Science Fiction Aficionados discussion

Just finished this novel about a young soldier's part in a seemingly futile war against alien aggressors. It has a neat Twilight Zone-style twist to it, but one with a very interesting scientific explanation. Recommended.

Thanks Scott. Just placed on my wish list.

Thanks Scott! I would have never known about this book if it wasn't for your comments. Wow! It definitely deserves 5 stars in my humble opinion. I haven't read any military SF this good since Scalzi's Old Man's War.

So glad you liked it! Military SF is really not my thing (I don't think I've read any other) but the central concept intrigued me.

Scott, can I add my hand to this? I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the film too, but what I really liked was the chance to see Rita's internalisation that is largely absent in the film. The film is very different, taking a story that differs considerably from the book, but I'd place All You Need Is Kill in anyone's quick-read library. It was much better than I thought it would be. This is a book written simply, cleanly and it is tightly focused. Conceptually, the central idea (no spoilers) is reasonably clever, but not quite as clever as often seems to be suggested in some reviews I've read. I don't think this is a 'high concept' story. What saves this book, elevates it in fact, is the utterly human characterisation of both the central characters and the interaction between them. A sensible decision to contrast a Japanese soldier with a US one, but perhaps not enough is made of the potential conflict between them. They are, in some ways, too similar. Yet Sakurazaka's cleverest choice was to tell the story from the point of view of both Rita Vrataski and Keiji Kiriya. I was surprised, in fact, to be inside Rita's head because I genuinely thought Sakurazaka would keep her hidden from us – almost like some sort of deity on a pedestal, shaped by Kirby's perception of her. To see inside her so deeply was actually extremely clever because it makes the ending so much more compelling and tragic. It stayed with me for quite some time, in fact.

I liked the movie too. Thanks for adding your thoughts!