List of BattleTech novels

thumb|BattleMechs in combat on the cover of Storms of Fate by [[Loren L. Coleman. Art by Fred Gambino.]]

More than one hundred full-length BattleTech or MechWarrior science fiction novels have been published by FASA Corporation, ROC, and later by Catalyst Game Labs. They have been translated into at least fifteen languages. Countless other shorter works of BattleTech fiction have been published in BattleCorps, as novellas, or in BattleTech magazines or in BattleTech tabletop game rule books. These works of fiction take place in the BattleTech universe of the 31st and 32nd centuries. They can be considered space opera and military science fiction.

History

FASA published the first BattleTech game set in 1984, and subsequently released a wide range of supplemental books and materials for the series in-house and through licenses (with Roc Books, FanPro, and Activision, for example).

Many BattleTech readers got their first taste of the BattleTech universe with the release of BattleTech-licensed PC games in the 1990's. FASA continued to release books after the PC game release of MechWarrior (1989) with its storyline c.3024-3028 (in the "Late Succession War: Renaissance" period). Many Roc Book releases also appeared to follow the popularity of other BattleTech PC games: More "Clan Invasion" era novels were written after the releases of MechWarrior 2 (1995) and MechWarrior 3 (1999) (both set 3057-3060 during the Clan Invasion), and more "Civil War" era novels were released after MechWarrior 4 (2000) with its storyline in 3062 ("Civil War" era). A loosely-associated MechWarrior six-novel series was also released soon after MechWarrior 3.

FASA ceased producing BattleTech in 2001 and sold the intellectual property (IP) to WizKids. The IP was then split into Classic BattleTech and MechWarrior: Dark Age for a time (from 2002 to 2008). IP holder WizKids was purchased by Topps in 2003, and terminated as a brand in 2008; ever since, the IP to BattleTech (and others) are held directly by Topps. In June 2007, FanPro's license ran out and Catalyst Game Labs (a subsidiary of InMediaRes Productions, LLC) acquired the license to Classic BattleTech in their stead. Catalyst also retained many of the staff members who previously worked for FanPro.

The first official BattleTech novel was William H. Keith's Decision at Thunder Rift (1986) written for FASA. Loren L. Coleman's Endgame (2002), for Roc Books, would be the last canon "Classic" BattleTech novel to be released for the next 13 years, while Roc Books worked on its "MechWarrior: Dark Age" series. Endgame would fix plot lines and character arcs from many previous works.

The story timeline in the FASA & Roc Books novels generally followed along in sequence with the publication dates of the novels. After Endgame, however, Roc Books jumped the timeline ahead to the 32nd-century with its MechWarrior: Dark Age series, beginning with Michael A. Stackpole's Ghost War (2002) and ending with Kevin Killiany's To Ride the Chimera (2008). The 2008 closure of WizKids delayed the release of further novels. Catalyst Game Labs then released its first BattleTech novel, Steven Mohan Jr's. A Bonfire of Worlds (2010), which continued the Dark Age storyline. (A Bonfire of Worlds was in fact initially advertised with a Battletech: Dark Age logo, but a later printed version reverted back to the more traditional BattleTech nomenclature.)

Catalyst Game Labs had received the rights to publish both Classic and Dark Age book lines in June 2007 and had scheduled new works to resume in the fall of 2009. While Catalyst Game Labs' next "Classic" novel, Embers of War, (released after its "Dark Age" novel, A Bonfire of Worlds) was not released until 2015, Catalyst Game Labs had 5 novels total published by February, 2019, and a semi-regular release schedule resuming that year. Embers of War continued the "Classic BattleTech" timeline from where Endgame left off.

Subsequent publications by Catalyst Game Labs have jumped around in the BattleTech timeline, including novels set much earlier than the "Classic" (Succession Wars, Clan Invasion, Civil War) eras, novels between the "Classic" & "Dark Age" eras, and novels set much farther into the future than the "Dark Age" era. Catalyst Game Labs also issues reprints of the FASA/Roc BattleTech novels as its BattleTech: Legends series and collect BattleCorps short stories and "Novellas" into BattleTech: Anthologies.

Several novellas associated with Kickstarter have also been produced for both the Table Top game Battletech and the turn-based strategy game, titled simply BattleTech, by Harebrained Schemes.

