Robotech: Battlecry

Robotech: Battlecry-Jack McKinney

How I found this book: I admit to owning this book! I LOVED Robotech as a child; I watched it before school with my father. I rediscovered it recently, and snatched up the books.

Setting: At the time the story was created, (the original Macross Anime it was based on was made in the late 70’s-early 80’s), it is the future, 1999 and later. In our world, obviously, it is our past. Darn, the whole SDF thing NEVER happened!

Main Characters:

Captain Henry Gloval: Commander of the SDF 1, it is his duty to lead his crew and oversee his ship and charges. It is implied that he is a native of Russia.

Lt. Commander Lisa Hayes: The First Officer of the SDF 1, and the officer in charge of coordinating the Veritech Squadrons, Lisa is the daughter of the head of the Robotech Defense force, Admiral Hayes. However, it was Lisa’s tough, smart, no-nonsense demeanor that propelled her to the top of her class and into the position as one of the SDF’s top officers. She comes off as often cold and professional, but masks many insecurities and a broken heart. She immediately butts heads with the young, brash Rick Hunter, but is close friends with Claudia Grant, and gets along well with the rest of her bridge crew.

Bridge Officer Claudia Grant: Claudia heads up the bridge operation on the SDF 1, and while she can be fun and sassy, she can be no-nonsense with her sometimes gossipy crew. Claudia is an empathetic, caring person, and is one of Lisa Hayes’s few friends on the ship. She is dating Lt. Commander Roy Fokker, and it is implied that the two are engaged.

Sammy, Kim, and Vanessa: The rest of the members of the bridge crew, they are three, young female recruits who are very capable at their jobs, despite their love of fun and gossip.

Lt. Commander Roy Fokker: The head of the elite Veritech Skull Squadron, Roy Fokker was once a circus pilot who joined up during the unnamed global war and became an ace pilot. When the Robotech project started he signed on board rather than returning to the air circus, though he has kept in close contact with the owner’s son, Rick Hunter. Roy had a reputation as a ladies man, and still has an eye out for the women, though he seems very committed to his current girlfriend and fiancée, Claudia Grant. While Roy can kid and joke, especially with Rick, he takes his job very seriously, and acts as a big brother to his younger friend.

Rick Hunter: Roy’s ‘little brother’, he grew up with Roy, who was a pilot in Rick’s father’s flying circus. Raised with his father’s anti-war beliefs, he isn’t very fond of Roy’s decision to stay in the military, though he does come out to Macross Island to see the launch of the SDF 1. Little does he know how the events of that day would change his life forever, when he is called upon to pilot one of the expensive Veritech fighters himself.

Linn Minmei: A young Chinese girl from Yokohama, Japan, for reasons never fully explained Minmei lives with her aunt and uncle on Macross Island and helps them run their Chinese restaurant, (the counterpart, so we learn, to Minmei’s parents’ establishment in Japan). Minmei is only fifteen at the series start, a silly, fun-loving teenager who dreams of being a famous singer, or getting married, she can’t decide which. Very pretty, bubbly, and popular, she tends to be a bit self-centered and ignorant of the feelings of those around her, though she can also show a caring, understanding side as well.

Ben Dixon and Max Sterling: Two young recruits into the Veritech fighting force.

Dolza: The Supreme Commander of the Zentradi forces, the race of aliens who are tracking down the SDF 1.

Breetai: The commander of the fleet sent to find the SDF 1, Breetai is a cunning warrior, and a match against the equally experienced Captain Gloval.

Exedor: The Minister of Affairs for the Zentradi, he is the only source of science and information for the Zentradi people.

Rico, Kanda, and Bron: Three Zentradi spies who have an interest in the happenings on the SDF 1


Plot: In the midst of a global war, a strange, alien ship crash lands on Earth, in the middle of the Pacific Island called Macross. The Earth governments agree to a cease fire to allow for study of this strange ship and its technologies, called “robotechnology” by the scientists. So great is this new tool that everything from airplanes to soda dispensers are now affected by this new, strange science that allows simple machines to morph into something else, giving simple metal and electrodes an almost ‘organic’ aspect. The height of this is represented by the SDF 1, the ship that had crash landed and that is rebuilt by the humans to serve as a tool to ensure global peace. But on the day of its actual launch, an alien race known as the Zentradi come to destroy it. The Zentradi, a giant, war-like race beholden to a group called the “Robotech Masters”, are after this ship because it is the last repository of a substance called ‘protoculture’ in the universe. It is through this protoculture that their entire society functions, (and it is what powers much of the Robotechnology). The ship hides the secrets of how to gain more as well, as the ships creator, Zor, had deliberately sent the ship to Earth to hide if from the Robotech Masters. Now the Zentradi are desperate to regain the ship without being tainted by the strange ways of the ‘micronians’, (humans), while the unsuspecting humans are desperate to save their world from attack. In the ensuing battle, Captain Gloval attempts to use the new technology to draw fire away from the Earth, and in so doing accidentally transports the ship and the island itself to the outskirts of the solar system. While the populace is rescued and brought on board, now Captain Gloval and his crew face the task of returning the citizens of Macross City and the SDF back to Earth, while keeping from being destroyed by the Zentradi threat.

Themes:

The toll of war: Robotech, the anime, at its heart was against war, and the books reflect this theme. While war is often necessary, especially in defense of the ones you love or the culture you care for, the continuance of aggression or ignoring the opportunity for diplomacy to bring the war to a swift end can cause nothing but more destruction, bloodshed, and heartache, (ahem, Mr. President).

Society making do in tough situations: The people of Macross are asked to put up with some of the worst situations you can ask a populace to go through, and yet they manage with a level of success that few other societies can say they ever have. While war may happen, and businesses may be destroyed, and homes lost, the human spirit still goes on. Sometimes you just have to pick up the pieces and go.

Sometimes life forces you to grow up: Several of the young characters, such as Rick and Minmei, are forced to face harsh lessons and grow up rather quickly in the series. While this helps them to see the realities of life much earlier on that they might have in peace time, it also forces them down paths that they perhaps might not have chosen or even happened if left to their own devices.

Contact with those different from us: The initial contact with an alien race, in so far as the first book goes, is quite simply disastrous on both ends, as neither race understands why the other is attacking them, and they are doing their best to destroy each other, no matter what the cost. And all of it is over one simple power source…boy does this sound familiar.


Every book sucks somewhere: The only sucky thing about this book is that, frankly, it is written for twelve-year-old boys. Like many D&D books, the Robotech novels were written as an accompaniment to the Robotech RPG game, to fill in and give textual additions to the anime series. So if you didn’t like the anime, or aren’t a twelve-year-old boy, you probably are not going to like the books much. They aren’t what I would exactly call ‘hard’ sci-fi.

What did I like: I LOVED the anime, (I think I was six when it came to America), and the story still rings true to me now twenty-five years later, (yes, I admit it’s been that long). Reading it in book form gave a lot more in-depth detail that was never hashed out in the television series, and added an extra layer of geekery for me that I enjoyed.

How would I rate this wormy book: I would rate this as a FAT WORM, only because it’s really not a universal enough book to be considered MONSTER. If you like a good story about wars, aliens, and love in a flying spaceship, it’s a great, fun read. If you are a twelve-year-old boy, it’s up your alley. If you grew up in the 80’s and watched the original series on TV, (or have read the comics, or are generally just a raging anime geek), you will love this. Go, grab it, and read it through on an evening, it will be fun, and look at it this way…you don’t have to actually HEAR Minmei’s horrible songs!