All You Need Is Kill

The morning of his first battle, Pt. Keiji Kiriya wakes from an unusually vivid nightmare. In his dream, the battle had already started. His powerful armored Jacket, although representing the pinnacle of human martial technology, had proven precious little defense against the horde of extraterrestrial invaders known as "Mimics"; Keiji had watched several of his friends die around him before finally, his body damaged beyond any hope of survival, going out fighting. Intense, yes, but basically the sort of dream a man might be expected to have in his situation. It's when he talks to his bunkmate that things start getting a little weird. It turns out this isn't the day of the battle at all, but the day before. Apparently everything Keiji remembered of his last full day at the base was also part of the dream. But when the rest of the day unfolds, in the minutest detail, exactly the way Keiji remembers it from his dream, he begins to suspect there's something even more bizarre going on . . . and his suspicions are confirmed when, once again, he takes a deadly hit and wakes up back in his bunk the day before the battle.

Somehow, Keiji has got himself caught in a time loop. When he flees the base, he's attacked by Mimics on a nearly deserted beach. Quick and painless suicide simply brings him back to the beginning of the loop. Somehow, he's got to fight his way out of this, survive the battle - a tall order for a green recruit barely out of school, but perhaps not such an impossible feat for the seasoned veteran Keiji is becoming. The day before the battle, he devotes himself to extra training, then heads out to his death the next morning. Nearly every time through the loop, he survives just a minute or two longer than he did the time before. Even so, he's died over 150 deaths before the day he gets a surprising communication from the enigmatic uber-warrior Rita Vrataski ...

Hiroshi Sakurazaka's "All You Need Is Kill" is everything a sci-fi adventure story should be: fast-paced, gripping, surprising, intense, relentless. Keiji's voice, which narrates three-quarters of the novel, is utterly believable: gritty, with a soldier's swagger and a youth's vulnerability. Although this isn't exactly a character-driven story, Keiji, Rita, and their fellow soldiers are appealing characters, quick sketches but drawn with enough skill to sustain and enhance the reader's interest between action sequences. The ending is fast and hard - and surprisingly moving.

It's probably impossible to consider this novel outside the context of everyone's favorite time-loop rom-com, "Groundhog Day." The film adaptation, "Edge of Tomorrow," coming soon to American theaters (as of the time of this writing), is described in literally every early review I've seen as "'Groundhog Day' crossed with 'Independence Day' [or some other, less epistrophic, sci-fi war movie]." (I borrowed the title of this review from one of these critics - I just couldn't resist.) Although the parallels between "Groundhog Day" and "All You Need Is Kill" are obvious (I can't confirm that Sakurazaka named his deuteragonist "Rita" as an homage to the character played by Andie MacDowell, but it's hardly a farfetched notion), the more direct inspiration for the novel seems to have been the author's experience with video games. Everyone who has played an electronic game featuring a battle or any sort of quest with definite goals has had the experience of losing the game - usually by the death of the player character - and starting again from the beginning, or at least from a certain set point. Victory comes, not through luck or daring or the blessing of some higher power, but through persistence, practice, and a few dozen deaths' worth of experience.

Video game junkies may well be pursuaded to set down their controllers long enough to share Keiji's experience, and readers who enjoy action with a slightly cerebral edge should enjoy following the twists of the narrative. Readers who, like me, enjoy stories that play with time but aren't generally drawn to the fast-paced high-tech butt-kicking genre will find it well worth their while. Enjoy this fast, fun read, and don't be surprised if you find Keiji's adventures looping back through your mind long after you've reached the last page.

...But they cast Tom Cruise instead. (for any of you who dont get the above reference, watch the movie "Groundhog Day". The love interest's name is even Rita!) This review will be about the book, of course, since the movie won't be out for another couple months.

Synopsis: Aliens land on Earth and begin terraform the planet. Humanity fights back with awesome warsuits (think of something crossed between Bubblegum Crisis 2040 and the construction robot that Signore Weaver piloted in the first Alien move). The war isn't going well, either. Especially for the hero dies only to wake up again the day before and do it all over again.

