List Based On Books Robotech: The Macross Saga: Battle Cry (Robotech #1-3)
| Title | : | Robotech: The Macross Saga: Battle Cry (Robotech #1-3) |
| Author | : | Jack McKinney |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 496 pages |
| Published | : | April 2nd 1994 by Del Rey Books |
| Categories | : | Science Fiction. Fiction |
Jack McKinney
Paperback | Pages: 496 pages Rating: 4.05 | 546 Users | 24 Reviews
Narrative During Books Robotech: The Macross Saga: Battle Cry (Robotech #1-3)
I usually don't read media tie-in books, mostly because a lot of them are of questionable quality that, at the worst of times, reads a lot like internet fan fiction. With the Robotech novels, however, I have mixed opinions. As most everybody knows, these short novels are based on the anime from the 1980s of the same name and novelizes all three seasons of the show. There were other Robotech novels too, but these sadly are now out of print and only the 12 books that retell the story of the show are still available, collected into four separate books (titled 'Battlecry', 'Doomsday', 'The Southern Cross' and 'The Invid Invasion' respectively).Battlecry covers the first half of the shows first season. For the most part, Jack McKinney (a pseudonym for the authors James Luceno and the late Brian Daley) stays pretty faithful to the source material. But they also attempt to fill in some of the shows' logical and story-telling holes. For example there is an entire sections of the book that shows how the SDF-1 was sent to earth, and the first expedition team sent to explore the ship after it crashed on earth. There is also a scene added that explains why the governments of earth decided to rebuild the ship. They also expand on the back stories of some of the characters like the SDF-1's creator Zor and, to a lesser degree, fan favorite Roy Fokker. There are some minor continuity screw ups however, the most infamous being the 'thinking cap' concept in where the mechs the main characters use are partly controlled by the pilot's thoughts; something that was never in the show. But these things are very minor and can be forgiven.
My biggest problem with this novel and the other books in the series is the prose. Its god awful, it felt like I was reading fan fiction half the time and not something by two professional writers. This is especially true when you come to the sections that were written by James Luceno. I never thought Luceno was that great a writer to start with. But here his prose is so wooden that its almost unreadable, its as if he's not even trying. He rushes through entire scenes, some of which are actually kind of important to the plot, as if he wants to get the "boring stuff" out of the way so he can get to the big space battle. And even when he finally gets there, the space battle is boring as hell to read. The sections written by Delay, by far the more experienced writer of the two, are a little better but not by much. Delay regularly breaks the rule of "show, not tell" and he rarely grants us a peak inside the characters heads and lets us know what they are thinking and going through. If this wasn't Robotech, this book would have been in the trash long ago.
But to be fair, the time constants that Luceno and Delay were under to write and publish these books was GALACTICLY ridiculous, even by today's standards. Harmony Gold, the company that owns Robotech, had them churning out a new book literally once a month, with little or no time for revision. That's insane, I don't think even the Star Wars authors are under that kind of pressure. So in that sense, I have a lot of respect for what they were able to do.
Overall: As a book, Battlecry is a complete failure. But as a novelization of one of the best anime's of all time its pretty good. If you're a fan like me then pick this and the others up and check them out, otherwise stay away.
Identify Books In Favor Of Robotech: The Macross Saga: Battle Cry (Robotech #1-3)
| Original Title: | Robotech: Genesis Battle Cry Homecoming |
| ISBN: | 034538900X (ISBN13: 9780345389008) |
| Edition Language: | English URL http://www.randomhouse.com/book/112049/robotech-the-macross-saga-battle-cry-by-jack-mckinney/ebook |
| Series: | Robotech #1-3 |
Rating Based On Books Robotech: The Macross Saga: Battle Cry (Robotech #1-3)
Ratings: 4.05 From 546 Users | 24 ReviewsNotice Based On Books Robotech: The Macross Saga: Battle Cry (Robotech #1-3)
Nostalgia: It's a hell of a drug.I've bought this book in print three or four times. The first time, I was a young teenager who remembered watching the Robotech cartoon as a kid. I enjoyed the book, but I was also reading pretty much every book I could get my hands on.A few years later, I learned to be a bit more discerning with my reading. I took my copy to the local Half-Price Books, and there it lived ... until I saw a copy at HPB and vaguely remembered enjoying it. "It can't be as bad as II enjoyed this book when i read it way back who knows when. really enjoyable read.
I really loved this first three books. These books left me wanting to read the entire series and were a great part of the story. Over all this is my favorite trio of the entire series. It was interesting the way that they had the Aliens defeated by emotion. All-in-all they are great books.
I think 3 stars is pretty fair for this one. Primary reading it for the Robotech nostalgia - very enjoyable in that respect. The writing is not all there, but stays true to the show, and offers a lot of additional background and insight.
I usually don't read media tie-in books, mostly because a lot of them are of questionable quality that, at the worst of times, reads a lot like internet fan fiction. With the Robotech novels, however, I have mixed opinions. As most everybody knows, these short novels are based on the anime from the 1980s of the same name and novelizes all three seasons of the show. There were other Robotech novels too, but these sadly are now out of print and only the 12 books that retell the story of the show
Same as the others, I am a fan of this Space Opera. The path from the original unrelated anime series that were stitched together and adapted for an audience of american children seems so sloppy and backwards that it couldn't possibly work but there are just too many cool elements for it to fail. And even the awkward, inappropriate scenes that the writers struggled to explain have become some of my favorite moments.The books are even written based on the television series, with much of the
pseudonym of authors Brian Daley and James Luceno.
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