Important Resources Post For those wondering, Giving up the Ghost can be found from CGL themselves: store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-giving-up-the-ghost-fortunes-of-war-novella-1-by-bryan-young It is also available on Amazon, and should eventually (or currently has) a Print on Demand option if you want a physical copy. The Amazon Link: (US) www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP95KKTG Amazon Link: (Canada) www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CP95KKTG Remember, if you are apart of the MERCENARIES KICKSTARTER, please look to UPDATE 50! From here, you can get access to this story as Fortunes of War #1. For backers only, however.
"There is nothing magical about these Jade Falcons" This man is a Kellhound. He worked with Morgan Kell. He knows what magic looks like and that ain't it.
Excellent video, Red. Glad you were able to review this one, and glad that you liked it. Bryan Young is doing some amazing work for Battletech, I'm excited moving forward.
Thanks for doing this review. I've wanted a novel about mercenaries in the Dark Age. This could be the one! Kell Hounds have a rep so it's good to start with them. They're a little higher minded than the standard merc outfit so it's a good choice for our newer fellow players. Interesting character profiles, good to make stories around. Maybe a guide to character creation for future RPG players? I didn't want to get into the spoilers too much, but the basic setup is interesting, and covers a couple of themes I wanted to see explored in the Dark Age.
Thanks for letting us all know about the availability of new KS digital content. I'll be getting my DL copy, but as I committed to reading all my BT fiction chronologically, it'll be a while before I get to this one. Given your review though, I may get to this novella this month, as I have an affection for Dark Age content.
The Kell Hounds splitting in multiple indepedant Units, with a chance to reuninte eventually.....where did i hear something similar in Kell Hounds History.... Ahh yes "The Desertion" after Mallories World...which endet with reunitig at the Start of the 4th Successionwar.... Will it be similar here ?^^
Thanks for the video, I'll be getting it once I see it on Kindle. I've liked other books this author has done, but I must say there are aspects of the later Fox Patrol stories I don't like as much, namely how unprofessional they (or more specifically the leader) is at times..... BUT that is offset by the fact I love when and where those stories are taking place, especially as mercs working with the Lone Wolves for the merchant Jade Falcon sub clan, the Alyina Mercantile League.
I don't mind the leader being unprofessional train in fox patrol giving she became a merc leader without officer training or someone older to guide her through the process. It is something i mention to young when am on the battletech board and i think he slowly trying to fix it. Her hanging out with lone wolves it part of the process. But that is my view from the short conversation and from reading his work.
Ah, Ghost Dog. The only time you'll ever get to see and hear Henry Silva make Elk sounds with an entirely straight face: "...Running Bear, Black: Elk... (Makes a sound like an elk)..."😂 Seriously though, fantastic film. Peak Rza. ......
I really enjoy them! I've read the first 2 that are out so far. I do like the first, more than the second however. I'll probably end up reviewing all 3 once the 3rd one comes out.
@@BigRed40TECH Nice cant wait to see that episode then. Im a Huge fan of the old Gray Death books and have them all at home. So i was just really happy to hear that they do something with the Legion. My biggest problem is that they arent availabel in Printed form and so far have not been Translated into German. I dont have Problems with English but i tend to not mix my books languages if i can.
Thanks for pointing this one out to us. Full disclosure, I stopped watching/listening after 12 minutes as I didn't want to tread into spoiler territory. Time to go use the "print on demand" function.
Started reading the book, and this one cements Bryan Young up there with Blaine Lee Pardoe in whiplash inducing inserts. BLP (who has written the most interesting character arc in all of Battletech, Paul Moon) for his historical ties in that seem a bit tenuous, and BY for characters using language that is ripped straight from today's social media. "Let's kill fascists" Record scratch. Pulls me out of the book into the real world where I'm wondering does the author write with twitter up right next to him? Just like in his previous book where a clan character thought about how she was being looked down upon due to the color of her skin, while at the same time had achieved greatness (faction leader of the Aylina Mercantile League! That made me stop reading that book for weeks. I finished it because despite all of this I like his books and the settings he writes in. It's cool to try to put in a modern message in your book, but you can't hit me over the head with it, I think the author needs to work on being more subtle.
