 |
World Killers | Rating | |
| D | |||
| Jack McKinney | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Robotech: The Sentinels | 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 | ||
The Sentinels are landing on Hayden IV, where another Invid hive holds sway. But there are difficulties that will make throwing the Regent off this planet a bit more problematic than usual. Several Sentinels have been infected by Garuda's odd ecosphere, and require Hayden Iv's miraculous healers if they are to recover. More, the planet itself has built-in defenses that guarantee the annihilation of any invader. So the Sentinels are forced to surrender to their archenemy in hopes of getting the healing they need, and hope desperately that this will serve as a sort of Trojan Horse. Meanwhile, Tesla's ongoing forced evolution, as well as his ambition, is raising yet more problems for the Sentinels, as is Edwards' for the REF.
The story starts out with something of a bang, with Haydon IV's automatic defenses gearing up and Minmei fleeing Edwards. Yet it comes across very simply, shallowly. One almost cannot help but see it in the mind's eye as a cartoon. Which, as usual, is the biggest flaw. This is text, not animation, and simplicity should be avoided in character and plot and technobabble and everything else. Machines work not due to any scientific or engineering logic but because the story needs them to, and they fail for the same reasons. The same can be said of the characters and their motives. If the story needs someone to be stupid and believe an obvious lie so that a conspiracy can progress, then they will believe it, or at least be forgiving enough to give them one last chance. This reasoning is behind every plot hole, inconsistancy, and flaw in the book, from the Sentinels' acceptance of Tesla's obvious duplicity to the explanation - or lack thereof - of Haydon IV's defense systems. Many, many times something happens that is impossible or unlikely (or, regarding characters, rediculously foolish) but the author writes it off with a comment of it being "mysteriously" or "somehow" working like that.
Whether this is McKinney's fault or not is arguable (I, personally, don't think it is), but whosever bad writing it is, it is still poor reading, and that's what matters. In truth, this book isn't really any worse than others in the Sentinel line - and, arguably, in the entire Robotech series. What has changed is my willingness to put up with it. I feel certain that this feeling will eventually come, sooner or later, to all who read the entire series. All but the most fervent Robotech fan. I am only surprised by how long I was able to hold the attitude at bay.
| By Title | By Author | By Rank |