Classic BattleTech novels 1989-2003

The following novels occur during what was referred to the "Classic BattleTech" era, which includes the 31st century and preceding centuries. Also, additional eras have been added, broadening the term. The Classic reference was dropped after the ownership change and rebranding occurred.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! width="110" |Title

! width="130" |Author

!|Chronology

! width="100" |Published

! width="110" |ISBN

!|Synopsis

|-valign="top"

|Decision at Thunder Rift

|William H. Keith Jr.

|c.3024

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|June 1986 (FASA) September 1992 (Roc Books)

|

|Saga of the Gray Death Legion #1. Book one of The Saga of the Gray Death Legion. Grayson Death Carlyle is the young son of the commander of Carlyle's Commandos, a mercenary unit employed by the Lyran Commonwealth. When the Commandos are destroyed in a sneak attack on the planet Trell I, Grayson must help the people of Trell repel the invading forces while trying to live up to his father's legacy and slay the one who killed him.

|-valign="top"

|The Sword and the Dagger

|Ardath Mayhar

|c.3025

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|April 1987 (FASA)

|Ardan Sortek discovers a plot to replace Hanse Davion, First Prince of the Federated Suns, with a double under the control of Maximilian Liao, Chancellor of the rival Capellan Confederation.

|-valign="top"

|Mercenary's Star

|William H. Keith Jr.

|c.3026

(1 October 3025 - 30 August 3026)

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|June 1987 (FASA) November 1992 (Roc Books)

|

|Saga of the Gray Death Legion #2. Book two of The Saga of the Gray Death Legion. The fledgling Gray Death Legion, formed in the fighting on Trell I, takes on their first assignment: train the inhabitants of Verthandi to fight their Draconis Combine overlords.

|-valign="top"

|The Price of Glory

|William H. Keith Jr.

|c.3028

(early 3028)

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|October 1987 (FASA) January 1993 (Roc Books)

|

|Saga of the Gray Death Legion #3. Book three of The Saga of the Gray Death Legion. Grayson, now leader of the Legion, accepts a contract to work for the Free Worlds League, but falls prey to a double cross and is unjustly accused of a terrible crime because he finds a cache and a Pre-Successions War Star League base. He has to figure out how to survive the double cross for himself and the men under his command.

|-valign="top"

|Warrior: En Garde

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3027

(1 June 3022 - 10 June 3027)

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|June 1988 (FASA) April 1998 (Roc Books)

|

|Warrior #1. Book one of The Warrior Trilogy. Justin Xiang Allard is exiled from the Federated Suns and makes his way to Solaris VII where he pledges himself to the service of the Capellan Confederation. Melissa Steiner, heir to the throne of the Lyran Commonwealth, is kidnapped and Daniel Allard and the Kell Hounds mercenary unit mount a rescue.

|-valign="top"

|Warrior: Riposte

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3029

(15 July 3027 - 14 February 3029)

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|August 1988 (FASA) June 1998 (Roc Books)

|

|Warrior #2. Book two of The Warrior Trilogy. Tensions surround the marriage of Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner on Terra, culminating in the onset of the Fourth Succession War. Morgan Kell, co-founder of the Kell Hounds mercenary unit, is recalled from his self-imposed exile to lead the group into war.

|-valign="top"

|Wolves on the Border

|Robert N. Charrette

|c.3028

(14 September 3021 - 17 August 3028)

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|March 1988 (FASA) May 1996 (Roc Books)

|

|Wolf's Dragoons, a high-profile mercenary unit in the employ of the Draconis Combine, becomes the target of a plot by a devious warlord to permanently secure their services. The unit's friend and Combine liaison Minobu Tetsuhara is caught between duty and friendship as war looms.

|-valign="top"

|Warrior: Coupé

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3029

(27 February 3029 - 15 December 3029)

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|April 1989 (FASA) November 1998 (Roc Books)

|

|Warrior #3. Book three of The Warrior Trilogy. The Fourth Succession War continues and Justin Allard, now a high-ranking member of Capellan intelligence, tries to repel Davion invaders and deal with a possible spy. Morgan Kell and his Kell Hounds approach a showdown with Yorinaga Kurita.

|-valign="top"

|Heir to the Dragon

|Robert N. Charrette

|c.3040

(3 February 3004 - 18 June 3040)

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|August 1989 (FASA)

September 1996 (Roc Books)

|

|During the tumult of the Fourth Succession War and the War of 3039, Theodore Kurita, ambitious son of the conservative Draconis Combine Coordinator, navigates treachery in the court and dangers on the battlefield.

|-valign="top"

|Lethal Heritage

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3051

(19 May 3049 - 12 January 3051)

era: Clan Invasion

|September 1989 (FASA)

