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Truebirth – Born in the laboratory, these genetically engineered soldiers train to be the ultimate warriors. They are the elite pilots of the Clan's fearsome BattleMech war machines.Freebirth – Born of the natural union of parents, these too are soldiers, but pale imitations of their truebirth superiors. Depised for their imperfections, they fight where and when their Clan commands.Aidan has failed his Trial of Position, the ranking test all truebirth warriors of the Clan Jade Falcon must pass. He is cast out. Disgraced. His rightful Bloodname denied him.But with a Bloodname, all past failures are forgiven. With a Bloodname comes respect. With a Bloodname comes honor.Aidan will do anything to gain that name. Even masquerade as the thing he has been taught to despise.A freebirth.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 6, 2021
Solid 3.5
While I had a really hard time getting into Way of the Clans, "Bloodname," was a much better read overall. This is the second book in the trilogy and our story picks up where the first book left off. This series is clearly a fairly detailed look into the life of the main character Aiden. If you've spent any time reading the iconic Michael Stackpole trilogy called The Blood of Karensky, then you can tell, basically, how the novel "Bloodname" plays out. In this book you can assume Aiden will be competing for a Bloodname and since there is a third book he will clearly survive that challenge.
However obvious the title might give away the general climax of this book, the journey to Aiden's Bloodname competition is a pretty wild ride in itself. The last book left off with Aiden participating in breaking Clan Law by being given a second chance of becoming a warrior by posing as a Freeborn. This book picks up with Aiden's first assignment under the name Jorge where he and his Freeborn team are stationed. He fights with the commanding officer of Glory, Kael Pershaw, constantly. He fights with the Trueborn warriors constantly. Aiden rarely suffers their classist attitudes. In strange turn of events a changing up of the personnel on Glory is imminent and none other than Joanna is about to cross paths with Aiden again. She hasn't encountered him in years and at first sight they begin their old bickering and fighting as we would have expected.
At the same time as Joanna's planned arrival Clan Wolf invades the planet with the intent on gaining access to Kael Pershaw's genetic line. Aiden sees a major opportunity to finally see battle! Naturally, he takes that opportunity and uses his deed here and it's success to bid for his chance to win a Bloodname. This part of the story was pretty good in that it gave us insight into Aiden's growth as a character as he changes his mind about the Freeborn warriors and loses most of his prejudice. In same ways I felt that he didn't lose all of it, so it's not like a full turn around and a lot of Aiden's Trueborn tendencies are probably impossible for him to shed anyway.
While this was a much better book in my opinion, I still struggle getting through Thurston's writing style for some reason. It's taking me far longer than normal to get through a 200 page novel and I feel like there's some aspect to his writing that just feels really dry to me. It's nowhere near the page turner that I get with Stackpole or any of the other authors I've read for this series so far. It's just sort of frustrating, because I feel like Thurston's story is getting pretty good and the last few fifty or so pages of his books are a fast read. But for whatever reason his setup takes a long time for me to read through.
While I had a really hard time getting into Way of the Clans, "Bloodname," was a much better read overall. This is the second book in the trilogy and our story picks up where the first book left off. This series is clearly a fairly detailed look into the life of the main character Aiden. If you've spent any time reading the iconic Michael Stackpole trilogy called The Blood of Karensky, then you can tell, basically, how the novel "Bloodname" plays out. In this book you can assume Aiden will be competing for a Bloodname and since there is a third book he will clearly survive that challenge.
However obvious the title might give away the general climax of this book, the journey to Aiden's Bloodname competition is a pretty wild ride in itself. The last book left off with Aiden participating in breaking Clan Law by being given a second chance of becoming a warrior by posing as a Freeborn. This book picks up with Aiden's first assignment under the name Jorge where he and his Freeborn team are stationed. He fights with the commanding officer of Glory, Kael Pershaw, constantly. He fights with the Trueborn warriors constantly. Aiden rarely suffers their classist attitudes. In strange turn of events a changing up of the personnel on Glory is imminent and none other than Joanna is about to cross paths with Aiden again. She hasn't encountered him in years and at first sight they begin their old bickering and fighting as we would have expected.
At the same time as Joanna's planned arrival Clan Wolf invades the planet with the intent on gaining access to Kael Pershaw's genetic line. Aiden sees a major opportunity to finally see battle! Naturally, he takes that opportunity and uses his deed here and it's success to bid for his chance to win a Bloodname. This part of the story was pretty good in that it gave us insight into Aiden's growth as a character as he changes his mind about the Freeborn warriors and loses most of his prejudice. In same ways I felt that he didn't lose all of it, so it's not like a full turn around and a lot of Aiden's Trueborn tendencies are probably impossible for him to shed anyway.
