Editing BattleTech – Die Welt des 31. Jahrhunderts

{{InfoBoxProduct
| image               = BTDWd31J.JPG
| name                = BattleTech<br />Die Welt des 31. Jahrhunderts
| type                = Franchise treatise<br />Sourcebook
| author              = 
| development         = [[Joern Rauser]] (Editor)
| primarywriting      = [[Reinhold H. Mai]]<br />[[Christoph Nick (Person)|Christoph Nick]]
| pages               = 512
| cover               = ("provided by [[WizKids]] LLC")
| interiorart         = ("provided by WizKids LLC")
| illustrations       = 
| publisher           = [[Wilhelm Heyne Verlag GmbH & Co KG]]
| productioncode      = 06/6298
| year                = 2002
| ISBN10              = 3453213661
| ISBN13              = 978-3453213661
| MSRP                = 13.00 [[w:DM|DM]]
| content             = (see article)
| era                 = 
| timeline            = 
| series              = 
| precededby          = 
| followedby          = 
}}
{{ApocryphalProduct}}
'''BattleTech – Die Welt des 31. Jahrhunderts''' ("The world of the 31st century") is an original German softcover publication by [[Heyne]], the publisher of the German line of [[BattleTech]] novels. Published alongside, but not as a part of, their line of German BattleTech novels, it serves a broad non-fictional introduction to the BattleTech universe and games.

==Content==
Written by [[Reinhold H. Mai]] and [[Christoph Nick (Person)|Christoph Nick]], two of the premier German BattleTech authors, the book provides an introduction to the BattleTech universe and an overview over the franchise from a real-world perspective. Its content includes:
*a list of BT media and sources (comics, magazines and fanzines, computer and console games, gaming centers, trading cards, TV series, some internet sites), all with brief descriptions;
*a rundown of all episodes from [[Battletech: The Animated Series]] with brief plot summaries;
*excerpts from a longer interview with [[Jordan Weisman]] and [[L. Ross Babcock III]] (taken at the [[FASA]] office in Chicago just before the 1988 [[w:GenCon|GenCon]]);
*email interview with [[Michael A. Stackpole]] from early 2002;
*a 29-page introduction to the history of the BT universe up until the absorption of the [[St. Ives Compact]] back into the [[Capellan Confederation]] in [[3063]];
*a description of the [[Inner Sphere]] and the [[Successor States]];
*a dictionary of BT terms complete with (sometimes page-long) articles on the subjects, covering states (complete with maps) and [[ComStar]], military units and ranks, technologies, and other BT concepts such as the [[Ares Conventions]] or [[LosTech]];
*a description of the [[Periphery]] with emphasis on the [[Outworlds Alliance]], [[Magistracy of Canopus]] and [[Taurian Concordat]] (again with maps); [[Bandit King]]s are treated in one summary chapter;
*a description of the [[Clans]], complete with a [[Deep Periphery]] map showing the position of the [[Kerensky Cluster]] and [[Pentagon Worlds]] relative to the Inner Sphere, and a detailed map of the Kerensky Cluster and the Pentagon worlds showing the names and relative positions of the systems therein;
*a dictionary of specific Clan terms;
*a description and history of [[Solaris VII]] and the [[Solaris Games]];
*a long and detailed Who-is-Who list of BT characters;
*a BT timeline by year, beginning with the launch of [[Crippen Station]] in [[2005]] and ending with the second [[Whitting Conference]] in [[3061]];
*dictionaries/list chapters about
**BT military vehicles and starships (the entry for [[LAM]]s is notable for the picture of a [[Wasp LAM]], the only [[unseen]] picture in the entire book);
**technology in BT including [[BattleMech]] components and gadgets like [[cooling vest]]s and [[neurohelmet]]s;
**offensive and defensive systems (weapons, defensive weapons, ammunition subtypes and armor);
*a timeline of 'Mech evolution;
*an analysis of the success of the BT franchise from a real-world point of view;
*a list of published BT novels both German and English, up to [[Endgame]] for the [[Classic BattleTech]] line and up to [[Imminent Crisis]] in the [[MechWarrior series|MechWarrior]] line;
*a product list for BT (from [[FASA]], [[FanPro LLC]] and [[Fantasy Productions]]) and a list of computer games;
*a synopsis showing the original (english) name/designation and the German names of all BT vehicles and starships;
*''Könige des Schlachtfeldes'' ("Kings of the Battlefield"): Technical Readout fluff-style descriptions of various 'Mechs (complete with picture for some, but not all) in sidebars throughout the book;
*various previously published artwork including full-color pictures from the covers of books or boxed sets. The book does not contain any original artwork.

===Errors===
*The book consistently claims that the [[Gray Death Legion]] discovered the [[Helm Memory Core]] in [[3024]] already, which is against established [[canon]]; the correct year is [[3028]].
*Contrary to what the book claims, the [[Fallout (Comic series)|Fallout comics]] do not depict the [[1st Somerset Strikers]] but another unit called [[Fallout]] (though the Comics admit to being inspired by the 1st Somerset Strikers' [[BattleTech: The Animated Series|Animated Series]]).

==Canonicity==
Although it is an official publication and was produced under a valid license, the book does not meet the criteria for [[canon]] because it was never published in English, being an original German publication. While most of the information in the book is a compilation of information taken from other, fully canonical sources (in the sense of a [[meta-source]]), some information is not. 

Such [[apocryphal]] information includes
*rumors mentioned about a modified ''[[Charger]]'' (implied to be the CGR-SB ''Challenger'') serving with the [[Hat-in-the-Ring Battalion|Hat-in-the-Ring company]] on [[Holt]] (while the ''Challenger'' as such is fully canon, its background and especially the Hat-in-the-Ring mercenary unit were never mentioned outside of [[BattleTechnology]], which is not considered a canonical source anymore);
*the assertion that the ''[[Alliance (BattleMech)|Alliance]]'' BattleMech was just a hoax and that this 'Mech never really existed;
*the assertion that the ''[[Mauler]]'' (more likely referring to its predecessor, the ''[[Daboku]]'') is based on an abortive [[Capellan Confederation|Capellan]] design project called ''[[Linesman]]'' ("''Linienrichter''" in German). (According to ''[[Life Support (magazine)|Life Support]]'' #4, the magazine of the [[MechForce Germany]], the ''Linesman'' was developed alongside the ''[[Cataphract]]'' around [[3015]] but abandoned before reaching the production stage because production costs would only permit one of the two new designs to be built. When the Capellan military could not agree on which one to keep, [[Maximilian Liao]] decided in favor of the ''Cataphract''. The ''Linesman'' design was later resurrected as the ''Mauler'' by the [[Draconis Combine]] using rediscovered technology.)

==External Links==
*[http://www.heyne.de Publisher's homepage]
*[http://www.buecher-nach-isbn.info/3-453/3453213661-Battletech-Die-Welt-des-31.-Jahrhunderts-3-453-21366-1.html ISBN listing/database entry]

[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Sourcebooks]]
[[Category:Meta-Sources]]
[[Category:German language products]]
[[Category:Works by Reinhold H. Mai]]
[[Category:Works by Christoph Nick]]