September 1995 (Roc Books)

|Blood of Kerensky #1. Book one of The Blood of Kerensky Trilogy. A new generation of characters makes its debut in this series. Victor Steiner-Davion, heir to the throne of the Federated Commonwealth, is fresh from the academy and posted to the back end of nowhere. Kai Allard-Liao, son of the great Justin Xiang Allard and Candace Liao, fears he can never live up to the tremendous legacy of his parents. Shin Yodama is a yakuza soldier in the army of the Draconis Combine, assigned to safeguard the grandson of Coordinator Takashi Kurita. Phelan Kell has followed in his father Morgan's footsteps and serves in the mercenary Kell Hounds. All four of these young men must face dangers both internal and external when a mysterious invader from beyond the Periphery threatens everything they know and love.

|-valign="top"

|Blood Legacy

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3052

(31 January 3051 - 17 March 3052)

era: Clan Invasion

|December 1990 (FASA) November 1995 (Roc Books)

|

|Blood of Kerensky #2. Book two of The Blood of Kerensky Trilogy. The Clans have been stopped temporarily through the sacrifice of a young pilot. Jaime Wolf, commander of the mysterious and elite Wolf's Dragoons mercenary unit, takes the opportunity to reveal the origin of this new menace: they are the descendants of the Star League Defense Force, which left the Inner Sphere over two hundred years ago after the collapse of the League. The Dragoons, themselves former Clanners, intend to train the heirs of the Successor States to fight and defeat the Clans, if old prejudices and hatreds don't tear the Inner Sphere apart first. The first real test of this new-found sense of cooperation is the defense of Luthien, capital world of the Draconis Combine. But just what is the ultimate objective of the Clans?

|-valign="top"

|Lost Destiny

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3052

(5 January 3052 - 20 June 3052)

era: Clan Invasion

|September 1991 December 1995

|

|Blood of Kerensky #3. Book three of The Blood of Kerensky Trilogy. The man once known as Phelan Kell has risen through the ranks in Clan Wolf and now stands to win a coveted Bloodname, the highest honor the Clans can bestow. Kai Allard-Liao is missing and presumed dead in the wake of a Clan Jade Falcon attack. Victor Steiner-Davion must mount a rescue of a man who once would have been considered his mortal enemy: Hohiro Kurita. And behind it all, ComStar lurks, ready to betray their Clan allies for the chance to fulfill their destiny as the saviors of humanity.

|-valign="top"

|Way of the Clans

|Robert Thurston

|c.3035

(3030's)

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|6 August 1991 (Roc Books)

|Legend of the Jade Phoenix #1. Book one of The Jade Phoenix Trilogy. Cadet Aidan of Clan Jade Falcon dreams of one day being a Warrior and contributing his genetic material to his Clan's breeding program. But first he has to make it out of the sibko, not an easy task when he has to compete against his fellow cadets and endure the scorn of Falconer Joanna.

|-valign="top"

|Bloodname

|Robert Thurston

|c.3045

(3040's)

era: Succession Wars

period: Late Succession War - Renaissance

|3 October 1991 (Roc Books)

|Legend of the Jade Phoenix #2. Book two of The Jade Phoenix Trilogy. Aidan is a Warrior, though his path to this role was not one he ever would have imagined. Masquerading as a freeborn named Jorge, he has to hide his true self for fear of his Clan's reaction. When an opportunity to prove his value comes, Aidan leaps to take advantage of the glory he wins and claim his rightful place among the trueborn Warriors of Clan Jade Falcon.

|-valign="top"

|Falcon Guard

|Robert Thurston

|c.3052

(3051 - 3052)

era: Clan Invasion

|December 12, 1991 (Roc Books)

|Legend of the Jade Phoenix #3. Book three of The Jade Phoenix Trilogy. Star Colonel Aidan Pryde has achieved many of the dreams he once had for himself. But the path he took to reach his goals has made him a pariah within the ranks of Clan Jade Falcon, begrudgingly accepted because of the need for as many Warriors as possible to feed the progress of the Clans' invasion of the Inner Sphere. When ComStar challenges the Clans to one final decisive battle on the planet Tukayyid, Aidan gets one last shot at redemption.

|-valign="top"

|Wolf Pack

|Robert N. Charrette

|c.3055

(3053 - 3055)

era: Clan Invasion

|April 7, 1992 (Roc Books)

|Wolf's Dragoons have seen and done it all. With their true identity and purpose revealed during the Clan invasion, they have begun to rebuild both their reputation and their forces. However, an overly-ambitious former Clanner and the insecure scion of Jaime Wolf's own family threaten to undo everything the Dragoons have achieved in their half-century as mercenaries. Jaime Wolf and his Dragoons must decide once and for all if they belong to the Clans or the Inner Sphere... or perhaps are something different from either.

