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Robotech #20
The Masters' Gambit
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
261 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 7, 2017
Fair prelude to the Second Robotech War
UNEXPECTED SCENARIO
The Robotech Masters got tired of waiting news from their mighty Zentraedi fleet and since their own war against the Invid Regent wasn't going that well, the only logical course of action was to leave Tirol space and following the trail of Zor's Battlewagon.
However, the Robotech Masters were short (extremely short!) of Protoculture reserves so they couldn't even do a fold jump to the Solar System and they needed to do the "panoramic" route, traveling at regular speeds, forcing them to make a 20 years voyage, but that wasn't the real trouble...
...but reaching Earth (hiding their signals) and finding out that not only Zor's ship was under tons of rubble and lacking of its main computer, BUT...
...the impossible had happened!!!
Their mighty Zentraedi fleet of one million ships had been beaten and destroyed!!!
Earth's civilization, somehow, someway, proved to be more dangerous than they looked like.
Limited of Protoculture reserves and now without an army at their disposal...
...the Robotech Masters weren't so confidant anymore of trying an open attack against Earth's forces.
OTHER OPTIONS THAN BATTLE IN WAR
The Robotech Masters discovered the whereabouts of Zor's original main computer...
...Tokyo! (Well, since Robotech is originally a Japanese anime, it was only fair to set at least one story in their capital city!)
However, Zor's main computer isn't what used to be anymore...
...Enter: EVE.
EVE: short for Enhanced Video Emulation.
Now, the alien advanced computer intelligence with a hologram appearance is under control of the Robotech Research Center at Tokyo.
The Robotech Masters must send a spy to try to get control once again of the computer, since they trust that it's the best logical way to locate the missing Protoculture Matrix, the key to get once again all the Protoculture they need for their technology and building a new military response against the Invid.
However, they will face unlikely enemies...
...a character that they can't avoid to think that in some impossible way is Zor!...
...and a civilian hacker team that they don't know how crucial can be their underground work for the survival of Earth!
UNEXPECTED SCENARIO
The Robotech Masters got tired of waiting news from their mighty Zentraedi fleet and since their own war against the Invid Regent wasn't going that well, the only logical course of action was to leave Tirol space and following the trail of Zor's Battlewagon.
However, the Robotech Masters were short (extremely short!) of Protoculture reserves so they couldn't even do a fold jump to the Solar System and they needed to do the "panoramic" route, traveling at regular speeds, forcing them to make a 20 years voyage, but that wasn't the real trouble...
...but reaching Earth (hiding their signals) and finding out that not only Zor's ship was under tons of rubble and lacking of its main computer, BUT...
...the impossible had happened!!!
Their mighty Zentraedi fleet of one million ships had been beaten and destroyed!!!
Earth's civilization, somehow, someway, proved to be more dangerous than they looked like.
Limited of Protoculture reserves and now without an army at their disposal...
...the Robotech Masters weren't so confidant anymore of trying an open attack against Earth's forces.
OTHER OPTIONS THAN BATTLE IN WAR
The Robotech Masters discovered the whereabouts of Zor's original main computer...
...Tokyo! (Well, since Robotech is originally a Japanese anime, it was only fair to set at least one story in their capital city!)
However, Zor's main computer isn't what used to be anymore...
...Enter: EVE.
EVE: short for Enhanced Video Emulation.
Now, the alien advanced computer intelligence with a hologram appearance is under control of the Robotech Research Center at Tokyo.
The Robotech Masters must send a spy to try to get control once again of the computer, since they trust that it's the best logical way to locate the missing Protoculture Matrix, the key to get once again all the Protoculture they need for their technology and building a new military response against the Invid.
However, they will face unlikely enemies...
...a character that they can't avoid to think that in some impossible way is Zor!...
...and a civilian hacker team that they don't know how crucial can be their underground work for the survival of Earth!
August 15, 2022
This book is a pretty good story about some tech savvy Street urchins inadvertently starting a battle between the Yakuza and a secret military science unit. And this book is a less than mediocre story that works to explain what happened between some other novels. This would have better served as a stand-alone story outside of the Robotech universe.
September 26, 2023
A decent and at times interesting story but it can't be denied that at the end of the day, this was an unneeded filler story.
September 1, 2011
An essential chapter in the Robotech Saga. Certainly would be dry to someone being introduced to this book, and even for fans, there is a core group of characters that are new in this book... however, some important events occur in this book, such as the rise of Anatole Leonard and the formation of the GMP. One of the final scenes with Emerson facing up to Leonard made me cheer. So, yes!
November 9, 2020
It's a good link between the various books, showing what happened in the interim before the Masters came. But it continues the problem of force imbalances making no sense, and in this case, everyone acting like idiot teenagers.
December 27, 2017
Consta solo de 2 capítulos que nos aclarán la situación de la Tierra antes de la llegada de los Maestros de la Robotecnia.
June 25, 2020
Starts off bad and doesn't get any better.
March 5, 2024
Not from the original series, a great gap to the second generation of robotech... Encourage people reading the series to read in order of the time line and not in the order of publication.
June 12, 2019
I think I'm one of a small group who enjoy the Masters chapter of the Robotech saga as much as Macross and more than Mospeada. I really liked how this book, along with The Zentraedi Rebellion, does such a thorough job of tying the three together. Lots of nagging details get explained away about how the Army of the Southern Cross rises to power, why we don't see the RDF in Monument City, etc. It's stories like these that really separate Robotech from its source material. I also like that the comic series and RPG materials get pulled into the continuity. All the good stuff aside, the story didn't really need to have the pedophilic relationship between two of the protagonists. Even with the ham-fisted attempt at justifying it (she's a curious alien who insisted!), it still comes off creepy. Especially when the much older character acknowledges his "thing for younger women". Gross. None of the story beats would have been changed by making this relationship a non-sexual one.
December 11, 2016
Only hardcore Robotech fans need apply, this one references the Macross sage, the Southern Cross, and the Sentinels so a casual reader could be lost. Also, the amount of Japanese pop culture and vocabulary can make parts of the book tedious to get through. Still, interesting for the Robotech completists out there as it fills in some of the time between the Macross saga and the Southern Cross generation. Also, the Robotech saga can be rather dark but this story wants to run past melancholy right to depressing, don't expect an uplifting tale in this one.
February 20, 2008
Providing a link on Earth for what happens after "The Zentraedi Rebellion" and the (not so good) Southern Cross Saga (which I consider to be the lowpoint of the Series) this take the place of book #8 in the Chronological Order.
It also is loosely based off of the anime that would have become the RoboTech movie, Megazone 23.
It also is loosely based off of the anime that would have become the RoboTech movie, Megazone 23.
June 21, 2010
By far the most boring of the robotech books. The Japanese culture references have always struck me as out of place and pretentious. Like the author visited japan and and is now a cultural expert since he spent a week there. And the plot is pointless. This book really didn't need to happen.
July 16, 2016
This felt like a chore to read. Team McKinney spend much effort peppering Japanese words and concepts in for little to no gain in storytelling. There is also the problem that more than a few details do not mesh with the TV series or previous team McKinney novels.
September 15, 2014
Great back story for The Robotech Masters saga. Better than the ROBOTECH the Movie version.
May 12, 2015
Great SiFi series. Giant battlesuits battling outer space monsters, what more can you ask for. Very recommended
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews