Queen of K'n-Yan

by Ken Asamatsu, Ayami Kojima (Illustrator), Kathleen Taji (Translator)

The mummy of a beautiful young girl from Shang Dynasty China is found in an ornate and astonishingly large underground tomb. Preliminary research shows that her cells contain reptilian DNA, and a Japanese research lab is asked to investigate further…
Working under the stern Dr. Li, molecular biologist Morishita Anri begins to probe the mysteries locked in the mummy’s genetic code, while experiencing strange hallucinations of being a young girl imprisoned in one of the infamous experimental facilities established in China by Japanese Unit 731 for biological warfare.
As Dr. Li hints at prehuman intelligences and huge caverns under the earth, Anri begins to wonder why uniformed soldiers of the PRC Liberation Army are present in the research center in Tokyo. Hallucinations and reality fuse as innocents begin to die in both realities… A classic work of modern horror from the fevered brain of Asamatsu Ken, recognized as a master of weird fiction and horror in Japan.

Genres: Horror, Lovecraftian, Japan, Fiction, Japanese Literature, Fantasy, Weird Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2008

Reviews

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Queen of K'n-Yan by Asamatsu Ken was at the very least a good modern horror novel with some tense, action-packed sequences, weird imagery and an interesting weaving together of elements of the Lovecraft 'revision' story 'The Mound' with concepts from Chinese myth and folklore. It also draws on a world war 2 atrocity that tends to be overshadowed - the treatment of prisoners in China by the Japanese. A very interesting 'twin spirit' theme is also woven in.

The plot is very tight, this is as much a thriller as a horror tale, there's not much wandering about in old rotting buildings or leafing through ancient tomes - instead the action takes place in a slick megastructure that has been built to contain an ancient evil. The ending is supremely bleak, which is my favourite way to end a horror novel.


The translation was rather clunky and style is a vital part of the measure of a successful weird tale, so this rather crippled my ability to assess this novel. Nevertheless, there were elements of characterisation that were very well handled and moments of inspired, grotesque weird imagery that have remained in my mind. An interesting read for Lovecraft fans interested in an Asian take on the Mythos, and a novel that might still be waiting for a translator that can really convey its merits to the English-speaking world.

[Simon · Rating 1 out of 5]

... oh boy, where to begin ...
Maybe where Darrell Schweitzer in his Introduction within the book starts, aswell:
"This is a Cthulhu Mythos novel. It is, however, not at all a 'fine Cthulhu Mythos novel.'"*
Actually, I could just leave it at that. But that would not be helpful at all.

When it comes to literature, I try to have as open a mind as possible. Myriads of writing styles abound, and not one author who has found his/her own voice will tell a tale in the same way that another does. Characterization can vary, from very rich to very much cardboard cutout, but even the latter might be useful sometimes (always depending on the narrative). And while I might have studied Eng. Lit., I am by no means an expert on "good writing".
That being said, I cannot remember a book where I was constantly thinking about writing quality as excessively as this one (and not in a good way).

So let's start from the top.
Not being fluent in Japanese, I naturally read the English version of this novel. Unfortunately, the translation itself is not flawless. I cannot really comment on translation style without knowing the original (and from experience I can say that each translator, much like every writer, has their own), but there are quite a few instances where the language used was either faulty or, let's say, "peculiar". Of course, this does not help a reader get into the narrative.

However, even a good translation cannot gloss over bad, at times even ham-fisted writing. Inelegant, even unneccesary and/or repetitive phrasing abounds. And while that is all there is to bemoan about the "technical" aspect of the writing, it unfortunately does not stop there. The characters (even the main character) are rather two-dimensional (the few back stories don't provide much help, either) - with the exception of the "villain", of whom the reader learns quite a bit. What's more, they are not very believable in themselves. Untriggered (or rather, not descriptively introduced), sudden changes in behaviour or emotional expression, or completely-over-the-top reactions without much of a justification within the narrative, make forming an image of a believable, nuanced and/or complex person hard, if not impossible.
And finally, while the plot promises (or did to me, anyways) an interesting approach to one of the lesser-used aspects of Lovecraft's narratives, with a unique and modern direction, it ultimately did not deliver. Spending half of the novel with a nice build-up of suspense (leaving the reader as much in the dark as the heroine), the dramatic arc plummets away into nothingness when motives are revealed and the whole thing tips over into monster attacks and an all-but-well-crafted showdown between the protagonist-made-heroine (for whatever reason), the deus-ex-maniac (villain turned saviour) and a Mythos-inflected Kaiju (or Kaijin). Even the interesting subplot (a "what strange thing is this?" that happens to the protagonist) falls flat, providing nothing more than information on the villain and the entire reason for the protagonist to be in this situation at all.

