Elements of Treason: Honor is out!

I started writing this post yesterday, and it had been titled "Now, the Waiting Begins..." But overnight, the novel went out... so it has a new title and I have some new material to write about.

The cover is about and the back cover blurb is this:

A HERD DIVIDED…

For the entirety of its existence, Clan Hell’s Horses has been underestimated by its fellow Clans. The inclusion of tanks and infantry alongside their BattleMech forces has often unfairly forced the Horses into lopsided alliances with other Clans. As competing Clans race headlong to conquer Terra, the birthplace of humanity, the Horses must focus on survival rather than the glory of conquest. But many Horses want more, and they refuse to be shouldered aside as Clans Jade Falcon and Wolf reap the rewards of their campaign toward Terra.

Star Captain Peter Cobb, a controversial rising star and military scholar, sees a new trail for the Hell’s Horses to blaze. This path would put the Clan on a fiery trajectory to earn the victories and respect they rightfully deserve, and push the Clan toward a prosperous future. But few embrace his controversial ideas and, divided by distrust and ambition, the leadership of his Clan lacks the will to ensure that the Hell’s Horses will be strong enough to survive the tumultuous conflicts ahead.

Caught between the bloody agendas of two rival Khans—a political maneuverer and a bellicose warmonger—Peter must find a way to restore the soul of the Hell’s Horses without sullying his honor, or risk dooming his entire Clan to extinction in the face of a rising power unlike any the Inner Sphere has ever seen…

For me, Honor is a milestone. It's the longest piece of fiction that I've ever written solo that's been published. It comes in at a little over 76,000 words, much longer than either Elements of Treason: Duty or Elements of Treason: Opportunity (Both are 40-45,000 words). Of the three novels in this series, it's also the one I have to really dig into because it involved a faction with very little exposure in story fiction, and I had to string together a narrative that wasn't as clear-cut as both Duty and Opportunity.

The story focuses on Star Captain Peter Cobb, a warrior who challenges the status quo of the Hell's Horses. A deep thinker and someone who isn't afraid to push the envelope. I won't give away the plot, but Peter is a developing character with a bright future ahead of him -- assuming he survives. 

Peter Cobb was a blank page, with little to go on. In Tamar Rising, it says this about Peter: 

"Another critic of the new Khan is Star Captain Peter Cobb of the Fire Horse Galaxy’s First Horde Cluster. Unusually cerebral and introspective for a Trueborn Clan officer, he couples this with exceptional martial skill, in and out of his ’Mech. In Clan Council meetings, Cobb has openly questioned what the Clan’s purpose should be in the wake of Terra’s fall, and whether the Khan possesses a coherent vision for their future. He has gained a prominent ally in the form of Loremaster Sachiko Ravenwater, who has urged him to stand for saKhan, while also taking the unusual step of circulating transcripts of Cobb’s concise and articulate speeches among the Clan’s freeborn and non-Bloodnamed Trueborn warriors, earning the Star Captain a surprisingly large cadre of supporters in the lower echelons of the touman."

I made Peter a warrior/scholar, a warrior who isn't afraid of learning from history. He isn't afraid to stake out a position, name names, and is willing to defend his position with words or with actions. That is where we first meet Peter, engaged in a Trial of Grievance. He wants to push the Horses out of the rut they're in because the Clan have done little since they came back to the Inner Sphere. They've taken a few planets, mostly ones from the retreating Wolf Empire, but they had been coasting along for the last seventy years. They developed the Mongol Doctrine, but lose it to the Jade Falcons Malvina Hazen, who then twists it to suit her own needs. It is Peter's research and exploration of the Golden Orbun Alliance that brings him to the forefront.

In addition to Peter's story, we get a look at the inner workings of a Clan that we haven't seen much of. I tried to make the Hell's Horse their own unique faction, with their own traditions and ways of doing things. We also get a look at a clan that is drifting toward crisis and maybe civil war, as the Horses Khans are divided, each pursuing their own agenda with their own methods. This split is forcing the castes, from warriors down to laborers to choose a side.

