Robotech (novels)
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In 1987, the ''
Robotech ''Robotech'' is a 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. The show was adapted from t ...
'' animated series was adapted into novel form by authors
James Luceno James Luceno (born 1947) is a ''New York Times'' bestselling author, best known for his novels and reference books connected with the ''Star Wars'' franchise and the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and (with Brian Daley under the shared pseudony ...
and
Brian Daley Brian Charles Daley (December 22, 1947 – February 11, 1996) was an American science fiction novelist. He also adapted for radio the ''Star Wars'' radio dramas and wrote all of its episodes. Biography Daley was born in Englewood, New Jersey ...
and published by
Del Rey Books 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 ...
. Having previously collaborated on the animated series ''
Galaxy Rangers ''The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers'' is an American animated space Western television series created by Robert Mandell and Gaylord Entertainment Company. It was broadcast in syndication between 1986 and 1989. The series combines sci-fi sto ...
'', the pair released the ''Robotech'' novels under the unified pseudonym of " Jack McKinney". Using fictitious epigraphs in the style of ''
Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
,'' 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 Sentinels are two 90 metre tall residential tower blocks on Holloway Head in Birmingham, England. The two towers, called Clydesdale Tower and Cleveland Tower, are both 31 storeys tall and were part of a major regeneration and council home ...
". 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. 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 Carl Frank Macek (September 21, 1951 – April 17, 2010) 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 hav ...
. 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: * Additional properties are attributed to
Protoculture In physical anthropology, protoculture is the passing of behaviours from one generation to another among non-human primates. These cultures are very rudimentary, and do not exhibit complex cultural technology. For example, tool usage is learne ...
. More than a component of a power source and a hallucinogenic foodstuff for genetic engineering, it is later discovered to also be a mystical force akin to
the Force The Force is a metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the '' Star Wars'' fictional universe. "Force-sensitive" characters use the Force throughout the franchise. Heroes like the Jedi seek to "become one with the Force", matching their personal wi ...
in ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
,'' that, through its "Shapings," manipulated the destiny of the universe, and provides the basis for a link between mind and mecha the use of Robotechnology (a product of technology powered by protoculture matrix energy) enables. * Stating that ''Robotechs mecha are partially controlled by the pilot's mental imaging via a "thinking cap" (''a la
Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and ...
'' or the later Macross spin-off ''
Macross Plus is a four-episode anime OVA and theatrical movie in the ''Macross'' series. It was the first sequel to the original ''Macross'' television series that took place in the official timeline (''Macross II'' was quickly retconned by series creator ...
''), in addition to the joysticks and pedals seen in the show. * Using a chronology that slightly contradicts the cartoon itself, chiefly by placing the Second Robotech War seventeen years after the first, instead of fifteen. The above-mentioned 21st century reboot of the timeline created further disparities; McKinney had Scott Bernard entering the Third Robotech War in 2034 and the conflict ending in 2035, by the new timeline has him enter in 2042, and the war end in 2044. Further, the novels have the SDF-3 launching in 2020 (and the REF's arrival in Tirol takes five years in real time, leading the force to assume it's still 2020 in their calendars), where the revised timeline follows through with the original intent of the unproduced cartoon by placing it in 2022. 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 ''Deus ex machina'' ( , ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; English "god out of the machine") is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly and abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function ...
'' to ''Robotechs
Greek tragedy Greek tragedy is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Greek inhabited Anatolia. It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC, the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy. Greek tragedy is widely believed t ...
. 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: * - 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 A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
; 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.


References


External links


Robotech Bibliography
– List of Robotech novels in and out of print
Del Rey Online
– Robotech novels by Jack McKinney {{Robotech Book series introduced in 1987 Robotech Science fiction novel series Works published under a pseudonym Del Rey books Novels by James Luceno ja:ロボテック#小説