This is one mess of a novel.
And while I agree with Darrell Schweitzer's introduction regarding the subject and the fresh approach (different locale, different setting altogether, rarely referenced story by Lovecraft, etc.), I don't think that it "meets [...] the true test of any good Cthulhu Mythos story." It just isn't good.

I hate writing scorching reviews. If I don't like a book, for whatever reason, or it falls flat for me, that is a simple opinion, and I state it as such. There is, usually, no reason to take the book apart and make it look really bad, simply because I did not like it, or the narrative style etc.
However, I bought this book for three reasons:
- the scarce reviews found said it was at least okay, if not good or brilliant
- I "know" Darrell Schweitzer (not sure whether from his own writing or editorial remarks in anthologies) and therefore thought I could trust his judgement
- the introduction is the only part of the book you can read when you "Look inside" it on amazon
There was nothing there preparing me for what I was getting myself into. And I think other potential readers need to know that there are contradictory views to what I could find out about it.

Honestly, I cannot recommend this book to anyone. Time to read books is not unlimited, to no-one. So go read something else.

*Quotation altered for effect. The original quote reads:
"This is a Cthulhu Mythos novel. It is a fine Cthulhu Mythos novel."

[David Agranoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the most bizarre films the world has ever seen came from the small island of Japan. Some of the nastiest and most ear damaging punk rock have come from the same island. Attention has been paid to Koji Suzuki the horror fiction author of the Ring series which is J-horror's most famous export. Several of Suzuki's novels have made it into english, but I very interested in going further with Japanese horror fiction. Why not a Japanese take on one of the 20th century American horror mythos of H.P. Lovecraft?
That is what this novel Japanese horror author Asamatu Ken is.
Lovecraft reinvented the horror fiction genre in the the early half of the 20th century by excusing himself from the traditional tropes of vampires and werewolves. He created a his own mythology of cosmic monsters who very existence was hard for the human mind to handle. Well I often think of those mythos being placed in Lovecraft's native New England authors around the globe have been playing on Lovecraft's unhollowed ground since he was alive.
The man encouraged other writers to create with the mythos. I am not sure Lovecraft who at times had some nice things to say about the Japanese (but mostly racist things) would have felt about the translation. None the less Ken has created an excellent mythos story that as fan of asian cinema feels of it's culture.
The story centers around A biologist named Anri Morisita who is hired by a corporation to study the remains of a mummy unearth in China. The setting in the JGE's headquarters named the Leviathan tower reminds me of a Clive Barker influence. On the inside the building with various elevators connecting only certain floors with each other seems perfect for a Resident Evil style game.
Anri is a well developed character who has flashbacks to the cruel treatment of pre-WW II chinese at the hands of the Japanese. It suggests a deeper plot, but one of the few weaknesses of the narrative is the Flashbacks happen so fast. Written with no narrative transition I often got confused and had to scan back. After it's established in the novel that is less of a concern. Anri is hired to do research on the impossibly old Mummy.
As the research continues the corporation and it's motives are revealed with it's knowledge of the the mummy's ancient origin. This sets up an amazingly timed and delivered chapter break at the end of the fifth chapter. This is a short and effectively written story that deserves it's place as one of the finest modern takes of the Cthulhu mythos. Lovecraft devotees should not miss this book.
Beautifully packaged with amazing artwork by Kojima Ayami the Queen of Kn-Yan is textbook example of why we need a healthy and thriving small press. Kurodahan press has translated and provided a book that no major publisher in New York would bother to give but it is an important and fun book none the less.
Libraries in Japanese districts and ones interested in having a complete and diverse genre collection should get this book for sure. This is an excellent work of horror fiction and it tells me that I should be investing the collections of Japanese mythos fiction released by the same press and edited by the author.


