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Yukikaze #1
Yukikaze
A military scifi classic, by one of the modern masters of world science fiction.
More than thirty years ago, a hyper-dimensional passageway suddenly appeared over the continent of Antarctica. Fighters from the mysterious alien force known as the JAM poured through the passage, the first wave an attempted terrestrial invasion. Their ferocity was unquestionable, their aim unknown. Humanity, united by a common enemy, managed to repel the invaders, chasing them back through the passageway to the strange planet nicknamed “Fairy.”
The task of finishing the battle was given to the newly formed FAF, a combat force created to go to Fairy and eliminate the JAM bases once and for all. Now, in the midst of a war with no end in sight, Second Lieutenant Rei Fukai carries out his missions in the skies over Fairy. Attached to Tactical Combat and Surveillance Unit 3 of the Special Air Force, his duty is to gather information on the enemy and bring it back to base—no matter the human cost. His only constant companion in this lonely task is his fighter plane, the sentient FFR-31 Super Sylph, call Yukikaze.
More than thirty years ago, a hyper-dimensional passageway suddenly appeared over the continent of Antarctica. Fighters from the mysterious alien force known as the JAM poured through the passage, the first wave an attempted terrestrial invasion. Their ferocity was unquestionable, their aim unknown. Humanity, united by a common enemy, managed to repel the invaders, chasing them back through the passageway to the strange planet nicknamed “Fairy.”
The task of finishing the battle was given to the newly formed FAF, a combat force created to go to Fairy and eliminate the JAM bases once and for all. Now, in the midst of a war with no end in sight, Second Lieutenant Rei Fukai carries out his missions in the skies over Fairy. Attached to Tactical Combat and Surveillance Unit 3 of the Special Air Force, his duty is to gather information on the enemy and bring it back to base—no matter the human cost. His only constant companion in this lonely task is his fighter plane, the sentient FFR-31 Super Sylph, call Yukikaze.
317 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 1984
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958 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
June 17, 2015
Sigh. Okay I did not like Yukikaze. I've been meaning to watch the anime for a while but never get around to it (so much anime so little time!), I'm definitely interested to watch it now after reading to see if it is any better.
I probably skim-read 60% of this book. It entirely failed to interest me, it was poorly written, and it was predictable. I'm sure the translation from Japanese to English is to blame for some of this, but the book itself at its core is flawed and boring.
It touts itself as being a "clean, detached look at war and warriors" (quote on the cover does, anyway), and yet every other page it tries to make us care about the characters, many of whom show up at the beginning of a chapter, try to make us like them, and then die immediately. One example that sticks out is two military people, a man and a woman, the man a pilot and the woman ground crew, who are very lovey-dovey with eachother. As the man is flying out he says something along the lines of "Better keep your ring finger clear, I've got a surprise when I come back!" (again, translation probably mangled that, but nevertheless), and lo and behold he dies in the following battle. I suppose I was supposed to feel empathy or something, but the two characters were around for literally a dozen pages.
The main character in particular confused me. The author couldn't seem to decide whether Rei was a cold, emotionless machine-man or if he wasn't. We are told many times that the pilots of this particular squadron are all socially inept asses who have no emotions, and the amount of times Rei was described as "expressionless" boggles the mind, but Rei is constantly whinging about his love for his plane and so on which is completely at odds with it.
It doesn't matter at this stage because Yukikaze originally came out in the 80's and I'm sure has a dedicated following, and anyone who likes it is likely to ignore this anyway, but whatever. There's my review. Avoid.
I probably skim-read 60% of this book. It entirely failed to interest me, it was poorly written, and it was predictable. I'm sure the translation from Japanese to English is to blame for some of this, but the book itself at its core is flawed and boring.
It touts itself as being a "clean, detached look at war and warriors" (quote on the cover does, anyway), and yet every other page it tries to make us care about the characters, many of whom show up at the beginning of a chapter, try to make us like them, and then die immediately. One example that sticks out is two military people, a man and a woman, the man a pilot and the woman ground crew, who are very lovey-dovey with eachother. As the man is flying out he says something along the lines of "Better keep your ring finger clear, I've got a surprise when I come back!" (again, translation probably mangled that, but nevertheless), and lo and behold he dies in the following battle. I suppose I was supposed to feel empathy or something, but the two characters were around for literally a dozen pages.
The main character in particular confused me. The author couldn't seem to decide whether Rei was a cold, emotionless machine-man or if he wasn't. We are told many times that the pilots of this particular squadron are all socially inept asses who have no emotions, and the amount of times Rei was described as "expressionless" boggles the mind, but Rei is constantly whinging about his love for his plane and so on which is completely at odds with it.
It doesn't matter at this stage because Yukikaze originally came out in the 80's and I'm sure has a dedicated following, and anyone who likes it is likely to ignore this anyway, but whatever. There's my review. Avoid.