I suspect it's more of a language thing. Despite having written a fair bit for BT, Bryan is still kinda new to it. I felt that particular line was out of place too, but I don't think it was intended to come across that way. It is one line, and if I felt it was more indicitive of the entire book I'd be more annoyed by it.
@@BigRed40TECH Yeah, none of this stuff is ever dropped throughout the book so I can forgive it. But that particular word choice, I can't ever remember it being used in BT fiction before, and it is so on the nose with current politics that it screams, "MESSAGE!!! Intentional author insert!", and again, that sort of stuff should never be so obvious. Still, nothing as bad as the shapnel story about the USA/Mexico border wall and the politics around that. That one was so bad I couldn't continue it, but at least it was in an era I don't really care about (Star League vs Periphery)
@@spotH3D There are neo-communists in Battletech, who played a role in at least one Novel. Fascists just aren't really referenced in the source materials. Even if similar authoritarian structures exist in the setting, across the Inner Sphere and arguably the Clans, they're just not tied to that history in-universe. The term would just be out of use, in other words. I don't think it was intentional in that context myself. Bryan is also one of the main Clan writers too, in fact, he's one of the main Jade Falcon writers. XD
@@BigRed40TECH Well said. And don't mistake me, I really like his work with past Jade Falcon novels. Honor's Gauntlet and Jiyi Chistu's falcons, etc. He's also one to interact with fans online and I really respect that.
Whats the deal with Battletech audiobooks? It SEEMS almost random which novels becomes an audiobook. Frustratingly hard to find. The Grey Death trilogy was a magnificent Audible release. Are there any audiobook versions of the Fed-Com civil war out there?
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, Big Red. In my opinion, Giving Up the Ghost is competently written, but definitely Mr. Young's weakest work. It's too short, and not in a good way. The story is unfinished. We get a beginning, a middle, and no ending. I don't know if Mr. Young was pressed for time or word count, but the story was a nothing burger for me. That's as much as I can say without going into spoilers.
I think it's a decent story. I've yet to read anything from Bryan that I didn't like however. I thjink some stories are just different than others too.
So, I'll say that this story was part of the break down for the entire arc for this unit and it's a little less like a 3 act thing, but more of a 2 act play. Part One is the old way, Part Two is the new way, and both parts are supposed to introduce you to the characters that I HOPE you'll dig in future stuff. Their next adventure is much more linear and with 3 acts in that regard. But yes, I was also working with a word count limit, too.
@swankmotron That's good to hear, Mr. Young. I'll be happy to read more. As Big Red said, the story is solid and Captains Davis and Nygugen are stand-out characters. I just feel it was necessary to see the Ghost Dogs operate on a mission to for the arc to come full circle. Even if there is more of the Ghost Dogs to come. Also, as Big Red mentioned in his review, I have a gripe about the presentation of the Mongol Falcons. More of a unsubstantiated fear really. I know you're a person who believes in morality and justice, especially for those who are considered marginalized in society. Your writing reflects that, from Fox Patrol, to Jiyi's Falcons, to the Kell Hounds. It is my fear that these views will effect how you write evil characters and factions. I know you were pressed for word count, but the dialogue for the Falcons was canned and stereotypical and I believe better could have been written in the same brief span of words. You're a great BattleTech writer, but I don't want elements of the universe to be debased because they don't fit a certain moral standard. I mean no offense. Thank you, Mr. Young.
@@terrinils3165 I think Big Red had the long and short of it. They were a bit stereotypical because they were the foils and, in my view, trying to be a bit of a joke. But humor is subjective and we can't always land. I'm glad you're digging everything else! I can't wait for more from these guys and I think you'll be much more pleased by their future adventures.
Brother, I have read the first part of this on your recommendation and I am not impressed so far. The dialogue is terrible, everyone talks like a 21st century reditor during an active combat situation. The combat itself also isn't good, the OpFor is playing to lose for some reason, even though they are supposed to be a genetically engineered elite force from a cutthroat warrior society they apparantly can't think in a straight line from point A to point B. The protagonist, company commander of a legendary elite mercenary regiment, fully depends on the lack of oxygen reaching the Falcons brain, doing things that would get him killed in an instant if the enemy was thinking straight and not stubbornly trying to lose. Is this getting better later on?