Check out their books for sale online or request them from your local library! I am reviewing another selection from the same press next month. An anthology of Japanese Science Fiction. Looking forward to that!

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew

That was a wild ride of a book.
I'm glad I decided to read it on a whim.
The author took a lot of elements from the Cthulhu mythos, and worked them into a story using one of his lesser known works, and finally completed it all with a Japanese flair to it.
The characters are good, the intrigue is great, the story is solid, and the monsters are grotesque.
Give it a read!

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

It did have good body horror but allot it was meh. Maybe it is more magnificently horrifying in Japanese. Maybe it just did not flow because of inadequate translation gorgeous cover though.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is a testament to the profound global influence of H.P. Lovecraft, for it is nothing less than a Japanese Cthulhu Mythos novel. It differs greatly in style and focus from the Mythos stories of western authors, incorporating its Lovecraftian elements of cosmic horror into Japanese mythology and culture, but its roots can be traced clearly back to Lovecraft’s work – specifically, a story called “The Mound,” which Lovecraft ghost wrote for Zealia Bishop in 1930. The story wasn’t even published until 1940, three years after Lovecraft’s death, so it is even more obscure than most of his revisionist works. The mound in the original story stands as one of the entrances to a vast and heretofore secret underworld called Xinaian (in Spanish) – or K’n-Yan. Prior to the advent of mankind, K’n-Yan was a spectacular civilization built by non-human extraterrestrials, but that once-thriving culture has by now devolved into decadence and the worship of Cthulhu.

The “Queen of K’n-Yan” in Asamatsu Ken’s novel is a perfectly preserved young female mummy discovered in the wake of devastating earthquakes in northern China. The story itself is presented from the viewpoint of Morashita Anri, a young but well-established molecular biologist who is called upon to help study the mummy inside a foreboding leviathan of a building housing project headquarters. Anri is astounded to discover that the mummy’s DNA is reptilian, despite the body’s human appearance. She is also unsettled by a series of hallucinations in which she finds herself in the body of a young Chinese girl being held in a World War II Japanese internment camp being used for research into biological warfare. The hallucinations ultimately begin to make sense when Anri discovers that “Project Yin” is much more than a research project.

Unfortunately, this refreshingly original Cthulhu Mythos novel oftentimes makes for awkward reading. Knowing something of Asamatsu Ken’s reputation in Japan, I’m inclined to believe that much of the fault lies with the translation. The book is absolutely littered with sentences that do not sound natural in English, and a number of the protagonist’s words and actions don’t make contextual sense from one sentence to the next. As such, the novel perpetually holds you at arm’s length and makes it impossible for you to fully immerse yourself in the story – or to adequately understand or sympathize with the protagonist. Any Mythos story as original as this is worth reading, but I can’t say that Queen of K’n-Yan makes for a particularly enjoyable reading experience.

[Louis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Exciting but supremely clunky. More creature feature than cosmic horror. However, very good as building wider dread and placing events within a larger more worrying context. Would be better if mud wasn’t its one weakness.

Also they spend the whole time in an office instead of an ancient ruin or a cave which is a bit dull.

[Elana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the strangest Lovecraftian fantasy you are likely to read. It manages to combine the Old Ones with the history of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in World War 2, plus some insights into the workplace culture of modern Japan, a detailed description of an elevator malfunction, and lots of surreal imagery of animated body parts. If this does not sound enticing, I don't know what does. And yes, it is actually very good.