January 29, 2015
I'll imagine that, like me, many of the people that buy this book, have done so because of the excellent Anime series that came out a few years ago. Like any TV show/anime/film that's born from novels, the book contains more detail, particularly in the characters background. Being an aviation enthusiast (or Plane Spotter!!), many of the technical details astonish me, especially when you consider this book was first published over in Japan in 1984. The author does state that he touched up one or two details here and there before this edition was released, but man he has a good imagination! All in all, it is well worth the read; you don't have to be into Sci-fi, planes or Anime to enjoy it.
August 31, 2020
Really great book on the themes of human vs inhuman, human vs machine/computer, and what makes a human human. Is it empathy and emotions? Or is it reasoning and logic? The capacity for these four things is what separates us from animals, but why is it that we, as humans, people, or society, often consider those who primarily rely on reasoning and logic over empathy and emotions as being "inhuman", or behaving "cold" or "machine-like"?
The author explores these ideas through through the protagonist, who is a pilot in an elite squadron. The members of the squadron operate in isolation: isolated from other squadrons, and isolated from other members of their squads. They rely on themselves and their machines, and their objective is to return to base at all cost... even if that means letting men in other squadrons die. For this reason, these pilots are considered cold, machine-like, and inhuman...
Perhaps the novel resonates with me, because I can empathize with the solitude and isolation experienced by the protagonist.
The author explores these ideas through through the protagonist, who is a pilot in an elite squadron. The members of the squadron operate in isolation: isolated from other squadrons, and isolated from other members of their squads. They rely on themselves and their machines, and their objective is to return to base at all cost... even if that means letting men in other squadrons die. For this reason, these pilots are considered cold, machine-like, and inhuman...
Perhaps the novel resonates with me, because I can empathize with the solitude and isolation experienced by the protagonist.
September 17, 2017
Some classic Japanese military sci-fi is exactly what the doctor ordered! Took me a couple stories to get into Yukikaze, but I'm glad I did with its awesome jet plane action and deeper philosophical meanings.
December 7, 2020
DNF.
Tentei assistir à série e depois tentei ler o livro por conta da temática que era semelhante a um conto que eu estava escrevendo, mas não consegui nenhum dos dois. Embora seja um livro que tenta questionar a interação dos seres humanos com a tecnologia e os limites da inteligência artificial, a história se perde nos clichês dos piores tipos de narrativas japonesas exportadas para o Brasil e outros países do ocidente, além de contar com um protagonista que tem o carisma compatível ao de um sabonete. A tradução em inglês também é truncada e isso com certeza não ajuda.
Tentei assistir à série e depois tentei ler o livro por conta da temática que era semelhante a um conto que eu estava escrevendo, mas não consegui nenhum dos dois. Embora seja um livro que tenta questionar a interação dos seres humanos com a tecnologia e os limites da inteligência artificial, a história se perde nos clichês dos piores tipos de narrativas japonesas exportadas para o Brasil e outros países do ocidente, além de contar com um protagonista que tem o carisma compatível ao de um sabonete. A tradução em inglês também é truncada e isso com certeza não ajuda.
July 26, 2014
Not so much a story, but a story behind the story.
This is a translated copy, so I can't speak to the quality of the prose other than to say it was sufficiently invisible that the storytelling itself was not disrupted. As a Military Sc-Fi story there were technical passages on the nature of combat aircraft and flying. These made little sense to me, but I went with the mood and made up my own pictures in my head like a good reader should :->
This novel covers the war between humans and invading aliens that takes place on the staging planet of Faery. Through the eyes of combat pilot Rei, the story covers the nature of humanity. As the arms race between to two civilisations escalates, technology takes over pushing humanity further into obsolescence. Humans and Aliens themselves struggle to perceive each other, and most of the interaction between species takes place through their technologies. as further contrast, Rei himself is one of a specially selected few pilots chosen for his cool detached emotions and ability to observe the bloodshed from a distance in a surveillance only role. Rei's strongest connection is with his technically advanced fighter plane Yukikaze, which he personifies in his mind more a lover than machine. It is through this relationship that he questions the nature of humanity.
The novel is split into sections, each section dealing with a specific scenario, and one that is not touched upon in other sections. This was somewhat frustrating when revelations are not built upon and further explored - more like reading series of short stories than a A to B narrative. Each section does advance the overall narrative of the war, but it felt more like a series of manga episodes strung together. An interesting approach, but one which took some getting used to.
Like I said, the real story is more the arc behind the story as the technology supercedes humnaity and the basis of the war itself is questioned.
Despite the grand scale of the premise, it's actually a "closed room" type of story. There are very few characters and very few locations. The main protaganist of Rei is emotionally detached and the other great character is Yukikaze itself. The concepts are interesting but only ever scratch the surface, which was a shame.
The way Rei, increasingly emotionally isolated, shambles along against the background of a war remind me of the bleak mood of The Forever War.
