With the news that aPacific Rimsequel series is in the works, that hopefully means it’s time for a resurgence of popularity for one of my favorite genres – mecha. Whether it’s the acrobatic anime aesthetic oftheGundamfranchise’s Mobile Suitsor the lumbering retro war machines of ’80s sci-fi cult classics likeRobot Jox, few things have the sheer weighty thrill of giant robots clashing, whether it’s on-screen or on the written page.
It may surprise you to know, but for all their visual spectacle, mecha have been a longstanding fixture of sci-fi literature; arguably,Robert A. Heinlein’s novelStarship Trooperswas one of the first real works of mecha fiction (or H. G. Wells’The War of the Worlds, depending on who you ask). So while waiting for news aboutAmazon’s upcomingPacific Rimseries, take a minute to crack open the phenomenal new book in the 40-year-runningBattleTechseries:Lone Wolf and Fox, by Bryan Young.
If You Loved Pacific Rim’s Jaegers, You’ll Love the Fox Patrol’s BattleMechs Even More
BattleMechs May Be Smaller Than Jaegers But The Scale Of The Conflicts They Fight In Is Significantly Larger
Pacific Rim’s Jaegersare one of the film’s most persistent images: massive man-like metallic monstrosities, themselves built to fight monsters as the planet Earth crumbles around them. The BattleMechs of the heroic Fox Patrol are significantly smaller than their larger cousins; a BattleMech averages about 10 meters tall while Gipsy Danger, the poster boy of Jaegers, is just shy of 80 meters. Yet ’Mechs – and the destruction they wreak – will absolutely scratch the same itch for anyone who loves a story about properly heavy metal.
While ’Mechs are smaller, their world is larger;Lone Wolf and Foxis set amid the 1000-light-year bubble of space centered around Earth known as the Inner Sphere, which has been a hotbed of conflict for centuries. BattleMechs are the most ubiquitous war machines in known space, and interstellar empires have risen and fallen as a result of these metal titans clashing on countless worlds.Pacific Rimmay not have spent much time on the geopolitics of a world ravaged by Kaiju, butBattleTechhas enough rampant imperialists and cutthroat pirates to more than make up for it.
Yet for all the grimness implied by interstellar war,Lone Wolf and Foxis full of humor, heart, and compassion. The titular Foxes of the Fox Patrol are a group of mercenaries, led by the plucky young Katie Ferraro, who grew up on tall tales of MechWarriors and their mighty steeds, fighting for justice among the stars. Unfortunately, the mercenary life proves to be significantly more complicated than Katie expected, and the weapon that proves the most effective at protecting her newfound family isn’t her trusty ’Mech – it’s her heart.
The Fox Patrol Are Fantastic LGBTQ+ Representation In A Genre That Greatly Benefits From It
Science Fiction Of All Kinds Is A Genre About Looking Forward, And That Means It’s At Its Best With Diverse Casts
While sci-fi – particularly military sci-fi – has long been the provenance of cisgender white men like Robert Heinlein and Orson Scott Card, Bryan Young (he/they) has put the Fox Patrol together out of a wonderful cast of diverse characters. Blatantly asexual CO Katie would rather be tinkering with machines than worrying about dating. The ship’s pilot, Frankie, is a catty nonbinary disaster who just wants a little respect for their efforts. And then there are delightful gay lovebirds Evan and Arkee, whose marriage is something Young uses to great dramatic effect over the course of the story.
Detractors of the genre may call this combination of intense military action and heartfelt relationship drama schlocky, or even melodramatic, but that would be a shallow and insincere analysis…
Detractors of the genre may call this combination of intense military action and heartfelt relationship drama schlocky, or even melodramatic, but that would be a shallow and insincere analysis based on a fundamental misunderstanding of Young’s writing,BattleTechas a franchise, and sci-fi as a whole. Science fiction has always been a genre about looking towards the future, even one darkened by the promise of war, because amid the darkness are the moments when the truest facets of human nature shine most brightly.
Amid the flying bullets and lasers, the interstellar politics and backroom deals,Lone Wolf and Foxis a story about a found family that awkwardly – humanly – learns how to care for each other in a world where such care is far from guaranteed. Whether it’s the tension between Arkee and Evan after Evan winds up in the hospital when his ’Mech is scrapped, or Katie’s frantic rush to pick up the custom Christmas presents she had made for the whole unit, the interpersonal connections shine like diamonds in the rough.
Lone Wolf And Fox Shows Why BattleTech As A Franchise Is Great Even If You Don’t Play The Games
There Are More Ways To Enjoy BattleTech Than You Can Shake A ’Mech At
As a tabletop franchise,BattleTechis just now passing its 40th anniversary: the first edition of the game was released in 1984. The tie-in fiction started releasing in 1986, with the first book,Decision at Thunder Rift, telling a story much like that of the Fox Patrol, where scrappy young mercenaries fight to find their footing amid a universe that takes constant war for granted. Now, 114 novels, 25 short story anthologies, and a ’90s Saturday morning cartoon later,BattleTechhas grown into one of the most expansive, detailed, and engrossing sci-fi settings out there.
Lone Wolf and Foxis the kind of story that is emblematic ofBattleTech’s heart: good people making the best of a bad situation. Sure, there’s also hundreds of tabletop sourcebooks and video games that also expand on the setting, and a lot of those are genuinely amazing, like 2019’s wildly successfulMechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, but the more amazing part is that the universe has grown well past the point of needing to hinge on a tabletop game in order to feel alive.
Even if you’re the kind of person who avoids video games and has a severe phobia of dice, there’s some corner ofBattleTechfiction that will have some appeal.
Even if you avoid video games or have a severe phobia of dice, there’s a corner ofBattleTechfiction that will have some appeal. If down-on-their-luck found families like Katie and her Fox Patrol aren’t it, there are plenty of novels that deal with the Inner Sphere’s movers and shakers and the massive interplanetary wars that weigh on their shoulders. The Inner Sphere itself is a true melange of human cultures, with political intrigue that can putA Song of Ice and Fireto shame.
IfLone Wolf and Foxdoes scratch that itch and leave you wanting more, fret not – there’s an earlier Fox Patrol anthology,Fox Tales, that collects the stories of the unit’s origins, and just how Katie stumbled across the quirky littleKit Foxthat she entrusts her life with. Moreover, Bryan Young just happens to be one ofBattleTech’s most talented and prolific authors;Outfoxed, the newly announced next chapter of the Fox Patrol’s story, is just coming over the horizon, and Young also has several otherBattleTechnovels that are well worth a binge-read or six.
Lone Wolf and Fox
May 2025
Anthology
WhenPacific Rimfirst hit theaters all those years ago, I saw it six times, because giant robots are something that have always brought me a deeply inexplicable joy. But one of the main reasons I feel that joy is having stumbled acrossBattleTechnovels at a formative age. It delights me incredibly to know that both of these franchises are still going strong, whether on screen or in print, and that a whole new generation of giant robot enthusiasts has so many wonderful options to suit up and dive into.