I liked most of the dialogue. XD And remember, these aren't the A+ tier Kellhounds. These are the C-tier company, regardless of how they think of themselves. lol
@@swankmotron fox patrol had too much ghey in it to be enjoyable. It made a point of bringing it up wherever and whenever it could. It was out of place. Also the only hetero cpuple in the book were dysfunctional. It was, to be frank, an unwelcome push of lgbt politics into battletech
Important Resources Post
For those wondering, Giving up the Ghost can be found from CGL themselves:
store.catalystgamelabs.com/products/battletech-giving-up-the-ghost-fortunes-of-war-novella-1-by-bryan-young
It is also available on Amazon, and should eventually (or currently has) a Print on Demand option if you want a physical copy.
The Amazon Link: (US)
www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP95KKTG
Amazon Link: (Canada)
www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CP95KKTG
Remember, if you are apart of the MERCENARIES KICKSTARTER, please look to UPDATE 50! From here, you can get access to this story as Fortunes of War #1. For backers only, however.
That wolfhound is in the most "I want to talk to your manager" pose I've ever seen.
"There is nothing magical about these Jade Falcons"
This man is a Kellhound. He worked with Morgan Kell. He knows what magic looks like and that ain't it.
I dig this review format, especially breaking up the spoiler / not spoiler parts: I haven't read it yet, so that made it easy to skip past that part.
Thank you Jason :D
Looking forward to this one.
ribbit
Excellent video, Red. Glad you were able to review this one, and glad that you liked it. Bryan Young is doing some amazing work for Battletech, I'm excited moving forward.
Yea, Bryan's consistently solid.
Thanks for doing this review. I've wanted a novel about mercenaries in the Dark Age. This could be the one! Kell Hounds have a rep so it's good to start with them. They're a little higher minded than the standard merc outfit so it's a good choice for our newer fellow players. Interesting character profiles, good to make stories around. Maybe a guide to character creation for future RPG players? I didn't want to get into the spoilers too much, but the basic setup is interesting, and covers a couple of themes I wanted to see explored in the Dark Age.
Thanks for this!! I'm a backer but didn’t notice they dropped #2 nobella now in November! ❤
purchased book Red, sound like a fun read. Thanks for the review
More book reviews will come than before. It's a nice way to break things up on the channel.
Thanks for letting us all know about the availability of new KS digital content. I'll be getting my DL copy, but as I committed to reading all my BT fiction chronologically, it'll be a while before I get to this one.
Given your review though, I may get to this novella this month, as I have an affection for Dark Age content.
I'll have to come back and watch the rest after I read the story, Non spoiler got me intrigued!
Here it go
Great review I will have to get it and read it.
Definitely want to read this one, but it will have to go on the list. Catching up on the older books at the moment.
Thanks for the review Red! Off to go get my download!!
Enjoy!
Great review Red.
It was a fun book. :)
Hype!
Love it when i find new old videos
The Kell Hounds splitting in multiple indepedant Units, with a chance to reuninte eventually.....where did i hear something similar in Kell Hounds History....
Ahh yes "The Desertion" after Mallories World...which endet with reunitig at the Start of the 4th Successionwar....
Will it be similar here ?^^
Only Stackpole and Young can answer those questions lol
I just love the name Ghost Dogs
Forest Whitaker is coming back, but this time, as a Mechwarrior, in GHOST DOG 2!
@@BigRed40TECH I will not lie, I love that movie and the working title for the first story I wrote with these guys was "The Way of the Ghost Dog"
Cool timing considering we got the clan tech wolfhound in mwo a couple weeks ago.
I’ve got this downloaded from my pledge already I’ll need to look into it.
I read it it’s worth the purchase if you don’t have it already.
Thanks for the video, I'll be getting it once I see it on Kindle.
