リラと戦禍の風

by Sayuri Ueda, 上田 早夕里

愚かで愛おしい人類の歴史を見守る不死の「伯爵」と少女リラ。彼らの旅路に巻き込まれた兵士は、やがて世界を変える夢を見る――『破滅の王』の著者が壮大なスケールでおくる歴史ファンタジー！

488 pages, Tankobon Hardcover

First published April 18, 2019

About the author

Born in Hyogo Prefecture, Sayuri Ueda (上田 早夕里, Ueda Sayuri) is one of the more innovative science fiction authors in Japan. She made her debut in 2003 with Kasei daku barado (Mars Dark Ballad), which won the 4th Komatsu Sakyo Prize. She has published a series of highly original, much discussed works, gaining avid fans not only in Japan but throughout Asia and the West. Karyu no miya (The Ocean Chronicles) won the Hayakawa Publishing “SF ga Yomitai!” Award for Best Japanese SF Novel in 2010, as well as the 32nd Japan SF Award and 10th Sense of Gender Award in 2011. She also writes actively in genres other than science fiction, and in 2018, her historical novel Hametsu no ō (The King of Ruin) was nominated for the 159th Naoki Prize.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine World War I crossed with "Spirited Away." That's what you get in "Lila and the Winds of War." Historical fantasy with a touch of monsters and realistic WWI battles. The main character, a German soldier, is approached by a "monster" when he's half dead on the battlefield. The man saves his life but splits his soul--half a soul in a simulacrum and half a soul in his real body, his corpus. Turns out, there are all sorts of immortal beings running around the world, and how he can see them. The novel does a good job tying all the history elements together. I actually like that the author chose WWI instead of WWII, which is, in my opinion, totally overdone with novels.