Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation

Offers a very different (and abridged) take on the 0079 war of the Gundam. It's still a great read, and even better once they standardized the name translations, something the earlier, individual books had issues with. If you've never seen the original Mobile Suit Gundam, I wouldn't start with this, but if you have it's definitely a great follow-up take!

Tomino is as ruthless as ever! You will be in for quite a shock if you sit down thinking this will be like our favorite 1979 anime; but it's a good kind of surprise, as Tomino's own take of our beloved One Year War saga is riveting, engaging, sometimes weird and so very cruel. It's really so different from the series that it's almost a crime to compare the two, I really don't wanna spoil anything but I just want to let it be known that it's a very welcome addition to the Gundam universe. Also, the foreword by Mark Simmons is very nice and well-researched. Honestly, they should make this into a tetralogy of films. It would be the greatest thing ever since sliced bread and it would blow out of the water those crappy and unnecessary Rebuild of Evangelion movies.

So, I want to preface this saying I got into Gundam as a teenager, first through the model kits, and later through the cartoons as Cartoon Network helped bring them to America. As a kid, I loved Gundam Wing and couldn't understand why adults didn't "get it" or weren't into it, I tried watching it again as an adult later and just found myself unable to watch all the anime tropes, unrealistic conflicts, etc. that I (personally) didn't find relatable any more, most especially the overwelling of teen angst. Later I found adaptions of the original cartoon and its sequel Zeta Gundam, and found them okay, but still not filling this desire to see this story told with characters I could find as real and relatable. I've watched many of the other UC setting shows and some are better than other, and even managed to find my way to the Origin comic series and found that to be really nice (and beautifulyl illustrated). However none of these stories were scratching that itch I had for something more akin to a western literature style scifi story. Eventually after talking about the series with my boss, he told me about this book trilogy, which I had never known existed. I picked it up and devoured it over the course of a weekend, already starting to re-read it. This is the version of Gundam for people who want smarter characters, smarter storytelling, a much more complete picture of the intent of Newtypes, and a strong but complex and realistic depiction of Char. I hope someday this version of the story makes it to the screen or to a visual medium other than just a few model kits. I really hope you buy this book and tell anyone who likes scifi and mecha to pick it up too. Tomino's vision shines like a bright light in the void here, and gives the audience a great and classic core story to Gundam that can be read more than once. As a note, I don't want to disparage the original series or their youth power fantasy. That's good to have and important to have. I however really enjoyed this book personally for where I am currently in life (29 years old and going). I grew up on mecha and moved to scifi and political fantasy/history like the Expanse series, the Saxon Tales, Song of Ice and Fire, etc. Please take that as a framework for this review. ------------------------------------------------ Minor spoilers below of things not in this novel that made me like it even more: -No civilian children pilots -Earth story arc skipped -Very few battles, and when they occour they make sense (obviously this couldn't happen in a TV show that needs a battle almost every episode) -Very few mobile suit chasis (no "villain of the week", more realistic R&D times) -Very consistent "scifi" tech

Being a Mobile Suit Gundam fan I have always wanted to read the book(s) that Tomino wrote about it and how the war might have looked differently to him. The overall plot of the books is not too far off from that of the show(s), however Tomino allows the book to explore the subject of NewType human beings far more in depth. In addition, we hear a lot more from the Zabi family, its internal politics and scheming. I also liked the darker tone of the book. The original show at times comes off like a bunch of young teenagers who somehow manage to become proficient combat veterans and survive against all odds. This book rather suggests that though they are young, they do have some training, and their ability to overcome obstacles stems from them all having the "NewType potential". Overall, excellent read and totally recommend it.

Great book and really enjoying the new take on the story after some hindsight and ability to not tailor it towards the selling of toys/gunpla. However, I'm not too far in but I have already come across a number of typos and odd text formatting that an editor should have caught. Four stars for overall "production" but so far nothing that has ruined the book... It's just a little jarring to see the formatting issues. They're enough to pull me out of the reading.

Fantastic book for people who have or even have not watched the original series. There are differences between the two and it may be beneficial to read this prior if you are going to do a watch of the 1979 series. Without spoiling details, a lot more time is taken to explain the politics and interworkings of the Zabi family and the Earth Federation. Also some more development time is taken about the new type theory and some different takes on relationships are taken. Won't be disappointing!

This book delivers in every physical way possible. I was hooked the moment I read through the first chapter. Without the issues and restraints of the television format. This is THE definitive view into what Tomino's original vision was for the show. Characters are more fleshed out,and every bit of exposition seems to be delivered in a different way as if delivered by the current character via their thoughts. And every detail comes to life in words painted beautifully by the Author/translator as if you could imagine every moment in your mind. There was one minor issue with my copy in that at one point ( I think page 317/318?) where the pages were printed in the opposite order. Once I figued out which was which. It was not a problem. If you are a fan of good storytelling in general, science fiction, you MUST read this book. If you are a Gundam fan, there is no reason NOT to read this.

I loved that book. I was a fan of Mobile Suit Gundam, and this more "adult" version of the story is just perfect. Also, the English is easy to understand for someone who doesn't speak English very well (like me).

Questo libro, anche se ovviamente di estremo interesse per chiunque sia appassionato di Gundam, è un ottimo romanzo di fantascienza e mi sento di consigliarlo a tutti gli appassionati del genere. Questa collezione di tre romanzi narra della seconda parte della guerra tra la Federazione Terrestre e la colonia ribelle costituitasi nel Principato di Zeon, segnata dalla "riscossa" della Federazione e dall'emergere di un "nuovo tipo" di essere umano, capace di contatto e comunione con gli altri esseri umani quasi paranormale. La vicenda narrata nei romanzi di Tomino si discosta abbastanza dalla serie di cartoni vista in TV, ma ovviamente consente una profondità di analisi e una complessità molto maggiori, per cui la cosa non mi ha dato fastidio. L'importante è che il lettore non si aspetti la semplice trascrizione degli episodi del cartone animato. Fortunatamente, c'è molto di più! A parte qualche breve passaggio più lento (e forse un po' pedante quando si sofferma sulla teoria dei newtype, ma probabilmente troppo va perso nella traduzione dal giapponese), i romanzi sono densi di azione bellica, intrigo e complesse vicende umane, per cui si leggono volentieri indipendentemente dal fatto di essere un "fan" di Gundam o meno. E' molto forte l'impronta idealistica pacifista, in perfetto stile giapponese, per cui i personaggi (non tutti militari per scelta o professione) sono soldati, combattono, uccidono e muoiono lealmente, anche se interiormente sono combattuti tra il dovere ineluttabile e i propri sentimenti pieni di contraddizioni.

ちゃんと届いたので、よかったです。綺麗な状態で満足しています。

If you're a fan of the Universal Century continuity of Gundam (the original Gundam continuity), this is a must read. It's an alternate retelling of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, or as fans call it, 0079. This book is based on the original idea for how Yoshiyuki Tomino wanted 0079 to go before it was cancelled, so at the time this was an alternate, more complete version of the story. Most of the book follows the TV series with some alterations (almost all the White Base crew are already members of the military before the attack on Side 7, Garma Zabi attacks White Base in space before they go down to earth, Lalah Sune is introduced much sooner etc.) but the final act is completely different and makes the events of Mobile Suit Z Gundam impossible. The book is in general very interesting for a fan because they go in to far greater detail of the universe than the TV series did. The only problem is that the translation is a bit awkward. This is a must read for a true fan.

Clearly some differences between the original series and the novel, but the novel makes a little more sense about it and it is clear what Tomino's original vision was. Translated well, and a must for Universal Century fans.