BattleTech: Fox Tales (The Collected Fox Patrol Stories)

BattleTech Universe

by Bryan Young

DREAMS OF ’MECHS AND MERCS…

Katie Ferraro dreams of nothing more than being a MechWarrior. Orphaned at a young age, she learns everything she can about ’Mech repair from her mentor and adoptive father. On the distant planet of Jerangle, though, her chances of fulfilling her dreams are slim.

But when she finds an abandoned Kit Fox in the jungle, she realizes her dreams might not be so far away. As she goes to work on the ’Mech in secret, she makes a name for herself as a talented tech, but waits for the right moment to reveal herself to be what she always dreamed a MechWarrior. With her newfound ’Mech, Katie forms her own mercenary unit. She’s too young to be a leader and too brash to be a tactician, but she’ll do anything in her power to keep her unit together long enough to take their next job.

These five Fox Tales, including a brand-new one published only in this collection, tell the fascinating, infuriating, and funny stories of the rise of the everyone’s favorite new mercenary unit in the Inner The Fox Patrol.

Genres: Science Fiction

185 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2022

About the author

Bryan Young (he/they) works across many different media. His work as a writer and producer has been called "filmmaking gold" by The New York Times. He's also published comic books with Slave Labor Graphics and Image Comics. He's been a regular contributor for the Huffington Post, StarWars.com, Star Wars Insider magazine, SYFY, /Film, and was the founder and editor in chief of the geek news and review site Big Shiny Robot! In 2014, he wrote the critically acclaimed history book, A Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination. He co-authored Robotech: The Macross Saga RPG and has written five books in the BattleTech Universe: Honor's Gauntlet, A Question of Survival, Fox Tales, Without Question, and the forthcoming VoidBreaker. His latest non-fiction tie-in book, The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists is a #1 Bestseller on Amazon. His work has won two Diamond Quill awards and in 2023 he was named Writer of the Year by the League of Utah Writers. He teaches writing for Writer’s Digest, Script Magazine, and at the University of Utah. Follow him across social media @swankmotron or visit swankmotron.com.

Support Bryan on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/swankmotron

Reviews

[Enby Kaiju · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feeling more like a single cohesive story more than a collection of short tales, Fox Tales is another great example by Young to develop the Battletech lore in ways that are more personal and involved rather than galaxy-spanning mecha beat-downs.

Focusing on an entirely unaffiliated young mechwarrior throughout her early career as a mercanary captain, Fox Tales l jumps between stages of her life; from finding her first mech, to establishing a name for herself and her company amid the Dark Age of Battletech moving up to the ilClan era.

Personal stories & identities take a strong role in this collection, demonstrating that the galaxy isn't a straight & narrow society, but one that bends and grows around its people. And I really hope that we get to see more of this kind of writing coming out of the Battletech narrative going forward, both from Bryan Young, and other up-and-coming writers.

[Kevin K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Bryan Young has captured something with the Fox Patrol series. They don't read as "vanilla" as other Battletech stories, and I quite enjoy the characterization of each member of the Merc Unit.

As a fan of big stompy robots, I would recommend this as a quick read.

[Scott Blomgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and easy short read

I love this author. His battletech books have been great. And this one is one of those kind of books that just allow you to relax for 15 to 30 minutes.

[Lawrenc · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the worst Battletech books I have read. This is more a vehicle for social political agendas than anything else. The premise of finding an abandonded mech and salvaging it is overused but ok. What is not is that the main character gets a cutting edge clan mech that has been sitting and rotting in a jungle for 100 years. Then she proceeds to repair said mech in 3 months by herself on a planet with extremely limited resources because she is such a great tech. She then does on to defeat two pirate mechs who in were shape than hers because she did'nt work on them. Oh did I mention she's only 17 has only ever worked on farn equipment as an apprentice and had absoultly no formal combat trainng at all or even piloted the mech before the battle.
Also later in the book she is lamenting that her subordinate brings a pistol witrh her to a contract negotiaon brcause guns make her feel unsafe. Never mind that she kills people for money as a mercenary. Things go badly of course and tehy run from the bad guys. All during the rest of the chapter the main characters concern is not escaping from the people trying to murder them but that she has to make it to her other employyes gay wedding at a Catholic Cathedral on time. The bad guys litteraly follow her to the wedding while taking pot shots at her.
I have heard the main charchter refered to as idealistic. She's not. She's a romantic she has a childish view of everything and shows next to no personal growth over a 10 year plus period.

