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Puppet Master #5
Puppet Master, vol.5
In this fifth and final volume of Miyuki Miyabe’s monumental work, Koichi Amikawa’s book Killer At Large championing Kazuaki Takai’s innocence becomes an instant bestseller, and as his celebrity burgeons Amikawa’s control over Takai’s sister Yumiko tightens. Humiliated professionally and with her marriage in tatters, Shigeko Maehata begins investigating Amikawa’s background and the truth begins to dawn on her, leading her to his lodge. A final dramatic showdown brings the series to a thrilling close.
247 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2016
2 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Miyuki Miyabe
308 books554 followersSee also 宮部 みゆき (Japanese language profile) and 宮部美幸 (Chinese language profile).
Miyuki Miyabe (宮部みゆき Miyabe Miyuki) is a popular contemporary Japanese author active in a number of genres including science fiction, mystery fiction, historical fiction, social commentary, and juvenile fiction.
Miyabe started writing novels at the age of 23. She has been a prolific writer, publishing dozens of novels and winning many major literary prizes, including the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize in 1993 for Kasha and the Naoki Prize in 1998 for Riyū [The Reason] (理由). A Japanese film adaptation of Riyû, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, was released in 2004.
Miyuki Miyabe (宮部みゆき Miyabe Miyuki) is a popular contemporary Japanese author active in a number of genres including science fiction, mystery fiction, historical fiction, social commentary, and juvenile fiction.
Miyabe started writing novels at the age of 23. She has been a prolific writer, publishing dozens of novels and winning many major literary prizes, including the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize in 1993 for Kasha and the Naoki Prize in 1998 for Riyū [The Reason] (理由). A Japanese film adaptation of Riyû, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, was released in 2004.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 22, 2020
FOUR STARS: I will probably read this again, although right now the thought is hard to stomach.
Miyabe does a lot in this book, and arguably that's to be expected -- it's what, 1000 pages in total and something like three volumes in the original language? So there's a lot to chew over here: the treatment of crime in Japan, the treatment of women, the nature of loss and violence, and so on, and so on. Vol 1 is an absolute stunner, with Miyabe putting her money where her mouth is and managing to build a compelling, horrific story that focuses on the victims of the crime, instead of its perpetrator.
But then Vol 2 and Vol 3 shift entirely to the perspectives of the killer and... and that is just not a pleasant place to be. Nor is it half as interesting. Vol 4 and 5 go back to assorted POV characters, sometimes including the killer (the latter sections being the weakest) but there's another switch: from social commentary and character-driven story to more plot-driven, as if Miyabe had trouble reconciling her keen eye as an observer of humanity with her knack for potboilers. Usually I'm much more comfortable with how she combines the two, but I think with Puppet Master the nerves she's hitting are a little too raw, a little too immediate, to feel like they belong in the same story as this book's ending. The two main characters of Vol 1 got the best endings, but everything and everyone else felt... a bit too pat? Almost as if Miyabe needed a whole new volume to really give the scope of all those stories justice, but she'd exhausted herself (understandable) and wanted to bring things to an end.
Still, there's so much here, and I have to admire that. Probably even more than I'm aware of given my ignorance of how violent crimes are treated in Japan's popular media, but there are still chilling and relevant observations about the expectations surrounding horrific violence, and how they affect even the most ordinary lives.
Miyabe does a lot in this book, and arguably that's to be expected -- it's what, 1000 pages in total and something like three volumes in the original language? So there's a lot to chew over here: the treatment of crime in Japan, the treatment of women, the nature of loss and violence, and so on, and so on. Vol 1 is an absolute stunner, with Miyabe putting her money where her mouth is and managing to build a compelling, horrific story that focuses on the victims of the crime, instead of its perpetrator.
But then Vol 2 and Vol 3 shift entirely to the perspectives of the killer and... and that is just not a pleasant place to be. Nor is it half as interesting. Vol 4 and 5 go back to assorted POV characters, sometimes including the killer (the latter sections being the weakest) but there's another switch: from social commentary and character-driven story to more plot-driven, as if Miyabe had trouble reconciling her keen eye as an observer of humanity with her knack for potboilers. Usually I'm much more comfortable with how she combines the two, but I think with Puppet Master the nerves she's hitting are a little too raw, a little too immediate, to feel like they belong in the same story as this book's ending. The two main characters of Vol 1 got the best endings, but everything and everyone else felt... a bit too pat? Almost as if Miyabe needed a whole new volume to really give the scope of all those stories justice, but she'd exhausted herself (understandable) and wanted to bring things to an end.
Still, there's so much here, and I have to admire that. Probably even more than I'm aware of given my ignorance of how violent crimes are treated in Japan's popular media, but there are still chilling and relevant observations about the expectations surrounding horrific violence, and how they affect even the most ordinary lives.
March 27, 2023
A great end to a superb series.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews