Mr March

It already has, but the rest of us didn't get it last year so we apparently have to be subjected to agenda on the subject, just not Bank's I agree that Banks can't be accused of slant more than any other writer, especially a provocative one. And his politics don't over shadow his skill as a writer or his creativity and storytelling. To say so is to dismiss any writer for his views. Damn that evil Herbert and his environmentalist agenda. I'm so glad I picked up on that last year Btw, I hear PF Hamilton is really good. I've not had the pleasure, but several friends have recommended his books.

You mean like people in the public/media that angrily shout down anyone who doesn't mindlessly embrace our current government/society as anti-patriotic traitors? I'm sure these were the same people shouting at the top of their lungs for the support of the monarchy when their beloved democracy was only a whisper and a thought in the minds of forward-thinking visionaries. IMO, such partisan thinking is just as damnable. As for the rest, it's distillation at it's worst. Rip it all down to the level of opinion that can be dismissed as no more valuable than that of anyone; with the cute ancillary benefit of doing none of the work Banks did. And Banks "sermons" are nothing of the sort; such labels are reactionary curses dispensed by those who cannot handle that his fiction challenges too many things held so sacred. I too have heard these cries; far too many a time and any verbal smackdown was already laid with the ham handed attempt to dismiss everything of Banks with a single brush stroke. In one thing only can we agree, Max Jenius should read a Banks book for himself.

IMO, you get out what you put in. I have no idea what negative current social deconstruction is but if Bank's construct has come as some kind of revelation that at first you somehow missed, all I can say is it sounds as if you didn't put much effort into it the first time through. Iain M Banks may have his own opinions and motives like any other writer, but he's never failed to lay it all on the table and like Asimov, he loves poking holes in his own creations whether politically or moraly. He's as honest with the flaws of the Culture as his is with his own society and I've never read any Banks book that was derailed by the fiction (especially given the fact that the Culture is relegated to such an unemphasized role within the stories themselves). The Culture "government" in particular is as much a factor of setting and circumstances than any conscious pontification on behalf of the author. I see more social relevance in Banks works than any other contemporary even willing to tackle the same issues and I see far less soapboxing and fundamentalism than widely embraced fictions like those of Roddenberry. But to each his own.

Very nice! Sheryl is looking naughty in this pic

I'd definitely prefer a complete book. If it's something I have to get on a schedule, there's no way I'll keep up.

Hey wjrmonkey, where did you get those YF-19 "OVA Design" schematics? Any chance of some high resolution scans of those?

Author Iain M Banks "Culture" novels are some of the most innovative and - most importantly - well written science fiction works currently being published. The stories are very human and maintain a great balance between grand and personal storytelling. The narratives are immersive, the fiction is provocative and the finales are incredibly rewarding. I'd recommend the Culture books to anyone interested in new sci-fi that is actually new and creative. I also cannot stress enough that Banks is a good writer, not just someone writing good sci-fi. Banks is unquestionably a talent. I'd recommend Consider Phlebas or The Player of Games as perfect introductions into the Culture universe. They are definitely the most accessible of the books, well written but not too challenging in structure and both have very rewarding finales. Use of Weapons is a good middle novel and State of the Art is a collection of short stories, only a few of which are actually set in the Culture. Look To Windward and Excession are definitely later reads that are hard to get through without a Culture primer. Excession in particular should never be read by anyone that isn't already 2-3 books into the Culture series. I've not yet read Matter (his newest addition to the Culture series, published just a few weeks ago)

Yes, another dreaded list has been published to nitpick Check it out here: The 10 Most Prophetic Sci-Fi Movies Ever Comments?

Fan service indeed. Nice

GGemini Fantastic scans GGemini. These are by far the cleanest and most detailed of the magazine scans. I'll save these and replace my current VF-171 Battroid and GERWALK pictures on the M3 with these improved pictures. I think these may also be superior to the website pictures for the VF-25S Full Armor, so I'll review them as well. Many thanks! cyde01 I'll take note of these translations. Thanks for the recap. This is very helpful information.

I'm not familiar with these kind of books. Can someone explain what it is that is so bad about them?

Personally, I'd hope the names have no connection and that Kawamori and Co. simply like the name (however fleeting that hope may be). I don't like character connections like that. It makes the universe feel small, less creative and gives the impression that it's always the same group of people involved in everything, even across generations.

Actually, a Macross Encyclopedia has been a long time coming, IMO. We should have had one years ago. The franchise is large enough and old enough that it should have a defacto guide. I'm not worried about obsolescence. There aren't enough anime productions released often enough to make a Macross encyclopedia obsolete in any short amount of time. If they released one in 1997 (IMO, the perfect time when the franchise needed it), it would have been five years before any new material was released. Macross isn't a franchise in which the creators pump out a product annually whether they have a good idea or not, so a guide would stay relevant for some time. And after five years, I wouldn't mind buying another (or just a second volume). Still, we're finally getting one from the sound of it, so I can't really complain. Since we've lacked one so far, I suppose the 25th Anniversary is as good a time as any to publish something like that.

New VF-1 looks nice. The engines/lower legs are the most notable improvement over the older models. Looks great. Is that advertisement (the one with the SDF-1 Macross on the cover) an advert for the new Macross Chronicle Encyclopedia?

There were paintings in UN Spacy's post, but they've been edited out. They are the same paintings that appear in the linked fan video a few posts later.

Yeah, this was supposed to be the art book for Macross Zero. But the cancelled it and that was that. For shame Big West! But with luck, everything we missed out on will be part of that new Macross Chronicle Encyclopedia that was just mentioned in the Frontier threads.

Not much to go on, but looks interesting. Oshii is fantastic, so I'm definitely curious.

I agree. I don't see any of the faux futuristic style of Macross II in the new VF-25. The head in particular looks like Eureka 7, the thin frame and the torso reminds me of Armored Core modular structures.

Obviously, this is a skewed poll given the fact that this is a Macross fan site judging Robotech. Having said that much and looking at the entires as objectively as I can, I must say that Robotech still takes the cake for worst anime adaptation simply because of the perpetuation of the horrible English edit. The dedicated attempt to disallow consumers from seeing or purchasing the original Macross also plays a major part in my vote. Granted progress has been made in recent years, but that in no way dismisses nearly two decades censorship. Runner up would be Nausicaa. Ironically, Nausicaa was the first anime film I had ever seen

My website features a book section promoting some great Macross art books. Books section on the Macross Mecha Manual Hope that helps.

Wow! Are those your paintings UNS?

Not bad, but a little dark. You should do more scans with the scanner you have at work

Letter designations noted. I've made the changes to my OFFLINE files of the M3, so I sure hope they're right

There are some new facts that you've translated cyde01. Thank you so much for helping. We really appreciate it. Seems like a lot of speculation and not much real fact so far. I'm much more curious what will be said in the official art books or this Encyclopedia Macross that is coming out. That book will definitely be THE text to translate for Macross.

Impressive beyond words.