Robotech (novels)

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Robotech
RobotechTheMacrossSagaBattlecry.jpg

Author Jack McKinney, Brian Daley
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction, Young adult fiction,
Mystery, Thriller
Publisher Del Rey Books
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback)
Audiobook

In 1987, the Robotech animated series was adapted into novel form by authors James Luceno and Brian Daley and published by Del Rey Books. Having previously collaborated on the animated series Galaxy Rangers , the pair released the Robotech novels under the unified pseudonym of "Jack McKinney". Using fictitious epigraphs in the style of Dune, McKinney's novels escaped the limitations inherent in the dubbed cartoon and fleshed out its chronology in greater detail; most significantly, by adapting the storyline of the aborted sequel project, "The Sentinels". The entire series lasted for twenty-one books, the first fifteen of which were later collected into five three-book omnibus compilations in the early 1990s.

Contents

The original twelve novels were written to a tight twelve-month deadline, so that the books could be released one per month. Under this deadline, Daley and Luceno divided the Robotech timeline into twelve segments and worked on different segments simultaneously (i.e. Daley wrote Book 1 while Luceno wrote Book 2), then traded completed manuscripts for revision and style adjustments. As part of the research project, they watched the TV series many times, and consulted heavily with Carl Macek.

The first two omnibus collections, comprising the entirety of the "Macross Saga", were reissued in 2003 to tie in with the release of the Robotech: Battlecry video game. Then, in 2007, the next two omnibus collections, covering the remainder of the television series, were re-released as tie-ins to the animated movie, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles . However, a revision of the Robotech timeline made by Harmony Gold alongside the release of the movie caused some continuity clashes with the McKinney novels, which were relegated to a "secondary" position in Robotech canon. To work around this, the Southern Cross and Invid Invasion collections contain new appendices written by Robotech fan Jonathan L. Switzer correcting any newborn mistakes.

Divergences

The major divergences from the Robotech television series include:

The divergences can be explained partly by a lack of translated source material from the original shows—meaning that the writers could only go by what was seen on the screen and the materials they had been given—and partly by a desire to tie the series together even more completely than the television show, sometimes by including material that never ended up being animated. In particular, the "Shapings of the Protoculture" enabled this unification, serving as the deus ex machina to Robotech's Greek tragedy. At least some of the elements for which the novels have been criticized were directly suggested by Carl Macek during Daley and Luceno's consultations with him.

Bibliography

The following is the list of novels released by Del Rey in publishing order, Omnibus Editions and a rough chronological story order, except that the events in books #13–17 (The Sentinels) are actually concurrent with books #7–12:

Individual editionsOmnibus Collected editionsChronological story order
  1. Genesis
  2. Battle Cry
  3. Homecoming
  4. Battle Hymn
  5. Force of Arms
  6. Doomsday
  7. Southern Cross
  8. Metal Fire
  9. The Final Nightmare
  10. Invid Invasion
  11. Metamorphosis
  12. Symphony of Light
  13. The Devil's Hand (The Sentinels)
  14. Dark Powers (The Sentinels)
  15. Death Dance (The Sentinels)
  16. World Killers (The Sentinels)
  17. Rubicon (The Sentinels)
  18. The End of the Circle
  19. The Zentraedi Rebellion
  20. The Masters' Gambit
  21. Before the Invid Storm
  • The Macross Saga: Battlecry (#1–3)
  • The Macross Saga: Doomsday (#4–6)
  • The Masters Saga: The Southern Cross (#7–9)
  • The New Generation: The Invid Invasion (#10–12)
  • The Sentinels 3-in-1 (#13–15)
  • 01. Genesis
  • 02. Battle Cry
  • 03. Homecoming
  • 04. Battle Hymn
  • 05. Force of Arms
  • 06. Doomsday
  • 19. The Zentraedi Rebellion
  • 13. The Devil's Hand (The Sentinels)
  • 14. Dark Powers (The Sentinels)
  • 15. Death Dance (The Sentinels)
  • 16. World Killers (The Sentinels)
  • 17. Rubicon (The Sentinels) *
  • 20. The Masters' Gambit
  • 07. Southern Cross
  • 08. Metal Fire
  • 09. The Final Nightmare
  • 21. Before the Invid Storm
  • 10. Invid Invasion
  • 11. Metamorphosis
  • 12. Symphony of Light
  • 18. The End of the Circle

* - The last two chapters of Rubicon reference events taking place after Before the Invid Storm

Books #1–12 novelize the story of the TV series; Books #1–6 cover the story of The Macross Saga (at the time known simply as the "First Generation"); The Masters (the "Second Generation") is covered in Books #7–9; and finally, New Generation ("Third Generation") is adapted in Books #10–12. Books #13–17 document the story of the aborted sequel TV series, The Sentinels.

Book #18 is unique as it is set after the events of the final episode of Robotech and wraps up all of the outstanding plotlines and questions that remained after the series ended. Published in 1989, this book was considered to be the final chapter of the Robotech series until the 2006 release of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, which introduced a radically alternate storyline.

The last three books were published from 1994–1996. Collectively labelled the "Lost Generation", they take place in the assorted "gaps" in the timeline; Book #19 takes place between the end of the First Generation and the start of The Sentinels, incorporating an adaptation of the Eternity Comic series The Malcontent Uprisings; Book #20 is set following the beginning of The Sentinels but before the start of the Second Generation, incorporating elements from the plots of Robotech: The Movie and Eternity Comics' CyberPirates; and the final book, #21, occurs during the period between the Second and Third Generations and details the Invid invasion of Earth.

