Legacy Review #07 – ROBOTECH Novel 4 (Battlehym)

Release Date: March 1987

Author: Jack McKinney

(James Lucerno and Brian Daley)

Page Count: 212 pages

(includes Chapter 1 from Force of Arms)

INTRODUCTION

The fourth of the six-book series covering the “First Generation” of the Robotech franchise; at least as portrayed to North American audiences. Thus continued my rabid obsession with continuing the novelization of the anime I once enjoyed on Saturday mornings, and playing the Palladium Books ROBOTECH RPG years later.

REVIEW

Episode Counter. The fourth book encapsulates the events from the following episodes.

• S01 E19 – Bursting Point

• S01 E20 – Paradise Lost

• S01 E21 – A New Dawn

• S01 E22 – Battle Hymn

• S01 Ep23 – Reckless

Synopsis. This book really is a fulcrum piece, in that it culminates a lot of the build-up from the previous three books. Plot points develop into more complex arcs that will ultimately lead us to the finale of the First Generation, and the adventures of the SDF-1 and crew. The UEDC has ordered the SDF-1 into orbit, their mission to draw the menace of the Zentraedi fleet away from Earth. Captain Gloval is reticent, but faces challenges even he can’t overcome. So, the SDF-1 heads back into space; the crew are feeling ungrateful, a city of civilians feeling abandoned.

Global Unified Government. The order issued to Capt Gloval involves removing the SDF-1 and citizens of Macross City away from Earth; declared dead, they have no legal status. A brief attempt to drop them off in Ontario is foiled by Khyron, after a disastrous overload of their omnidirectional barrier shield. This does a few things, not the least of which makes the citizens an integral part of the storyline. This crucially adds the sense of duty to the RDF crew and pilots. Once two disparate groups sharing the same ship and risk of the Zentraedi attacks, the two begin forming a bond that sees the entirety become more than the sum of its own parts. They see themselves victimized by their own world, something that hits harder than any aggression from Zentraedi.

Zentraedi Disobedience. The micronized spies Rico, Bron and Konda have returned, given their briefing to Breetai, and returned to duty. They held back on their haul from the SDF-1, and their interest in the human society, particularly in all things Minmei. This garners the attention of others, and soon a cult develops. They develop a lackadaisical approach to their duties, preferring to hang out and discussing the human society. The seeds of Exedore’s fears have been laid; the defectors had been integrated into the fold of the civilian population of Macross City. A new and exciting worldview challenges the Zentraedi's, for which they have no defence.

Breetai and Gloval. In one of the more subtle plot arc with the most consequence, Breetai and Glovav begin to start an understanding of each other’s tactics and methodology. It’s not upfront, but up until now, Breetai has been mystified by the human’s unpredictability and unorthodox tactics; his initial assessments based on the mistakes made during the SDF-1's space fold to Pluto are being overcome. This is demonstrated by his forecast of the Daedalus Maneouvre, and the trap he therein lays for Gloval. Thus a bridging of the gap between these two antagonists; both increasingly more certain of their counterpart, both constrained by their respective chains of command. This establishment of similarity gets developed later on.

Emotional Entanglements. Rick and Lisa see their friendship developing as they both begin to realize the other’s commitment to the defence of the SDF-1 as a shared goal. The second is their shared heartbreak at the perceived romantic dynamic between Minmei and Lyne-Kyle. Rick’s love for the former is allowed to pull apart as he realizes her life is too far removed from his reality; Lisa’s infatuation for the latter, a reminder of her former love, also a pacifist, challenges her worldview enough for her to decide duty over her attraction. In a series of poorly timed snippets, both see the target of their affection as beyond any reach, oddly commiserating with each other over this fact. This leads to a singularly poignant scene at the end of the book, where the reader is shown the revelation of their relationship; a missed encounter is once again the result of poor timing.

Khyron Unleashed. At the lead of the Zentraedi assault into the SDF-1 during the Daedalus Maneuovre, Khyron finds himself in a position to once again assault into the heart of the SDF-1, only to be relinquished of this opportunity by yet another bizarre set of circumstances. As the Zentraedi defectors come to the fore, he loses his focus in a pique of rage as he tries to hunt them down. The RDF forces battle back and clear the SDF-1. Khyron shows that his audacious plans, typically running counter to Zentraedi norms and almost always a friction point with the chain of command, could have been the decisive end to the war.

CONCLUSION

The political machinations in the background are much better realized in the novelization. The anime attempts to show how things have been set against the SDF-1 by the United Earth Defence Council, but nowhere nearly as well as shown herein. The revelation that the Zentraedi are biologically near identical to humans is a plot twist set to develop further in a couple of character arcs. It also provides that scientific bridge that must now be culturally bridged if there is any hope to stop the conflict. The Zentraedi have yet to be informed of this crucial revelation, but at this point, given the Minmei Cult running rampant through the command ship, Breetai and Exedore would be hard pressed to see this as anything more than propaganda.

This book follows many of the same cast of characters, but this book is very much a meta-plot entry. The Daedalus Maneouvre demonstrates Breetai’s ability to begin predicting the human’s moves, but is still stymied by his warrior creed worldview. There is some significant movement in terms of the Rick and Lisa arc, both coming to realize some of what the other feels in terms of duty, and Lisa’s admission to Claudia Grant of her feelings; this as she is embarking a shuttle to try and appease the United Earth Defence Council on their discoveries of the Zentraedi’s biology.

The combat is a secondary element, as much of the pieces being shuffled around the board. This book is mid-game of the series, setting up for the flurry of the finale. The only major worthwhile battle involved Khyron’s penetration of the SDF-1, and this is of note because of how it is more of a vehicle to drag the meta-plot forward. This isn’t a critique of the book, as the anime series very much felt the same at this point.

Current Assessment (6/10). This book is a bit of a sleeper by comparison to the remainder of the First Generation series. It acts as a fulcrum for many elements of the plot arc, wrapping up some and developing others that will culminate in the series climax. It’s a short reader at only a couple hundred pages, notably also printed in a manner that has extra space between the lines the previous and following book do not suffer from (very noticeable when placed side-to-side). Is it the best of the series? I’d fully endorse the very opposite. Rick is feeling the effects of constant war, and this morose approach somehow matches Lisa’s current emotional state as she watches Lynn-Kyle, a representation of her lost pacifist love, actively campaign against everything she holds dear. The action is relevant and well presented, despite the relative lack of it throughout the book. What it does, it does well enough to enjoy.

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