Behind the Claw

Yes. It’s available at the Mongoose site and probably elsewhere. I had mine delivered months ago.

Lots of aliens - including playable aliens (17 of them) which are pretty alien. Lots of spacecraft (18) and some other vehicles. There is an index.

I’ve struggled with a Mac Preview before. Have you tried using Adobe Acrobat? It works on that for me.

Most of these titles are at least inspired by the older editions supplements, and the topics covered are the same. While I can't give you a section-by-section report, I don't think it would be completely word for word the same as the listed credits are different. This version is written by Martin J. Dougherty, who did work in some GURPS: Traveller titles, including co-authoring this title (now he is sole author), while the layout and design of the book is completely original.

If I remember correctly GURPS Behind the Claw details the history from 1105 to 1120 and has lot about this. The book from Mongoose (I bought it directly from Mongosse, that's why I don't show up as Purchaser here) is focused on 1105 and doesn't have so much detailed history. Rules - including starships, gear for dolphins etc. - are for Mongoose New Traveller, of course. The maps seem newly made to me, they are very clear and good to read, I like them a lot and I can't wait for my pre-ordered hardcover especially because of those maps. Also GURPS Behind the Claw was Spinward Marches only, while half of this book details Spinward Marches and the other half details the Deneb Sector. The description of the Marches is focused on presenting the different Sub-Sectors. Only a few worlds in those get detailed descriptions, but those tend to be more comprehensive than in GURPS, where you get more descriptions, but less detailed.
In my opinion the books complement each other and if you are playing in the Mongoose Timeline...See more the book might still be worth it, especially if you are interested in the Deneb Sector, which as I said before isn't detailed in the GURPS Behind the Claw. If you are only interested in Spinward Marches I personally might wait if it gets discounted sometime, because even if the text is completey new, lots of the information won't be.

Thank you.

It would be nice if the table of contents would at least list the Sub-Sectors, too.

There is a load of content in this book. It's worth it. It's a central release for this game's core setting.

That's why I pre-ordered the physical book from Mongoose. I only have PDFs when they are included in a physical purchase. I will NOT pay for digital.

If you pre-ordered the book, you should get the PDF for free. That's how I got mine. Just contact Matt Sprange by email at the Mongoose site, and he'll sort you out.

If they are sticking enough content into less than 300 pages to be worth $35, than I guess I had better also buy a microscope to read it. Seriously, the price is at lease double what it should be.

Truth.

It’s not word count that costs money, it’s layout.

Which means nothing if you don't want to play Stars Without Number.

Depends on how you look at it. For example, two of those pages are the huge sector maps - those take a _lot_ of time, and a lot of work...

I referenced SWN solely because it's a sci fi setting with a high page count.

But you knew that and decided to snark anyway.

Point still stands.

No it doesn't...

True for the writing, as for the art....

Taste in art is subjective, but it certainly true that Mongoose Traveller 2nd edition has raised standards in presentation, including full colour books, maps and 3D deck plans (as per public demand). This book is no exception.

I bought this last night from Mongoose. The artwork is rather good, the books are interesting and well-written. It's miles ahead of the old Deneb and Spinward Marches books and definitely not the same text.