I've liked other books this author has done, but I must say there are aspects of the later Fox Patrol stories I don't like as much, namely how unprofessional they (or more specifically the leader) is at times..... BUT that is offset by the fact I love when and where those stories are taking place, especially as mercs working with the Lone Wolves for the merchant Jade Falcon sub clan, the Alyina Mercantile League.
Links are in the top comment, which should allow you to put it on your kindle. :)
I don't mind the leader being unprofessional train in fox patrol giving she became a merc leader without officer training or someone older to guide her through the process. It is something i mention to young when am on the battletech board and i think he slowly trying to fix it. Her hanging out with lone wolves it part of the process. But that is my view from the short conversation and from reading his work.
Thank you Red
Ah, Ghost Dog. The only time you'll ever get to see and hear Henry Silva make Elk sounds with an entirely straight face:
"...Running Bear, Black: Elk...
(Makes a sound like an elk)..."😂 Seriously though, fantastic film.
Peak Rza.
......
Logistics, logistics, logistics!
You'll like the Fox Patrol book. It's quite good.
I'll be checking out the Fox Patrol series probably by the end of the year, or the beginning of next year. I hope anyway. Just busy busy.
@@BigRed40TECH I hear the busy busy bit. So much cool stuff to enjoy and not enough time. Hang tough and appreciation for all the content!
Rushed color jobs huh? ...sure hope they remembered to 'Thin' their paints before hand!
It's a bit too thin lol
They never did find Grinner...
Nor will anyone O.O
I would love to hear youre take on the new Gray Death legion Novelas?
I really enjoy them! I've read the first 2 that are out so far. I do like the first, more than the second however. I'll probably end up reviewing all 3 once the 3rd one comes out.
@@BigRed40TECH Nice cant wait to see that episode then. Im a Huge fan of the old Gray Death books and have them all at home. So i was just really happy to hear that they do something with the Legion. My biggest problem is that they arent availabel in Printed form and so far have not been Translated into German. I dont have Problems with English but i tend to not mix my books languages if i can.
Thanks for pointing this one out to us.
Full disclosure, I stopped watching/listening after 12 minutes as I didn't want to tread into spoiler territory. Time to go use the "print on demand" function.
Its not currently set for that, but keep an eye out. Amazon links are there, and usually this option should appear soonish.
Yo
Started reading the book, and this one cements Bryan Young up there with Blaine Lee Pardoe in whiplash inducing inserts. BLP (who has written the most interesting character arc in all of Battletech, Paul Moon) for his historical ties in that seem a bit tenuous, and BY for characters using language that is ripped straight from today's social media.
"Let's kill fascists"
Record scratch. Pulls me out of the book into the real world where I'm wondering does the author write with twitter up right next to him? Just like in his previous book where a clan character thought about how she was being looked down upon due to the color of her skin, while at the same time had achieved greatness (faction leader of the Aylina Mercantile League! That made me stop reading that book for weeks. I finished it because despite all of this I like his books and the settings he writes in.
It's cool to try to put in a modern message in your book, but you can't hit me over the head with it, I think the author needs to work on being more subtle.
I suspect it's more of a language thing. Despite having written a fair bit for BT, Bryan is still kinda new to it. I felt that particular line was out of place too, but I don't think it was intended to come across that way. It is one line, and if I felt it was more indicitive of the entire book I'd be more annoyed by it.
@@BigRed40TECH Yeah, none of this stuff is ever dropped throughout the book so I can forgive it.
But that particular word choice, I can't ever remember it being used in BT fiction before, and it is so on the nose with current politics that it screams, "MESSAGE!!! Intentional author insert!", and again, that sort of stuff should never be so obvious.
Still, nothing as bad as the shapnel story about the USA/Mexico border wall and the politics around that. That one was so bad I couldn't continue it, but at least it was in an era I don't really care about (Star League vs Periphery)
@@spotH3D There are neo-communists in Battletech, who played a role in at least one Novel. Fascists just aren't really referenced in the source materials. Even if similar authoritarian structures exist in the setting, across the Inner Sphere and arguably the Clans, they're just not tied to that history in-universe. The term would just be out of use, in other words. I don't think it was intentional in that context myself. Bryan is also one of the main Clan writers too, in fact, he's one of the main Jade Falcon writers. XD
@@BigRed40TECH Well said.