|-valign="top"

|Natural Selection

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3055

(15 February 3054 - 13 November 3055)

era: Clan Invasion

|July 7, 1992 (Roc Books)

|Raiders equipped with Clan weaponry are hitting worlds along the Clan Occupation Zone/Federated Commonwealth border. Archon-Prince Designate Victor Steiner-Davion and Khan Phelan Ward of Clan Wolf agree to jointly defeat the raiders despite their differences. Melissa Steiner is assassinated by a bomb blast, adding to the tension of the raids.

|-valign="top"

|Ideal War

|Christopher Kubasik

|c.3055

(19 May 3054 - 3 March 3055)

era: Clan Invasion

|March 1993 (Roc Books)

|Paul Masters is a MechWarrior of House Marik, closely associated with Captain-General Thomas Marik. When Thomas gives him a copy of Le Morte d'Arthur, he becomes part of the newly formed Knights of the Inner Sphere. He is then dispatched to Gibson, where he falls into a political trap between the noble ruler, the rebellious locals, and the Word of Blake, all fighting a Vietnam-like counter insurgency, complete with body counts. The mounting fighting brings in Captain-General Marik, leading him to invade and settle the argument. The rebels bring in nuclear weapons at the climax and Masters is installed as the noble ruler.

|-valign="top"

|Main Event

|James D. Long

|c.3055

(23 April 3054 - 11 August 3055)

era: Clan Invasion

|May 1993 (Roc Books)

|The Black Thorns, a newly minted Mercenary Company, accepts a garrison contract on the backwater world of Borghese after brutal fighting on the world of Galatea. What seems like a normal tour of duty is punctuated by political infighting and a Clan invasion. Will their charismatic leader lead them to victory against the Clans, or will he lose his command again?

|-valign="top"

|Blood of Heroes

|Andrew Keith

|c.3056

(31 March 3056 - 13 April 3056)

era: Clan Invasion

|July 1993 (Roc Books)

|Saga of the Gray Death Legion #4. Melissa Steiner's assassination ignited the fires of civil war, and now secessionist factions clamor for rebellion against the Federated Commonwealth, The rebels' plans hinge on gaining control of the Skye March, and thus controlling the crucial Terran Corridor. Throughout the March, civil and military leaders plot to take up arms against Prince Victor Steiner-Davion. The final piece of the plan requires the secessionist forces to gain access to the planet Glengarry and the mercenary group that calls it home: the Gray Death Legion.

|-valign="top"

|Far Country

|Peter Rice

|c.3056

(9 November 2510 - November 3056)

era: Clan Invasion

|October 1993 (Roc Books)

|A DEST (Draconis Elite Strike Team) group, accompanied by a small mercenary group, make a misjump from Kurita space and land on a planet inhabited by 500-year-old colonists and a mysterious alien lifeform. Amidst their battles to survive and return to the inner sphere, they form a bond with highly intelligent birds who see them as the fulfillment of their own prophecy.

|-valign="top"

|Assumption of Risk

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3055

(19 December 3055)

era: Clan Invasion

|September 1993 (Roc Books)

|Kai Allard-Liao has returned to the world that made his father famous, the gaming planet of Solaris VII. But being the Gaming World's Champion is the least of his worries as conflicts abound, from the arrival of a former lover to the assassination plot of a political leader.

|-valign="top"

|D.R.T.

|James D. Long

|c.3057

(1 October 3056 - 6 November 3057)

era: Clan Invasion

|May 1994 (Roc Books)

|The Black Thorns, fresh from their victory at Borghese (but lacking funds) take a high-profile contract on the world of Wolcott, a Draconis Combine world deep within the holdings of Clan Nova Cat and Clan Smoke Jaguar. Prompted by their fiscal desperation, they take on a risky contract that will lead them deep into the Clans. Can they make it out alive, or will they be swallowed by a superior Clan force?

|-valign="top"

|Close Quarters

|Victor Milán

|c.3056

(6 May 3034 - 2 November 3056)

era: Clan Invasion

|September 1994 (Roc Books)

|Camacho's Caballeros #1. First of the Camacho's Caballeros novels. Hired to provide protection for Chandrasekhar Kurita's business holdings on Hachiman, Camacho's Cablleros and Cassie Suthorn begin to feel out a plot to take down the high-ranking noble. When an alliance between his foes threatens Chandrasekhar's interests, Cassie and the Caballeros face a tough battle between their friends in the Ninth Ghost Regiment and Ninyu Kerai Indrahar, the spymaster manipulating the whole conflict.