This is a translated copy, so I can't speak to the quality of the prose other than to say it was sufficiently invisible that the storytelling itself was not disrupted. As a Military Sc-Fi story there were technical passages on the nature of combat aircraft and flying. These made little sense to me, but I went with the mood and made up my own pictures in my head like a good reader should :->
This novel covers the war between humans and invading aliens that takes place on the staging planet of Faery. Through the eyes of combat pilot Rei, the story covers the nature of humanity. As the arms race between to two civilisations escalates, technology takes over pushing humanity further into obsolescence. Humans and Aliens themselves struggle to perceive each other, and most of the interaction between species takes place through their technologies. as further contrast, Rei himself is one of a specially selected few pilots chosen for his cool detached emotions and ability to observe the bloodshed from a distance in a surveillance only role. Rei's strongest connection is with his technically advanced fighter plane Yukikaze, which he personifies in his mind more a lover than machine. It is through this relationship that he questions the nature of humanity.
The novel is split into sections, each section dealing with a specific scenario, and one that is not touched upon in other sections. This was somewhat frustrating when revelations are not built upon and further explored - more like reading series of short stories than a A to B narrative. Each section does advance the overall narrative of the war, but it felt more like a series of manga episodes strung together. An interesting approach, but one which took some getting used to.
Like I said, the real story is more the arc behind the story as the technology supercedes humnaity and the basis of the war itself is questioned.
Despite the grand scale of the premise, it's actually a "closed room" type of story. There are very few characters and very few locations. The main protaganist of Rei is emotionally detached and the other great character is Yukikaze itself. The concepts are interesting but only ever scratch the surface, which was a shame.
The way Rei, increasingly emotionally isolated, shambles along against the background of a war remind me of the bleak mood of The Forever War.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2024
This book was not exactly what I expected it to be.
It contains some very dynamic air battles. Fans of Ace Combat out there, and Macross saga, know what to expect - wild maneuvering, guns blazing, high-G stress and alarms blaring indicating missile locks. But book is not just about that.
It gives a picture of remote battlefield - connected through a portal to Earth (way JAM invaders first attacked Earth) - that seems like a nightmare-induced battlefield (two suns with "bloody river" between them, weird flora and fauna, weird colors, everything seems so dreamy) where eternal war between humanity and JAM takes place. This planet, called Faery, is so deadly that combat only takes place in the air. While there are airports and bases, they are just ground targets - Faery's airspace is where actual combat takes place, there are no troops but flyers here. Weirdness of this place, multinational force from Earth (Faery Air Force) deployed there is akin to French Foreign Legion [all the problematic military personnel, with crime record or just unable to fit into standard forces are given chance to serve time on Faery and then go back to Earth with clean slate], which means expendable, all make this battlefield so remote to regular inhabitants of Earth, to the level of myth (after initial JAM attack on Earth years ago, there were no more combat actions on Earth, so everybody returned back to the inter-state squabbling). Every contact between Earth and Faery deployed personnel shows how different they have become, even linguistically they started to diverge. Earth-bound people are either worried that FAF is some deep state army preparing for conquering the Earth (you had to love that journalist chapter) or are just outright worried that personnel going to Faery to fight are losing what makes them human in the first place [state of never-ending war will strip people of the usual traits of society in peace time; Everything becomes tool for the war effort, and what cannot be used is then discarded; This usually means limited to no use of social traits that help build connections and relations and bring tension to low levels, for a simple reason that in war zone these traits usually mean quick death] and thus question arises what to do with veterans when they come back to Earth.
But book is not just about that.
Main antagonist in the book, JAM, are very extraordinary alien force. Nobody ever saw them, there is no communication with them, only physical manifestation are their strike craft and their bio-constructs they use in what might be considered psychological operations. JAM are main psychological difficulty to the FAF forces. If one cannot even visualize what they are fighting against, and since there is no communication one cannot gauge the progress of the campaign, all of the FAF's pilots and personnel in general are under unique and deadly form of stress. This pressure of never-ending war that needs to be fought (as author states, goal is to impede the progress of JAM, since no-one knows what would it take to actually win in this war) starts to create questions of need of human presence in combat airplanes, since every day combat has a feeling of industrialized carnage. Would it not be better to have machines fight it between themselves? Especially since JAM is viewed by most as machines - since humanity comes into contact only with JAM machines. This feeling of impeding doom as war just goes on and on, dehumanizes the FAF force, because what would ordinarily be standard human (re)actions (definition of victory/moral, seeking communication and diplomatic solution etc) just make no sense on Faery because JAM is just ..... unfathomable. This issue of first contact/conflict with alien species that cannot be comprehend by humans, is just one of the areas this book is about.
Through chapters we are given almost evolution-like development of Yukikaze fighter plane. What starts as a series of weird encounters and decisions by Yukikaze [and rest of automated systems on Faery] slowly escalates. Decisions to engage targets Yukikaze identifies as JAM although to humans they seem to be human fighters, weird personnel decisions (snow clearing team story was heart breaking) and almost total recklessness when it comes to human lives in case when fighter planes themselves are endangered - all of this slowly culminates to the point where it is visible that FAF computer systems have reached some level of intelligence, but unfortunately one that will just make them proficient in war against JAM. Everything else is of second nature and at first it seems that tools made by humanity have decided that humanity itself is impediment for most efficient use of tools in question. And it is not that machines have come to their conclusions on their own - everything originates from the actions and decisions of their human controllers that they have become masters of emulating (very good comment on teaching-bias). Is it weird that means justify the ends approach of FAF while fighting the JAM slowly becomes the mantra of ever more smarter weapon systems? Is it weird that these smarts systems start to take themselves to be on par with humans and as such always seek to ensure their own survival over anything else (even their teaches, humans)? All with the aim of defeating the JAM.
