I am an unapologetic fan of big stompy robots. From the early days of Kaiju (Godzilla-style) films with actors inside robot-suits, to anime and cartoons, to Battletech and WarHammer, and to modern video games and movies… I just love big stompy robots.
I don’t think they “make sense” in a traditional way. There are shockingly few situations where having a 20-100m tall robot makes any logical sense. But the same could be said of airships, which I love, and landships, which I think are hilarious but still love. It doesn’t have to make sense to be cool… heck, most FTL systems don’t make sense, but they’re still cool regardless.
But I don’t know if I could write a big stompy story. A lot of the joy in these stories are the visuals… which isn’t to say the Battletech books aren’t fun. They are! But they’re predicated on decades of people kinda knowing what those robots look like. As a random example, the Robotech/Macross series of books just weren’t as good… the comics were great, the anime/cartoons were great, but as words on a page, they just lacked the oomph of other stories. So the ability to translate giant mecha into narrative story, I think, relies on an understanding of what the mecha “are” (in universe at least), and then a hefty suspension of disbelief.
Maybe I’ll try one out in a few books (my next 2 at least don’t involve mecha). Always good to stretch your creative comfort zone!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!