isn't quality fiction. There is just something out there about the plot that felt unrefined.
For one thing, the way the book is constructed: a bunch of mercenary fluff, some space-stuff, a few genuinely great battle scenes - followed by a continuous slog of scattered and uninteresting guerilla campaigns, ending on a "final battle" that is later resolved by a minor plot point from a few chapters before. It felt like little miracles of deus ex machina were peppered here and there for no reason other than to keep Grayson alive.
Then the's the characters. It seemed at first like they were going to be fleshed out. Unfortunately that was not to be and the only one I actually remember at this point is McCall. Even so, the only aspect of his personality I seem to remember is that he was, I guess, prone to getting upset? Though, that aspect only ever manifested itself, curiously, in battle.
Either way, I like BattleTech and I had fun. It passed for light bed-time reading, which to me means it served its purpose well.
For one thing, the way the book is constructed: a bunch of mercenary fluff, some space-stuff, a few genuinely great battle scenes - followed by a continuous slog of scattered and uninteresting guerilla campaigns, ending on a "final battle" that is later resolved by a minor plot point from a few chapters before. It felt like little miracles of deus ex machina were peppered here and there for no reason other than to keep Grayson alive.
Then the's the characters. It seemed at first like they were going to be fleshed out. Unfortunately that was not to be and the only one I actually remember at this point is McCall. Even so, the only aspect of his personality I seem to remember is that he was, I guess, prone to getting upset? Though, that aspect only ever manifested itself, curiously, in battle.
Either way, I like BattleTech and I had fun. It passed for light bed-time reading, which to me means it served its purpose well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2024
As a Battletech fan, I am making an effort to go back through the extensive library of novels that launched this franchise. Throughout this effort, I have found several duds, but this was not one of them.
I’m not sure why, but book one in this series was pretty clunky to me. I felt like there was a fair amount of shark jumping going on. I’m not sure why I gave this one a shot after the so so experience of the first, but I am glad I did.
Grayson is trying to build a merc unit from scratch and his journey to doing so is a worthwhile read. His first contract is believable and tense while still maintaining the fun of a universe filled with big stompy robots.
Mr. Keith does his best to write women but… this is not fine literature. I commend him for not writing about heaving bosoms and such. He just seems stuck on adolescent understandings of other people. Or maybe I am just being old and curmudgeonly.
Recommend for Battletech fans.
I’m not sure why, but book one in this series was pretty clunky to me. I felt like there was a fair amount of shark jumping going on. I’m not sure why I gave this one a shot after the so so experience of the first, but I am glad I did.
Grayson is trying to build a merc unit from scratch and his journey to doing so is a worthwhile read. His first contract is believable and tense while still maintaining the fun of a universe filled with big stompy robots.
Mr. Keith does his best to write women but… this is not fine literature. I commend him for not writing about heaving bosoms and such. He just seems stuck on adolescent understandings of other people. Or maybe I am just being old and curmudgeonly.
Recommend for Battletech fans.
September 7, 2025
The second in William H. Keith Jr.'s 'The Gray Death Legion' trilogy, set in the BattleTech universe and following on from Decision at Thunder Rift.
I do have to wonder, though, why this one is so titled when the vast bulk of the novel has little to no connection at all to the 'Mercenary's Star' of the title, other than that is where the Gray Death legion are contacted for their latest job!
Anyway, those who are into the whole BattleTech universe will get more out of this than those who are not - personally, I'm a little m'eh on the whole setting.
I do have to wonder, though, why this one is so titled when the vast bulk of the novel has little to no connection at all to the 'Mercenary's Star' of the title, other than that is where the Gray Death legion are contacted for their latest job!
Anyway, those who are into the whole BattleTech universe will get more out of this than those who are not - personally, I'm a little m'eh on the whole setting.
December 7, 2024
An improvement on Decision at Thunder Rift. While still a pulp sci-fi novel that is a gaming tie in, it has stronger writing and characterizations over the first novel. Kind of an interesting one to me now, in that the protagonists (mercenaries) are hired to provide support to resistance on a planet occupied by an oppressive neighboring star empire. So while Battlemechs are a hard power asset, and the ultimate expression of conventional military force, the protagonists end up building up a classic insurgency that could be seen as having an underground, auxiliary, and guerilla force that operates in a denied area. Still a fluffy example of late 80s military sci-fi, but has more depth than I previously gave it credit for.
July 1, 2020
It was nice to catch up with the Gray Death Legion again and the book was full of excited Mech on Mech action. But there were also a couple of glaring issues I had with the book.
First is that I never believed that the mercs and rag-tag band of rebels could actually over-throw their Kuritan rulers. Yet, I felt that the key character all have plenty of plot armor to see them through to book.
The major problem was the depiction of Lori Kalamar. This battle-hardened pirate turned mercenary Mech Warrior spent the entire book pining after a guy. Instead of being the strong character that she is capable of being she was subjugated to a much lesser role than she is deserving of.
First is that I never believed that the mercs and rag-tag band of rebels could actually over-throw their Kuritan rulers. Yet, I felt that the key character all have plenty of plot armor to see them through to book.