As can be seen topics in the book are all very interesting and very current (as is every story about the conflict). Author's style is very readable, there are no repetitions and wasted spaces, everything is very tight and to the point. Translator did excellent job in my opinion.
What might be a cause of contention is tempo of chapters. While there are adrenaline fueled chapters, some of them are slower than the others, sometimes imbued with internal monologues that might be boring to some (i.e. that snow team chapter, truly heartbreaking, but rather slow - not that I mind :)) or just anime/manga ... cringy (!?! in lack of better words) (that ace pilot testing latest FAF fighter and his love interest, constant tension between Rei and commanding officer). I know these elements are here for dramatic effect, but pacing gets affected nevertheless, and some readers might not like it.
Very interesting book, covers some very interesting subjects. I am now on lookout for the sequel :)
Highly recommended to fans of SF, aliens and of course good old mecha/fighter combat.
It contains some very dynamic air battles. Fans of Ace Combat out there, and Macross saga, know what to expect - wild maneuvering, guns blazing, high-G stress and alarms blaring indicating missile locks. But book is not just about that.
It gives a picture of remote battlefield - connected through a portal to Earth (way JAM invaders first attacked Earth) - that seems like a nightmare-induced battlefield (two suns with "bloody river" between them, weird flora and fauna, weird colors, everything seems so dreamy) where eternal war between humanity and JAM takes place. This planet, called Faery, is so deadly that combat only takes place in the air. While there are airports and bases, they are just ground targets - Faery's airspace is where actual combat takes place, there are no troops but flyers here. Weirdness of this place, multinational force from Earth (Faery Air Force) deployed there is akin to French Foreign Legion [all the problematic military personnel, with crime record or just unable to fit into standard forces are given chance to serve time on Faery and then go back to Earth with clean slate], which means expendable, all make this battlefield so remote to regular inhabitants of Earth, to the level of myth (after initial JAM attack on Earth years ago, there were no more combat actions on Earth, so everybody returned back to the inter-state squabbling). Every contact between Earth and Faery deployed personnel shows how different they have become, even linguistically they started to diverge. Earth-bound people are either worried that FAF is some deep state army preparing for conquering the Earth (you had to love that journalist chapter) or are just outright worried that personnel going to Faery to fight are losing what makes them human in the first place [state of never-ending war will strip people of the usual traits of society in peace time; Everything becomes tool for the war effort, and what cannot be used is then discarded; This usually means limited to no use of social traits that help build connections and relations and bring tension to low levels, for a simple reason that in war zone these traits usually mean quick death] and thus question arises what to do with veterans when they come back to Earth.
But book is not just about that.
Main antagonist in the book, JAM, are very extraordinary alien force. Nobody ever saw them, there is no communication with them, only physical manifestation are their strike craft and their bio-constructs they use in what might be considered psychological operations. JAM are main psychological difficulty to the FAF forces. If one cannot even visualize what they are fighting against, and since there is no communication one cannot gauge the progress of the campaign, all of the FAF's pilots and personnel in general are under unique and deadly form of stress. This pressure of never-ending war that needs to be fought (as author states, goal is to impede the progress of JAM, since no-one knows what would it take to actually win in this war) starts to create questions of need of human presence in combat airplanes, since every day combat has a feeling of industrialized carnage. Would it not be better to have machines fight it between themselves? Especially since JAM is viewed by most as machines - since humanity comes into contact only with JAM machines. This feeling of impeding doom as war just goes on and on, dehumanizes the FAF force, because what would ordinarily be standard human (re)actions (definition of victory/moral, seeking communication and diplomatic solution etc) just make no sense on Faery because JAM is just ..... unfathomable. This issue of first contact/conflict with alien species that cannot be comprehend by humans, is just one of the areas this book is about.
Through chapters we are given almost evolution-like development of Yukikaze fighter plane. What starts as a series of weird encounters and decisions by Yukikaze [and rest of automated systems on Faery] slowly escalates. Decisions to engage targets Yukikaze identifies as JAM although to humans they seem to be human fighters, weird personnel decisions (snow clearing team story was heart breaking) and almost total recklessness when it comes to human lives in case when fighter planes themselves are endangered - all of this slowly culminates to the point where it is visible that FAF computer systems have reached some level of intelligence, but unfortunately one that will just make them proficient in war against JAM. Everything else is of second nature and at first it seems that tools made by humanity have decided that humanity itself is impediment for most efficient use of tools in question. And it is not that machines have come to their conclusions on their own - everything originates from the actions and decisions of their human controllers that they have become masters of emulating (very good comment on teaching-bias). Is it weird that means justify the ends approach of FAF while fighting the JAM slowly becomes the mantra of ever more smarter weapon systems? Is it weird that these smarts systems start to take themselves to be on par with humans and as such always seek to ensure their own survival over anything else (even their teaches, humans)? All with the aim of defeating the JAM.