One of my favorite characters in this novel is Sachiko Ravenwater, the Hell's Horses Loremaster and Commander of The First Horde Cluster. An example of the saying, "Beware of an old person in a profession where the young die regularly," Sachiko is nearing ninety and has been Loremaster for over fifty years, outlasted several khans and sakhans, has seen everything a Clan Warrior can see and has a closet of T-shirts to prove it. Despite her age, she is still an active warrior and does not take guff off of anyone. While most people her age are knitting and baking cookies, Sachiko is balancing her duties of Loremaster and Cluster command, both demanding positions. She is still a dangerous warrior who sees what the Khan Gottfried Amirault and saKhan Fulk Lassenerra are doing to the clan. and has decided to take action by guiding a warrior who can lead the clan -- Peter Cobb.

The novel covers the period between May 3150 -- September 3152, putting it into the beginning to the iIlClan era. As far as I know, this is the last of the Element of Treason novels, though if John wants more, I'm willing to write them. I've enjoyed writing these novels, to give two new factions some exposure and to give the least-known of the Inner Sphere clan some time in the sunshine.

The novel can be found here: Elements of Treason: Honor Right now, it's only in an Ebook form a tthe moment, but should be available as a POD book within a few days. So enjoy, and let me know what you think of it!

Later!

Craig

 

A Quick Update

 

This won't be a long post, just a note to let you know that I'm starting on writing Poisoned Honor, the first of the War Of Reaving Trilogy today.

As an aside, the three of us have been bouncing around a few things that the Sourcebook didn't cover, so be on the lookout for that.

That's it!

Craig

What I'm working on now...

 

I know it's been a whole, but I had a very good reason why I haven't blogged in the last month: I suffered a very personal loss in late March and I've been throwing myself into my writing to take my  mind off my loss. It hasn't been easy, but I'm hanging in there.

But enough about that. Elements of Treason: Honor is still being edited, so it's out of my hands until I get it back for some last-minute rewrites. After that, it shouldn't be too long to be published. I was also commissioned and completed a novella in what I think will be another of the merc novellas. I won't say anything more than that for now. But once it's out, I'll talk about it more.

But the Kickstarter was the big news this past month. Over $7.5 million for the Battletech Mercenaries boxed set. That's three times the Clan box Kickstarter earned, with twice as many backers. (Clan Box: 11,277 backers, pledged $2,586,421 Mercenary Box: 23,654 backers pledged $7,549,241). It's great to see such a reaction -- the Kickstarter made the top twenty list of largest Kickstarter ever AND the top ten Kickstarter Tabletop games list. So, it was very successful for Catalyst.

At the not realized $8 million stretch goal had a perk not many people talked about: The War of Reaving trilogy. And like the Blood Asp and the Sommerset Strikers, this too will be realized as a future product.

Three well-know Battletech Authors -- Myself, Jason Hansa, and Phil Lee -- are going to tackle the massive and densely-packed War of Reaving. And make no mistake: these will not be short novels, but fully packed novels telling the story about the worse war in the Clans history. This is a daunting task, but I think we can do this event some justice. The three of us, along with John Helfers, are in constant communication with each other, looking at how we divide this event up into manageable chunks. We each will be writing a book, but there will be characters that will appear in all three books, to carry the main plot through. I won't go into much more detail on it -- we are plotting our own books and banding about which characters to use where, and what events we tell from the War and where. It's going to take a while, as we're still in the plotting stage, but the project is underway.

I have written a novella that should be out soon. It has to do with Hansen's Roughriders, and one of the least described fronts in the Jihad, but one of the bloodiest. Also, I don't think I mentioned that Icons of War is out on audio! Read by Trent Sparks, Icons has been nicely received by the Battletech for it's plot and the look at Clan society, something we haven't seen much of. It's a great book to listen to and I love some of the tones he takes with the characters, especially Kyne. You can find it here: Icons of War (Audiobook). There's a sample on the page so you can see of you like it.

That's all for now. Need to get back to plotting (the book)!

Later!

Craig

Day One of the Mercenaries Kickstarter -- Wow!

Day one of the Battletech Mercenary Kickstarter is in the books, and I am blown away.

I monitored the Kickstarter from the start and watch as it was funded within the first thirty seconds. In less than two hours, It hit a million and two Million by the afternoon. After about twelve hours, it now sits at $3.4 Million, with twenty-seven days to go. It has blown past the First Battletech Kickstarter in numbers if backer and money. I am looking forward to see how far this goes.