[J Murdock · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another woke D-bag just gotta ruin everything with gay lovers.

Guys a D-dag woke clown. Years before he was anything the stories were fantastic. Based on intrigue, battles and tales of the future.

The new clown writers like Bryan are systematically destroying the series.

Get woke, go broke. Ill seek a refund for this ttash.

[Josh Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

"So You've Decided to Read Battletech" - Review 3

I've not been a fan of most of the short Battletech fiction I've read. The fluff pieces in the rules books, the packed in stories in the starter boxes, most of the stories from Shrapnel 1 (with one, maybe two exceptions), and the first couple stories of the Proliferation Cycle have been tedious. Does Fox Tales break the cycle of BT short story mediocracy? Yes.

Review:

The characters are light and airy. They seem maybe a little 'sitcom-y.' To my mind, they all have foils from TV. Ramirez is Diaz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Nick is Nick, from New Girl. The main protagonist, Katie, is Kaylee from Firefly. And so forth.

I appreciate that the stories don't go dark. I don't mind dark. But just as "realistic" as it is to present dark stories of struggle, it's equally realistic to present stories of light, hope, joy, and perseverance. I hope that Katie never gets jaded. I mean, it's Battletech, so bad stuff happens, but that's also normal for real, non-Battletech life. Some people get jaded, and others find the way to turn life's trials into understanding, gentleness, and wisdom. I hope that's the path Bryan Young decides to send her down.

Assessment

Good Clean Fun

Lasting Impressions
In this section, I return long after reading to give my remembered impressions. Did this book stand the test of time?

Yes! I still think fondly of these stories. Particularly the first one.

[Tim Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quality Battletech fiction - much of it a re-read for me as the Fox Patrol stories have featured in shrapnel - so be aware.

[Gustavo archila · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to the Mercenary Life in the Battletech Universe

Bryan Young does a great job of transporting us into the life of a young mercenary unit, in which we see the dreams of the unit's commander Katie come to fruition. Her zest and seal for her mercenary unit, and battlemech technology as a whole, touches the heart, as it reminds us of our own passions ande dreams when we were younger.
Young also does a great service to the Battletech community as a whole, by having protagonists in his stories that would be ostracized in a less tolerant climate.
I cannot wait to read the Fox Patrol's next adventure; while I do so, I'll be painting a five-mech lance in rust red and white!

[Aaron N. Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

GIANT 👏 FIGHTING 👏 ROBOTS 👏

Fox Tales is a good time. Fun characters, solid worldbuilding, and exciting battles that sometimes go for dozens of pages.

I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did, but it was so easy to read that the words felt like candy to my eyeballs. Bryan Young deserves to be talked about a lot more.

[M.H. Questus · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent novel if you're a fan of the Battletech universe, and still a good one if you don't know anything about the setting. The writing is solid, the pace is satisfying, and the characters are interesting. If you are somebody who wants to dip their toes into Battletech's deep and vast ocean of fiction, this is an excellent starting point.

[Erick Mertz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katie Ferraro is a terrific character, one I slipped right into the groove with. She's tenacious, purposed, relatable and someone I'll be returning to. The stories here were action packed and served as an interesting re-entry into the Battletech world.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun battles simple story

The stories are fun and light. Battles have some good tension yet never feeling like the worst could happen. Good intro to one of the clans.

[ZJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories following a young mech tech whose dream is to become a MechWarrior. Fun stories with plenty of action.

[FacesofWayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels a bit YA but has its moments

[Scot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Woke BS. Wish I would have read the reviews. Got through 1st chapter obviously geared towards young adults. Author should not write for Battletech.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stories about an up and coming mercenary unit in the Battletech universe. Great read and looking forward to reading more in the future!

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read

This is a fun piece of tie in fiction. I enjoyed every story of a young new merc company in the battletech universe