As can be seen topics in the book are all very interesting and very current (as is every story about the conflict). Author's style is very readable, there are no repetitions and wasted spaces, everything is very tight and to the point. Translator did excellent job in my opinion.
What might be a cause of contention is tempo of chapters. While there are adrenaline fueled chapters, some of them are slower than the others, sometimes imbued with internal monologues that might be boring to some (i.e. that snow team chapter, truly heartbreaking, but rather slow - not that I mind :)) or just anime/manga ... cringy (!?! in lack of better words) (that ace pilot testing latest FAF fighter and his love interest, constant tension between Rei and commanding officer). I know these elements are here for dramatic effect, but pacing gets affected nevertheless, and some readers might not like it.
Very interesting book, covers some very interesting subjects. I am now on lookout for the sequel :)
Highly recommended to fans of SF, aliens and of course good old mecha/fighter combat.
February 5, 2021
This book is highly recommended- it's mind blowing- depending on how you perceive AI and the world in which we'll be living in for decades to come. The story puts highlight on the discovery of humanity and whether human is even necessary at all when AI surpasses our intellect, while in a war with mysterious alien creatures. Humanity is in a world where we are no longer relevant, either as invader or victims. AI takes over all of it.
I'm predicting that in the near future, we will be embracing a reality where autopilot/autonomous vehicles takes over all our tasks for driving, and making sure no human can touch the steering wheel (is it even going to be a steering wheel at all?). We will become obsolete..
I'm predicting that in the near future, we will be embracing a reality where autopilot/autonomous vehicles takes over all our tasks for driving, and making sure no human can touch the steering wheel (is it even going to be a steering wheel at all?). We will become obsolete..
January 5, 2018
Sparse but well written, I enjoyed this book and look forward to tracking down the sequel. Very focused on one man and his airplane and the missions they run. Reads a little bit like it was multiple stories thrown together without too much editing; tends to repeat basic precepts at the beginning of each section, which are fortunately easy to skim.
March 7, 2025
I read this last year but I'm only getting around to entering this now. I'm rating it "just OK."
Plot: 7/10
Prose: 5/10 (they probably didn't have the greatest budget for hiring good translators)
Characters: 4/10 (I think we can do better than a really anti-social main character)
+1 theme point
Magic formula: 58.5/100 -> 3/5
Plot: 7/10
Prose: 5/10 (they probably didn't have the greatest budget for hiring good translators)
Characters: 4/10 (I think we can do better than a really anti-social main character)
+1 theme point
Magic formula: 58.5/100 -> 3/5
May 3, 2019
A deceptive book, that starts out as a story about hot-shot pilots fighting an alien menace that turns into a meditation on war, humanity, and what enmity between humans and nonhumans might actually look like.
Fun, well translated, and fast paced military SF.
Fun, well translated, and fast paced military SF.
December 21, 2017
Quite interesting, at times almost philosophical, with a very good plot-line and pacing. Unfortunately the writing doesn't always live up to the story, with detail focused on the wrong elements.
October 20, 2017
Interesting aviation technical details, but overall the character interactions and motivations did not resonate with me.
February 28, 2018
Decent book but the ideas explored in it seemed too obvious. I'll probably read the sequel as the world building was secondary in the first book and I expect it to be robust in the sequel.
July 31, 2020
A hard-SF featuring Kambayashi's distincitve cold but poetic writing style. The translation is almost perfect. Highly recommended to any SF fans.
June 7, 2022
2.5 ⭐️
December 4, 2022
im 14 and this is deep
February 18, 2023
Full Review Below:
http://oasfis.org/Event%20Horizon%20A...
http://oasfis.org/Event%20Horizon%20A...
February 21, 2023
Story: 5.5 / 10
Characters: 5
Setting: 8
Prose: 6.5
Characters: 5
Setting: 8
Prose: 6.5
August 11, 2023
Cool concepts but so very uh... Technical
March 23, 2025
I like planes and I like military sci-fi. The best wars are the fictional ones against aliens. It's an interesting premise and it weaves sub-plots that tie into the books overall man-vs-machine theme. I like it enough that i'm hunting down a copy of the sequel.
February 3, 2014
Much better than I expected it to be, and an interesting look at how damaged humans meld with their fighting machines in order to survive a war in another world.
Rei is a pilot on the planet Faery, which is connected to Earth via an interstellar tube originating in Antarctica. On this planet, the Faery Air Force fight a war with aliens called the JAM to prevent them from breaching the tunnel and attacking Earth directly. Rei is a reconnaissance pilot who flies Yukikaze, a massive Supersylph plane with a machine intelligence of its own. The book is a series of stories of Rei's life on Faery.
