Giant Freakin’ Robots

Edited by

James Young

(Raconteur Press, February 2024, 245 pp.)

“Soulsteel” by KR Paul

“Blood Redeemers” by Spearman Burke

“Mary Sue’s Last Stand” by Tiffany Ross

“Mecha at the State Fair” by Sarah Arnette

“King of the Kaiju” by James Young

“Foot Soldiers” by Seth Taylor

“The Price of Peace” by Craig A. Reed, Jr

“Under a Lonely Yellow Star” by Daniel G. Zeidler

“The Federation of Intergalactic Mechanized Orsacan Combat” by Peter Delcroft

“I’m in Love with a Helicopter: A Titan Mage Story” by Edie Skye

Reviewed by Seraph

10 original stories about one of my all-time favorite topics comprise this anthology, and there wasn’t a single story that I didn’t enjoy. As any collection of stories about various kinds of mechs and mechas should be, it is just fun from beginning to end. There is a kind of magic that happens when an author is in love with what they are writing, and in this reviewer’s humble opinion, there is as much magic as mech… and there are a lot of mechs! The concept of giant robots alone should imply futuristic settings and the stories do not disappoint, but there are some surprising times and places awaiting you here. I’ve recommended every story in this anthology to varying degrees, and my hat goes off to the editor and every author printed within these pages.

“Soulsteel” by KR Paul

Jexrah is almost as exhausted as her mecha-suit is worn down, but the depot she is protecting can’t afford for her to rest. Her opponent is one of the most notorious pirates to ever haunt the sector, and this is just the latest of their many battles over seven long years. While the battle itself ends rather explosively, the real fight is one that she and her Soulmate have been trying to escape from ever since they met. Once everyone believes that the pirate is dead, their life together can truly be free of those who would seek vengeance upon him. The dance between the two of them is as charming as their scheme is complex, and it was a fantastic beginning to the anthology.

“Blood Redeemers” by Spearman Burke

There are a number of well-loved fictions that are as much social commentaries as they are entertaining. The use of convicts for dangerous combat is not an uncommon version of such tales, and while this one didn’t tread new ground, it hit every one of the right notes. Kham Serk is the leader of his band of miscreants, but he is more than just a common convict. His secretive past has left him with skills that keep his unit alive, despite ridiculous odds and heavy enemy armor, but infantry against exo-mechs is far from a fair fight. Add in helpless civilians caught in the middle and the recipe is one for disaster. Fortunately, that disaster waits for another tomorrow, and as Serk tells his newest cut, one tomorrow at a time.

“Mary Sue’s Last Stand” by Tiffany Ross

The name alone almost screams parody, but the story is anything but. It’s quite a serious story. And, of course, this is where I tell you it is about mermaids. Yes, mermaids. I’ll admit, not exactly what you expect in a giant robot anthology, but the enemy are called kraken, and Kaiju from the sea are much more in line with what you’d expect. The journey from schoolgirl to heroine takes some genuinely interesting turns, and Marissa Stewart proves she deserves far more than her demeaning nickname would indicate. Her courage, skill and pure resilience are a delightful reversal on the initial impression of the title. I applaud the author for a clever subversion of expectations, and an entertaining story.

“Mecha at the State Fair” by Sarah Arnette

There always has to be one in a bunch, and this is it. Cute animals meet the mechanized future and it all goes down at the state fair. An adorably clueless puppy and a somehow-Space Marine-of-a-cat end up in possibly sabotaged mechs with no working kill switches. The puppy just wants to make friends, and the mech echoes every shake and howl the poor hapless animal lets out. No animals were harmed in the course of this story, unless you count all the humans running from a clash between giant freakin’ robots piloted by house-pets of extraordinary pedigrees.

“King of the Kaiju” by James Young

Not everything ends well in space. There are so many things that can… just go wrong, even on a training exercise. Jason Holowach is a truly exceptional warrior, with dreams of changing the way warfare is fought in the distant 31^st century. It isn’t an easy sell to convince the Navy that its Marines needed the mecha suits more than it needed more starfighters, but the valor and experience of this veteran pilot are so compelling during the mission that it is nearly a foregone conclusion that he has made the hard sell work. The best part of this story is how human the characters feel, how the hopes and dreams they share unite them and propel them ever onward. The worst part is that Jason’s death is not only completely unnecessary, but that the way it goes down makes perfect sense to anyone who has ever had to experience old officers stubbornly set in their ways and hostile to change. The ending is full of hope, and honoring a fallen hero, but the tragedy of his loss is so well laid out and believable that I found this story to be the crowning jewel of the anthology. I cannot say I enjoyed it the most, but I can say with certainty that it spoke to me the most, and that I appreciate the care that was put into its writing.

