• Source: List of BattleTech novels

More than one hundred full-length BattleTech or MechWarrior science fiction novels have been published by FASA Corporation, ROC, and later by Catalyst Game Labs. They have been translated into at least fifteen languages. Countless other shorter works of BattleTech fiction have been published in BattleCorps, as novellas, or in BattleTech magazines or in BattleTech tabletop game rule books. These works of fiction take place in the BattleTech universe of the 31st and 32nd centuries. They can be considered space opera and military science fiction.




History


FASA published the first BattleTech game set in 1984, and subsequently released a wide range of supplemental books and materials for the series in-house and through licenses (with Roc Books, FanPro, and Activision, for example).
Many BattleTech readers got their first taste of the BattleTech universe with the release of BattleTech-licensed PC games in the 1990's. FASA continued to release books after the PC game release of MechWarrior (1989) with its storyline c.3024-3028 (in the "Late Succession War: Renaissance" period). Many Roc Book releases also appeared to follow the popularity of other BattleTech PC games: More "Clan Invasion" era novels were written after the releases of MechWarrior 2 (1995) and MechWarrior 3 (1999) (both set 3057-3060 during the Clan Invasion), and more "Civil War" era novels were released after MechWarrior 4 (2000) with its storyline in 3062 ("Civil War" era). A loosely-associated MechWarrior six-novel series was also released soon after MechWarrior 3.
FASA ceased producing BattleTech in 2001 and sold the intellectual property (IP) to WizKids. The IP was then split into Classic BattleTech and MechWarrior: Dark Age for a time (from 2002 to 2008). IP holder WizKids was purchased by Topps in 2003, and terminated as a brand in 2008; ever since, the IP to BattleTech (and others) are held directly by Topps. In June 2007, FanPro's license ran out and Catalyst Game Labs (a subsidiary of InMediaRes Productions, LLC) acquired the license to Classic BattleTech in their stead. Catalyst also retained many of the staff members who previously worked for FanPro.
The first official BattleTech novel was William H. Keith's Decision at Thunder Rift (1986) written for FASA. Loren L. Coleman's Endgame (2002), for Roc Books, would be the last canon "Classic" BattleTech novel to be released for the next 13 years, while Roc Books worked on its "MechWarrior: Dark Age" series. Endgame would fix plot lines and character arcs from many previous works.
The story timeline in the FASA & Roc Books novels generally followed along in sequence with the publication dates of the novels. After Endgame, however, Roc Books jumped the timeline ahead to the 32nd-century with its MechWarrior: Dark Age series, beginning with Michael A. Stackpole's Ghost War (2002) and ending with Kevin Killiany's To Ride the Chimera (2008). The 2008 closure of WizKids delayed the release of further novels. Catalyst Game Labs then released its first BattleTech novel, Steven Mohan Jr's. A Bonfire of Worlds (2010), which continued the Dark Age storyline. (A Bonfire of Worlds was in fact initially advertised with a Battletech: Dark Age logo, but a later printed version reverted back to the more traditional BattleTech nomenclature.)
Catalyst Game Labs had received the rights to publish both Classic and Dark Age book lines in June 2007 and had scheduled new works to resume in the fall of 2009. While Catalyst Game Labs' next "Classic" novel, Embers of War, (released after its "Dark Age" novel, A Bonfire of Worlds) was not released until 2015, Catalyst Game Labs had 5 novels total published by February, 2019, and a semi-regular release schedule resuming that year. Embers of War continued the "Classic BattleTech" timeline from where Endgame left off.
Subsequent publications by Catalyst Game Labs have jumped around in the BattleTech timeline, including novels set much earlier than the "Classic" (Succession Wars, Clan Invasion, Civil War) eras, novels between the "Classic" & "Dark Age" eras, and novels set much farther into the future than the "Dark Age" era. Catalyst Game Labs also issues reprints of the FASA/Roc BattleTech novels as its BattleTech: Legends series and collect BattleCorps short stories and "Novellas" into BattleTech: Anthologies.
Several novellas associated with Kickstarter have also been produced for both the Table Top game Battletech and the turn-based strategy game, titled simply BattleTech, by Harebrained Schemes.




Classic BattleTech novels 1989-2003


The following novels occur during what was referred to the "Classic BattleTech" era, which includes the 31st century and preceding centuries. Also, additional eras have been added, broadening the term. The Classic reference was dropped after the ownership change and rebranding occurred.




MechWarrior: Dark Age novels 2002-2009


Novels originally categorized as "MechWarrior: Dark Age": The original "Dark Age" novels released by Roc Books & A Bonfire of Worlds by Catalyst Game Labs. The following novels occur during the "Dark Age" era of the early to mid 32nd century.




BattleTech novels 2013-present


Books categorized by Catalyst Game Labs as "novels" (not including anthologies, novellas, short stories, or magazines) released 2013 and later.




Other BattleTech fiction


BattleTech fiction (anthologies, novellas, short stories, and magazines) not classified as "novels." The majority of this list comprises titles released or re-released by Catalyst Game Labs, including BattleCorps stories. This is not an exhaustive list of BattleCorps stories. This list also does not include fiction in the BattleTech tabletop rule books.




German-language novels






Japanese-language novels






External links


"Sarna BattleTechWiki". – A compendium of BattleTech information including publication dates and chronology of BattleTech fiction.




References






See also

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• List of BattleTech novels
• BattleTech
• MechWarrior: Dark Age (novels)
• Shadow of War
• BattleTech (video game)
• List of Shadowrun books
• Decision at Thunder Rift
• List of multimedia franchises originating in games, toys, and merchandise
• Debra Doyle
• Robert Thurston (novelist)