It's surprisingly strong. Rei is a damaged, antisocial man, but this is what the FAF needs. His role requires a lot of psychopathology, and his relationship with Yukikaze ultimately is what keeps him sane. Yukikaze though is more a wild animal than a partner, as its intelligence begins to grow and evolve dangerously. It's an unusual relationship, and the entire FAF increasingly sees them as set apart from the very Earth they try to defend.
Then you get the JAM, which are a completely unknown enemy whose motives are unclear and might be concerned more with fighting Earth's machine intelligences than the humans that use them. There's a lot of meat to the book, and the ending is very well done indeed.
It's not the best writing, given that it was translated from Japanese and like many light novels didn't have the best translator to do so. Rei also isn't someone you will root for, and the book realizes this by switching perspectives every now and then to others on the main FAF base. But it's very compelling military SF with a unique vibe to it, and is far better in its own way than the typical thud and blunder we get as military SF now.
There's a sequel called Good Luck, Yukikaze which you should definitely track down. It's a debate whether or not it is needed, as the main ending works even better if you assume the survival of a certain person is not guaranteed. It's probably one of the best Japanese SF novels I've read.
Rei is a pilot on the planet Faery, which is connected to Earth via an interstellar tube originating in Antarctica. On this planet, the Faery Air Force fight a war with aliens called the JAM to prevent them from breaching the tunnel and attacking Earth directly. Rei is a reconnaissance pilot who flies Yukikaze, a massive Supersylph plane with a machine intelligence of its own. The book is a series of stories of Rei's life on Faery.
It's surprisingly strong. Rei is a damaged, antisocial man, but this is what the FAF needs. His role requires a lot of psychopathology, and his relationship with Yukikaze ultimately is what keeps him sane. Yukikaze though is more a wild animal than a partner, as its intelligence begins to grow and evolve dangerously. It's an unusual relationship, and the entire FAF increasingly sees them as set apart from the very Earth they try to defend.
Then you get the JAM, which are a completely unknown enemy whose motives are unclear and might be concerned more with fighting Earth's machine intelligences than the humans that use them. There's a lot of meat to the book, and the ending is very well done indeed.
It's not the best writing, given that it was translated from Japanese and like many light novels didn't have the best translator to do so. Rei also isn't someone you will root for, and the book realizes this by switching perspectives every now and then to others on the main FAF base. But it's very compelling military SF with a unique vibe to it, and is far better in its own way than the typical thud and blunder we get as military SF now.
There's a sequel called Good Luck, Yukikaze which you should definitely track down. It's a debate whether or not it is needed, as the main ending works even better if you assume the survival of a certain person is not guaranteed. It's probably one of the best Japanese SF novels I've read.
September 28, 2012
É preciso uma boa dose de fetiche aeronáutico para se chegar ao fim deste livro. Yukikaze é uma obra de ficção científica militarista sobre uma aeronave futurista. Num futuro próximo, a humanidade e as forças de uma incógnita espécie alienígena apelidada de jam degladiam-se num planeta acessível por um buraco de verme que surgiu misteriosamente na antártida. No planeta hostil à vida humana, as forças terrestres combatem utilizando uma força aérea de equipamentos avançados pilotados por inadaptados e sociopatas. Yukikaze é a mais avançadas aeronave de combate, destacada para missões de reconhecimento e recolha de dados mas que quando necessário se revela superior em combate a tudo o que se lhe oponha.
Um pormenor intrigante do livro é uma progressiva mecanização da luta. Não nos é dado de forma muito subtil. O autor expressa claramente em vários momentos que se suspeita que a verdadeira guerra é entre máquinas e inteligências artificiais terrestres e alienígenas, sendo os humanos peças descartáveis do puzzle, e incompreensíveis pelos extraterrestres. O isolamento das forças militares, separadas do resto da humanidade e mal compreendidas por uma Terra que não se sente ameaçada por uma guerra travada à distância, ajuda ao desenvolvimento de uma cultura progressivamente mecanicista.
Yukikaze, expoente máximo da tecnologia aeronáutica, evolui de uma simbiose com o seu piloto desprovido de emoções até à previsível autonomia total. No final, o destino é o das máquinas inteligentes.
Contado em vinhetas episódicas, o livro arrasta-se e não é uma leitura tão interessante quanto poderia ser, apesar de alguns momentos empolgantes de puro escapismo literário. Há um certo imobilismo narrativo que contrasta com as premissas de acção. O fio condutor de progressiva aquisição de inteligência robótica vai-se desenvolvendo aos sacões e torna-se demasiado óbvio logo nas primeiras páginas. Quanto à premisa de guerra pela humanidade à distância combatida por uma simbiose homem-máquina complexa, bem, é algo que não é novidade no panorama da cultura pop-anime nipónica.
