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Invid Invasion | Rating | |
| B | |||
| Jack McKinney | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Robotech: Third Generation | Genesis, Battle Cry, Homecoming, Battlehymn, Force of Arms, Doomsday, Southern Cross, Metal Fire, The Final Nightmare, Invid Invasion, Metamorphosis, Symphony of Light, The Devil's Hand, Dark Powers, Death Dance, World Killers, Rubicon, The End of the Circle | ||
Two years after the Robotech Masters were defeated, the Invid came to Earth. These aliens manage something that no others have before them: they conquer the planet. In a matter of weeks the human defenders are overrun and destroyed, the survivors scattered into a feeble resistance movement that garners little support from a populace that fears the Invid's wrath. And into this downtrodden stew is thrust a rescue movement, in the form of a counterinvasion from Admiral Hunter's SDF-3. Unfortunately, it doesn't do very well, most of the humans shot down as they enter atmosphere.
Now, Scott Bernard, the only survivor of the Mars Division portion of the invasion, must make his way to Reflex Point, the main Invid Hive. But he landed in Brazil, and the Hive is around Chicago! He has a long ride ahead of him. Luckily, he manages to scrounge a motley but reliable band of native Terrans to help him get there.
Characters in this book act more consistently than in the last few. Indeed, they are perhaps the most consistent and thus believable characters in the series! They generally do not act irrationally, and the author isn't forced to have the character think one thing to be a believable reaction and then change his mind a moment later in order to say the line that the character actually said in the show. A definite plus.
The story also goes first-person for a chapter every now and then. This can be either an irritating style change or a refreshingly alternate point of view of events, depending on readers' moods and preferences. I mostly considered it a refreshingly alternate point of view of events, but could easily imagine seeing it as an irritating style change. Especially since the character whose eyes we are suddenly seeing through does not seem the type to write in such a manner, or possibly at all. But even this is excusable, if you squint, since these are supposedly excerpts from memoirs written some time later. Maybe the guy got an education somewhere.
Other things, though, are a little more difficult to excuse. In a society in which humans are a half-step above being slaves, how is it that conventional machinery is still working? It's all beaten up and run-down, but where's the gasoline coming from? And why is Bernard not worried about ammo? Their main armament is missiles, not lasers, and so they'll run out eventually. But that seems not to matter to the story, although they do have to replentish their protoculture supplies at one point, a thing that they could have safely ignored.
Since the plot involves a lonely band of rebels, numbering a mere six, traveling across the countryside, killing Invid, it stands to reason that the Invid would send a few ships after these guys and try to kill them. And they do, of course. But they never send more than a few. I think the most they ever take on at once is four. What is it with this piecemeal crap? I thought the Invid's greatest strength was their numbers! Suddenly they're doing exactly what let the humans win against the Zentraedi, commiting their forces in dribs and drabs.
And lastly, the episodic feel of the original animé comes through clearly. In previous books it was sometimes difficult to discern exactly where one show left off and the next began, but here is it obvious. It gives the novel something of a roller-coaster feel, with the individual episode climaxes being immediately followed by a slowdown until the next conflict arises a dozen pages later.
Still, this is a heck of a lot better than the books chronicling the second generation.
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