“Foot Soldiers” by Seth Taylor

When I spoke of surprises earlier, this was foremost in my mind. Of all the possibilities I did expect coming into this anthology, an extremely creative retelling of the American Civil War-era battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac was definitively not on my bingo card. It is as much steampunk as it is robots, and the historical timeframe dictates much of the plot, but the details are so well crafted. If you know the history, it should go without saying that after an extremely harrowing battle, the Union wins. However, in my mind, the measure of historically-based fiction is how well the author sets their premise (usually the thing that causes this version to divert from the past) and how well they develop and commit to it. One of my favorite concepts is the idea that if you can suspend your initial disbelief, everything that follows should make sense. This is certainly true of this story, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

“The Price of Peace” by Craig A. Reed, Jr

The title sets the expectation quite accurately in this case, in another take on the “prisoner who is now a soldier” genre. I have a respect and love for stories about heroes who are betrayed and sacrificed by the corrupt society they risk their lives to protect, and this one hit that nerve. Carl Myers is a hero. Carl Myers is a murderer. Both of these things are true. His government doesn’t care that the men he cut down abused and murdered his family. It only cares that the “men” who did it, and I use that term so very loosely for these monsters, were Elite members of the genetically-modified and ordered society. His family was not the first that they had done such heinous things to, but he made sure it would be the last. As much as the Elite families of these disgraces wanted him dead, his record and his value made it too high a cost for the military, who found a new way to punish him. He serves his sentence one fight at a time, taking on enemies that are too dangerous for the military to risk its precious Elites against, and does so not with malingering or complaint, but with skill and honor. This is the price that Carl Myers pays for peace: not for himself, but for his family that would surely be caught in the crossfire of the Elites revenge should he ever walk free again. This story is a fantastic variation on a not-uncommon theme, and I definitely recommend that you give it a read.

“Under a Lonely Yellow Star” by Daniel G. Zeidler

Fungal zombies were yet another surprise, and it won me over before the end. The Nomads long ago lost control of their habitat AI, and were horrifically transformed and taken over by the spores that the AI put in their water supply. Their massive ships now roam the galaxy, spreading the spores’ infection… and those who are not one of the converted captured become food for the horde in a genuinely gruesome fashion. This story has everything you want from both zombie horror and mech fiction, from unfortunate souls transformed into a ravening horde of unusual intelligence and coordination, to a battalion of mechs sent to clear out the cavernous chambers of the Nomad ship. It wasn’t the story I expected, but it absolutely deserves its place in the anthology, and was very well played.

“The Federation of Intergalactic Mechanized Orsacan Combat” by Peter Delcroft

FIMOC, as it is called in the story, is a mega-corporation of galactic proportions, so unbelievably wealthy that just to stage their mech combat sports, they buy up entire planets as arenas. Koz is the leader of a salvage team that cleans up after one of these battles between immense mechs, but this mission goes off the rails in a colossal way. An abandoned military research facility has corrupted one of the most infamous and dangerous mechs into a nanite-controlled, unstoppable monster. Koz and her team have the fantastic fortune of getting caught right in the crosshairs of the killer mech, and those who survive barely do so. This wasn’t my favorite story in the anthology, but it was just as well-written as any of the others and it was plenty entertaining.

“I’m in Love with a Helicopter: A Titan Mage Story” by Edie Skye

Out of all the stories in this anthology, this one best embodied the spirit of so many of the mecha-genre stories. Handsome scoundrel who meets his match in a beautiful and badass woman? Check. Intense and innovative combat between mechs? Right again. A clever mixture of giant robots and magical powers meshed with technology, tinkered to perfection by a mechanic who loves machines more than people? You got it. In fact, the only thing this story is missing is… a sequel. Seriously, let me know when it’s printed and I’m there. Orion is the Gravity Mage who is just graduating from the Titan Academy, and Jenny is the redheaded firebrand who damn near sends him to the dirt. She is pirating only because her brothers are being held hostage, and Orion is the perfect man to help her get them back. The pirates never stood a chance, and the story ends on a bright and cheeky note that made me smile. Well done, sincerely.