Robotech (novels)
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Robotech was adapted into novel form by "Jack McKinney", a pseudonym for the team of James Luceno and the late Brian Daley, a pair of writers who had previously collaborated on the animated series Galaxy Rangers. Using fictitious epigraphs in the style of Dune, McKinney's novels fleshed out the chronology (including adapting the incomplete Sentinels source material) in greater detail.
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. [1]
Many Robotech fans consider the McKinney series to be an unofficial canon of its own, despite notable divergences in the writing from Harmony Gold's current official animation-based canon. Despite no longer being considered core continuity by Harmony Gold, the first 12 novels have been recently re-issued by Del Rey Books as Omnibus compilations.
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[edit] Divergences
The major divergences from the Robotech television series include:
- Changing Protoculture from a simple power source (the mecha from the original series were mostly fusion-powered) into a mystical force akin to the Force in Star Wars, that, through its "Shapings," manipulated the destiny of the universe.
- Stating that Robotech's mecha are controlled by the pilot's mental imaging via a "thinking cap" (a la Firefox or the later Macross spinoff Macross Plus), in addition to the joysticks and pedals seen in the show.
- Using a chronology that is slightly contradicted by dialogue from the show.
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. It should also be noted that 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.[2]
After many discussions of these divergences, and correspondence with James Luceno, a group of fans put together a "McKinney Purist FAQ" to address them. Books 19-21 in the series, written by Luceno alone after Daley's death, dispense with many of the divergences, making use of more show-accurate research material compiled by fans such as the Robotech Reference Guide.
[edit] Bibliography
The following is the list of novels released by Del Rey in publishing order, Omnibus Editions and a recommended reading order which is roughly chronological, except that the events in books #13-17 (The Sentinels) are actually concurrent with books #7-12:
| Individual Editions | Omnibus Collected Editions | Chronological Reading Order |
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[edit] References
- ^ Meadows, Chris (2007-02-05). James Luceno Interview, Part One (mp3). Space Station Liberty. Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
- ^ Meadows, Chris (2007-02-05). James Luceno Interview, Part One (mp3). Space Station Liberty. Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
[edit] External links
- Robotech Museum - Novel archive
- Robotech: The Invid Connection - Robotech novel synopses and guides
- Robotech Bibliography - List of Robotech novels in and out of print
- Del Rey Online - Robotech novels by Jack McKinney
| Robotech | |
|---|---|
| Animation | Robotech (TV series) • Robotech: The Movie • The Sentinels • Robotech 3000 • The Shadow Chronicles |
| Video games | Robotech: Crystal Dreams • Robotech: Battlecry • The Macross Saga • Invasion • The New Generation |
| Franchise | Art books • Collectible card games • Comics • Novels • Music and Soundtracks • Role-playing games |
| Robotech Wars | First Robotech War • Malcontent Uprisings • Second Robotech War • Third Robotech War |
