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luciayoung's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
trike's review
3.0
MM9 means "Monster Magnitude 9." In this case it's kaiju. For those not geeky enough to know this word, never fear, Trike is here: it means Godzilla and the like. If you don't know Godzilla, I can't help you.
Anyway, the MM scale is similar to the Fujita scale for tornadoes. The bigger the number, the more destructive it is.
Although I've seen numerous giant monster movies over the years and grew up watching the original Ultraman smash toy cities, I've never read a book about kaiju before. This is pretty much unlike any Gamera movie I've ever seen.
Ultraman!
“This is kaiju!" Yojiro barked. "When did they ever give a damn about adhering to science!” -- MM9
Yamamoto has worked out an entire pseudo-scientific way for kaiju to exist. By their very nature, they violate all kinds of natural law: biology, physics, you name it. There's no way for a creature the size of a building to be able to walk around. We suspend our disbelief because it's cool. For Yamamoto, though, that's not enough; he wants a rationale for them. What he comes up with works just fine, but it's one of those explanations that would actually be better suited with a little less detail. However, it's needed once he ties everything up in the confrontation at the end of the book.
I'll put the explanation behind this spoiler tag, but be forewarned it does come into play for the finale:
Yamamoto does fall into the cliche of the 1950s monster movie that we all know as the "As you know, Bob" moment, where the scientists stops the story for an infodump. I don't know what the Japanese version of Bob is (Hiro? Akira?), but the effect is the same. There's also a lot of awkward phrasing and dialogue, and I don't know if the source of that is in the original text or is due to translation. I desperately want to rewrite this as a movie, smoothing out the bumpy parts, because there is a really fun little -- well, okay, gigantic -- fantasy story at the heart of this.
The idea is quite good, but the execution leaves something to be desired. These appear to be five novellas woven together, so there is some repetition, but overall it's a pleasant enough read.
Anyway, the MM scale is similar to the Fujita scale for tornadoes. The bigger the number, the more destructive it is.
Although I've seen numerous giant monster movies over the years and grew up watching the original Ultraman smash toy cities, I've never read a book about kaiju before. This is pretty much unlike any Gamera movie I've ever seen.
Ultraman!
“This is kaiju!" Yojiro barked. "When did they ever give a damn about adhering to science!” -- MM9
Yamamoto has worked out an entire pseudo-scientific way for kaiju to exist. By their very nature, they violate all kinds of natural law: biology, physics, you name it. There's no way for a creature the size of a building to be able to walk around. We suspend our disbelief because it's cool. For Yamamoto, though, that's not enough; he wants a rationale for them. What he comes up with works just fine, but it's one of those explanations that would actually be better suited with a little less detail. However, it's needed once he ties everything up in the confrontation at the end of the book.
I'll put the explanation behind this spoiler tag, but be forewarned it does come into play for the finale:
Spoiler
Kaiju can violate the physics of our universe because they're from an earlier version of the universe, which had different laws. Once they're killed, they revert to the rules of our universe, which is why no one has been able to explain how they work. Once humans became conscious about 3,000 years ago, the rules of the "mythic" universe changed. As we have agreed upon a new consensual reality, the universe has changed over time. This effectively wipes out previous versions of the universe, rewriting history. So all the tales of ancient gods -- Zeus, et al -- were of real people, but once we collectively decided they were no longer real, they became figments of our imaginations and characters in stories as the rules of the universe were altered. It's a handy solution, I thought.Yamamoto does fall into the cliche of the 1950s monster movie that we all know as the "As you know, Bob" moment, where the scientists stops the story for an infodump. I don't know what the Japanese version of Bob is (Hiro? Akira?), but the effect is the same. There's also a lot of awkward phrasing and dialogue, and I don't know if the source of that is in the original text or is due to translation. I desperately want to rewrite this as a movie, smoothing out the bumpy parts, because there is a really fun little -- well, okay, gigantic -- fantasy story at the heart of this.
The idea is quite good, but the execution leaves something to be desired. These appear to be five novellas woven together, so there is some repetition, but overall it's a pleasant enough read.
weesam_nz's review
3.0
I'm glad I picked this one up, it sounded fun - and it was.
This book tells the story of the Monsterological Measures Department (MMD), who are tasked with defending Japan from the kaiji (Godzilla-like monsters).
In some ways this book is a monster-of-the-week story, although more like monster-of-the-chapter. And there isn't a lot of story going on, it's more here comes the monster, lets figure out how to defeat the monster. Monster dead, bring on the next one. Don't let that put you off though. It's light, it's fun and it's quite a ride!
This book tells the story of the Monsterological Measures Department (MMD), who are tasked with defending Japan from the kaiji (Godzilla-like monsters).
In some ways this book is a monster-of-the-week story, although more like monster-of-the-chapter. And there isn't a lot of story going on, it's more here comes the monster, lets figure out how to defeat the monster. Monster dead, bring on the next one. Don't let that put you off though. It's light, it's fun and it's quite a ride!
ghost_name's review
2.0
Wasn’t bad, it seemed to me more of a collection of short stories about the monster department in Japan and not one smooth complete narrative. Made reading it faster, but I would have preferred a full-style novel.
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