I was happy to see the Mechwarrior series get back to its roots. Although the focus is, obviously, on the Republic, when the series started, it alsmost seemed as if the great houses of the Inner Sphere didn't even exist. After some ups and downs in the new Dark Age saga, I've been pleasantly surprised by the last few books and was excited to learn that this was a continuation of "The Scorpion Jar". It's been quite a while since Battletech/Mechwarrior found its focus back on Earth and I'm glad to see a return to the roots of the series. Predictable? Yeah, somewhat. Wrapped up too quickly in the end again? Yep (does every novel have to climax in the last 10-15 pages?), but a fun read that opened the doors for a lot more.