Customer Reviews

Robotech: The Macross Saga, Vols. 1-3 (Genesis / Battle Cry / Homecoming)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This series is an excellent adaptation of the popular Japanese animation show "Robotech". The show was ground breaking in its animation, violence, and entertainment. No cartoon show that was around compared to the harsh realities of combat and the real emotions that the Robotech show offered. In a sense it was the soap opera for children. Once again, it is. The Robotech books "Genesis" "Homecoming" etc.. is not only as good as the television series but better. More detail, more history behind the storyline, and more character depth offers the reader not only a nostalgic sense but a window into the imagination. Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes, Minmei, Kyle, the bridge bunnies, Gloval. They are all once again alive thanks to the creative talents of the dynamic duo Jack McKinney(is a combination of two different writers). After each page, chapter, and book, it still leaves you wanting more. Somehow the writers have written in a way that all ideas that "this is just fiction" slips away and soon the reader is deeply involved with the characters. The television show opened up our eyes and imagination to the wonders of Robotech, but the books opened up our minds and thoughts. This is why I give this book five stars.

Robotech is the condensed/Americanized form of three Japanese Anime: 1st Macross, 2nd Southern Cross, 3rd Mospeada. While the TV series is good, it leaves the viewer a bit confused. Protoculture is confusingly explained at best, and the combat and relationships are not well fleshed out in the TV series (compared to the novels). In these novels, much of the confusing topics in the TV series become clearer, because Mckinney has paid attention to detail. And good detail it is. The characters are memorable because they are seen in a more personal perspective (however, Minnmei isn't the stupid ditz that she is in the TV series). Plus the reader has a window into the Character's minds. The story is also very well plotted and strongly written. It also ties the other series into this one better than the TV series does. While this is not Hyperion or Ender's Game, it is a fun and enjoyable read. If you are a Robotech/Macross fan, this is a must. If you want to read a good SF Space Opera, check this out. You won't be dissappointed.

I'm not just writing a review about this 3-part compilation, but of the entire Robotech book series by Jack McKinney. In a word, awesome! The series has everything from aliens, to love triangles, to (of course) transforming mecha. It is an action, love, suspense, thriller, sci-fi/fantasy tour de force...and it all begins with this compilation.

When this series first came out in 1987, I was already a huge Robotech fan. I watched faithfully, had lots of the toys, and even joined the official fan club. At that time, I found these novels so compelling that I would read surreptitiously by my night-light after bedtime.

13 years later I returned to this series in a fit of nostalgia, but somehow it's not quite the same. Or maybe it's like Holden Caulfield said about the Museum of Natural History: it stays the same, but you change. Either way, the older me can't get over flaws that would never have even crossed the mind of my younger counterpart.

For one thing, the authors are constrained by the terrible dubbed dialogue from the cartoon series, which is at times painful to read. Such dialogue is forgivable in a children's cartoon (and Robotech was marketed and dubbed as such, even if the original Japanese anime was not), but it's much more out of place in a self-respecting novel.

That's not even the worst of it. A far worse constraint is the flagrant violations of the laws of physics and of common sense that occur in the cartoon. Again, such quirkiness is almost de rigueur in the genre of dubbed anime, but unforgivable in novels that hope to be taken seriously. The authors are constantly apologizing for all the inexplicable and silly things that happen in the cartoon, like how the SDF-1 can "fall" into the "frozen" Macross island out in deep space or how Captain Gloval's bridge staff incessantly question his orders (that is, when they're not too busy gossiping about their personal lives). Luckily, the authors cooked up a convenient out: any time something strange happens, something that violates the laws of physics or otherwise doesn't make sense, they can chalk it up to Protoculture's mysterious ways.

And am I the only person who was disappointed to find out that "Jack MicKinney" is actually a composite of (at least) two different people? I would have had much more respect for the novels had they been researched and written by a single person, but somehow knowing that they were written by committee leaves me feeling betrayed and seems to magnify all their flaws.

This is not to deny the novel's virtues. The killer app for these novels, then and now, is enriching the Robotech universe and fleshing out the story. We don't buy the novels to find out whether Roy Fokker dies; the devoted fans already know the plot by heart. No, we buy these novels because we want back-stories and plot enrichment. In this area, the novels don't disappoint. Perhaps the best examples of this are the quotations that precede every chapter. These excerpts from various faux sources are extremely well done; there are a variety of different sources ranging from feminist histories of the Robotech wars to Minmei's diary, and they're all written in the style of the purported author. Even now, I look forward to ending a chapter just so that I can read the prologue to the next one. The invented back-stories are fascinating too; for instance it's quite impressive that the authors were able to invent an entire character (T.R. Edwards) and make him an integral part of the plot, even though he never once appears in any of the three Robotech series. It just proves that the authors can write a riveting story with quality dialogue when not constrained by faithfulness to the cartoon (though even when they are so constrained it's somewhat entertaining to see just what contorted contrivance they'll conjure up as justification).

With the reprinting and cheap anthologizing of these novels, the real question for interested parties is not the price but rather the opportunity cost of the time commitment. These novels do have something to offer for fans of the Robotech universe, but it may be that the amount of leisure time that needs to be invested to reap these rewards could be better spent elsewhere... like watching the tapes, for those lucky enough to have access.

It blew me away to see these books are in their third printing. I'm not aware of the series being rerun anywhere, but to have the fond memories kindled in 1985 still burn twenty years later is saying something. The Robotech phenomenon is comparable to the Star Trek and Star Wars phenomenon in the 1970s, with a hard core fan base and rabid devotion.

Why?

