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BattleTech Universe #22
Close Quarters
Resourceful, ruthless, beautiful, apparently without fear, Scout Lieutenant Cassie Suthorn of Camacho's Caballeros is as consummately lethal as the giant BattleMechs she lives to hunt. Only one other person in the freewheeling mercenary regiment has a hint of the demons which drive her. When the Caballeros sign on to guard Coordinator Theodore Kurita's corporate-mogul cousin in the heart of the Draconis Combine, they think they've got the perfect gig: low risk and high pay. Cassie alone suspects that danger waits among the looming bronze towers of Hachiman - and when the yakuza and the dread ISF form a devil's alliance to bring down Chandrasekhar Kurita, only Cassie's unique skills can save her regiment.
All she has to do is confront her darkest nightmares.
All she has to do is confront her darkest nightmares.
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
28 people are currently reading
199 people want to read
About the author
Victor Milán
75 books289 followersVictor Woodward Milán was an American writer known for libertarian science fiction and an interest in cybernetics. In 1986 he won the Prometheus Award for Cybernetic Samurai. He has also written several shared universe works for the Forgotten Realms, Star Trek, and Wild Cards Universes. He has also written books under the pseudonyms Keith Jarrod, Richard Austin (Jove Books The Guardians series), Robert Baron (Jove Books Stormrider series), and S. L. Hunter (Steele series with Simon Hawke, who used the pen name J. D. Masters). He also wrote at least 9 novels under the "house name" of James Axler for the Harlequin Press/Gold Eagle Books Deathlands series & Outlanders series.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 8, 2024
Show me you read Wolves on the Border, without understanding Wolves on the Border.
This book has too much exposition. The first third? Exposition. There is exposition within exposition. There is exposition within combat scenes. Not flashbacks, not like in The Price of Glory, but plain exposition.
Part of this is that there are too many characters. I do not mean that the dramatis personae is too long, although it assuredly is. I mean that there are too many characters. I was excited when Father Doctor Bob was introduced, but I then stopped, when the book seemed to be dedicated to this. If people make fun of Stackpole for running fights in the tabletop system, like a transcript of a Monopoly game, Milán feels like every player-character from his sessions needs to be included as a shout-out no one understands.
Lest I be too harsh, I do like Camacho's Caballeros, the mercenary company at the center of the book. I would say that they are too cliched, but look, after Space Japan, Space China+Russia, Space Germany, Other Space Germany, and my other brother Space Germany, I am fine with Space Mexican Cession. It is fun. That it is also Space Zionist Pride is an interesting but too-long-to-cover-here aside that can be covered with 'LOL.' The concept of the Caballeros is not used well (okay, it is mostly used to justify more exposition) but I had moments of interest, like with the Council of Elders or the day-care center. And I generally like how the Caballeros feel like soldiers, foul-mouthed, sentimental, and loyal to a fault. But that creates a problem that might be easier to see if I describe the plot.
The plot of the book is that Camacho's Caballeros, a mercenary force out of the Free World's League originally, but who have shopped around, are now hired by Draconis Combine and Chandrasekhar "Uncle Chandy" Kurita, a fat fatty who fats and cousin to House leader Theodore Kurita, to protect him and his business interests on the world Hachiman, an important industrial planet. But the fat man is targeted by Kurita internal security forces, and in maintaining their honor and their contract, this puts them in direct conflict with those portions of House Kurita working against Uncle Chandy.
You might be thinking, hey, that sort of sounds like the Battle of Misery in terms of Kuritan's turning against their own mercs. And it does! Except imagine a Wolves on the Border where Tetsuhara was omitted except for the first and last chapter. No, seriously, again, I had high hopes for the book at the beginning, because you do have the introduction of the Caballeros and then the Kuitan 'Ghost Regiment' (criminals made mechwarriors to serve out their sentences) in a sort of parallel construction. And I like what Milán does with the dialog here, he has particularly fun style that feels much more like human speech than a lot of the Arc character stage-cheated passages. But while the leader of the Ghost Regiment shows up throughout the book, when the sides are making the sort of 'I too am a person who knows honor' speeches at the end over how they do not want to fight, but will, it has no emotional heft, because the 230 pages of ongoing Caballero business.
But it is not just the exposition dump that ruins it, but the war movie style. No spoilers, or spoilers for Saving Private Ryan I guess, but the ending is very much stealing from the same movies that Saving Private Ryan stole from. It reads wrong. It reads wrong because movies shorthand information in a different sort of way that books, so at the same time it explains the exposition, it does not justify it, because in no way is there the same payoff. There is not the same payoff because, again, too many characters for a book whereas some of this would work in a movie, but also because there is too much that does not jive with Battletech. The tropes fit, but they are not the right tropes.
