Masters' Gambit (#20)

by Jack McKinney

The Robotech Masters find themselves up against the renegade Robotech scientist Zor and a group of young, cynical hackers in their fight to reclaim the precious Protoculture Matrix. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345387759
• ISBN13: 9780345387752
• Release Date: March 1995
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

More an adaptation than an original chapter...

...but still a worthwhile read. in the same way that the series' producers (harmony gold) adapted three completely unrelated japanese series into the three major chapters of the 'robotech' storyline, they adapted a fourth to bridge the gap between the 'macross' and 'southern cross' stories. in 1986, the japanese ova series 'megazone 23' was repurposed as 'robotech: the movie', but the project died shortly after it was completed when it didn't really connect with audiences. (it played in test runs in texas and various other animation festivals here and there.) while the project itself died, the story was translated into this novel, with the same occasional dramatic license that had been applied to the original 12 'robotech' novels. while it would be nice to have that 'robotech movie' as a collectible, the rights for the original footage reverted to the 'megazone 23' producers after harmony gold dropped the project. i'd seen the movie at a festival in los angeles, so at anime expo '93, i asked a harmony gold rep if the movie would ever be released. he didn't give a straight answer, just asked that i keep an eye out in the months ahead. shortly after the expo, 'megazone 23' began its initial dvd release. still in regards to the book, i was glad to see the story live on in some form, as the animated version will likely never again see the light of day.

The SDF 3 is on the way to meet the Masters...

BUT the Masters have come to Earth! What do they find? An Earth in chaos, as the United Earth Government can barely keep the peace. The planet has been cut up into nation-states and cities-states, as rival groups fight over territory. The Earth Defense Forces is made up of members of both the Army of the Southern Cross and the older Robotech Defense Forces who spend most of their time fighting each other.And the SDF-1's main computer, called EVE, is now housed in the Human's Protoculture research lab in Tokyo - the perfect tool for the Robotech Masters' mission to find the MATRIX!

A Damn ... Story, but Only For Serious Robotech Fans!

In "The Masters' Gambit," Jack McKinney fills hard-core Robotech fans in on the events sandwiched between the Zentraedi Malcontent Uprisings and the beginning of the Second Robotech War. It gives readers a vision of a post-apocalyptic society that is still trying to wrestle with its destiny while vaguely attuned to the fact that another invasion is coming. McKinney's story of four teenage orphans on the run from both the government and the yakuza in the crazy underground city of Tokyo provides a perfect blend of the cyberpunk theme and the main Robotech storyline.Robotech fans will enjoy the story of the brilliant--but insane--Dr. Lazlo Zand's first contact with the Robotech Masters and the rivalry between the Southern Cross and the remnants of the RDF. I was personally impressed with McKinney's imaginative setting of a world recovering from war, and a society strangely similar to George Orwell's vision of the future in "1984."Although this is an excellent story in its own right, only serious fans of the Robotech saga would be able to appreciate the story's background. This is an excellent book, however, and if you are even remotely interested in the cyberpunk theme, this book isn't too bad. Check out this website if you are interested in learning more about the Robotech saga:http://robotech.simplenet.com/

The story outwieghs the lack of action by far

This is one the the books that no good fan should go without reading. The story is one of the best that Mckinney came up with on his own and, for those not privy to other scources, explains the transition from the launch of the SDF-3 to the sudden jump into the war in "Southern Cross". NOT A GOOD BOOK FOR BEGINNERS! This book deals with the issues faced after the REF left the earth nearly defenseless and should be read in chronological order, not numerical order

A thrilling cyberpunk drama set on the Robotech universe.

The Masters Gambit is one of the best Sci-Fi books that I have ever read. To the contrary of other sci-fi novelized series, like Star Wars, in which the aging and tired heroes are called once again for fighting the would-be Emperor warlord of the week, in the Robotech novels the story evolves logically and coherently without contradicting previous and future developments with a lot of action, drama, romance and moments of fun too. Going to the point of this critic, this novel in particular approaches the Robotech universe from a Cyberpunk point of view, up to the heights of a William Gibson's "Neuromancer" or any work by Bruce Sterling. Its dark enviroment is appealing, in which an "orphaned" new generation without links neither feelings towards the Pre-space war world of their dead parents, is only interested in drugs, having casual sex, and surfing the cyberspace for hacking goverment and corporations secrets as a way of earning the day; all this makes of this book a very interesting story about what the future of our society could be. In a very interesting fact, "The Masters Gambit" outruns the cult anime movie "Macross Plus" in first introducing the concept of a virtuoroid, a virtual reality idol, "EVE" all along the story kept me remembering to "Sharon Apple" And besides is an excellent way by the part of the virtuoroid author "Jack McKinney" of linking the stories of the original Macross generation with the generation of the Southern Cross army. Paraphrasing to "EVE": "The new generation assumes its reponsabilities with order and self-confidence and enjoys the life by reading Robotech novels".