無貌の神 (角川書店単行本)

by Kōtarō Tsunekawa

万物を癒す神にまつわる表題作ほか、流罪人に青天狗の仮面を届けた男が耳にした後日談、死神に魅入られた少女による七十七人殺しの顛末など。デビュー作『夜市』を彷彿とさせる傑作ブラックファンタジー！

Genres: Mystery, Fantasy

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 28, 2017

About the author

Associated Names:
* Kōtarō Tsunekawa
* 恒川 光太郎 (Japanese)

Reviews

[Meow Meow · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a collection of 6 short stories. They are all quite decent but only the first one, 無貌の神, which features a faceless god who heal villagers sitting nearby but also occasionally eat some of them whole, gives a usual Tsunekawa’s whimsical vibe. 青天狗の乱 is my least favorite. It tries too hard to make the identity of the island prisoner/revenger mysterious. 死神と旅する女 is my favorite, although I’m not sure the man who directed a girl to kill 77 people across multiple time-dimensions to create an alternate outcome of ww2 in a parallel universe is really a Grim Reaper. It’s also a little bit cliche, too, as that kind of wishful thinking is abundant in Japanese media. But I enjoy reading the girl’s growth and her still believing she did the right thing for not killing a woman who would eventually become her romantic rival. Overall, I enjoyed reading the stories but I also can’t help expecting more from Tsunekawa’s works.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eclectic collection of short stories, with a bit more of an SF edge than Tsunekawa's usual. A couple of the stories made me sit down and think about their themes afterward. Out of Tsunekawa's work this volume didn't especially stand out for me, and it didn't seem to have the sometimes-subtle connective tissues that bind the works in some of his other collections, but still a solid, enjoyable read.

[Emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

「死神と旅する女」「廃墟団地の風人」「カイムルとラートリー」が良かった。