BattleTech: Fire for Effect

BattleTech Universe

by Jason Schmetzer, Phaedra M. Weldon, Steven Mohan Jr.

LOYALTY. VALOR. DESPAIR. JIHAD.

A massive invasion fleet is destroyed almost to a man. Legions of soldiers, confident of victory, are cut down before they even reach the ground. Those that do make landfall are bombarded and shattered and rained with nuclear fire. Elsewhere, veterans long retired from combat are called back to duty by desperate times. Explorers comb unknown worlds for hints to explain deadly evils.

Seventeen stories of combat, honor, betrayal and death fill the pages of Fire for Effect: BattleCorps Anthology Volume 4.

Savvy readers will recognize now-familiar names in BattleTech lore among the authors: Steven Mohan, Jr., Kevin Killiany, Phaedra Weldon, Jason Schmetzer, Jason Hardy and Herbert Beas. These writers have shaped the direction of the BattleTech universe. In 2007, with these stories, they took the fictional storylines of the BattleTech universe to new and violent heights. Worlds rose and fell, and empires toppled. Armies of BattleMechs and fleets of WarShips fought and perished.
And beneath all of it, the spidery tendrils of the Word of Blake sowed mistrust and conflict in every realm.

Genres: Science Fiction

299 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2013

Reviews

[Arlomisty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun anthology of stories set in the current Battletech universe.... I've read many Battletech stories in the past and have always liked the universe. Would recommend this to any Battletech fan.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories were better than others. A lot of the stories centered around the Comstar attempt to liberate Terra from the WoB were good. I’m still waiting for the stories around the why and planning of the Jihad, unless this was a set of stories to say there was none. It was kind of leading that way, but it is very unBattletech like to set such a major offensive up without key power players behind it with an agenda. Pretty good anthology of stories.

[Walter Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

I enjoy these short stories and there was an interesting selection of Comstar v Word of Blake stories in this volume.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great short story addition to a fictional universe I miss ..... wish there was more print media being published as I'm old-fashioned and prefer turning pages. In need of some better spelling and grammatical editing but the stories themselves were as enjoyable as always. Apparently #5 will be under my tree for Christmas this year ... here's hoping many more of these collections will be in the offing, along with some for Shadowrun.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty solid group of short stories told mostly around one of the big events I find less interesting. They made the Word of Blade Jihad worth reading about even if I don't buy the end result.

[Clive · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the doom and gloom feeling of this book.