Tow Ubukata

Short enough for an experimental read? Check. Eye-catching cover? Check. Decent price through Amazon? Check. Tie-in to a movie I want to see? Check. Worth the effort of reading? Sadly, no.

The Ghost in the Shell: Five New Short Stories is a collection of stories by five Japanese media authors/creators that builds upon the story presented in the movie "The Ghost in the Shell." It is a quick read, which is the only reason I didn't abandon the book part-way through. Too often I felt like I was reading a comic book or graphic novel without the graphics, and that just doesn't work. I have not yet seen the movie, but I don't believe my opinion of the book would change if I had.… (mais)

I'm reviewing the three novels (collects together in this single volume) separately, here. As a single book seems to be the only way the series is available in the US. See the dates I've read it for an indication of when I read each book in the collection.

First Compression (Book I)

It has been quite a while since I watched the anime movie series based on these books, but the first book seems extremely similar to my memory of the first movie, suggesting a very faithful adaptation to anime. Parts of the book actually have such a visual character to them that I am not sure I would have enjoyed the book quite as much without having seen the anime first, but even without that preparation for the mind's eye this would still be a great read.

Some cultural influences on the events and character behaviors of this story might not hold up as well for someone not familiar with some Japanese entertainment culture and tropes. Particular examples include things like heavy-handed emphasis of specific words and some foreign-word fetishism in the naming of people and things that probably comes off as a bit overly strange to western audiences. It's really just a difference in cultural expectations, though: there are things that usually pass in US literature without comment or notice from US readers because the bizarre assumptions in one's own culture tend to be invisible.

The use of advanced cybernetic technologies in the story are definitely interesting, and the worldbuilding justification for the rarity of these technologies is easy to accept and enjoy for the sake of enjoying it -- even if it's difficult to believe things politically working out this way in reality. The cynical take on politics is refreshing, though unexpectedly and unnecessarily laced through with some strange threads of assumption that contradict the cynicism at times. Authoritarian impositions on everyday life pass unexamined at times in a manner that seems to me likely predicated on Japanese cultural assumptions, but I'm not sure about that; at the same time, the story's basis is rooted in recognizing some of the same assumptions and pointing out that they can have negative consequences, even as in other cases they seem to give rise to negatives that may not even be recognized as negative so much as they're unquestioned as an impersonal universal law of nature by the author.

If there is a significant flaw in the first book of the trilogy, it is probably the way it ends. It is essentially a cliffhanger before the climax is completed, so that what amounts to the comletion of the first book plot arc's climax and its denouement comprise the beginning of the second book.

Second Combustion (Book II)

This book essentially consisted of an ending of the previous book, a short transition, and the beginning of the third. As a stand-alone book, it's kind of a mess. This whole series would probably have ideally been broken up into two books rather than separated into three or collected into one. Either option would have yielded something that felt complete and well ordered, though perhaps a little less so if thought of as a single cohesive story rather than a pair.

That said, it was riveting. If you can avoid thinking of events as being split the way this collection splits them, or the way it seems they were originally individually published, and just feel like you've hit an arc's end and picked up a new arc's beginning, it'll flow very easily.

It's just a bit odd reviewing it separately while thinking of it that way. I guess I'm telling you that you should not think of it as having a middle book, despite the fact that middle book exists; instead, think of the first part of it as the end of the first book, and the second part of it as the beginning of the last book. I find myself wondering if the author originally intended it as two stories, then got told that trilogies sell better.

Third Exhaust (Book III)

This was a good ending. I'm pretty sure I didn't see most of this third book's events in the anime movie series, but it has been too long for me to be sure what I saw. Somehow, the events of the first book and the setting of "Paradise" are my primary memories.

In any case, this was a really good read. I'll let it percolate and see if I come up with more to say here, but for now I just know I really liked it.… (mais)