Imminent Crisis

BattleTech Universe #61

by Randall N. Bills

Leftenant Colonel Grayson Addison's first absolute loyalty is to the Capellan March of the Federated Suns. If Field Marshal Hasek calls, Addison and his Eighth Syrtis Fusiliers will heed. But his fealty is not so clear where Archon-Princess Katrina, ruler of the entire Federated Commonwealth, is concerned. For as Katrina and her brother vie for power in a civil war that has engulfed the entire realm, the Fusiliers sit in an island of calm, neither supporting nor opposing any side and walking a dangerous line between survival and annihilation.

But when the hammer of an invading army lands upon them, the time for decisive action is at hand - and Addison finds he must battle old friends as well as enemies if he is to remain true to his House and his army, as well as to himself...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Ebooks

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was also heavy, but in a different way versus the other books I've recently read covering the civil war. And I sort of get what Bills wanted to achieve here - he wanted to provide more of an on-the-ground perspective that this is actually a civil war that has people fighting their fellow countrymen and really feeling that weigh heavily on them. And that was particularly stressed given the additional ferocity demonstrated in how the war was fought and the lengths people went.

But despite the effort of introducing POV characters to help ground the story, the overall narrative felt somewhat stutter-y in the sense that things did not flow from scene to scene and we never really build a strong relationship with these POV characters so we don't quite care about whether they live or die. And even the big political complication that happens in the middle isn't handled all that well and we leave things rather vague for far too long before confirming the fate of that character.

So a mix of good and bad. Some interesting fights but not necessarily great large-scale strategy despite this being a planetary invasion. I was intrigued by the level of detail in the depiction of the recharge station but then after we skip most of space combat. So many "jump cuts" in this book in order to cover more "events" in this story without the full emotional payoff.

[Brian Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the civil war continues, this concentrates on the action in the Capellan March.
Duke George Hasek is trying to avoid taking sides, but Katherine/Katrina Steiner want sto make an example of him for not coming out in her favour.
There's a lot of regiments involved in the fighting and it takes a while to sort out the various names of their members and who they're working for.
Some decent mech action as the book progresses, and some fairly tense moments.