Join The Jihad!
The Battletech universe is one of my favourite fictional settings and I, like many others, have been following its progress for years. For the few of you who know nothing about it, it is set in the 31st century when humanity reaches across the stars in a near-perpetual state of war. This is the future as it might all-too-horribly be :  no aliens intent on eating or enslaving us, just competing superpowers intent on claiming absolute rule of space, utilising powerful battlemechs as well as more conventional weaponry in their quest for supremacy.
The setting began with just the major Successor States and a few Periphery nations struggling for power over what had once been the Star League, slowly destroying the industrial base and depleting their resources in the search for power and glory. But, FASA was not a company to sit still and let a setting stagnate. Along came the more advanced if less numerous Clans to overwhelm the Inner Sphere nations in a sudden blitzkrieg out of nowhere. Suddenly, the rules of war were very different. At the same time, the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth united to form a major new power bloc which threatened to take-over the entire Inner Sphere. Later, after the Clans had been halted, that alliance collapsed into civil war and the seemingly all-powerful cult-like Comstar, which controlled the interstellar communications systems, split in two with the fundamentalist Word of Blake seceding to continue what they saw as their founder's true vision. Now, FASA may be gone but its successors have continued to meld the setting into yet another new era with the Word of Blake Jihad. Just as it seemed that the Star League was about to be restored and the hopes and dreams of the Word realised, it all falls apart in bickering and in-fighting. Naturally, the 'toaster worshippers' (as they are dubbed by some) are not too happy about this - and react rather badly! As a glance at the cover of Dawn of the Jihad will tell you, this includes attacks with nuclear weapons alongside more conventional assaults. Pretty soon, the Inner Sphere is collapsing back into an anarchy worse than any seen since the height of the early Succession Wars as the seemingly unstoppable Word of Blake forces, backed by treacherous mercenaries, launch sudden assaults out of nowhere and begin to consolidate their rule of the planets near to their homebase on Earth. Even their erstwhile allies suffer attack. Not that the other powers idly sit by - some Clans resume raiding, various would-be-leaders make their play for power, and, slowly, a fight-back begins. Although Battletech was always primarily a game (both a tabletop wargame and a roleplaying game) it never let itself be constrained by dry sourcebooks that would only be of interest to players in need of new rules or setting information. The sourcebooks are presented as documents from the setting (in the case of the Jihad series, news reports and commentary from those involved, with letters and data also appearing). There is relatively little in the way of actual rules (or even hard facts - although later volumes reveal some of what is actually 'true', the current entries are as much opinion and propaganda as they would be in real life and you can never be certain who, if anyone, is telling the truth or has all the facts). Even if you would never even consider playing Battletech, you will find these an entertaining and compulsive read. Of course, it helps if you know at least a little about Battletech's past in order to recognise many key figures and plot strands, but even a novice will likely be fascinated by the unfolding tragedy. (And the Classic Battletech Roleplaying Game and the Classic Battletech boxed set both contain plenty of background information for those who wish a grounding.) So far, three books have been published : The Dawn of the Jihad, Jihad Hotspots :  3070 and Jihad Hotspots :  3072. Apparently, the first two will be shortly republished as a single volume, which is good news if you have trouble ordering them. The Dawn of the Jihad sets the background to the Word of Blake Jihad and describes its opening stages. The next two volumes describe the unfolding events of what promises to be a long and violent struggle that will redraw the map of the Inner Sphere. More volumes are promised with the intent of revealing how the setting of Classic Battletech evolves into that of the later Battletech :  Dark Ages. How successful it will ultimately be, I cannot say - but I sure am enjoying the ride so far! A definite must for all fans of Battletech and likely to interest fans of SF and military or political adventure. Just because it is a gaming supplement doesn't mean that non-gamers will be disappointed in it. Highly recommended. Reviewed By DJ Tyrer