I've noticed that the number of levels and stretch goals are not as numerous nor as varied as the first Kickstarter. Catalyst has learned from their mistakes, trying to make sure they can meet the goals this time around.

There are a few changes. Fewer Mechs, and a good selection of vehicles. No Dice and no Character canonization this time around. No swag packages (I want to be able to order a faction pin/patch/challenge coin combo instead of choosing one of them.) 

I

There seems to be less fiction offered this time around, as well as salvage boxes. But its designed to be more streamlined, as the last Kickstarter broke the fulfillment company's system -- twice!

The stretch goals were blown through quickly, and now they are only set at the million/half-million levels. From the reaction on the Adeptacon livestream, they were surprised as the speed in which the stretch goals were broken after only a few hours. Maybe there will be more surprises for future stretch goals. I don't know. We'll see.

So after only one day, the Battletech Mercenary Kickstarter is a massive success. How much will be pledged at the end? We'll see....

Later! 

Craig

Shrapnel #12 -- "Three White Roses" Story Background

After a couple of issues off, writing Elements of Treason: Honor, I have a new story in Shrapnel #12. It's a bit of an odd story, because I go back in time, further than I have ever gone before in Battletech History, to the time of the Davion Civil War, the Five Regents, and Alexander Davion.

Alexander Davion is an important Leader in Federated Suns History. He is the one who decides to join the newly forming Star League, reforms the Federated Suns military into the AFFS, and rules the Federated Suns for most of the 26th Century. A pawn in the game between Regents, Alexander escapes the clutches of Regent David Varney, who daughter Alexander marries, in 2525, setting the stage for the Davion Civil War.

What drew me to this story was there's little detail on how Alexander escaped Varney's clutches. Alexander's seventeen, not old enough to be First Prince, so not experienced enough to escape on his own. And where is the his bodyguard? He's not sneaking out on them, if they're any good.

So,it has to be his personal protection team, Federation Protection Forces (the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns does not exist yet) soldiers who has to be the lead in getting him out. And this is where Captain Cadmon Mallory comes in. (If you're wondering, Vengeance Games's Baron Riordan Mallory is from the same family, just a different branch.). Cadmon is a professional, loyal to the soon-to-be First Prince, and knows he's in a tough situation. The rest of his command is equally skilled and loyal to Alexander.

When it becomes clear Alexander is in danger, it becomes Cadmon's job to get his charge out of it and away from the danger and David Varney, who is "escorting" the First Prince around the Capellan March. He needs help and he finds it from an unlikely source.

I had only a couple of facts to work with: where Alexander was when he made his escape, and when. From there, it's deciding how the escape happened and the background of the escape. And it wasn't that hard -- as soldiers and bodyguards, Cadmon and his soldiers are use to planning on the fly and having plans in place to handle most situations. It doesn't go smoothly -- few plans do -- but Cadmon and his soldiers win through.

As I said before, this is the earliest story I've written on Battletech History, some 500 years before the the Gray Death Legion story starts. There are a few stories from before the 31st Century, and the only novels I can think of that are set before the first Battletech novels is the Founding of the Clans trilogy. Which is a pity, because there are great tales yet to be told -- the Amaris Civil war is worth a novel series similar to the Twilight of the Clan series in breath and scope, nine novels that detail the most important event in Battletech history. The first and Second Successor Wars also deserve stories to explore the events. And the Jihad is also another event that needs multiple novels to bring away from the sourcebooks and making it personal.

But I also realize that Battletech is a large universe, and Catalyst has limited resources. The IlClan is the focus of the novels, bringing a new era alive and showing the fans this new universe and this era. I hope one day we can go back and explore those stories of the past. But we have a new era waiting for us writers and others to create, so that is where we will be. But if I have my way, this will not be the last time Cadmon Mallory appears in the pages of Shrapnel. There are still stories to tell about Alexander Davion, and Cadmon will be the start of a Mallory family saying -- "Where there's a Davion making history, there'll be a Mallory guarding their back." And Cadmon has plenty of reason to guard Alexander's back.....

Later!

Craig

(PS: I hope Elements of Treason: Honor will be out in April, but no guarantees -- the KS prep is sucking all the air our of the room ATM. Hopefully after Adeptacon, things will calm down and things get back to normal.....)

