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Robotech (novels)
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This article is about Robotech novelizations. For other uses, see Robotech (disambiguation).

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.

The original twelve novels were

Robotech
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 Author Jack McKinney,
Brian Daley
2003 to tie in with the release of the
Robotech: Battlecry video game. Country United States
Then, in 2007, the next two omnibus
Language English
collections, covering the remainder of
the television series, were re- Genre Science fiction,
released as tie-ins to the animated Young adult fiction,
movie, Robotech: The Shadow Mystery, Thriller

Chronicles. However, a revision of the Publisher Del Rey Books

Robotech timeline made by Harmony
Gold alongside the release of the Media type Print (hardcover and
paperback)
movie caused some continuity
Audiobook
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.

Contents

Divergences

The major divergences from the Robotech television series include:

Additional properties are attributed to Protoculture. 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 in Star Wars, 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 Robotech's mecha are partially controlled by the pilot's mental imaging
via a "thinking cap" (a la Firefox or the later Macross spin-off Macross Plus), 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 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:

Chronological story
Individual editions Omnibus Collected editions
order
1. Genesis The Macross Saga: Battlecry 01. Genesis
(#1–3)
2. Battle Cry 02. Battle Cry
The Macross Saga: Doomsday
3. Homecoming 03. Homecoming
(#4–6)
4. Battle Hymn 04. Battle Hymn
The Masters Saga: The
5. Force of Arms Southern Cross (#7–9) 05. Force of Arms

6. Doomsday The New Generation: The Invid 06. Doomsday

7. Southern Cross Invasion (#10–12) 19. The Zentraedi

The Sentinels 3-in-1 (#13–15) Rebellion

8. Metal Fire
13. The Devil's Hand
9. The Final Nightmare
(The Sentinels)
10. Invid Invasion
14. Dark Powers (The
11. Metamorphosis Sentinels)
12. Symphony of Light 15. Death Dance (The
13. The Devil's Hand Sentinels)
(The Sentinels) 16. World Killers (The
14. Dark Powers (The Sentinels)
Sentinels) 17. Rubicon (The
15. Death Dance (The Sentinels) *
Sentinels) 20. The Masters'
16. World Killers (The Gambit
Sentinels) 07. Southern Cross
17. Rubicon (The 08. Metal Fire
Sentinels)
09. The Final
18. The End of the Nightmare
Circle
21. Before the Invid
19. The Zentraedi Storm
Rebellion
10. Invid Invasion
20. The Masters'
11. Metamorphosis
Gambit
12. Symphony of Light
21. Before the Invid
Storm 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.

References

External links

Robotech Bibliography – List of Robotech novels in and out of print

Del Rey Online – Robotech novels by Jack McKinney

Last edited 1 month ago by Rmx256

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