Related Research Articles

<i>Robotech</i> Science fiction media franchise

Robotech is an American science fiction franchise that began with an 85-episode anime television series produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production and first released in the United States in 1985.

<i>Super Dimension Fortress Macross</i> Science fiction anime series

Super Dimension Fortress Macross is an anime television series from 1982. According to story creator Shoji Kawamori, it depicts "a love triangle against the backdrop of great battles" during the first Human-alien war. It is the first part of two franchises: The Super Dimension trilogy and Macross series.

<i>Macross</i> Mecha anime franchise

Macross is a Japanese science fiction mecha anime media franchise/media mix, created by Studio Nue and Artland in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth and the human race after the year 1999, as well as the history of humanoid civilization in the Milky Way. It consists of four TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel, and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West Advertising, in addition to 40 video games set in the Macross universe, two crossover games, and a wide variety of physical merchandise.

<i>Macross: Do You Remember Love?</i> 1984 Japanese film

The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?, also known as Macross: Do You Remember Love? or Super Spacefortress Macross, is a 1984 Japanese animated space opera film based on the Macross anime television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zentradi</span> Fictional aliens in The Marcross franchise

The Zentradi are a fictional, militaristic race of alien, humanoid giants and often the main antagonist in Macross media mix and its Robotech (1985) cartoon adaptation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Macek</span> American screenwriter

Carl Frank Macek was an American screenwriter, script editor, producer and voice actor on numerous English language adaptations of anime during the 1980s and 1990s. His work is considered by many to have been instrumental in creating mainstream awareness of Japanese animation in the United States.

<i>Genesis Climber MOSPEADA</i> Japanese anime television series

Genesis Climber MOSPEADA is an anime science fiction series created by Shinji Aramaki and Hideki Kakinuma. The 25-episode television series ran from late 1983 to early 1984 in Japan. MOSPEADA is an acronym of "Military Operation Soldier Protection Emergency Aviation Dive Armor", one of the transformable motorcycle-armors the series features. The other primary mecha featured in the show is the three-form transformable fighter called the Armo-Fighter AFC-01 Legioss. MOSPEADA was adapted as the third generation of the American series Robotech, much like Macross and Southern Cross.

<i>Robotech: Invasion</i> 2004 video game

Robotech: Invasion is a first-person shooter video game set in the Invid Invasion era of the Robotech saga, itself based in the Japanese anime series Genesis Climber Mospeada. Developed by Vicious Cycle Software and published by Global Star.

James Luceno is an American author, known for his novels and reference books connected with the Star Wars franchise and the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and novelizations of the Robotech animated television series. Luceno is also the author of several original novels along with film novelizations and other franchise tie-ins. He has also written for television cartoon series.

Jack McKinney was a pseudonym used by American authors James Luceno and Brian Daley before the latter's death.

Brian Charles Daley was an American science fiction novelist. He also adapted for radio the Star Wars radio dramas and wrote all of its episodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hikaru Ichijyo</span> Fictional character in The Macross franchise

Hikaru Ichijyo is one of the main fictional characters of the Macross Japanese anime series. His voice actor was Arihiro Hase. After the death of Arihiro Hase in 1996, he was voiced by Kenji Nojima in the PlayStation 2 Macross video game from 2003. In the English dub of the series produced by ADV Films, he is voiced by Vic Mignogna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Rey Books</span> Publisher

Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy books, and formerly manga under its Del Rey Manga imprint.

<i>Robotech</i> (comics)

Robotech comics first officially appeared in print in 1985, though Comico published the first issue of its license from Harmony Gold USA under the Macross name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robotech (role-playing game)</span> Tabletop anime role-playing game

The Robotech Role-Playing Game, based on the Robotech and Robotech II: The Sentinels series, was originally published by Palladium Books from 1986 to 1995. A second series based on Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles was released between 2008 and 2018.

<i>Robotech</i> (TV series) 1985 animated series

Robotech is an American 85-episode adaptation of three unrelated Japanese anime television series made between 1982 and 1984 in Japan; the adaptation was aired in 1985. Within the combined and edited story, Robotechnology refers to the scientific advances discovered in an alien starship that crashed on a South Pacific island. With this technology, Earth developed giant robotic machines or mecha to fight three successive extraterrestrial invasions.

<i>Robotech: The Movie</i> 1986 film by Noboru Ishiguro, Carl Macek

Robotech: The Movie, also called Robotech: The Untold Story, is a 1986 American-Japanese science fiction animated film based on the Robotech TV series and Robotech franchise created by Harmony Gold USA. The film was created by splicing together footage from the Japanese direct-to-video movie Megazone 23 Part I and animated television series Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and had only a loose connection to the Robotech TV show.

<i>Robotech II: The Sentinels</i> 1988 American film

Robotech II: The Sentinels was an attempt by Harmony Gold USA to continue the original 1985 Robotech television series. Only three episodes were ultimately animated before the project was canceled in 1986, and a feature-length film was released from footage taken from the completed episodes. The aborted 65-episode Sentinels series would have followed the ongoing adventures of Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes and the rest of the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) during the events of The Robotech Masters and The New Generation series.

<i>Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles</i>

Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles is a five-part comic book mini-series written by Tommy Yune along with the Waltrip brothers, who were previously the art-and-writing team of the Robotech II: The Sentinels comic series. It was published under DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. It bridges the gap between The Sentinels and the new movie Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, and also features characters from the Robotech Masters Saga. The series is important, in that it provides an explanation and deepened background for many of the events seen on screen in the movie, and clears up many apparent contradictions within the original animation.

References