[Marcin Wronikowski · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has got to be second worst books I've read in my life (the worst being Clive Barker's "Cabal"). The quality of writing, characterisation, presentation, creation of the setting is so poor that the whole thing reads like a low-effort fan fiction written by a teenager. The translator must be partly to blame as well, because the way she uses English left me feeling like it's a second language for her. She is apparently incapable of forming a complex sentence, so the book reads like it was written by a grade schooler. It boggles the mind that being a technical translator first and foremost, she notoriously tells us that access cards are "expelled" from their readers instead of "ejected". However, even the best of translators probably wouldn't be able to turn this drivel into a book that is good to read.

There are so many problems that I don't even know where to begin listing them. The author did zero research while writing this book because despite his intentions to make the plot grounded in science, his complete ignorance of how the world works is staggering. And yes, I understand that this book was written nearly 30 years ago, but that still doesn't excuse half the ridiculous things the author works into this story.
- External contractors are immediately taken into confidence regarding secret foreign bioweapons research projects instead of being compartmentalised and told only as much as they need to know.
- DNA studies are done by taking a tissue sample and putting in inside an electron scanning microscope. Never mind that DNA is so fragile that the microscope's electron beam would destroy it. Actual scientists had to jump through hoops to take a blurry, indistinct image of DNA.
- DNA contains hidden messages. All you need to do is count nucleotides and convert the numbers you get into Chinese characters. And the words you thus get are actually hints from the ancient past. Never mind that the Chinese writing system in the past was completely different from the modern one.
- DNA analysis software is operated by typing in questions.
- It is normal for Japan to admit armed Chinese soldiers onto its soil and permit their being stationed in a Japanese company skyscraper instead of a military base.
- People with no background in physics are somehow capable of telling that matter transformation is taking place on a quantum level.
- Japanese molecular biologists with no military training turn into grizzled, wasp-chewing soldiers when the situation calls for it.
- Having a grenade explode in a large room is more deafening than repeatedly firing a pistol inside a closed elevator.

The problems of this book are not limited to lack of research, the author's ignorance, or a setting that makes no sense whatsoever. He is also completely incapable of writing realistic, or even interesting characters. Aside from the protagonist, Anri, and the Chinese project lead, Dr Li, the other handful of named characters are flat and have no personality at all, only serving as exposition tubes. But that is not to say that Anri and Dr Li are well-developed, no. Throughout the first two thirds of the book Anri displays only three modes of behaviour: she is interchangeably timid, sarcastic, and hysterical for no reason at all, frequently switching from one mode to the other in-between sentences. In the last part of the book she turns into an action heroine just because. Where realistically someone like her should just run away while they still can, she decides to stay in the building and go to war. Let me remind you that she is a molecular biologist with no military training at all, but she puts John Rambo to shame with her exploits.

The horror, when it actually happens, is limited to blood and gore. This book was supposed to be a Japanese equivalent of the Cthulhu mythos writings of Western authors, but it fails miserably. The only mystery that remains unresolved by the end is why Anri was having visions of another person's past.

Frankly, I am flabbergasted, that somebody paid for this book being written and translated.

Do not waste your money on it.

[Sylri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite different from my usual wheelhouse. My interest was piqued when I learned this uses a lot of elements from Lovecraft’s “The Mound”, which in my opinion is one of Lovecraft’s less appreciated “revisions” and one I quite enjoy. I’ve also read one of Asamatsu Ken’s short stories in Beyond the Mountains of Madness, so I was curious how I would like this novel.

I can easily see how the translation for this would throw some people off. The dialogue is awkward enough that I feel like there were some choices made in translation that make the book’s language come off less natural sounding than it should be. Since I don’t remember anything like that in his previous work that I’ve read, I have to assume this is down to the translator.

There were also some interesting technical choices made, such as a vaccine for the black plague (which is apparently a thing but not sure how commonly used that is) and someone being able to access important company data files with just a username. I can forgive the computer bit though, since this was written in the early 1990’s. And our main character is a molecular biologist, but she doesn’t get to spend all that much time doing biological research.