No Greater Honor: The Erindani Light Horse Chronicles Audiobook

 

I was getting ready for bed, when I got an email from John Helfers, announcing the release of the audio version of No Greater Honor: The Complete Eridani Light Horse Chronicles.

From the back cover copy:

Traditions run deep….

Most mercenary units fly flags on two flagpoles at their headquarters: one with their unit’s flag, and other bearing the flag of their current employer. However, the Third Regimental Combat Team—a.k.a. the Eridani Light Horse—leaves one flagpole bare, as a reminder of the death of the Star League, and the other pole flies the Light Horse’s unit and regimental flags at half-mast.

What triumphs and tragedies shaped the Eridani Light Horse and its traditions? What drove them to become a force to be reckoned with, an elite mercenary unit with one of the longest histories and the deepest traditions in the Inner Sphere? Now, collected for the first time, nine of BattleTech’s finest authors bring the legacy of this storied unit to life like never before.

Witness the Eridani Light Horse’s origins in the Star League, and follow their evolution all the way through the Succession Wars and the Clan Invasion to their downfall during the Dark Age and their resurrection in the uncertain future of the ilClan era.

Featuring stories from:

Joel Steverson

Craig A. Reed, Jr.

Chris Hussey

Randall N. Bills

Jason Hansa

Daniel Isberner

Alan Brundage

Jason Schmetzer

Michael J. Ciaravella

Narrated by Gabriella DeLuca, Jack Douglas, Sierra Taft, Robert Dale Brown Jr., and Stephen-Paul Dieter.

This ten-story anthology covers one of the oldest and most respected Mercenary units in Battletech -- the Eridani Light Horse. Now, it's available as an audiobook on Audiable, this anthology has multiple narrators, a first for any Battletech Audiobook. My own story in this collection is No Tears, and tells the story of one of the worse events in Light Horse History -- the massacre of dependents by a desperate Combine planetary government, and the resulting vengeance carried out by the Light Horse.

So, a quick post to let you know it has been released for your listening pleasure. It can be found here: BattleTech: No Greater Honor The Complete Eridani Light Horse Chronicles. SO, if you have a long trip and you want some new Battletech to listen to, the Light House awaits!

Later!

Craig

Kickstarter Characters' Names in the Elements of Treason: Duty

As part of the Kickstarter from a couple of years ago, Backers had the option of  having a canon character in the Battletech Universe. I did use a number of the characters for both Elements of Treason novels that have been published. Unfortunately, the list didn't make it into the either book, and I am here to rectify that and I hope to have a full list in the third Elements of Treason novel.

Now, I tried to match the character with as close a role as I could get. I tried to take advantage of the backer's wishes as much as possible, and I hope those of the backers who I chose the name for are satisfied with my efforts. I tried to make each character more than just a name check -- every characters I used from the list has at least one speaking part and a couple have supporting roles.

Today, it's characters from Elements of Treason: Duty. I went heavy with this one, clearing as many names as I could. I also wanted to spend a few words talking about each one, and what decisions I made.

First one is Karen "Kampfhund" Zimmerli. The original role the backer wanted was as Lyran Intelligence Corps, Espionage-Loki. I couldn't find a role for her as a Loki agent, but I did have a spot of the commander of an Arcturan Guards Special Forces team leader. She fit almost perfectly and has a decent run as a supporting character. I do have to apologize for spelling "Kampfhund" as "Kampfhound" That one is completely my fault.

Next up is Blue Ryne. The backer wanted the character to be a sniper, and I found a place for him exactly as that. To whoever submitted the name, I hope your son was surprised.

Ingrid Jilani was supposed to be a noble in military intelligence. Instead, I made her Chief of Staff for the Twenty-Sixth Arcturan Guards. She also deals with intelligence, and she has a few scenes.

Killien Dunard has a role as part of the Battle of Pandora. He's only in one chapter, but he has a few lines.

Torrian Dann and Sven Wichert had a larger role in early drafts of the novel, but word count forced me to cut the chapter. Though I do have enough to construct a story around the chapter for a future Shrapnel issue.

I hope those of you who have a character in Elements of Treason: Duty enjoy their appearance in the novel. I tried to get them as much screen time as possible, and some were in position to become major supporting characters.

Enjoy!

Craig