The major problem was the depiction of Lori Kalamar. This battle-hardened pirate turned mercenary Mech Warrior spent the entire book pining after a guy. Instead of being the strong character that she is capable of being she was subjugated to a much lesser role than she is deserving of.
September 16, 2023
The Gray Death Legion finds itself out of work and forced to take a training gig on a backwater planet that turns into a whole revolution.
Much like the 1st book, there was a bit too much repetitive technospeak and specs... almost like the author wanted the reader to be able to have the game in front of them while reading and roll out the battle. If one was actually doing that it would be great, but if you are reading for the story it definitely bogs down some. The characters are pretty interesting though, that defnitely helps carry it through.. alot of the action scenes are pretty similar and the good guys seems to have really strong plot armor. Fun to read for sure though!
Much like the 1st book, there was a bit too much repetitive technospeak and specs... almost like the author wanted the reader to be able to have the game in front of them while reading and roll out the battle. If one was actually doing that it would be great, but if you are reading for the story it definitely bogs down some. The characters are pretty interesting though, that defnitely helps carry it through.. alot of the action scenes are pretty similar and the good guys seems to have really strong plot armor. Fun to read for sure though!
July 17, 2020
A fairly excellent Battletech book. The combat scenes sort of feel like the played the game until they got the results they wanted and translated it into story. The story has betrayal and conflict and characters that develop. Quite the difference from the quality found in The Sword and the Dagger. Not quite as good as most of Stackpole's stories.
There are allusions to torture in this book. Some mild language and combat. The science fiction nature is more likely to turn people off than the content of the story.
There are allusions to torture in this book. Some mild language and combat. The science fiction nature is more likely to turn people off than the content of the story.
January 2, 2023
A "will-they-won't-they" love story, an underdog mercenary that cares, enemies portrayed as relatively evil (plus a little sadistic), a lopsided revolutionary planetary war (including a civil war), and Mechs smashing/lasering/missiling the hell out of each other.
Highly entertaining throughout, as an oldschool Battletech fan, and a fun sequel for those that enjoyed 'Decision at Thunder Rift'. Also the audiobook narration by Tren Sparks--he reads quite a few novels in this universe as well as Shadowrun--is fine work with his range of voice-acting and light effects.
Highly entertaining throughout, as an oldschool Battletech fan, and a fun sequel for those that enjoyed 'Decision at Thunder Rift'. Also the audiobook narration by Tren Sparks--he reads quite a few novels in this universe as well as Shadowrun--is fine work with his range of voice-acting and light effects.
July 22, 2024
A rough foray into the topic of revolt and rebellion, another novel with the gritty and detailed description of tactics, with once again some great setpieces, but overall, some plotlines are underdeveloped, and serve to the detriment of the overall plot. A decent military sci-fi story, with well written battles.
February 14, 2025
Even better than book 1. It had everything I loved from Thunder Rift, and more.
A few characters felt one note, and a couple of times the amount of names thrown out made it hard to track until you relearned who everyone was, but that didnt take away from my experience and definitely didn't stop me from losing myself for the entirety of Part 3.
A few characters felt one note, and a couple of times the amount of names thrown out made it hard to track until you relearned who everyone was, but that didnt take away from my experience and definitely didn't stop me from losing myself for the entirety of Part 3.
February 13, 2019
It took me a while to get into this book, but it definitely had it's moments (particularly the final battle scene). Had some head scratchers from a plot standpoint that I struggled with a bit. Solid book, just not my favorite of the trilogy.
December 20, 2021
Once more, it did what it came to do. Less politics and more lasers than book one. More guerillas, but sadly no gorillas. Showing friendship and support in helping people deal with PTSD was actually a nice surprise. Was not expecting that. Overall, an okay read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2022
The legion marches on
Another great example of Battletech history. Unlike the poor, woke and weakly worded new books this one is true to the form. Battletech is about Battle, not long winded boring stories that lead in circles.
Stay true to the Classic Battletech traditions.
Another great example of Battletech history. Unlike the poor, woke and weakly worded new books this one is true to the form. Battletech is about Battle, not long winded boring stories that lead in circles.
Stay true to the Classic Battletech traditions.
May 2, 2023
BattleTech for the second time. And again great. Grayson Carlyle and his shipmates become mercenaries after the battles on Trellwan, and their very first contract is really worth it. A new conflict on a new planet under the auspices of old enemies. The Grey Death Legion won me over.
October 26, 2025
I really enjoyed this book.
the one gripe I have with it is that some of the tactical situations Gray put his people in just didn't make sense. they had one drop ship and 2 fighters and thought that was enough to run the blockade. it just shouldn't have worked.
I didn't have any complaints about the rest of the book. very excited to finish the trilogy.
the one gripe I have with it is that some of the tactical situations Gray put his people in just didn't make sense. they had one drop ship and 2 fighters and thought that was enough to run the blockade. it just shouldn't have worked.
I didn't have any complaints about the rest of the book. very excited to finish the trilogy.
July 23, 2018
Good fiction for Battletech fans
This book makes me want to play the tabletop game. This books contains a pretty good story that is more than robot vs robot combat.
This book makes me want to play the tabletop game. This books contains a pretty good story that is more than robot vs robot combat.
April 7, 2019
Good book, moves pretty fast, good plot and characters.
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