Um pormenor intrigante do livro é uma progressiva mecanização da luta. Não nos é dado de forma muito subtil. O autor expressa claramente em vários momentos que se suspeita que a verdadeira guerra é entre máquinas e inteligências artificiais terrestres e alienígenas, sendo os humanos peças descartáveis do puzzle, e incompreensíveis pelos extraterrestres. O isolamento das forças militares, separadas do resto da humanidade e mal compreendidas por uma Terra que não se sente ameaçada por uma guerra travada à distância, ajuda ao desenvolvimento de uma cultura progressivamente mecanicista.
Yukikaze, expoente máximo da tecnologia aeronáutica, evolui de uma simbiose com o seu piloto desprovido de emoções até à previsível autonomia total. No final, o destino é o das máquinas inteligentes.
Contado em vinhetas episódicas, o livro arrasta-se e não é uma leitura tão interessante quanto poderia ser, apesar de alguns momentos empolgantes de puro escapismo literário. Há um certo imobilismo narrativo que contrasta com as premissas de acção. O fio condutor de progressiva aquisição de inteligência robótica vai-se desenvolvendo aos sacões e torna-se demasiado óbvio logo nas primeiras páginas. Quanto à premisa de guerra pela humanidade à distância combatida por uma simbiose homem-máquina complexa, bem, é algo que não é novidade no panorama da cultura pop-anime nipónica.
April 23, 2013
I'll be the first to admit that it is pretty much a given that I will enjoy any book like "Yukikaze," ie "The Forever War" meets "Colossus" with fighter jets thrown in. It's unfortunate that my Japanese reading ability still isn't at a high enough level to attempt reading the source material, because I have a feeling a lot of the emotional punch and poetic beauty was lost in the dry translation done by Neil Nadelman. The first 80 pages were fairly dull and didn't bode well for the rest of the novel. Luckily, notwithstanding the dull writing style of Nadelman (which was the result of his attempt to translate the detached style of Kambayashi), the plot picked up substantially around the 100 page mark.
I use the word "plot" tentatively though, because this is more of a collection of short stories. There is very little of what could be reasonably called a story arc, and it is only in the final section that a strong sign of a future continuous plot development appears. I still call it a plot though, because through these short stories we discover the true nature of the war between the FAF (the name of the Earth forces on the alien planet) and JAM (the name of the mysterious alien forces).
The meat of this story is the question of what it is to be human. It's a concept that is fairly common in Science Fiction, but I'm happy to say that "Yukikaze" presents a fresh new perspective. I can't discuss it further without spoiling some of the best experiences in reading, so I'll just leave it at that. 4 stars, and I wonder if it could have managed 5 with a different translator.
I use the word "plot" tentatively though, because this is more of a collection of short stories. There is very little of what could be reasonably called a story arc, and it is only in the final section that a strong sign of a future continuous plot development appears. I still call it a plot though, because through these short stories we discover the true nature of the war between the FAF (the name of the Earth forces on the alien planet) and JAM (the name of the mysterious alien forces).
The meat of this story is the question of what it is to be human. It's a concept that is fairly common in Science Fiction, but I'm happy to say that "Yukikaze" presents a fresh new perspective. I can't discuss it further without spoiling some of the best experiences in reading, so I'll just leave it at that. 4 stars, and I wonder if it could have managed 5 with a different translator.
October 13, 2011
Hm, this book is more like a bunch of stories based in a common world with common characters instead of a single, overarching story. The author knows his military planes, but I found the characters making intuitive leaps concerning the nature of their enemy without much evidence to convince the reader until much later, near the end of the book.
The dialogue was clunky, and not because the characters were supposedly using a variant of English that strips all adjectives and useless vocabulary. I am also baffled by some of the premises that are behind the war with the aliens. For example, after 30+ years of war, no one has a clue as to what the enemy looks like? With no sign that any unit/organization on earth or space is trying to find out more about the origins and nature of their enemy? And if the war has dragged on for so long that people on Earth have forgotten about it, then where do the pilots up in space get all their funding to do all that weapons R&D and manufacturing?
The book handwaves a lot of logistics and war strategy away in favor of clumsily exploring what is human, what is a machine, and co-dependency between human and inanimate-but-possibly-sentient objects.
Nevertheless, I kept reading, and while the execution may not have been to my taste, I can still appreciate the concepts that went into this story. There is a lot of potential that perhaps may be better realized in the sequel (or fanfic??), though I hesitate to plunk my money down just yet...
The dialogue was clunky, and not because the characters were supposedly using a variant of English that strips all adjectives and useless vocabulary. I am also baffled by some of the premises that are behind the war with the aliens. For example, after 30+ years of war, no one has a clue as to what the enemy looks like? With no sign that any unit/organization on earth or space is trying to find out more about the origins and nature of their enemy? And if the war has dragged on for so long that people on Earth have forgotten about it, then where do the pilots up in space get all their funding to do all that weapons R&D and manufacturing?
The book handwaves a lot of logistics and war strategy away in favor of clumsily exploring what is human, what is a machine, and co-dependency between human and inanimate-but-possibly-sentient objects.