The Good: The pace was quick enough. Made reading this feel easy, even during the less exciting parts

The Bad: Unfortunately there is very little to no character development (other than the main character accepting his role as a hero). Then again, how can anyone develop at all when the only person who remembers yesterday is the hero? Maybe I should let that one slide.

The Ugly: I saw the ending coming a long way off. I wont spoil it but I am familiar with many of the tropes found in Japanese fiction and this one fit just like a square peg. The ending was also a little too quick for my taste - not enough wrap up for as much time as I'd like for the amount I'd invested in the characters.

Fun similarities between this book and the movie "Groundhog Day":
- Main character wakes up to a local DJ giving the weather report
- Love interest's name is Rita
- Loop ends.......(SPOILER)......... after main character spends the night with Rita

Verdict: A good read, totally worth a couple bucks. I recommend it as a travel or vacation book.

Released as part of VIZ-Media's recent fiction line, Haikasoru, All you need is Kill was a very fast but great read. Though technically considered a light novel, you do not find any of the watered down elements a LN would normally bear. The characters are clear and enjoyable. the story is descriptive and vibrant. The novel could very easily be triple the length, but it would not make it any better. Instead, you would risk watering down its power, like small punches to your gut turning to love taps.

Though originally written in Japanese (2004), it was recently translated by Alex Smith and pushed out to the English market.

if you read AYNIK, you will definitely be reminded of Robotech, Groundhogs day, and general anime/manga. This book is much more than any of those things however, so you will see no further references to them.

FNORDinc's overview-

The planet earth is in the midst of a ground war. We fight alien machines sent to our planet to reform the atmosphere and land to the needs of their creators. Their blood is sand, electrically charged and poisonous to all earth life. Nanites mixed about inside them make them mobile bio-hazards, eating dirt and emitting toxic waste. These machines, called Mimics (not to be confused with giant mutant cockroaches) fire 1600 meter per second spikes into their enemies and destroy all they come in contact with. There is more to them, but i will let those who want more info read the book. These secrets are not mine to disclose.

Protagonist Keiji Kiyira is prepping for his first battle. As a virgin in the bed of war, he is clumsy and nervous. he knows his training but has no idea what he is REALLY doing. This becomes evident two pages into the book as he is bleeding out. Torn nearly in two by enemy fire, he is in shock. Enter Rita, the "Full Metal Bitch". Clad in red armor, wielding an axe, she is a vision of hope and absolute bad-assery. She is like the battlefield messiah, brute force putting the enemy into an the mood to absolve their sins through death. Her just being near Keiji is enough to get him back on his feet fighting. with out these two character, this story would be a waste of paper, detailing our own demise.

Everything it stops an instant after he meets Rita. Keiji wakes up 30 hours earlier, in his bunk at the barracks. He is stuck in a loop, repeating the same battle every day. Talk about the perfect way to lose your mind. perpetually fighting a never ending battle, honing your skills and carrying them forward into the next day.

I highly suggest this book.

- FNORDinc.com

Right, so let me say first up that the translation of this novel from Japanese is exceptional. Unlike a lot of other light novels I've read, All You Need is Kill reads like a native English speaker wrote it. The language is crisp, the dialogue is easy to follow and I just have to say it's really well translated. Open the book and read that first page... you'll see what I mean.

Regarding the story, the book is different to the movie but just as good. I mean, the /core/ of both are the same - during an alien invasion a lone soldier gets caught in a time loop and has to fight his way out - but there were enough differences that that I was kept guessing even though I'd watched the movie a good number of times. I really enjoyed the movie - the storyline worked for film. But the book was able to go into more depth about why the aliens attacked and how the time reset worked. Not to mention that a number of characters (including the MC) were totally different.