But it is not just the exposition or the war movie, but the whole other spy plot. The central character to the book is bicyclist Cassiopeia "Abtakha" Suthorn, a rape-revenge protagonist and overall Mary Sue, gutter snipe who grew up ethnically Kuritan in Liao space, picked up by the Caballeros after single-handed taking out one of their mechs (and if you thought GDC doing this was sketch, wait), now scout and mech hunter, who does no mech hunting and for whom scouting primarily means getting a job as a waitress through her feminine wiles, getting a job as a stripper, becoming a pimp, and pretending to be a sex worker who then actually falls for her pretend sugar daddy. All while functionally queerbaiting her with one of the Caballeros, which amounts to another volume of discourse, because it leads both to effective scenes but has some real fridge horror to it.
And strip me of my progressive bona fides (honestly, I bought them off Etsy) but all this with Cassie is the most functional parts of the novel. Dump all the rest of the novel, dump the mechs and the mercs. Little to nothing of what they do in that, the bulk of the story, matters for the plot, compared to Cassie running around and gathering story. It is arguably more in like with the other Battletech books that way, as a sort of action spy thriller.
Almost. Because in addition to the exposition, and the misplaced war movie, and the second book, there are two other problems. The first is that Milán's version of Kurita is bullshit. Is it weird that the series seems to be getting more racist as opposed to less? Anyway, here Kurita is just Japan, and a particularly theme park version of Japan, complete with salary-men and katanas that cut other swords.
The second is the narrative. I do not mean the plot so much as that is messed up in a different sort of structural way, as already mentioned, but I feel...look, this is a work of fiction in a fictional universe, so whenever I find something nonsensical there's a part of me that steps back and says 'yeah, but does it matter?'. I think that maybe the point here was a sort of noir misdirection. That is the third type of book that this is, and coincidentally this is the third would-be-too-long tangent. But in the first half of the book, it is hard to make sense of some of the things that are happening not outright, but in the context of other books. And in the second half of the book, if you want that sort of a playing around with expectations, it needs to be like a magic trick rather than a deus ex machina.
So it is not even good idea, poor execution, as much as here is a book that needed a stronger keeper of the Series Bible or similar, who could provide general editorial work but also contextualization, and bringing the story better in line with other stories.
This book has too much exposition. The first third? Exposition. There is exposition within exposition. There is exposition within combat scenes. Not flashbacks, not like in The Price of Glory, but plain exposition.
Part of this is that there are too many characters. I do not mean that the dramatis personae is too long, although it assuredly is. I mean that there are too many characters. I was excited when Father Doctor Bob was introduced, but I then stopped, when the book seemed to be dedicated to this. If people make fun of Stackpole for running fights in the tabletop system, like a transcript of a Monopoly game, Milán feels like every player-character from his sessions needs to be included as a shout-out no one understands.
Lest I be too harsh, I do like Camacho's Caballeros, the mercenary company at the center of the book. I would say that they are too cliched, but look, after Space Japan, Space China+Russia, Space Germany, Other Space Germany, and my other brother Space Germany, I am fine with Space Mexican Cession. It is fun. That it is also Space Zionist Pride is an interesting but too-long-to-cover-here aside that can be covered with 'LOL.' The concept of the Caballeros is not used well (okay, it is mostly used to justify more exposition) but I had moments of interest, like with the Council of Elders or the day-care center. And I generally like how the Caballeros feel like soldiers, foul-mouthed, sentimental, and loyal to a fault. But that creates a problem that might be easier to see if I describe the plot.
The plot of the book is that Camacho's Caballeros, a mercenary force out of the Free World's League originally, but who have shopped around, are now hired by Draconis Combine and Chandrasekhar "Uncle Chandy" Kurita, a fat fatty who fats and cousin to House leader Theodore Kurita, to protect him and his business interests on the world Hachiman, an important industrial planet. But the fat man is targeted by Kurita internal security forces, and in maintaining their honor and their contract, this puts them in direct conflict with those portions of House Kurita working against Uncle Chandy.
You might be thinking, hey, that sort of sounds like the Battle of Misery in terms of Kuritan's turning against their own mercs. And it does! Except imagine a Wolves on the Border where Tetsuhara was omitted except for the first and last chapter. No, seriously, again, I had high hopes for the book at the beginning, because you do have the introduction of the Caballeros and then the Kuitan 'Ghost Regiment' (criminals made mechwarriors to serve out their sentences) in a sort of parallel construction. And I like what Milán does with the dialog here, he has particularly fun style that feels much more like human speech than a lot of the Arc character stage-cheated passages. But while the leader of the Ghost Regiment shows up throughout the book, when the sides are making the sort of 'I too am a person who knows honor' speeches at the end over how they do not want to fight, but will, it has no emotional heft, because the 230 pages of ongoing Caballero business.
