eBook, 230 pages
English language
Published Oct. 29, 2009 by VIZ Media.
There’s one thing worse than dying. It’s coming back to do it again and again…
When the alien Gitai invade, Keiji Kiriya is just one of many raw recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to find himself reborn each morning to fight and die again and again. On the 158th iteration though, he sees something different, something out of place: the female soldier known as the Bitch of War. Is the Bitch the key to Keiji’s escape, or to his final death?
It is a fast read with a great premise. But it is very immaturely written. Do not recommend. Stick with the movie (Edge of Tomorrow) which is excellent.
Continuing my time travel reads. The light novel on which “Edge of Tomorrow” is based.
Shorter than I'd expected, though I blame myself for that, as I made the classic blunder of watching the film before reading the movie (in my defense, I'd heard of the book before the film was announced, but even as I type that it feels like the most hipster-y thing I could've said, and I'm immediately sorry I wrote it).
Not too bad. A bit poetic in places, and not quite as predictable as I would've expected had it been an American novel.
An interesting military SF novel about mechs, alien invasions, but most of all the time loop that Keiji is caught in. He lives the same battle and the same death over and over, trying to get out of the loop. While the story has its moments, there is too much emphasis on the battles for my taste. The last chapter takes a surprisingly sentimental turn. Most of all, what this novel made me realize is how little I know of the Japanese SF tradition. I feel that there is more going on here, that I am simply not attentive to, because I am not aware of the tradition.
Great premise overall, but it's just too short/fast-paced to really drag you into the narrative.
Military scifi that was badly written and had awful characters. The only redeeming quality is that it was still possible to create an entertaining movie from this mess of a book.
Military scifi that was badly written and had awful characters. The only redeeming quality is that it was still possible to create an entertaining movie from this mess of a book.
I don't know why, but I really thought I'd hate this book. I suppose I was reminded a little bit of Hard Boiled Wonderland at the End Of the World by the name of the author (Haruki Murakami/Hiroshi Sakurazaka).
However I was totally glad I did read it. I like the characters, I liked the story, and I think a little I'd been craving some new military sci-fi.
This was interesting and different. The protagonist is a soldier who fights alien invaders with a suit of armor known as a "jacket." His problem is that he keeps dying and then coming back to battle again. And then he meets the supersoldier known as the Full Metal Bitch. Why does he keep coming back? How exactly does it work? What does the FMB have to do with it? A strength in this novel is that the reason why the hero keeps coming back is revealed gradually. Sure, there is action and battles in this novel, but there is also some good character development and some interesting science fiction ideas. No, I am not revealing why it is he keeps coming back. Once you find out, I think you may find it intriguing as well.
When I first picked up the book, I thought it would be similar to Algis …
This was interesting and different. The protagonist is a soldier who fights alien invaders with a suit of armor known as a "jacket." His problem is that he keeps dying and then coming back to battle again. And then he meets the supersoldier known as the Full Metal Bitch. Why does he keep coming back? How exactly does it work? What does the FMB have to do with it? A strength in this novel is that the reason why the hero keeps coming back is revealed gradually. Sure, there is action and battles in this novel, but there is also some good character development and some interesting science fiction ideas. No, I am not revealing why it is he keeps coming back. Once you find out, I think you may find it intriguing as well.
When I first picked up the book, I thought it would be similar to Algis Budrys's Rogue Moon, which also has a hero that dies and comes back to life only to do it again. However, Budrys's protagonist does it in a different way, and he is not facing an alien invasion; he is exploring an alien artifact on the Moon. Still, if you have read Budrys, you will still find yourself making comparisons.
Overall, I think Sakurazaka is a writer I will be looking out for. I did not know he had other works, but I will certainly look for them. The novel was pretty good, and it was a pretty quick read as well. If you like military sci-fi, you will like this.