My favorite bits are when we travel back in time to our second point of view character. The monstrosities that were occuring in the camp before the introduction of the actual monster highlights the horrific tragedy of what was going on. The sometimes casual mentions of such instances makes them worse somehow. For a bit I forgot I was reading a Mythos novel. Of course, when the eldritch monstrosity does show up things get nicely gruesome.
Some of the discussions of elemental associations definitely have some Derlethian overtones (a Derlethian deity is even outright referenced), and the final scene seems like it could be referencing Derleth’s and Schorer’s “The Lair of the Star-Spawn”.

I think the historical sequences, combined with some of the final scenes and revelations make up for the awkward first quarter/half. Overall, I’m glad to have read this book.
I’m still gonna say this is only worth checking out for a devout Mythos fan who wants something different from the usual or if you’re just a huge fan of translated Japanese fiction.

[Crónicas de Kadath · Rating 2 out of 5]

Considero que la narrativa y el estilo de Ken Asamatsu como tal falla al momento de hacer las paginas con la momia, no es como la descripción de Cthulhu en su relato La Llamada de Cthulhu ni la piedra que cae en El Color que cayo del Cielo, de forma que la narrativa se torna como si fuese un monstruo con algo de lore, pero no impone como otros seres del panteón Lovecraftniano.
La obra, aunque no tiene mas de trescientas paginas es bastante lenta, los capítulos suelen ser charlas largas sobre temas científicos e interacciones entre los científicos y los misterios de la momia.
Uno de los puntos mas fuertes de la obra como tal es esa capacidad de mantener un relato onirico como una historia de los Mythos de Cthulhu, de forma que nos brinda ambas experiencias bastantes interesantes, incluso el edificio funciona como si fuese una casa embrujada de forma que su entorno es cambiante y somete a pruebas a los personajes.
Considero que el ritmo pudo haber mejorado con unas cincuenta paginas menos y siendo más optimos, a su vez los personajes, aunque no poseen alto nivel de desarrollo, tienen bastantes buenas interacciones por sus diálogos y la forma en como establecen narraciones algo que en relatos de Lovecraft a veces era muy extraña la interacción de estos.
La obra se refuerza bastante en el estilo descriptivo de como se encuentran los seres, a su vez la forma en la que narra la acción parece como un videojuego, creería que de adaptarse el libro como un Resident Evil seria fantástico, pero en narrativa existen muchas fallas que no me hacían engancharme a la lectura, me tomo muchos días y algo de esfuerzo acabarlo, cosa contraria que me sucede con otros libros.
Si me preguntan sobre aun con todos esos comentarios recomiendo el libro, mi respuesta es afirmativa, debido que es una narrativa algo lenta, pero distinta, que toma una historia de base poco conocida de Lovecraft como es El Montículo y amplia su Lore, a su vez creo que existe una posibilidad de que mi percepción de la historia también sea al tipo de relato, estar acostumbrado a tanto escritor occidental puede ser parte de la razón porque no disfrute en su totalidad el relato de Ken Asamatsu.

[Tyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll try my best to put this into words, but my thoughts on this are fairly nebulous.

I'll start by saying I wanted to like this work. I love Japan and Japanese culture, and I also love lovecraftian stories. However, this story left me wanting. I was bored through most of it and knew in the last 5th that there would be nothing for me that could salvage my feelings in this regard.

This is a very "Japanese" novel. What do I mean by that? It almost feels like an anime turned into a Cthulhu mythos. If you like most anime, & you're not bothered by the lack of realism, then there is a good chance you'll find this work to be alright. One of the biggest things I can point out in this regard is the constant and blunt explanatory dialogue and narration. Nothing is left to the imagination as to peoples motivations - they simply state what they think, what they want. Not my cup of tea, and a very anime like trope.

The pacing is rather strange as well. It almost feels like nothing happens for large sections of the story. That's obviously not the case. Things do happen, but is very difficult to understand if the events have any real significance or pay off. The mythos elements only make any real appearance towards the end of the book, and they are somehow both heavily featured and yet underwhelming at the same time. Most of the lead up does little to flesh out the stakes, the setting, or the characters.

Overall, I could see this being a good read for someone who is more open to an "anime" styled story, but outside of that I cannot recommend.