Nevertheless, I kept reading, and while the execution may not have been to my taste, I can still appreciate the concepts that went into this story. There is a lot of potential that perhaps may be better realized in the sequel (or fanfic??), though I hesitate to plunk my money down just yet...
September 17, 2010
This science fiction-aviation tale is set in the near future in which an alien race has opened a gate in Atartica from which they launch an attack. thirty years later, we've pushed them back into their homeworld and continue a balanced give-and-get aviation war between our super jets and their attack fighters.
Written in the 80s, this story is less about plotting and more about the thematics of what it means to be human vs. inhman. The chapters come across more as vignettes rather than one cohesive storyline. There's never any bigger plan to win the war, but simply survive these individal battles and deal with the notion that machines will replace our fighters in the future. Technology vs. human skill is a big theme here.
Interesting book overall. the writer clearly knows his ways around combat fighters and has made some fun choices, but I like a little more plot with my sci-fi tales. It's always good to have a beginning, middle and an end. I know fans will think I missed the point. This is a novel that's supposed to make you think, but plenty of other books do that as well as entertain.
Written in the 80s, this story is less about plotting and more about the thematics of what it means to be human vs. inhman. The chapters come across more as vignettes rather than one cohesive storyline. There's never any bigger plan to win the war, but simply survive these individal battles and deal with the notion that machines will replace our fighters in the future. Technology vs. human skill is a big theme here.
Interesting book overall. the writer clearly knows his ways around combat fighters and has made some fun choices, but I like a little more plot with my sci-fi tales. It's always good to have a beginning, middle and an end. I know fans will think I missed the point. This is a novel that's supposed to make you think, but plenty of other books do that as well as entertain.
February 12, 2010
"Yukikaze" is a nifty story of emergent artificial intelligence camouflaged as military action. We seldom get inside Yukikaze's virtual head (Yukikaze being the highly-computerized fighter plane piloted by the main character), and indeed by the end it turns out that how a military AI thinks might just be beyond our comprehension. That's not the entire thrust of the book, though; the main story is about the so-called "inhuman" pilot who has trouble engaging with other people, though that makes him good at his job.
It's an entertaining set of adventures, and that's a bit of an issue with construction - the book at times feels like an anthology, with progression from one story to another but each functioning as a short. Makes it great for my bus reading, but I wonder if this was originally serialized, as it's not uncommon for each story to repeat points made earlier.
It's an entertaining set of adventures, and that's a bit of an issue with construction - the book at times feels like an anthology, with progression from one story to another but each functioning as a short. Makes it great for my bus reading, but I wonder if this was originally serialized, as it's not uncommon for each story to repeat points made earlier.
January 1, 2016
I'm not sure if the books oddly stilted delivery was a feature of the original or of the translation effort. Given how generally legible it was I'm going to assume the former. Actually thinking about it now it did serve to re-enforce the themes the book explored. While I enjoyed it in a general sense it was probably more due to the questions it raised then the story itself. Perhaps because the story was populated with characters that it was almost impossible to empathise with, the somewhat disjointed nature of the narrative, consisting as it did of distinct parts rather than a whole, didnt help with this. The ending was excellent but left questions unanswered, while I have the sequel I'm not in any rush to read it. Which probably isnt a great recommendation. Still, I feel that it was a good book,just not to my taste rather than innately flawed.
October 17, 2015
Amidst the dense fighter plane/military jargon and the repetitive philosophical and existential questions (tiresome -almost as if the theme of the book is being shoved in your face), Yukikaze does have some thrilling action scenes. The ending is quite nicely executed and I could see that being the real show piece when this book gets made into a Hollywood movie (I have not seen the anime series). My main problem with this book is that the interesting points are few and far between. The narration is stilted and many scenes have no value beyond emphasizing the theme - they do not progress the plot. Characters are marginally developed and (spolier!) quickly disposed of. I may give the second book in the series a try to see if the plot picks up the pace but its not a book I'm eagerly reaching for. I would rate it at 2.5 stars if goodreads let me.
May 21, 2013
I picked up this book on the premise of reading about super cool, high-tech aircraft fighting aliens. However, this book was ultimately much more thoughtful than that implies.
Yukikaze is essentially a collection of short stories that involve our stoic protagonist dealing with his place in war with respect to a world he barely relates to, the machines that are now used to wage war in nearly incomprehensible ways, and his own sense of humanity. This was much more detached and introspective than I thought that a tale of alien warfare would be.
Most of the stories have provocative and captivating scenarios, but some are too detached and idly philosophical for my liking. Ultimately, this was a much more intriguing story than I thought it would be.
Yukikaze is essentially a collection of short stories that involve our stoic protagonist dealing with his place in war with respect to a world he barely relates to, the machines that are now used to wage war in nearly incomprehensible ways, and his own sense of humanity. This was much more detached and introspective than I thought that a tale of alien warfare would be.
Most of the stories have provocative and captivating scenarios, but some are too detached and idly philosophical for my liking. Ultimately, this was a much more intriguing story than I thought it would be.
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