Thrilled to see an in-depth review essay of Slum Online by Paolo Chikiamco over at the Philippine Online Chronicles. (That’s right, we’re international!) Paolo sums it up here:

Slum Online is about the different worlds people inhabit, and how, despite that, we can still connect to something other than ourselves.

The reviewer goes on to say that Slum Online may not actually appeal to people looking for an action-packed fight novel or for people into following characters as they solve mysteries. And he’s right. When I was “selling” this novel last year—as an editor, I write catalog copy and make up clever little “selling points” for books that are taken by the sales department who then go to our distributor who then use the same lines on bookstore buyers who, I always hope, then lay the same rap on you on individual level—I decided that Slum Online was “Catcher in the Rye with virtual karate fights.”

In a way Slum Online isn’t science fiction as it is not primarily speculative—it’s not about future technology and its impact on life. Instead it’s a technologically aware novel about the way we live now, to use the old term. So the book, despite Sakurazaka’s success in the American movie biz, was a risk. Editing can be tedious; taking the occasional risk is what keeps our blood flowing here in Haikasoruland, and of course sometimes risks pay off. I’m glad that halfway around the world someone really “got” the book, and even better, that he happens to be a book reviewer! Thanks Paolo!