I also disliked heavily how the heroine was shown to pick up and use automatic rifles skillfully without any training what-so-ever. There is no setup to explain this rapid acclimatization. This is further evidence to the anime style I was referring to before. Having shot a few firearms, I can assure you they are no picnic, and the fact she is able to adapt to them both expertly and instantly is realism destroying. (I would take issue if this was a male protagonist who did this as well)

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Queen of K'n-Yan to be enjoyble book. It's great to see more Cthulhu Mythos stories from around the globe getting translated into English, given the a even wider audience a change to enjoy this stories.

You can the the novel was originally written in 1993 by the influence of the reference to popular movies and the likes, but I find that also adds to the charm of the book.

It was a bold move of Asamatsu to reference Unit 731, a WW2 covert Japanese biological and chemical warfare research and development unit. The history around of unit are horrific and in some ways is still a bit of a taboo subject in Japan.

The world and myth building in the book was interesting and had a unique feel from the use of Chinese mythology. The characters where lovely. I immediately enjoyed interacts between our leading lady Anri and her stern older colleague Dr. Li.

The star of this story, the Queen of K'n-Yan was a interesting creature. Ancient, monstrous, cruel, proud, highly intelligent, and capable of twisting the human form in to horrific creatures after death.


Now for the text itself. As this is a translated work, some things will get losed in translation. This will usually be unique cultural ideas and concepts that can't really be translated into English. In some areas the text was translated a bit to straight forward, and can make the text look a bit clunky.

Other than that I have no real negative views on the translation. It seems fine.

Overall I enjoyed my time with the Queen.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Modern takes on the Cthulhu mythos can be rather hit or miss, often because the author doesn’t grasp the cosmic horror behind the veil of human existence. Ken Asamatsu does - he has a great idea inspired by Lovecraft’s The Mound (a tale about a mound that conceals a gateway to a subterranean civilization, the realm of K'n-yan), written with Zealia Bishop. Here, the Queen of the ancient realm reäppears to fashion a terrible vengeance on those who disturbed her.

All the good elements of a mythos story are there but I couldn’t finish it. The translation absolutely kills this story, choosing a translator of primarily technical writings to translate this story turns the writing into staid, lifeless prose with little insight into the heart of the story.

I’m so disappointed - I hope either this story gets re-released with a new translation or another translator is chosen for Asamatsu’s other weird fiction. Lovecraftian horror isn’t necessarily confined to New England and to waste a promising story like this with such a bad translation is unfair.

[A · Rating 1 out of 5]

It should have been an interesting read: Lovecraftian horror from a Japanese perspective. Great! Promising. But unfortunately nothing came together, nothing worked, and the attempt died a pathetic death halfway on the road. While on shaky legs from the very beginning, this mess of a 'novel' entered the realm of unexpected nonsense halfway in, both in plot and character behavior/integrity, and that's when no story deserves any attention whatsoever anymore. The weak prose could have been forgiven, and I read much worse when it comes to Japanese to English novel-translations ('bad prose but good story' is not an impossibility) but the essence the translation conveyed here fits right in with gutter slop reserved for bad C movies no one should ever watch.

[Dylan Rock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A entertaining novel which combines the Cthulhu mythos and a splash of evil corporation akin to the Resident Evil franchises. Despite drawing from a western source of inspiration it is wholly Japanese in character as Japan has produced some of the most unique horror works across many mediums such as comics and films. While not for everyone including some fans of H.P Lovecraft it was above all else an interesting read.

[Kathryn Troy · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Lauren Fitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing read. Felt all over the place. The monster mythos was neat but not enough to save the rest of the book. Just ok

[Ava · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooked from the start. A FANTASTIC ride.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5*

[Klaudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Literatura japońska + Cthulhu
Dość długo dzieje się niewiele poza spiętrzaniem jakichś fabularnych głupotek, ale ostatnie ~45%, jak już zrobiło się creepy i groźnie, podobało mi się bardzo 😁

[Philip Chaston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was written in 1993. Better body horror back then....

