Speculative Japan 3

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Speculative Japan 3

"Silver Bullet" and Other Tales of Japanese Science Fiction and Fantasy
Introduction by Darrell SCHWEITZER

The third book of our well-received Speculative Japan series, this volume brings more outstanding authors from the Japanese archipelago to English, with a selection of never-before published stories covering a broad range of speculative fiction... from gritty SF to dark fiction, enjoy a whole new dimension of the imagination!

Nominated for the 2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards!

“…the stories you’ll find collected here will broaden your view of what is possible or imaginable, provoking unusual — and sometimes uncomfortable — thoughts. That is as it should be.”
—David BRIN, preface to Speculative Japan Volume 1

This, the third volume of the Speculative Japan series, introduces a few touches of horror, gently flavoring the mix to give an extra tang to the usual shot of science fiction. And, as always, all of the stories and many of the authors are coming to English for the first time.
Enjoy!

Contents

Introduction by Darrell Schweitzer Read online!

ASAMATSU Ken 朝松 健
"A White Camellia in a Vase" 立華 白椿
translated by Joe EARLE

AYATSUJI Yukito 綾辻 行人
"Heart of Darkness" 心の闇
translated by Daniel JACKSON

UEDA Sayuri 上田 早夕里
"Fin and Claw" 魚舟・獣舟
translated by Daniel HUDDLESTON

OGAWA Issui 小川 一水
"To the Blue Star" 青い星まで飛んでいけ
translated by Edward LIPSETT

ONDA Riku 恩田 陸
"The Warning" 忠告
translated by Mikhail S. IGNATOV
This translation won the 2010 Kurodahan Press Translation Prize.

KAMON Nanami 加門七海
"A Piece of Butterfly's Wing" 蝶の断片
translated by Angus TURVILL
This translation won the 2011 Kurodahan Press Translation Prize.

SUGA Hiroe 菅 浩江
"Five Sisters" 五人姉妹
translated by Ginny Tapley TAKEMORI

TAKANO Fumio 高野 史緒
"Lest You Remember" 空忙の鉢
translated by Jim HUBBERT

TACHIHARA Toya 立原 透耶
"Invisible" インビジブル (unpublished in Japanese)
translated by Nancy H. ROSS

FUJITA Masaya 藤田 雅矢
"Angel French" エンゼルフレンチ
translated by Pamela IKEGAMI

MATSUZAKI Yuri 松崎 有理
"The Finish Line" あがり
translated by Nora Stevens HEATH

MINAGAWA Hiroko 皆川 博子
"Sunset" 夕陽が沈む
translated by Karen SANDNESS

MORI Natsuko 森 奈津子
"It's All Thanks to Saijō Hideki" 西城秀樹のおかげです
translated by Anthea MURPHY

YAMADA Masaki 山田 正紀
"Silver Bullet" 銀の弾丸
translated by Stephen CARTER

Marc SCHULTZ
"Green Tea Ice Cream" (previously unpublished)


Reviews:

  • ...this is a collection of really wonderful stories. None of them were bad, and if a few were a little less elegant or impressive than the others, they are more than balanced by the overall high quality of the selections. I was very happy to see the translators getting such prominent recognition, as all these stories are easily readable and very atmospheric, with none of the awkwardness that sometimes plagues hasty translations.
    Karen Burnham, Locus, May 2013 issue
  • ...everything's up for grabs in this cocktail mixer of genres. The mournful and the comic, the abstract and the scientific, the realistic and the caricatured, all can be found in Speculative Japan 3. [...] the Japanese culture's influence on the process of fantasy creation is something made accessible to the international reader in this rich collection.
    David Labi, Metropolis
  • In a collection that contains stories about lovers who are disembodied and digitized, stories where "heart of darkness" is not a figure of speech, stories where Tsugaru shamans intersect with cutting-edge science, and a great deal more, there must be something for everyone. That's only speculation, though. You'll enjoy confirming it for yourself.
    David Cozy, Japan Times
  • Speculative Japan 3 is finally here, and it's everything I hoped it would be: a diverse collection of intelligent and beautifully translated short stories.
    As both an anthology of contemporary science fiction and an anthology of contemporary Japanese literature, Speculative Japan 3 succeeds brilliantly in collecting not the newest or the most popular, but rather the most interesting and the best written.
    Kathryn Hemmann, Contemporary Japanese Literature blog

Details:

  • 292 pages
  • Trade paperback 5" x 8" (127mm x 203mm)
  • ISBN: 978-4-902075-30-4
  • Cover: Katō Naoyuki


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