光の帝国 [Hikari No Teikoku]

Tokono Monogatari

by Riku Onda, 恩田 陸

膨大な書物を暗記するちから、遠くの出来事を知るちから、近い将来を見通すちから――「常野」から来たといわれる彼らには、みなそれぞれ不思議な能力があった。穏やかで知的で、権力への志向を持たず、ふつうの人々の中に埋もれてひっそりと暮らす人々。彼らは何のために存在し、どこへ帰っていこうとしているのか？　不思議な優しさと淡い哀しみに満ちた、常野一族をめぐる連作短編集。優しさに満ちた壮大なファンタジーの序章。

Genres: Japanese Literature

283 pages, Paperback Bunko

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Riku Onda (Japanese name: 恩田 陸), born in 1964, is the professional name of Nanae Kumagai. She has been writing fiction since 1991 and has won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Japan Booksellers' Award, the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel for The Aosawa Murders, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Naoki Prize. Her work has been adapted for film and television. The Aosawa Murders was her first crime novel and the first time she was translated into English. It was selected by The New York Times as a Notable Book of 2020.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at around page 50. This book bores me to tear and you would have thought a story about people with superhuman power must be exciting.

Not gonna touch any more book from the same series.

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually liked the first two stories but then becomes something akin to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, with all the stories talking about the same characters, and things start to become more and more boring, more and more pointless.

4/10

(Japanese; original)