|-valign="top"

|Bred for War

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3058

(20 May 3057 - 1 January 3058)

era: Clan Invasion

|January 1995 (Roc Books)

|Covers the origins and the fighting of the Refusal War fought between Clan Wolf and Clan Jade Falcon in 3057. Also covers that forming of the Lyran Alliance and the brief war between the Capellan Confederation, Free Worlds League, and the Federated Commonwealth.

|-valign="top"

|I Am Jade Falcon

|Robert Thurston

|c.3057

(1 July 3057 - 31 December 3057)

era: Clan Invasion

|May 1995 (Roc Books)

|Star Commander Joanna and Khan Natasha Kerensky face off on the planet Twycross during the Refusal War between the Jade Falcons and the Wolves. For Natasha Kerensky, it is an opportunity to bog down the Falcons while elements of the Wolves flee to the Inner Sphere. For Joanna, it may be her last opportunity to die in battle before being transferred back to the clan homeworlds.

|-valign="top"

|Highlander Gambit

|Blaine Lee Pardoe

|c.3058

(8 August 3057-1 January 3058 | 21 December 3028 prologue)

era: Clan Invasion

|June 1995 (Roc Books)

|During the Fourth Succession War, the famed Northwind Highlanders were granted their homeworld by the Federated Suns in return for breaking ties with their employer, the Capellan Confederation. Now thirty years later, an elite Death Commando and descendant of a Highlander is ordered by his ruler to sacrifice everything he is and everything he has to destroy the bonds between the Federated Commonwealth and the Highlanders, even if it means the Highlanders' destruction.

|-valign="top"

|Tactics of Duty

|William H. Keith Jr.

|c.3057

(17 April 3056 - 21 April 3057)

era: Clan Invasion

|August 1995 (Roc Books)

|Saga of the Gray Death Legion #5. Alexander Carlyle, the son of Lori Kalmar and Grayson Death Carlyle, and Davis McCall, a veteran legionnaire and native Caledonian, unexpectedly find themselves key players in a popular revolt on Caledonia against a cruel and despised Davion-backed governor. When the Gray Death Legion is called upon to put down this very rebellion, they all find themselves pawns in a deadly game of manipulation and betrayal.

|-valign="top"

|Star Lord

|Donald G. Phillips

|c.3057

(1 April 3057 - 30 August 3057 | 22 February 2774 prologue)

era: Clan Invasion

|February 1996 (Roc Books)

|An heir to the Usurper Stefan Amaris appears deep in the periphery, and it is up to a crack team of Free Worlds League troops to infiltrate his operation and assassinate the would-be Star Lord.

|-valign="top"

|Malicious Intent

|Michael A. Stackpole

|c.3058

(11 December 3057 - 17 June 3058)

era: Clan Invasion

|March 1996 (Roc Books)

|Set right after the refusal war between Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf, this novel focuses on Clan Jade Falcon's attack on Coventry, which has the unintended side effect of uniting disparate elements of the Inner Sphere. Vlad of Clan Wolf attempts to rebuild his clan with political intrigue. Time Period covered - December 3057 to June 3058

James Swallow reviewed Malicious Intent for Arcane magazine, rating it a 7 out of 10 overall. Swallow comments that "It seems Stackpole had a list of all the important political happenings in 3058 and has shoe-horned them all into this book. What you get is a ringside seat at the return from the dead of the Wolf Clan, the Jade Falcon Clan's invasion toward Tharkad, ComStar's loss of Terra, the start of a grand House-wide alliance, and some interesting hints about future events, including a Clan/House pact cemented by lust and mutual interest. Epic." (not including anthologies, novellas, short stories, or magazines) released 2013 and later.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! width="110" |Title

! width="130" |Author

!|Chronology

! width="100" |Published

! width="110" |ISBN

!|Synopsis

|- valign="top"

|Isle of the Blessed

|Steven Mohan Jr.

|c.3073

era: Jihad

|October 1, 2013 (Catalyst Game Labs)

5 August 2006 – 16 February 2007 (BattleCorps)

|- valign="top"

|Embers of War

|Jason Schmetzer

|c.3067

(22 December 3066 - 19 October 3067)

era: Civil War

|July 30, 2015 (Catalyst Game Labs)

|The first new Classic Battletech novel in 13 years after the release of Endgame. The book centers around the mercenary company known as the Stealthy Tigers in game year 3067. The novel focus on world of Hall which the Stealthy Tigers were contracted to end civil war accruing on the planet. The mercenary company finds itself now waiting for their contract to end when they faced with crisis challenges their very fibers that makes it who they are: Professional Mercenaries.