All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
I’ve heard a few things about Viz Media’s new publishing imprint ‘Haikasoru’ which plans to bring English translations of Japanese science fiction novels but it is only recently that I managed to get my hands on one of the first round of releases. This was due to my local Borders closing which on the one hand provided me with lots of cheap books but on the other hand has taken away one of my favourite shops to spend time in. 
Nevertheless I managed to bag a cheap copy of “All You Need is Kill” which is a pretty slim book at only 230 pages so it made a nice change from some of the epics I’ve been wading through lately. I’m not sure if short novels are more common in Japanese fiction, I’d quite like them to make a come back here but it seems that the average consumer judges a book firstly by how thick it is rather than what it contains and so the doorstop epic reigns supreme especially in the SF&F field.
The book tells the story of Keiji Kiriya a new recruit in the war against the alien ‘Mimic’ invasion of earth with all the battle-suited action you might expect from the land of Anime. Keiji however is stuck in a loop that sees him fighting the same battle over and over, dying differently each time depending on the actions he takes through that loop. Much of the book focuses on Keiji and Rita Vrataski, also called the Full Metal Bitch, a kick-ass female warrior in a bright red battle suit or ‘jacket’ who might just be able to help Keiji escape from the loop.
It’s a bit hard to describe much more of the plot without major spoilers but I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought the ideas were tied up pretty neatly at the end. You can’t help but notice the gaming influence, and the whole thing reminds me of some weird retelling of Groundhog Day set in the Halo universe.
Plenty of action, decent ending and a quick read…I want more.
