A timely piece of feminist speculative fiction -- a translation to preserves its narrative and formal experimentation. Great to see it out with UMinnesota's Parallel Futures series which explores JSciFi's play with temporal disjunction and non-linear plot and development. It's a trip to read (at times frustrating), but its implications for our current political climate are striking. Glad to see this work from 1990 getting its due.

I feel slightly bad for giving up on this book, it had some very interesting ideas and it was very easy to forget that this is the translated version of the text. It was interesting to read but I kept being distracted by other books and eventually decided to let this one go back to the public library so that other people could read it and hopefully get all the way to the end.

FUCKING fantastic concepts and ideas, and we all know how much I love me some good concepts and ideas. Unfortunately the rest of it didn't manage to live up to expectation.

This book won't be for everyone, but I was both challenged and delighted by it. Written in 1990, it is filled with fresh ideas and concepts. Ohara has taken time travel and AI tropes and turned them up to 11. The story, while not entirely experimental in its construction, holds onto just enough of a traditional plot structure to make it all hold together. Honestly, I would have still liked it if it had completely fallen apart structurally, just on its daring and world building alone, but the aut...

Really one of the best books in the speculative fiction/fantasy genre. And the only one that I've read that I could really classify as a truly feminist work. The characters are all incredibly and poignantly developed. The pace is perfect throughout. It functions well on both a literal and figurative level. I really just can't say enough good things about it. 100% recommend to everyone, even people that normally shy away from science fiction/speculative fiction/fantasy

Somehow quite moving despite not actually being especially good.

Hybrid Child is an extremely well written book that suffers from a wide variety of small issues, not the least being plot.Each character and situation deserves an entire story in its own right, and as a science fiction narrative that deals with themes of identity, sexuality, and death, it doesn't explore any of these in enough depth.I'll admit this might be an issue with translation, but while I would be open to reading another translator, the melancholy and lyrical beauty of this text makes me

My review is now online at Tor.com:https://www.tor.com/2019/02/28/quiltb...______Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library

UPDATE: My BookTube review is up! Come watch me discuss this dark and unique piece of Japanese sci-fi!That was one of the wildest rides of a book I have ever been on! While this book has some things, I'm conflicted about, the ending made it for me. This book isn't for everyone, but everyone should read it at least once. It's like a darker version of Silently and Very Fast.I was gifted a copy of this by B.B. Alston, author of Amari and the Night Brothers. If you're asking why a Middle Grade autho...

Hybrid Child is one of those science fiction books with way too much going on, presenting a plethora of ideas but only having surface-level engagement with most of them. After finishing the book I’m left with a large number of questions about both the book’s world and themes in a way that’s frustrating, not intriguing. The book’s plot is furthermore heavily reliant on coincidence in some parts, and lacking in narrative momentum in other parts, with some sections seemingly included for shock valu...

Anyone who has an interest in literature knows the running joke of the most clichéd opening line an author can use, "It was a dark and stormy night." Imagine my dread when Mariko Ohara opens her novel with the line "Acid rain fell from the sky. Rain like a woman's long black hair." However, one should never trust their first impressions and I decided to give this novel a chance. Well, within 22 pages Ohara spews forward an exposition dump that basically explains our most interesting character's

A difficult book to read. Not so much a story as a series of ideas tied together with scenes of body horror. There are some very fascinating ideas and interesting characters (so long as you don't demand character development from a novel) but I'm relieved to be able to put this one down.

This is a weird one. Wild mix of big ideas, AI, Christian mysticism and some sadly ropy 1950s-style SF. Full--too full--of ideas. Every time I'm about to give up on it, some strange and intriguing thing surprises me and gets me back in. A bit of a dog's breakfast. Wonderful cover, though.

This was a dense and intense read but honestly what else could you expect from a Seiun Award novel? I suspect that the difficulty comes not from the translation; this is just a harder book to grasp and takes a lot of focus.”You’re not ordinary, are you?” said Shiver.“Look who’s talking,” answered the girl.I really enjoyed the concepts this novel displays and develops, with such great themes on motherhood, religion, and empathy. It’s also incredibly feminist (which is cool for something originall...

I am so grateful this book was translated so I could benefit from Ohara’s story telling. From the very start I was enthralled by the use of AI and time distinct from the majority of sci fi I’m used to reading. As I read on i became increasingly appreciative for the way the author connected each character back to the core plot. This book feels unique to me because of its courage to boldly ask life’s hardest questions over and over again from different perspectives coming to varied conclusions.

I can see why readers who particularly enjoy science fiction would like this book. As the first book I've read in the sci fi genre, it was too much. There was so much going on and I cared about none of it. Maybe a more seasoned fan of science fiction would know what to make of this book but I am not this person.

I'm currently about a third of the way through and I feel like I'm reading the physical manifestation of someone's scifi fever dream...The fever dream is over... That end was unsatisfying, Jonah and everyone just... Dies? What was the point? Nothing seems concluded. I'm very confused. It was bizarre from beginning to end. Not quite in a bad way but not a very good way either.

This was an odd one! It felt like reading an anime from the 80's (and I even visualized the story rendered in a very late 80's anime style), a sort of straight-line stream-of-consciousness narrative with large time gaps rather than an arc in a traditional sense. Overall, there were a lot of interesting concepts and themes at play that probably lose a little something in translation, but I enjoyed trying to piece together what the author was trying to impart. Will definitely poke around for takes...

This is one that it hard to rate because its just so dang weird. How do you score something when the imagery is like nothing you've ever seen. So I have 3 comments a) the reading level of this is super advanced b) the prose remind me of new weird but is probably not maybe I thinkc) I kind of wish it was a studio Ghibli film

Did not expect this book to be so violent, but I'm a gore fiend so I really dug it. If you have an active and vivid imagination and you're grossed out easily, seriously avoid. It also ticks almost every major trigger box. But if you look past that and see the story Ohara crafted it is simply unbelievable. A triumph in storytelling. Easily one of my favorite books of all time.