While this was a much better book in my opinion, I still struggle getting through Thurston's writing style for some reason. It's taking me far longer than normal to get through a 200 page novel and I feel like there's some aspect to his writing that just feels really dry to me. It's nowhere near the page turner that I get with Stackpole or any of the other authors I've read for this series so far. It's just sort of frustrating, because I feel like Thurston's story is getting pretty good and the last few fifty or so pages of his books are a fast read. But for whatever reason his setup takes a long time for me to read through.
December 4, 2025
It's more like three novellas, which does not make it easier to read, but does impress a great sense of value.
Our protagonst fights in a swamp, in a forest, and on a moon.
Similar to Highlander Gambit, there is the possibility of a good story here that is not realized. There is no sense of investment in the characters, either abstract ideas or Mary Sues. There are some good scenes earlier on, including one right banger , but with the characters so flat the drama is not there.
The structure drags the story down. The events relate in terms of plot as a succession of events, but might as well have been wholly separate books for the lack of any sort of conceptual material between them. To wit, our boy does not learn anything across the series of adventures. It is all killer no filler in the sense that we are moving from battle to battle, but it would have worked better to take one of the events here and went book length with it.
The writing hurts the story as well. There is room for discussion vis a vie the Clans' society, with certain stuff that strains the suspension of disbelief. But as I thought on it more, it is as much the author's presentation of it. We just do not get the sort of interior life of these characters, particularly the sideline characters, to make some of the more alien ways of the Clans seem plausible. The goal may be to make them alien, but science fiction is built on something very alien being still compelling as a character.
The author also has an odd narrative voice that elects to frame things as if the author was not writing the book. How did this unpredictable thing occur? My dude, you are the one creating it. There are also some weird takes on religion that I do not know how to properly account for, other than that they seem truly odd.
It did seem at points to be going somewhere good, but the weak ending after a long sputter erases that.
Our protagonst fights in a swamp, in a forest, and on a moon.
Similar to Highlander Gambit, there is the possibility of a good story here that is not realized. There is no sense of investment in the characters, either abstract ideas or Mary Sues. There are some good scenes earlier on, including one right banger , but with the characters so flat the drama is not there.
The structure drags the story down. The events relate in terms of plot as a succession of events, but might as well have been wholly separate books for the lack of any sort of conceptual material between them. To wit, our boy does not learn anything across the series of adventures. It is all killer no filler in the sense that we are moving from battle to battle, but it would have worked better to take one of the events here and went book length with it.
The writing hurts the story as well. There is room for discussion vis a vie the Clans' society, with certain stuff that strains the suspension of disbelief. But as I thought on it more, it is as much the author's presentation of it. We just do not get the sort of interior life of these characters, particularly the sideline characters, to make some of the more alien ways of the Clans seem plausible. The goal may be to make them alien, but science fiction is built on something very alien being still compelling as a character.
The author also has an odd narrative voice that elects to frame things as if the author was not writing the book. How did this unpredictable thing occur? My dude, you are the one creating it. There are also some weird takes on religion that I do not know how to properly account for, other than that they seem truly odd.
It did seem at points to be going somewhere good, but the weak ending after a long sputter erases that.
July 18, 2020
The story started strong: Aidan aka Jorge is now a commander of a freeborn unit. They are treated poorly by the trueborn Jade Falcon warriors who not just value the hierarchy with trueborns at the top, the freeborns, and then the solahma (aging warriors), but eagerly enforce it. In a way, they are the conservatives in the Clans while Clan Wolf has more liberal attitudes towards. The trueborns in Jade Falcon have met their match in Aidan who is stubborn, rebellious, and prideful as ever. He has cemented his relationship with Horse.
The story ends with Aidan throwing off his freeborn alias and winning against all odds the right to win the Pryde Bloodname and the name itself. It is a typical dark horse, rags to riches, and emergence of a hero story. These are great stories.
Where it drags is the Battle of Glory Station in the first third. It takes up close to five chapters with the Clan Wolf POV to the Jade Falcons - Aidan's and Horse's, and then Star Captain Joanna and senior tech Nomad's POV - who were in the crashed dropship caught in the middle of the battle. There are times when I want to yell at Thurston - come on! Move on!
The story ends with Aidan throwing off his freeborn alias and winning against all odds the right to win the Pryde Bloodname and the name itself. It is a typical dark horse, rags to riches, and emergence of a hero story. These are great stories.
Where it drags is the Battle of Glory Station in the first third. It takes up close to five chapters with the Clan Wolf POV to the Jade Falcons - Aidan's and Horse's, and then Star Captain Joanna and senior tech Nomad's POV - who were in the crashed dropship caught in the middle of the battle. There are times when I want to yell at Thurston - come on! Move on!
October 17, 2025
DNF (148 pages)
My God this felt like such a slog! it took me 2.5 months to get through 75% of the book before just accepting it simply was not worth wasting any more time on it.
It feels like a shame because I thought the plot itself was fine, and the characters were cool - but the authors writing is SO DULL it practically sends me to sleep.
It feels very 'he did this, then she said that, and then this happened...'