For sweep and scope, Robotech is comparable to Orson Scott Card's "Homecoming Saga" or my favorite "Worthing Saga." It's the multigenerational aspect that enchants me: Robotech's soul-mate "War and Peace" covers fifteen years, and Appendix B indicates that "Lord of the Rings" covers six months (by shire reckoning). With Robotech, we get something more--akin to the patriot's dream that sees beyond the years.

Yes, this is for teenagers. But so is Harry Potter, the Hobbit, and the Narnia books. C. S. Lewis said, "When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up" and "Those of us who are blamed when old for reading childish books were blamed when children for reading books too old for us. No reader worth his salt trots along in obedience to a time table."

The characters are not flat, but just platonic forms, full archetypes of the type of people we meet everyday. Rick Hunter (no relation) is Everyman, Lisa Hayes is a stressed-out career woman, and compare and contrast the rise and fall of Lynn Minmei to Britney Spears.

It should be remembered that this book is a novelization of the animated series. Therefore, it is more of a reminder of what we saw, and less of a literary masterwork. This, of course, does not detract from the book: it enhances the book by properly understanding its proper use. As C. S. Lewis said, "The first qualification for judging any piece of workmanship from a corkscrew to a cathedral is to know what it is--what it was intended to do and how it was meant to be used."

A word about the discrepancies: In most novelizations they are due to the author working from an earlier version of the script. In the case of Robotech, it seems that McKinney was forced to add things to round out the prose and the plot. In many cases--such as Brooks's novelization of "Phantom Menace" and Card's adaptation of "The Abyss"--the author consults with the filmmaker to fill in the gaps. For example, the Brain-Computer Interface caps are perfect explanations how Hunter and Sterling beat the learning curve, or the lengthy opening chapters about the first contact/boarding party with the SDF help with the setting. Then there are the other things, such as the missing Zentraedi bodies, or page 28 mentioning gawky, knock-kneed teenage Lisa Hayes. But these are rather minor.

Considering how Lucas retconned the second trilogy to fit in with the first, it may be that "McKinney" may be doing the same thing. The later version would have precedence over the first.

There is one added scene that I thing is absolutely essential: the Prologue. This is absolutely essential to understanding the whole series. In fact, I would like to see this animated, since it ties-up the three series into one knot. I loved imaging the battle between the Zentraedi and the Invid. "McKinney" includes that statement that the Invid were originally a peaceful species became the most ferocious being in the galaxy, and I would have loved to see how such a cultural shift could happen.

In any event, stoke your memory, or rediscover Robotech for the first time. Both ways, you see how the series deals with the Human Experience--love and disillusionment, war and peace, technology and its consequences, and man's place in a large and dangerous universe.

What can I say. Read this book few times. It is slow in the beginning but it sets up the stage thats comes into play later on as story moves on. I know many people problem seen diffirent versions of the cartoon that came out. Me I like this one. Story line of RIch Hunter and ect. I tend to laugh at how many ships Ricks keeps looseing until later on. I don't like to give out hints to the story. But as much action in this book. You find that here a love trangle in it. Plus other events, thoughts that seems normal to us but strange to the invaders.

There's a conspicuous duality between epic sci fi themes and zany comedy which reminds one that this was in fact a cartoon series.

The Robotech books are interesting in that they are based on a television show which is based on three other television shows. However good or bad any of those shows are is irrelevant, as the writing duo known as Jack McKinney have greatly expanded and fleshed out the world of Robotech.

This particular omnibus contains the first three volumes of the Robotech universe - Genesis, Battle Cry, and Homecoming. The three volumes recount the alien spaceship that has crash-landed on Earth with amazing technology slowly being learned by humans. A decade later, an alien race of humanoids roughly 50 feet tall or higher, called the Zentraedi, have come to take back their ship. The SuperDimensional Fortress 1, or the SDF-1, performed a space fold maneuver during the attack, but accidentally arrived near Pluto. The journey back to Earth, with remarkable battles, takes place and is filled with a wonderful cast of characters.

In terms of sheer entertainment, Robotech is hard to beat. It is a fun science-fiction adventure that runs the gamut of human emotions. It is easy to enjoy a character one moment, but then be completely frustrated at his/her actions - the characters are very real, in that sense. There are plenty of humorous scenes, enough to make most readers literally laugh out loud at the events unfolding. For example, the two completely different races don't know what to make of each other. The giant Zentraedi witness transmissions of a swimsuit competition and can only guess at what they are seeing - are they seeing some sort of new battle uniform? New armor? Some sort of secret weapon? Another example is when they obtain human hostages and during interrogation learn of "kissing", and one of the battle-thirsty Zentraedi yell, "Demonstrate this kissing or I will crush all of you!"

The universe has also been greatly fleshed out in the novelization. Similar to Dune, each chapter contains an epigraph of some future publication. Whether it be the collected sayings of a specific character, or a history of the Robotech Wars, or any number of various media. This not only fills the reader in on smaller aspects of the overall story, but makes the universe more complete and realistic.

All in all, this is a fun read for any science-fiction fan and should not be missed.

It follows the show almost to a T! I had to watch my DVD's again just to make sure everything was correct! If you loved the show, this is alot more detailed and gives you more insight to Gloval's thoughts as well was the numberous members of the SDF-1's crew!

What can say, I loved these books. I have been a huge fan of Robotech since seeing the television series. The Zentraedi were always my favourites and they are by no means sidelined in the novels. Throughout the Robotech series you learn more about the alien's culture and history which makes for facinating reading. All the aspects which made the series great are in the novels and then some. Facinating sci-fi and moral cocepts are also explored; for example: the ethics of cloning, the morality of slavery and the fruits of repression and rule by fear etc. I recommend all the novels in the series but most especially First Generation 1-6, the Sentinels 1-5 and The End of the Circle. Fans of the Zentraedi character Breetai will enjoy the sentinels as the character is developed more. If you love action and aliens then place the Robotech series on your wish list.