But it is not just the exposition dump that ruins it, but the war movie style. No spoilers, or spoilers for Saving Private Ryan I guess, but the ending is very much stealing from the same movies that Saving Private Ryan stole from. It reads wrong. It reads wrong because movies shorthand information in a different sort of way that books, so at the same time it explains the exposition, it does not justify it, because in no way is there the same payoff. There is not the same payoff because, again, too many characters for a book whereas some of this would work in a movie, but also because there is too much that does not jive with Battletech. The tropes fit, but they are not the right tropes.
But it is not just the exposition or the war movie, but the whole other spy plot. The central character to the book is bicyclist Cassiopeia "Abtakha" Suthorn, a rape-revenge protagonist and overall Mary Sue, gutter snipe who grew up ethnically Kuritan in Liao space, picked up by the Caballeros after single-handed taking out one of their mechs (and if you thought GDC doing this was sketch, wait), now scout and mech hunter, who does no mech hunting and for whom scouting primarily means getting a job as a waitress through her feminine wiles, getting a job as a stripper, becoming a pimp, and pretending to be a sex worker who then actually falls for her pretend sugar daddy. All while functionally queerbaiting her with one of the Caballeros, which amounts to another volume of discourse, because it leads both to effective scenes but has some real fridge horror to it.
And strip me of my progressive bona fides (honestly, I bought them off Etsy) but all this with Cassie is the most functional parts of the novel. Dump all the rest of the novel, dump the mechs and the mercs. Little to nothing of what they do in that, the bulk of the story, matters for the plot, compared to Cassie running around and gathering story. It is arguably more in like with the other Battletech books that way, as a sort of action spy thriller.
Almost. Because in addition to the exposition, and the misplaced war movie, and the second book, there are two other problems. The first is that Milán's version of Kurita is bullshit. Is it weird that the series seems to be getting more racist as opposed to less? Anyway, here Kurita is just Japan, and a particularly theme park version of Japan, complete with salary-men and katanas that cut other swords.
The second is the narrative. I do not mean the plot so much as that is messed up in a different sort of structural way, as already mentioned, but I feel...look, this is a work of fiction in a fictional universe, so whenever I find something nonsensical there's a part of me that steps back and says 'yeah, but does it matter?'. I think that maybe the point here was a sort of noir misdirection. That is the third type of book that this is, and coincidentally this is the third would-be-too-long tangent. But in the first half of the book, it is hard to make sense of some of the things that are happening not outright, but in the context of other books. And in the second half of the book, if you want that sort of a playing around with expectations, it needs to be like a magic trick rather than a deus ex machina.
So it is not even good idea, poor execution, as much as here is a book that needed a stronger keeper of the Series Bible or similar, who could provide general editorial work but also contextualization, and bringing the story better in line with other stories.
July 3, 2023
Easily the most unique Battletech novel that I've ever read, which in some ways holds it back. The protagonist is compelling, but too much time is also spent following an entirely too large cast of characters. And with most of the cast having multiple nicknames, keeping track of them becomes overwhelming.
It also becomes quickly irrelevant due to Milan's unusual take on mech combat as being brutally fast and lethal. It's hard to buy the idea that these mercenaries are elite fighters when most of them do not survive initial contact with the enemy. Confusingly, many characters are introduced, named, and given backstories mere seconds before they are killed off. It's hard to get excited for future installments when so many of the characters are lost in the one significant mech fight in the book.
With all its flaws, this book is still worth reading for any BT fan. Camacho's Caballeros are the strangest, most dynamic group of mercs in the franchise, and I'm certainly going to keep reading to see what's next.
It also becomes quickly irrelevant due to Milan's unusual take on mech combat as being brutally fast and lethal. It's hard to buy the idea that these mercenaries are elite fighters when most of them do not survive initial contact with the enemy. Confusingly, many characters are introduced, named, and given backstories mere seconds before they are killed off. It's hard to get excited for future installments when so many of the characters are lost in the one significant mech fight in the book.
With all its flaws, this book is still worth reading for any BT fan. Camacho's Caballeros are the strangest, most dynamic group of mercs in the franchise, and I'm certainly going to keep reading to see what's next.
