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Title: Robotech: The Macross Saga: Battle Cry (Vols 1-3)
ISBN: 034538900X
Author:
Jack Mckinney
Publicate Date: 1994-04-02
Publish: 1994-04-02
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Mass Market Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $1.69
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Stoke your memory
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.
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2: Good background
Pretty much word for word what was shown in the TV series, with just a little more background description and events to answer some old questions. Worth getting.
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3: Tv Show in your hands!
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!
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4: Excellent Adaptation
Very much a blow by blow of the TV series, this book does add 'some' background to the characters and the story of Robotech. Worth buying.
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5: Robotech ROCKS!!!!
For romantic science fiction lovers, this cuts the cake. Not only is this the greatest action story ever written but it is the ultimate clash between the human race and any alien beings. I'd give this 10 thumbs up - if I had 10 thumbs!
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