[Egghead · Rating 4 out of 5]

mystery mummy
corporate exploitation
brisk, enjoyable

[Mrs Giggles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Queen Of K'n-Yan was first published in Japan in 1993, and it is now issued in English by Japan-based publisher Kurodahan Press, with the translation provided by Kathleen Taji.

This story is a homage to The Mound, a comparatively obscure short story ghostwritten by HP Lovecraft - the name "K'n Yan", in fact, came from there - but the end result is also clearly inspired by the 1982 film The Thing. In fact, there is one scene that is pretty similar to one of the more gruesome moments in that film.

Our meolcular biologist heroine Morishita Ari is sent to help the research team of a very secretive corporation, Japan Gene Engineering. In fact, JGE has constructed a huge structure to conduct their latest hush-hush research, one that is compared several times to the Leviathan (ooh, foreshadowing). Imagine Ari's surprise when she learns that the research is funded by the Chinese government, hence the presence of numerous thuggish armed Chinese goons around the place. Well, she's in for a bigger shock when she realizes that the research centered around a mummified corpse of a pretty girl, said to date back to the very, very early days of human civilization in China. Or, perhaps, even before that?

I'm sure it is not a shocker if I say that the mad scientists want to bring this mummy, called the "Princess of K'n-Yan" by Dr Li, the chief researcher, back to life. If you do not see that one coming, you must not have read or watched horror stuff often. The fun starts when the mummy comes back to life, naturally.

Reviewing translated works is always tricky because it can be hard to determine whether the author or the translator is to be pointed the finger at. Here, however, the fact that this story is translated causes the story itself to lose much of its charm. The nuances of the story that are due to plays on the Japan language are lost here. The translation itself is serviceable, but perhaps too serviceable to the point that reading this story is akin to reading a manual of some sort. The narrative feels monotonous and cold. The story takes a long time to get going, relying on the building up of suspense and tension to keep my anticipation going, so the dry narrative actually works against the story.

The story becomes really fun once the gore starts, although the homages to The Thing are way too obvious and, since I have watched that movie before, quite clumsy. Come to think of it, despite being touted as a story inspired by the Cthulhu mythos, I feel that this story is more in sync with more contemporary science-fiction horror tropes. Not that this is a bad thing, of course. It's just that the story feels more like a blatant homage than anything else, and I feel that the author could have done something more with it.

Now, it is pretty much a given fact that stupidity is to be expected in most horror stories, and in some cases, it is understandable, as panic and hysteria always make one dumb in the heat of the moment. But here, there are many head-scratching moments. When Ari realizes that there are shots fired in the lab, with bullets denting the walls of the elevator she is in, her course of action is... to go back to her room to get a phone. Why not just go straight down and out of the whole building? Of course, if she does this, the story would be about 100 pages shorter. Secondary characters do some stupid things too, like one guy caring more about his employment status when everyone else around him is getting killed by a monster from hell. Heck, early in the story, when our heroine hears reports of earthquakes and worse happening all around her, her reaction is basically, "Meh... whatever."

These characters never feel real, they feel more like action figures without realistic human emotions. Therefore, I don't find myself caring whether they live or die. I just want to be entertained by the gore, and the story delivers plenty of that in the last act of the story.

It is also disappointing that the monster, said to be cunning, ends up being just crazy and murderous. This is where the link to the Cthulhu mythos works against this story the most. The Old Ones are said to be cold and distant, their concerns unfathomable to mortal minds. Here, however, the Queen of K'n-Yan (when she awakes, she gets promoted, or so it seems to these people) is just a standard evil monster in a sci-fi horror flick.

Queen Of K'n-Yan has an interesting premise, but the execution never fully delivers the good stuff. The gore is great, if a little too obviously a nod to The Thing, but everything else doesn't measure up.

[Harris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovecraft's creations have also gained popularity outside the United States, and even outside the English speaking world, few places more prominently than Japan, so it was interesting to get the chance to read this interpretation of the "Cthulhu Mythos" through a Japanese perspective.