May 29, 2013
Close Quarters is the first in a trilogy of books by Victor Milan that covers the Camacho's Caballeros and their struggles with the Black Dragon Society. The Caballeros are hired by Chandrasekhar Kurita to protect his company, Hachiman Taro Electronics. They then get dragged into the plots and schemes that lie under the surface of Kurita society.
In a series of books that focus on Mechs it's refreshing and interesting to have the main character in this book an Infantry Scout. Cassie Suthorn is a tough, no nonsense, lone wolf. Through the book she grows and begins to deal with the traumas in her past.
In a series of books that focus on Mechs it's refreshing and interesting to have the main character in this book an Infantry Scout. Cassie Suthorn is a tough, no nonsense, lone wolf. Through the book she grows and begins to deal with the traumas in her past.
December 14, 2015
I clearly need more BT background information before I start to read novels set in this universe. Having said this, I did enjoy the story.
December 23, 2025
I love the Battletech universe for its machiavellen politics mixed with mecha action sadly this novel had barely of both if at all - however what it has in spades is an overly large cast of characters to the point a 'dramatis personae' list would have been helpful with that said though a lot of the characters were unecessary to the plot even as secondary/tertiary characters. Some of them had names which wouldn't far off from the names John Steinback typically named his characters with. - A positive point is, if you want to see mainly footsoldiers taking down mechs with ingenuity and/or small arms fire. This novel is for you, but if you want machiavellen politics mixed with mecha action which is typically found in the Battletech universe, skip this completely.
June 28, 2021
A very very good battletech read. Many authors seem to have a passing idea of foreign cultures and it usually shows. This book shows a different story. Probably the best take on Draconis Combine culture to be found in battletech novels. Slightly annoying showing off his use of spanish and japanese slang beyond the usual basic words used but it was still a refreshing story. 2nd gripe HUGE cast of characters. Didn't need to detail the lot. I understand why it was done but it was distracting from an engaging plot when you have to drop it to describe this new person and a bit about their past each time.
April 5, 2020
Disclaimer - If you don't know Battletech, this will be harder to fully enjoy.
A re-read of an old book for me, still my favourite set of Battletech novels easily. It has lot's of the setting buil.t in, but adds to it as well.
Radio KATN indeed - Kick's Ass and Takes Names.
A re-read of an old book for me, still my favourite set of Battletech novels easily. It has lot's of the setting buil.t in, but adds to it as well.
Radio KATN indeed - Kick's Ass and Takes Names.
September 1, 2020
Another long drawn out story.
Not really sure the fascination with Samauri, culture but it really makes for some boring reading. Cowboys and Ninjas again in a relentless drawn out story about 1 woman.
Not really sure the fascination with Samauri, culture but it really makes for some boring reading. Cowboys and Ninjas again in a relentless drawn out story about 1 woman.
June 3, 2021
BattleTech Series book 24. Story focused on an individual that is not a MechWarrior, rather an infantry scout for Camacho's Caballeros, mercenary unit working in the Kurita environment. Book one of the Camacho's Caballeros.
November 27, 2024
I do not like the writing style of this book, too much knee-jerky / psuedo-emotional dialogue with extremely unfamiliar character names. Scenes transition quickly without clarity and I found myself often having to reread pages to understand what was going on.
May 18, 2023
Good plot line, but too much of the author’s timeline (the 1990s) with its biases and perspectives leaks into this story which is set in 3034. Definite detractor and distraction.
March 16, 2018
Cassie Stuthorn is a foot-slogging Scout for Camacho's Caballeros mercenary regiment. Because she's the main character in this book, there isn't a lot of mech action, concentrating on what made her what she is.
Her backstory is a bit trite, and has been done before, but the supporting characters help raise the story.
There's a lot of intrigue going on as the Caballero's go to work in Draconis space, with the secret police and yakuza attempting to get to their employer.
When the mech battle does get going then it's worth the wait.
Her backstory is a bit trite, and has been done before, but the supporting characters help raise the story.
There's a lot of intrigue going on as the Caballero's go to work in Draconis space, with the secret police and yakuza attempting to get to their employer.
When the mech battle does get going then it's worth the wait.
April 18, 2015
Given my already declared kick as heroine weakness combined with a love of battletech any way I really enjoyed these books, the first of a trilogy it is gloriously cliched at times, and as subtle as an early John Woo film. This is kick ass action with almost a dose of superhero in the mix.
March 10, 2009
Für damalige Zeiten war das Buch für mich ein "dicker Schinken", der sich aber als sehr spannend entpuppte.
September 23, 2014
i really enjoyed this book when i first read it 20 years ago. i want to revisit it, and i just learned it was the first in a trilogy, so i'll find the other two , too.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews