Battletech How do I get into Battletech?

[Agent23]

So, yeah, Arch mentioned this as a possible non-Wokeified franchiese, and I am interested in the lore, as well as in the chance to get into a nice, long running space opera franchise with lots of older material that Wokeism and modern writers haven't ruined.

I do have a few friends that enjoy boardgaming, and that is an option, but I'd primarily like to focus on novels for the time being.

I played MechCommander when I was a kid, but I wnat book recs, not videogame recs.

 

[Bear Ribs]

The definitive books are probably going to be:

The Gray Death Legion Trilogy:
Decision at Thunder Rift
Mercenary Star
The Price of Glory

These books heavily set the mold for BT and establish some of the most important events in the franchise. Virtually every single SI will make a beeline for important worlds and events these books involve. Probably the reason that even to this day, BT has a heavy focus on Mercenaries, who are usually more moral and of higher quality than any of the "legitimate" militaries in BT.

The Warrior Trilogy
Warrior: En Garde
Warrior: Riposte
Warrior: Coup

This covers the formation of the Federated Commonwealth and the fourth succession war.

Blood of Kerensky Trilogy
Lethal Heritage
Blood Legacy
Lost Destiny

This covers the transition of the setting from the succession wars to the Clan invasion. Coupled with the two trilogies above, you will have covered basically all of the major events in what we might call the "Classic" BattleTech era that shaped the setting. More stuff happens but by and large, the fans have proven less than enthused over them, and a vast majority like the succession wars to clan war era and ignore the setting past those points.

Honorable Mention:
Betrayal of Ideals
This book covers Clan Wolverine, important to clan history and notable as being a faction everybody fixates on. Wolverine is just that significant to the fanon.

There are other books that are decent reads on having cool stuff but if you want the bones of the setting and to understand where most of the fanfic and such are coming from, the three main trilogies will get you there.

 

[The Whispering Monk]

I'll 2nd @Bear Ribs recommended reading.

If you're looking for the table top game then I'd start with this:
Here's Catalyst Games Labs' "New To BattleTech?" section: New To BattleTech? | BattleTech
Digital Box Sets: generally about $5 per Trilogy in digital
BattleTech Legends: The Gray Death Legion Trilogy by William H. Keith, – Catalyst Game Labs Store
BattleTech Legends: The Blood of Kerensky Trilogy by Michael A. Stackp – Catalyst Game Labs Store
BattleTech Legends: Wolves on the Border by Robert N. Charrette – Catalyst Game Labs Store (One of my Favs)

Current Table Top Boxed Sets w/Rules, Miniatures and Setting info:
BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat – Catalyst Game Labs Store (I'd start here if I were you)
BattleTech: Clan Invasion – Catalyst Game Labs Store

FAIR WARNING LABEL!!!
-BattleTech has been going strong for close to 40 years, and there is a TON of fiction, sourcebooks, record sheets, miniatures and etc...!! This rabit hole goes DEEP! Don't worry though. If you hold on to your towel, you're in for a great time!

 

[Bear Ribs]

Wolves on the Border is a good call. Not only is it well written but Wolf's Dragoons are a pretty key bit of the setting so getting their perspective will help.

 

[LordSunhawk]

There's also a lot of great fanfiction and such, both here and elsewhere.

*Cough* Deep Periphery Quest *cough*

Not to toot my own horn

 

[PsihoKekec]

As mentioned the CGL free PDFs are good way to ease yourself into the lore of the universe.

Here is also a nice short video overview of the universe in 3025 when the novels start.



As for the novels the Decision at Thunder Rift (first in GDL triology) is the introduction to the universe. Also the The Sword and the Dagger is the prequel to the Warrior trilogy.

BT Wiki is also a handy resource, especially if you want to keep up with timeline as for example, Wolves on the Border and the Warrior Trilogy are going on at the same time, but in different places, while events from the Price of Glory would later endanger some people in Warrior trilogy.

I guess the best way would be to read them in the order of publication List of BattleTech Print Novels and Anthologies