Japanese horror author Asamatsu Ken's novel Queen of K'n-Yan takes on some fairly unusual topics, drawing from one of Lovecraft's more obscure works, "The Mound," bringing it to 2000s Tokyo and writing from the perspective of a biologist drawn into a secretive Chinese-Japanese joint venture analyzing a prehistoric mummy found somewhere in Manchuria. As is typical in such cases, things go badly (or maybe, according to plan?), but all in all, Asamatsu doesn't end up doing much interesting with the themes. Unfortunately, I found the work rather derivative and clinically written (though that may be more of a fault of the translation), with many horror cliches and plot predictable to anyone who's seen The Thing.

More than anything, Asamatsu's work shows that the problems of uninspired Lovecraftian pastiches do not end at nationality. To make things far worse, the awful introduction by Darrell Schweitzer drops in all the tepid, weak defenses of Lovecraft's racism commonly trotted out, as though Japanese writers being interested in his work absolves him of being a bigot. Schweitzer's argument basically amounts to the assertion that Lovecraft just wanted to preserve Yankee culture, just like the Japanese! "America for Americans," "Japan for Japanese," in other words. Is it politically incorrect in Lovecraftian circles to point out that that's basically a white nationalist talking point? Not really a defense I would care to muster. In any case, ugh.

For a more interesting Japanese exploration of cosmic horror, I'd recommend the work of manga artist Junji Ito, of Uzumaki fame.

I write about other works of Counter-Lovecraftian fiction in the latest entry in Harris' Tome Corner, The Outsider and Others.

[Tarl · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's easy to forget that there are Lovecraftian works in other languages, and 'Queen of K'N-Yan' is one such work.

Asamatsu has crafted an interesting story that contains some of the more obscure mythos elements that fans and readers are used to. It should be noted that Asian written horror differs from what we find here in the West, and if you pick this book up keep this in mind.

One of the elements that I will mention that bothered me is the main character's behavior throughout the novel. At times her personality jumps all over the map, often contradictory to each other. This created a very unstable character at points where perhaps a more stable mindset would have worked better, saving the unstable aspects for later in the book. Her personality shift during the climax of the novel was interesting and in line with a lot of the abuse she took from her mother during her childhood, however if it had also been linked to her visions of being a Chinese terrorist, it would have also been lent credit.

Asamatsu's Queen-creature was really well done, described in all its horrific detail much like Lovecraft in his later works. He handles the horror of the creature with deft skill and builds the suspense through a masterful use of deception and misdirection. Often I thought I knew where the monster was only to be tricked by it. 'Queen' contains some genuine scare moments, and some good surprises. The characters are unique and complex which helps to push the plot forward and keeping the interest level up.

In the end, this is a fairly good read and a good book to introduce readers to horror outside of the what we normally see in the West. I would recommend it to any Lovecraft fan, though I will also suggest that the reader take the advice given in the introduction and read Lovecraft's 'The Mount' before reading this story. I didn't, and I think my experience with this book was lessened because of it. Still, pick this book up, it's worth it.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real mixed bag. There's some great stuff here, memorable, disturbing imagery and a novel setting for a Mythos story - a stark claustrophobic Japanese high rise mixed with a foul WWII camp where Japanese soldiers experiment on Chinese prisoners /, but it gets a little spoiled by a certain clumsiness about the writing. There is very little stylistic subtlety, the author continually tells rather than shows and prefers the flat expository statement to implication and descriptive writing. It may be partly the translation - I've very rarely read a horror novel that wasn't left flat when translated into English from another language - but unfortunately the prose jarred me out of the story far too often.

[Enso · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, a modern set Cthulhu novel placed in Japan and written by a Japanese author. Unfortunately, I never really cared about the main character and, when you look back, the overall plot made little to no sense. Anri, our protagonist, is recruited to do DNA analysis on a strange mummy found in China in a Chinese government sponsored project. The overall goals of the project are a bit strange (or stupid) and seemed necessarily doomed for failure from the beginning (and madness!).

So, kind of "meh" as a whole.

[Sae-chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confirmed, lovecraftian style is not my cup of tea.