There is virtually nothing in the way of metaphors or satisfying descriptions / wordsmith'ing
I made the mistake of buying all 3 books in one go but definitely won't be attempting the 3rd one anytime soon.
I feel like I wanna know the rest of the story / trilogy, but will have to be pretty bored and desperate to continue.
My God this felt like such a slog! it took me 2.5 months to get through 75% of the book before just accepting it simply was not worth wasting any more time on it.
It feels like a shame because I thought the plot itself was fine, and the characters were cool - but the authors writing is SO DULL it practically sends me to sleep.
It feels very 'he did this, then she said that, and then this happened...'
There is virtually nothing in the way of metaphors or satisfying descriptions / wordsmith'ing
I made the mistake of buying all 3 books in one go but definitely won't be attempting the 3rd one anytime soon.
I feel like I wanna know the rest of the story / trilogy, but will have to be pretty bored and desperate to continue.
May 10, 2017
Ran across this old friend in a used bookstore. Aidan is a Jade Falcon Clan mechwarrior. He is a truborne warrior who has been forced to live as a freeborne because of losing his Trial of Position. He chafes under his life and wishes to be recognized for what he is. Fate and circumstance combine for him to get a second chance, but will it cost him everything? This is a well written book that covers the Battletech universe.
August 11, 2021
A decent follow-up to Way of the Clans, this scores some points for having less redundancy (to be clear less doesn't mean none) which it then loses for getting even more awkward with its awkward sci-fi racism metaphors. None of it's a deal-breaker and the combination of mech action + Battle Royale is kind of fun, but as with all the Battletech books I've read the "It's not bad for a..." tag firmly applies.
September 20, 2020
Old, but entertaining. It's an interesting view of the Battletech setting from an outsider's perspective, in a sense. It also has a portion to explain certain terms and phrases from the Clans, as well as other elements. Worth a read, though it's not perfect.
This was the very first Battletech book I've read (aside from Mechwarrior manuals, though those hardly count.)
This was the very first Battletech book I've read (aside from Mechwarrior manuals, though those hardly count.)
August 30, 2021
The beginning starts strong and picks up from where the last book left off. The completely over the top conflict between true and free was jarring and broke up the best parts of the book. The Bloodname parts seemed rushed with the important details left out.
December 17, 2023
Aidan gets a great victory in a battle on a swamp planet then goes through a series of trials to try to earn a blood name.
Overall an action heavy book with lots of battles and heavy focus on clan politics. It was fairly interesting although fans of the game would get more out of it.
Overall an action heavy book with lots of battles and heavy focus on clan politics. It was fairly interesting although fans of the game would get more out of it.
March 29, 2021
Book 2 of the Jade Phoenix trilogy. Aidan reveals his heritage and fights for his blood name legacy. Book 14 of the BattleTech Series. More background into the Clan way of thinking.
November 9, 2021
Good from start to finish with some decent character development. Great action sequences, too!
September 21, 2024
A bit forgettable but nice to see Aidan’s arc end well.
May 21, 2018
I honestly don't remember a ton about these books. At the time (back in Middle School) we were playing Battletech regularly and these stories fleshed out a bit of the world beyond the paper maps and plastic mechs.
A mix of military novel, samurai tale, and twisting political narrative with betrayals and intrigues.
I'll add them to my ever growing "To-reread" list to hopefully give them a more thorough review.
A mix of military novel, samurai tale, and twisting political narrative with betrayals and intrigues.
I'll add them to my ever growing "To-reread" list to hopefully give them a more thorough review.
February 24, 2023
Popcorn SciFi. Decent read.
April 18, 2013
Bloodname by Robert Thurston is the second book in the Jade Phoenix trilogy. Aidan is now a warrior in Clan Jade Falcon, but not in the method that he expected. He is pretending to be a freeborn, Jorge. Being a trueborn, Aidan's ultimate goal is to win himself a Bloodname, but how can a freeborn warrior compete for a Bloodname.
The characters grow in this book. Some find that long held beliefs are wrong. The battles through this book show the brilliance of Aidan as a warrior. It also shows his impetuosity which gets him into more trouble than he deserves.
The characters grow in this book. Some find that long held beliefs are wrong. The battles through this book show the brilliance of Aidan as a warrior. It also shows his impetuosity which gets him into more trouble than he deserves.
January 3, 2017
After his deception of being freeborn in book 1, Aidan of the Jade Falcon reveals his true identity and attempts to earn a Pryde bloodname.
Finding unexpected allies along the way, he finds the rest of the Clan firmly against him.
Lots more action than the first book, and it moves along at a better pace.
Finding unexpected allies along the way, he finds the rest of the Clan firmly against him.
Lots more action than the first book, and it moves along at a better pace.
July 29, 2014
This was one of the best science fiction books I've ever read. More battlemech action, all kinds of mechs, what Clan life is like and the further exploits of Aidan trying in earn a bloodname in the Jade Falcon Clan.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews