I've been watching through the Macross anime series recently and I have been looking for novels written by Western authors with a similar vibe
A summary of the origal series:
"It is A.D. 2009. Ten years of furious conflict and frenzied construction have turned an alien wreck into human triumph; the colossal space battleship Macross. On the day of the ship's launch, a world waits with baited breath to witness mankind's next giant leap.
Hovering above the planet, though, the Zentradi, a merciless warrior race, seek to advance their agenda of destruction and conquest. When long-dormant systems aboard the Macross suddenly fire upon the alien fleet, the ship meant to preserve humanity may become its undoing. A war of attrition erupts, taking mankind across the solar system and beyond in a fight to justify its existence!"
Within this is space fighter/Mecha fights, love triangles (I prefer male lead with female love interests), music performances (music being a central theme, starting off rather ground but turning into straight up magic later lol), war, etc. the series is largely a happier vibe but there is some brutal war in there as well
The first series is about the war contained in the Solar System while the later series are about the mixed human and Zentradi colony ships that venture into the Milky Way looking for new planets and races. As it gets crazier there's all sorts of other human adjacent races that are basically just like space elves, space giants, etc.
You have the more grounded series like Macross, Macross Zero and Macross Plus and the more magical series like Macross 7, Macross Frontier, and Macross Delta.
Thanks for any recs
by wjodendor