Battletech: The Classic Era: 6the Legend of the Jade Phoenix Trilogy

Wow. I am actually angry at myself for not having read this trilogy when it came out more than ten years ago. The tale of Aidan Pryde is truly one of the best in the Battletech series. The trilogy edition is a nice product, with a new flashy cover. Interstingly, the separate novels maintain their own page numbers, unlike some other novel compilations I have read, so each one has its old title page and starts on page 1. I liked that. The first novel takes us through the Warrior training regimen in Clan Jade Falcon. The lifestyle of the trainees and the established warriors is very well done. The competition between the siblings and their relationships is great reading. The eventual result of the training, and the application of non-standard tactics makes this one a page turner, especially with the atypical path events take. The second novel deals with the warrior life of Aidan, in his assumed guise of a different person. The lower status of this other has led him to low-prestige assignments, but a rare opportunity to show his abilities, despite his differences with higher-ranking officers, affords him a rare opportunity to fight for a Bloodname. But the path to that status is anything but easy. This novel has a great deal more mech combat than Way of the Clans had, but it does not detract from the story. The third novel takes place at a later point in Aidan's life, after he has served for some time as a Bloodnamed warrior. He has been assigned to command the rebuilt disgraced Jade Falcon unit which was lost in the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere, primarily because he himself was looked down upon as a disgraced warrior due to his colored past. His unit is to be among those fighting ComStar on Tukayyid. The fate of this battle was detailed in a prior novel, but not from the Clan point of view, and not in the singular detail that this one provides. The exhibition of battlefield acumen staves off certain defeat, but it is a pyrrhic victory at best. Again, the quixotic nature of Clan interpersonal relationships is delved into, but in a different way than the earlier novels. Again, a great read and a real page-turner.

Having played the computer games based on BattleTech ... I was intrigued enough to want to read some of the books, but with a series as extensive as BattleTech - I had great difficulty finding a good place to start ... Until I found The Legend of Jade Phoenix Trilogy ("TLJP"). TLJP traces the life of Aidan Pryde ... from his early days in training, to his finest hour, when he leads a band of "unwanted" warriors into battle ... and in so doing Aidan redeems honour, heritage ... for himself and those who follow him ... All in all a wonderful trilogy, filled with Mech battles & strategy ... a well constructed storyline (without the sometimes glaring gaps found in series of this nature) ... satisfying characters sufficiently developed to hold and pull the reader's interest ... I was particularly & pleasantly surprised at how the author developed the character of Aidan's daughter ... But more than just 3 ripping good yarns ... for anyone wishing to get into the BattleTech world ... this is a good book to start with!!! ... Without breaking storyline, or getting too pedantic, the reader is gently but surely given a wonderful introduction to a basic but sufficient history ... of MechWarriors trueborn & freeborn, of the importance of Bloodnames, of the Clans (how they came into existence & what they represent) ... of the history & conflicts between the Inner & Outer Sphere ... Descriptions of the BattleMechs & weaponry are nicely done too ... All in all a price worthy trilogy ... and a great introduction into the world of fighting Clans and their giant war machines ... Good Read!

The Legend of the Jade Phoenix Trilogy tells the extraordinary story of Jade Clan warrior Aidan Pryde, giving the reader a penetrating glimpse into the ways of the clan warrior from birth to death. It even takes us along for the first invasion of the Inner Sphere by the Clans. You'll find plenty of hard-hitting, Battlemech action served up liberally in these pages, each encounter more exciting than the last. Clan society is built upon the central importance of warfare, and it is the dream of every child to become a warrior. Some are bred for the task, and the highest honor a warrior can achieve is the acquisition of a Bloodname and inclusion in the genetic warrior pool. The trueborn are artificially created via genetic engineering from the bloodlines of the most accomplished warriors, and these youngsters are all raised and trained together from birth. Only the very best succeed, while the others are killed or assigned to work among the lower castes. Freeborns, those born by natural means, also can earn warrior status, but their lower caste forbids them from fighting on the front lines. Aidan Pryde is a trueborn who wants desperately to earn warrior status in the Jade Falcon clan to which he was born. In Way of the Clans, we follow him all the way through the warrior training program, which culminates in the Trial that determines whether or not he will earn the right to lead a monstrous Battletech in battle. In training, individual achievement is stressed over any sort of group mentality, and a true warrior is expected to do anything to reach his/her objectives. Alongside the unprecedented story of Aidan's perilous journey into adulthood we get insightful journal entries from the camp commander enlightening us on the theory and practice of Clan warrior society. This coming of age story is bursting at the seams with action and remarkable insights into that society, making it a truly compelling addition to the Battletech Universe. Bloodname, the second book in the trilogy, boasts battles galore, and the main characters, already well developed in Way of the Clans, continue to grow in the fullest, most intriguing, of ways. Thurston delivers a penetrating study of clan society, human motivation within that society, and a type of heroism that is not limited to action on the battlefield. As a relative newcomer to the Battletech universe, I was delighted to find so many different kinds of Battlemechs involved in the action, as it gave me a most helpful footing in the technology and weapons-related tactics employed in this futuristic world. Aidan is a remarkable protagonist. He very much wants to earn his Bloodname, but this honor is forbidden him given his new, secretly adopted existence as a freeborn warrior. Now stationed on Glory Point, Aidan finally gets a chance to engage in real combat when a contingent of soldiers from the Wolf Clan seeks to steal the genetic legacy of the base commander there. He is soon reunited with Falconer Joanna,

If you have ever wondered what life is like for a clanner or why they talk or act so weird, this is a good book to read. I am about to read this trilogy again when i finish the book I am on now. About 6 years ago I drove myself insane trying to find book 2 of this trilogy. I had always thought battletech looked kinda neat but when I picked up a novel I found it boring the first time I read it. After Mechwarrior 3 came out for PC, I got interested in learning some of the background story so I read that book again; I couldn't put it down! That book was Natural Selection by Michael Stackpole. (The difference was probably that I knew who a few of the characters were the second time.) Next I decided to buy some of the books based on the time period of Mechwarrior 3. One of these was Freebirth by Robert Thurston. Joanna and Horse were featured in this book and they thoroughly tripped me out. So I started trying to find other books featuring the Jade Falcons and came up with a short list: Freebirth, Falcon Rising, Natural Selection (very breifly), I am Jade Falcon, and the Jade Phoenix Trilogy. BUY THIS BOOK AND BUY I AM JADE FALCON if you can find them!

Was an out standing book think alot more of the old Battle tech books should be put in to this format because alot of us read these book piece meal would be nice to read in sequence was very injoyable