And don't mistake me, I really like his work with past Jade Falcon novels. Honor's Gauntlet and Jiyi Chistu's falcons, etc. He's also one to interact with fans online and I really respect that.
Whats the deal with Battletech audiobooks? It SEEMS almost random which novels becomes an audiobook. Frustratingly hard to find. The Grey Death trilogy was a magnificent Audible release. Are there any audiobook versions of the Fed-Com civil war out there?
No idea. I don't listen to the audiobooks anyway. Doesn't really work while editing your own audio, or writing your own scripts XD
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, Big Red.
In my opinion, Giving Up the Ghost is competently written, but definitely Mr. Young's weakest work. It's too short, and not in a good way.
The story is unfinished. We get a beginning, a middle, and no ending. I don't know if Mr. Young was pressed for time or word count, but the story was a nothing burger for me.
That's as much as I can say without going into spoilers.
I think it's a decent story. I've yet to read anything from Bryan that I didn't like however. I thjink some stories are just different than others too.
So, I'll say that this story was part of the break down for the entire arc for this unit and it's a little less like a 3 act thing, but more of a 2 act play. Part One is the old way, Part Two is the new way, and both parts are supposed to introduce you to the characters that I HOPE you'll dig in future stuff. Their next adventure is much more linear and with 3 acts in that regard. But yes, I was also working with a word count limit, too.
@swankmotron That's good to hear, Mr. Young. I'll be happy to read more. As Big Red said, the story is solid and Captains Davis and Nygugen are stand-out characters. I just feel it was necessary to see the Ghost Dogs operate on a mission to for the arc to come full circle. Even if there is more of the Ghost Dogs to come.
Also, as Big Red mentioned in his review, I have a gripe about the presentation of the Mongol Falcons. More of a unsubstantiated fear really.
I know you're a person who believes in morality and justice, especially for those who are considered marginalized in society. Your writing reflects that, from Fox Patrol, to Jiyi's Falcons, to the Kell Hounds.
It is my fear that these views will effect how you write evil characters and factions. I know you were pressed for word count, but the dialogue for the Falcons was canned and stereotypical and I believe better could have been written in the same brief span of words. You're a great BattleTech writer, but I don't want elements of the universe to be debased because they don't fit a certain moral standard. I mean no offense. Thank you, Mr. Young.
@@terrinils3165 I think Big Red had the long and short of it. They were a bit stereotypical because they were the foils and, in my view, trying to be a bit of a joke. But humor is subjective and we can't always land. I'm glad you're digging everything else! I can't wait for more from these guys and I think you'll be much more pleased by their future adventures.
Looking forward to the Fox Patrol's viewpoint of the umpteenth Battle of Sudeten!
Brother, I have read the first part of this on your recommendation and I am not impressed so far.
The dialogue is terrible, everyone talks like a 21st century reditor during an active combat situation. The combat itself also isn't good, the OpFor is playing to lose for some reason, even though they are supposed to be a genetically engineered elite force from a cutthroat warrior society they apparantly can't think in a straight line from point A to point B. The protagonist, company commander of a legendary elite mercenary regiment, fully depends on the lack of oxygen reaching the Falcons brain, doing things that would get him killed in an instant if the enemy was thinking straight and not stubbornly trying to lose.
Is this getting better later on?
I liked most of the dialogue. XD
And remember, these aren't the A+ tier Kellhounds. These are the C-tier company, regardless of how they think of themselves. lol
>author of the fox patrol series
I will skip this book now. Thanks for the warning brother
I love the Fox Patrol, but it's not for everyone. Though I'm glad most love it.
@@swankmotron fox patrol had too much ghey in it to be enjoyable. It made a point of bringing it up wherever and whenever it could. It was out of place. Also the only hetero cpuple in the book were dysfunctional. It was, to be frank, an unwelcome push of lgbt politics into battletech
@@xedrickOG Gay folks existing, in BattleTech or anywhere else, isn’t political.
@@swankmotron we arent talking "existing" and you damnwell know it
@@xedrickOG ... so you mean the scene on Galatea?