Haikasoru

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A whole bunch of reviews!

Let’s see, over at the popular science fiction blog Bibliophile Stalker, it must be Haikasoru Week, because there are three reviews up since Sunday.

On Loups-Garous: Kyogoku makes the reader question the dystopic elements of the setting; the characters feel mortal and just when you’ve left your guard down, a twist in the plot keeps you unsettled.

On Slum Online: …excels in conveying the virtue of humble accomplishment, of proving to yourself that you’re the best, even if the public isn’t necessarily aware of it.

On The Next Continent: It harkens to conventions of a certain genre of science fiction [hard SF] and yet is nonetheless infused with Japanese optimism and culture. (I think this is the first review of The Next Continent I’ve seen, so I’m especially happy.)

Meanwhile, over at Otaku USA, we have reviews of different titles.

On The Stories of Ibis: I firmly believe in the importance of fiction and mythopoeia in helping people understand themselves, others, and the world around them, and in providing a safer environment to come to grips with complex, troubling issues…

On Usurper of the Sun: This frequently fascinating debate on alternative forms of consciousness permeates the novel, twining with the time limit until the Builders arrive in the solar system to provide the main narrative thrust.

Well, what are you waiting for? Consume!

Loups-Garous—Teen Girls Who Actually Do Stuff

Loups-Garous is probably one of our more challenging titles. it’s a mix of SF and mystery in the Japanese mode, with endless tiny elements slowly coming together to create a major total and final effect. In the past I’ve described it as a 600-page haiku. At the same time , however, it’s about a handful of teenage girls—a super-genius; one who dresses all in pink, even down to her contact lenses; an illegal immigrant martial artist; a poor li’l rich girl; and…well, that last one is a spoiler. And they don’t spend all their time talking about boys either.

So, intense and thoughtful social satires written with an avant-garde rigor, but featuring teenybopper protagonists…how does one “slot” that in the marketplace? Our friends at The Innsmouth Free Press, an online magazine of Lovecraftian fiction, has a suggestion in its positive review of our book!

I heartily recommend it to parents with teenagers. It’s bound to produce more interesting dialogue than “Who does Bella love: Edward or Jacob?” Hell, at least there’s a super-genius hacker girl who does stuff. A hell of a lot better than smelling tasty.

Well parents? You have your orders! Go save your children from Twilight with a little Loups-Garous!

And the hits just keep on comin’!

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!

Who loves ya baby? The DENVER POST, that’s who!

Just came across this double-review of our hot new books, The Stories of Ibis, and Slum Online over at the Denver Post’s occasional science fiction column.

Ibis got the nod as an “excellent novel” “infused with the history of American science fiction.” Heck, that’s what I’ve been saying for months now! Columnist Fred Cleaver also dug Slum Online and especially enjoyed the novelette “Bonus Round”, which Sakurazaka wrote especially for you, to give Haikasoru readers a little something extra. (”Bonus Round” appeared in a Japanese-language anthology at almost the same time as our novel hit the shelves.)

Two out of three books reviewed in a leading newspaper’s book page are ours. The future is Japanese after all.


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