So... yeah. It's a good book, and a particularly good read if you like fast-paced Sci Fi, Japanese Light Novels, or The Edge of Tomorrow. It's perhaps a little shorter than I would have liked (the paperback comes in at 196 pages) but that's really just a compliment on how much I liked the action scenes and would have enjoyed more of them. A clear 5 Stars from me - highly recommended.

Keiji Kiriya is recruited to fight against the Mimics, strange alien creatures trying to terraform the Earth for themselves and thereby wiping out all indigenous life. Keiji trains with the United Defense Force (UDF) which plans to defend Tokyo from the threat, mostly for the vast manufacturing facilities in the area. The UDF equips soldiers with exo-suits called "Jackets" that have heavy-duty weaponry designed to take out the mysterious and seemingly undefeatable Mimics. They only seem undefeatable because one soldier in the UDF has an amazing record of not only surviving battles but also winning battles--Rita Vrataski, a.k.a. the Full Metal Bitch. She wields an axe and doesn't have any of the typical safety measures installed in her Jacket, enabling her to move quickly and not to run out of ammo. Keiji runs across her in his first battle where he is killed taking down an unusual Mimic. The next thing Keiji knows, he wakes up the previous morning with all the memories of a day and a half that he now has to relive. At first, he thinks it was just a bad dream. After he's killed again, he wakes up the pervious morning and has to do it all again for a third time.

If the plot sounds familiar, that's because this book is the source material for the Tom Cruise/Emily Blunt science fiction film Edge of Tomorrow (also known as Live.Die.Repeat). Keiji is a very different character from Cruise's Cage. Keiji is a more typical greenhorn recruit who turns into a killing machine through repeated practice. His character arc is different and he winds up in a different place at the end. Both stories are good. It's hard for me to say which is better.

The book has a very rough and ready style. It reads very pulpy, with lots of swearing (they are soldiers, after all) and rough action. The characters also have an immature attitude toward women that is a frequent stereotype of soldiers. On the other hand, Rita is very competent and intelligent and her character has plenty of depth. So it depicts sexist attitudes without adopting or endorsing them.

The author explains in the afterword that the plot was inspired by video games: Players can repeat the same level or challenge until they get it right. He discounts the heroism often accorded to players in video games when they finish ("You were the highly capable warrior destined to save us all!!"). I would disagree. This situation is how habits are formed. By repeating actions over and over, they become more easy to do and better executed. Good habits are virtues, something everyone should have. I would agree that being a highly-skilled video game player does not make one virtuous.

Recommended.

Parental warning: Naturally, the soldiers in this book swear like sailors. It's hard to count that many f-bombs. Some of the deaths are a bit gory. Some women are treated like sex-objects though there's no explicit sex in the book. It's implied that Keiji and Rita sleep together but only implied.

Nice movie made from the book.

This thing is a really good premise but I imagine all of the clever dialogue and cute character building got lost in translation to English. The descriptions of what is happening, how things work, the general rhythm of speech and action are just clunky and messy. There are sections that are good, but nothing is great.

And its in medias res start would work in a visual medium, but in a novel... I just have a really hard time processing everything at once. Maybe just jumping in is the best way to get people into things, start with action and giving explanations later, but I didn't care for it.

I power read the thing hoping there would be some *click* in my brain after which I would just get it. But that never happened. If you want to read this because of the movie, I think this is one of the instances in which the movie was much better (though it too had its issues).

I enjoyed the story and found Hiroshi's writing to be very visual and engaging. I read this before seeing the film based on the story and I was very glad I did. The film lacked a backstory, that the book provided which made the film more enjoyable to me... even though the film went in a very different direction. I think this is a wonderful example of how a Japanese story ending (book) will differ from on made for an American audience (film).

I enjoyed this book. It is a very quick read, but it keeps the action going well and is an interesting idea. I have hints of having heard it all before however. I am glad to have read it before the movie comes out.
I HAVE UPGRADED MY REVIEW.
I now rate it 5 stars as it has stuck with me and I have reread it a couple more times. I think that it is one of the best of its type